Hell of a position to be in.
Putting my forehead to hers, I move my hands up her body to cup her neck. “Take the test.”
“I know I should, but what if…?”
“What if it’s positive and what if in nine months, instead of holding you in my arms like this, we’re holding a baby?”
Her eyes open, bold sapphires, wide with wetness pooling in the depths. She’s got to be something, my Mandy is never this emotional. “You’re right.” She inhales deeply before exhaling. “I need to just take the damn thing.”
Well I wouldn’t have exactly put it that way, but if it’s what gets her moving, then so be it.
“I’ll leave you to it. Come out and sit with me while we wait, don’t stay in here and torture yourself.”
She nods before I pick her up, setting her softly on her feet. When I get to the door, I glance back, giving her a smile. She echoes mine with one of hers, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. I wish I knew what would comfort her, what would allow her to believe in miracles and fairytales, but in the end, I decide all I can do is offer her my support.
It feels like forever until she comes out, joining me where I sit on the bed.
“If you are, would it have been in the private room at Wet Wanda’s?” My shit-eating grin is enough to make her giggle.
“I think so,” she confirms, her cheeks red.
“What a fuckin’ story to tell ‘em.”
“Uh no,” she laughs. “That’s something we’ll be keeping between ourselves, Dalton.”
“Yeah, okay.”
She reaches back, grabbing a pillow, before she uses it to smack me across the stomach.
“Ouch!” I grab hold of my mid-section. “You have to understand; if you did, that’s a point of pride, babe.”
“Pride for who? You?”
“Both of us!”
A beeping nose interrupts our verbal sparring. “The test should be done now,” she whispers. “Do you wanna go look at it?”
“We should go look together.” I stand up, grabbing her hand with mine.
My girl squares her shoulders and walks with me, not behind me, not in front of me, but right with me. The only place she falters is when we get close enough to see the results.
“You tell me.”
“That’s a lot of pressure, I don’t even know what to look for.”
She rolls her eyes, picking up the test. “It’s so easy, D. This one spells it out for you. If you’re pregnant, it literally says…”
She stops as she holds the test in her hand.
“Babe?”
“It says pregnant.” She turns it around so I can read the digital display. “We’re pregnant.”
We fall into each other’s arms. I take the test, looking at it, not sure I believe it. There’s tears on both sides, and as we’re standing there, trying to calm down, I hear a small voice.
“Dad?”
Lifting my head from her shoulder, I see our son. “Yeah, Walker, come here.”
He slowly walks into the room. “What’s going on?”
Mandy’s pulled herself slightly together. Enough so that she can speak. She takes the test from my hand, turning it so Walker can see it. “I’m pregnant. You’re going to have a little brother or sister.”
“What if the same thing happens again?” he asks slowly.
“Then we’ll get through it as a family.” I open my other arm to bring him in. “We’re stronger now, Walker. This won’t break us apart. It’ll bring us closer together.”
He allows me to hug him tightly. For long minutes, the three of us stand in the bathroom hugging, each letting the news digest.
“I swear,” he says. “Whatever it is, boy or girl, I’ll protect them with my life.”
“I know you will.” Mandy’s laugh is watery. “You’ll make the best big brother ever.”
And we’ll make the best family of four there ever was.
Epilogue One
Mandy
“I’m scared.” I reach out for Dalton’s hand, holding it tightly as I press into the contraction. “It’s been a long time since I had to do this.”
“You’re the strongest person I know, babe. You’ve got this.”
A part of me wonders if he’s right. Do I have this? Can I bring this child of ours into the world? There were times these last eight months I wondered. Like when they put me on bedrest, and that one time we couldn’t find the heartbeat. I’d almost crumbled, but Dalton had been there to hold me up. We’ve fought, but instead of each other this time, we’ve fought as a unit, to bring this baby into the world.
It’s a surprise. If it’s a boy or a girl.
He gets to pick the name for a girl.
I get to pick the name for a boy, and I know exactly what I’ll name our son.
“I don’t know, feels like it hurts a lot more than it did last time.” I grit my teeth, pushing into the contraction like they told me too. “And the room isn’t done. What are we going to do?”
He kisses me on the forehead. “You’re going to concentrate on bringing our child into the world. I’ll concentrate on making sure they have a place to sleep.”
In the end, we decided to stay close to the club and family. We’re in the process of building a house a half-mile from my parents. It’s mostly done, but we hadn’t expected the baby to come early.
Dalton’s brother is living in our old house and enjoying having a stable environment for once in his life.
“If you say so.”
“I say so, you don’t have to worry about anything other than what you’re doing Mandy. You’re doing a great job.”
Tears spring to my eyes. A rush of emotion I’m not ready for. “I don’t feel like I’m doing a great job.”
He gets directly in my line of vision, tipping my chin to force me to look at him. “You’re perfect, and this baby is perfect.”
“A few more pushes, Mandy, and we’ll see if it’s a boy or a girl.”
That sentence ends up being the one that gets through to me. I want desperately to know what
