As I stood there and listened to Aaron and Rae confess their love for each other, I moved my eyes around the wide-open church and saw Amelia sitting near the corner of the front row. Her hands resting on her oversized belly, her eyes stuck to Aaron and Rae. She smiled every few seconds and her eyes looked a little glossy. I teased her and told her she was going to fall for this wedding stuff. She swore she wouldn’t. She’d blame the pregnancy hormones for it too.
I’d never seen anyone so beautiful in my life.
I didn’t understand how Amelia could get more beautiful with each passing day.
Watching her carry our daughter (I was right) and the way she handled herself like the strong woman I always knew she was. She talked to the baby. She read to the baby. She even wrote stories for the baby. If I painted something, she would describe it.
Everything about Amelia was perfect.
It was too good to be true… but each morning when I opened my eyes and saw Amelia, my dreams kept coming true.
“Hey, the rings,” a voice said to me.
I looked forward and Aaron stared at me with wide eyes.
Sweat collected at his hairline.
“Best man has the rings,” I said.
“What rings?” Toby asked in a loud voice.
I grinned.
Aaron didn’t.
Rae definitely didn’t.
I crouched again and reached into my pocket to get the rings.
I handed them to Toby and closed my fist over his.
“There are three here, little buddy. One for your mom. One for your dad. And there’s an extra one I got you. You keep that one safe forever, okay? Without you, Toby, none of this would be happening.”
“Can we hurry?” Toby asked. “I’m getting sweaty.”
I gave a nod and Toby turned and stuck his hand out for Aaron.
This time when I looked at Rae, she didn’t look as though she wanted to hurt me.
Which was good.
A cheap little ring had saved me in front of her.
Sort of.
She still had years of memories and dirt on me.
The rings were put on their fingers and the final vows spoken.
When Aaron kissed his bride for the first time, I looked at Amelia again.
She looked at me and fanned herself as she stuck out her tongue.
She rolled her eyes, trying to play it cool even though she wanted to cry at the wedding.
Pregnancy looked good on Amelia.
I looked good on Amelia.
Forever looked good on Amelia.
We ate. We danced. We laughed.
I held her close during the slow songs and whispered sometimes romantic and sometimes filthy things into her ear. Life was about balance. Always about balance. Except when it came to the way I felt about Amelia. That was one direction… me falling over and over for her.
Aaron carried Rae out of the reception with Toby running after them.
I took Amelia by the hand and we snuck out the back.
We ran through wet grass from the rain earlier in the day. She yelled and laughed as water splashed all over her beautiful dress and my rented tux.
When we got to my truck, I pinned her against it and kissed her like the world was on fire. She sometimes felt off because of her belly, but I never for a second took her or her belly for granted. I’d arch my back like a fucking acrobat to kiss her properly, no matter how big her belly got.
I took her home, took that beautiful dress off her beautiful body, held her by her curvy hips, and loved her until she rolled to her back and put her foot to my chest and told me to leave her alone. She said it with a wink and blew me a kiss.
I could never get enough of her.
Ever.
She rolled up in her favorite blanket in the corner of the bedroom in our apartment. She insisted on putting the bed in the corner to make it like it used to be in my old place.
The apartment was good enough for now.
A bedroom for us. A bedroom for the baby.
But having a house burned in the back of my mind.
Her kid stories were being purchased by some publisher. I knew nothing of that world, but she loved what she did. I painted and had my gallery showings with Sasha. A coffeehouse opened up next door after I decided I didn’t want that space at all. Aaron made money and Sasha got all the coffee she could drink.
Amelia’s roommate cried when I helped Amelia move out. They promised to remain friends, which came with a warning that the gift for the baby would be cat related. Funny thing that happened… Grace’s new roommate came with two cats.
For the record, I still made pussy jokes.
I stood and watched Amelia sleep as I picked up the pieces of my tux. I balled them up and tossed them to the dresser. I left the bedroom and went to the kitchen for a much-needed beer. After twisting off the cap, I walked to the nursery and stood in the doorway. I laughed at the white crib with pink blankets. The everything white and pink of the room challenged the blackness I had come to love about myself and my heart.
They had changed me.
A hundred times over.
My girls. My loves.
Amelia and Delilah.
I looked at the letters above the crib.
DELILAH
It was a pretty simple decision. Amelia brought it up first even though I had been thinking about it for a while.
Now all we could do was wait.
There were three weeks to go…
… but in reality, we had a lifetime.
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