Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108124 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Tanner lifted Eli out of the highchair. “Well, it’s been nice, Millers, but this guy here needs a diaper change. And the bathroom here sucks, so…”
I chuckled. I’d never gotten a chance to witness my brother as father to a baby since I wasn’t around when Alex was small. It cracked me up to think of him changing diapers.
“Say hi to Arielle,” I told him.
“I will. She wants to have you guys over soon.”
“Anytime. I’ll send you my schedule.”
“Cool.” He looked over at Alex. “I’ll pick you up Friday, buddy.”
Alex spent every other weekend at Tanner’s and loved hanging out with his little brother.
“Bye, Dad.”
When Alex and I returned to The Palm, I found Presley in the bedroom we planned to turn into a nursery. My woman was four months pregnant with our first child, and I was over-the-moon excited. Presley and I had gotten married here at The Palm this past summer during the off-season. It was an intimate ceremony with just our closest friends and family—and yes, that had included Tanner. Presley and I danced to one of Gramps’s old recordings for our first song and swapped wedding cake for a tower of peach cobbler. It was the perfect day, without a cloud in the sky.
“What are you up to?” I said as I wrapped my arms around her in the nearly empty bedroom.
“I’ve just been putting some paint swatches up against the wall, trying to decide on a neutral color. It would be easier if we knew the gender, though.”
“My point exactly.” I glared at her teasingly.
We’d argued a lot about this lately because I wanted so badly to know what we were having, while Presley hadn’t been able to decide if she wanted to find out. She kept going back and forth between leaving it as a surprise or throwing a gender-reveal party.
“I think I still want it to be a surprise,” she said.
I kissed her forehead. “Then a surprise it will be.”
At the last ultrasound, the technician had written the gender down on a folded piece of paper that Presley had tucked away in an empty cookie jar in the kitchen, both of us vowing not to touch it until we’d made a firm decision.
“How did lunch go?” she asked.
“It was good. Eli is getting so big.”
“He must be.”
“They want to have us over soon,” I said.
“Wow. Okay.” She nodded. “That’ll be good, I guess. For Alex, especially, you know?”
“Yup.” I squeezed her tighter. “I missed you today.”
She sighed into my shoulder, and when she looked up at me, I sensed worry in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Honestly, I’ve been a little anxious lately.”
“About what?”
“Everything is going so perfectly. I sometimes worry it’s inevitable that something bad is going to happen. I think it might be my hormones. Every time you travel now, I’m anxious every second until you get home.”
I pulled back to examine her face. “How come you haven’t told me this before?”
“I guess I don’t want you to worry about me worrying.”
“You’re right. I don’t like to think that you’re nervous when I’m gone. But I guess it goes to show how much you love me.” I knelt down and kissed her stomach. “A part of my heart is in this body, you know.”
She ran her fingers through my hair. There was no better feeling than knowing I’d get to sleep next to her tonight. I lived for every moment spent with her at The Palm and longed for the day I could feel comfortable kissing my career goodbye in exchange for the freedom of being able to see my family whenever I damn well pleased. But I had a few more years left to bring home the bacon first.
I stood up. “You know what I think?”
“What?”
“I think some ice cream is in order to get you out of this anxious mood.”
She rubbed her belly. “I could go for that.”
Taking my hand, Presley followed me into the kitchen.
I called Alex down and served them both bowls of mint chip before scooping some out for myself. We ate together at the table while Alex told us about some of the things happening at school.
Then Fern waltzed into the kitchen.
“Want some ice cream, Fern?” I asked.
“No, thanks. Just lookin’ to make some tea. Got a bit of a sore throat.”
When she went over to the counter, she opened the cookie jar.
“Don’t open that!” Presley yelled.
“Why not?” she asked.
“That’s where we hid the piece of paper with the gender of our baby. We don’t want to look at it yet.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “What?”
Presley turned to him. “You’re not allowed to look in there either, Alex. Promise me.”
Rather than listen and immediately put it back, Fern peeked at the paper before folding it and returning it to the jar. Great.
“No worries.” She smiled. “Secret’s safe with me.”