Chapter Twenty-Two
Jay
#Graduation&HousewarmingParty
Mapleville was in great need of nurses. In the time it took us to get home from the hospital, I already had a message on my voicemail from another doctor in town, asking if I was looking for work.
He had heard I was.
Good grief.
“It’s weird,” Brent grumped as I put his feet up on pillows, determined to love him into wellness.
“Your feet are in the air, that’s all.”
“I hate it.”
Pregnancy grumpies all over the place.
“Those babies need your feet to be up or we might be looking at a set of twin preemies, okay? That’s what’s at stake, love.”
He sighed and reached for the enormous bottle of water I got for him on the way home. “I know. I’m sorry.”
I sat down on the bed beside him. “I’ve got to run to my place and get my stuff. You still want me here all the time, right?”
“Yes, please.” His sweet voice returned. He would probably use the same coo with our babies.
I went to my place and, in thirty minutes flat, was back with all my things, which wasn’t much since I’d lived out of a suitcase most of my adult life. Truth was, I kept my stuff packed, waiting for the day Brent would ask me to move in with him. A little pathetic, but I didn’t care.
“That was quick.” Brent smiled at me, still in bed like a good omega.
“Yep, and I even stopped at the store and got you some things. Did you know this little town has a semi-health food store?”
He turned positively green. “Please don’t make me eat sprouts, they look like pubes.”
I choked on my laughter. “Um, no sprouts. I got you some things to help you relax.”
From the cloth bag, I pulled out a diffuser and some lavender oil, along with some massage oil for his feet and maybe more.
I set up the diffuser on the bedside table before sitting at the end of the bed to massage his feet.
“Graduation is next week,” I said, trying to keep cool but inside jumping up and down, so proud of him.
“I don’t have to walk, you know.”
“Yes, you do. I want to see my mate up there, getting his degree. That’s a big deal, Brent.”
“You really want to see me walk?” he asked.
“I do.”
“Look in the closet.” I got up and looked in the closet and saw what he was talking about. His maroon graduation gown along with cap hung there, waiting to be used.
“Mine was dark green. Yours is much better. I’m glad I’ll be here for this, Brent.”
“Me, too. I’m glad you are here with me for all these things. I’m not sure what I would do if you weren’t.”
, I massaged his feet until a soft snore escaped and then covered him with a blanket.
I spent the rest of the night in bliss, sleeping next to him.
~~
“Pictures,” I demanded when Brent tried to take his cap and gown off too soon on graduation day.
“Please don’t,” he whined, his belly seeming bigger under the huge gown.
“Yes. Joaquim, don’t you let him go without pictures. He ran away before I could get his high school cap and gown pictures.” Vivian pouted.
“Shame on you,” I told him. “Come on, mom and son, here, hold this.”
I’d slipped something special onto his degree while he was in the restroom and hoped he’d notice it.
“Hold your diploma up.” He didn’t see it. I snapped the picture and asked Vivian to take one of the two of us.
“Oh, did you look at your degree?” He looked at it once and then did a double take. Mission accomplished. I’d tied the ring to a ribbon inside of the folder that held his degree while he spoke to one of his professors.
“What is this?” he asked, tears already building in the corners of his eyes.
“Something like, I love you and our babies and there’s nothing else in the world I want other than to marry you and keep you forever.”
No one ever said I was good at proposals, but I hoped this was the only time I would be doing it.
“This is an engagement ring for me?”
“Yes. But you haven’t answered me.”
“Yes. Ten thousand times yes.”
Our tender kiss and embrace was interrupted by a squeal from Vivian. “I got it all on video! I’m gonna get Kayson to put it on the Twitter!”
The Twitter, good grief. Well, I guessed the people who helped us get together deserved to know I found my happily ever after.
“Let’s go home.”
Brent’s house was only temporary. We’d made an offer on the first house we looked it, the one Brent remembered from high school days. It was perfect for a new family.
“There’s one thing we haven’t decided on,” Brent said with some determination. “Where are you going to work?”
“I got an offer I wanted to talk to you about. The hospital plans to open a brand new neonatal unit, and they want me to work there. With preemies. Tiny babies who need a lot of care.”
“The question is, what do you want?”
“This is what I want, Brent. A new unit, and I’d be the head nurse. It’s a dream come true, actually.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“Is it okay with you? I’d have to work some nights and maybe long shifts.”
He took my hand. “As long as you come home to me, that’s all that matters.”
When we got home, twenty or thirty cars lined the streets.
“What’s going on?” he asked. I already knew. Vivian had decided to have a graduation party for Brent but insisted on it being a surprise since he loved surprises.
“Nothing.”
“You’re a bad liar.”
When we walked in, the place was packed not only with people, but with presents for us. Brent’s extended family and friends had bought us everything for setting up a new home and even some things for the babies.
“I love you.” He smiled so big, it made me want to shout with joy. “Thanks for keeping the secret.”
“I love you back. I promise to always have surprises for you.”
He laughed. “I’m counting on it.”