Six Years Later
It took three long, but wonderful, years for Kayla to say yes. I asked her approximately two hundred times before she hinted that she might say yes. I had the ring ever since that night I made her go to a Carolina Rebels game with Sydney and Carey. I went after work all week to look for the perfect one. I wanted a ring on hand in case she said yes to one of the many times I spontaneously proposed.
But you better believe when she started wiggling that left hand around, humming the wedding tune, mentioning how it had been a while since I last asked, though it had only been a week, I knew. She was ready. She made me wait for her to graduate college, for her to settle into a job, and for us to live together throughout all of that time.
Knowing she was serious freaked me the hell out. That meant I had to be serious, too, right? I needed her father’s blessing. I needed to drop down to one knee. I needed to go all out. I needed to make this proposal stand out amongst the many that preceded. Talk about pressure.
I couldn’t take her back to the first place I proposed. The coffeehouse had been tarnished too much for Kayla. She never did start singing like she used to, though she sings around the house all the time. Our first official date was to a Carolina Rebels game, but I didn’t want to do that. Too flashy. If she was saying yes to me, I wanted it to be only us.
So, one night, I took her out to her favorite restaurant. Had her sing to me in the car afterward as I drove to the park. It was her favorite place to write songs and we came here the day we met. She wasn’t paying attention, so it wasn’t until we stopped that she looked up. She saw candles set out around a picnic table. I don’t know if it’s the exact same one as before, but it worked.
“What are we doing here?” she asked.
“Come on.”
We got out and once we stood on the tabletop, she could see that the candles were in the shape of a heart. I know, I’m so sweet and romantic. I dropped to one knee and said, “I love you, Kayla. I’ve been telling you that for three years and I’ve meant it every single time. I’ve asked this next question a lot in that time, but I’m hoping since I’ve put in some effort, I’ll get an answer.” She laughed, a growing smile on her face. “Will you finally marry me?”
“Where’s my ring? Remember? I said you had to have a ring, too.”
Yeah. I forgot to pull that little thing out of my pocket. She laughed for a solid minute as I reached for it and then displayed it for her.
“Can you answer me now, sweet cheeks?”
“Yes.”
She made me wait another year before we officially tied the knot. This woman, she makes me wait. I wouldn’t change a thing about our time together, though.
But right now? Right this very second? I pace in the halls of a hospital. Six years after I met her, two years into our marriage, and she decides to scare the ever-living hell out of me for the first time. One minute I’m in the room with her, awaiting the arrival of our baby, and the next, they all but shove me out of the room. I don’t know what’s happening. I don’t know if she’s okay. I don’t know if our baby is okay.
I.
Don’t.
Know.
“Logan.”
I ignore Brent, just like I ignored my sister earlier. The only person who will ease my mind is Kayla.
Here we are, having a kid, and I’m a breath away from a mental breakdown. Ever since I could remember, I’ve been told I would be a good dad one day because I’ve always been so great around kids. I heard it more once Savannah was born. How am I supposed to be a good father to our baby when I can barely think straight right now because I don’t know what’s happening with my wife? Or with my baby? I don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl. Kayla and I decided we could wait and find out. Why not? She liked the idea of not knowing until we had no choice but to know.
I still remember when she told me. She called me as I was driving home and I knew something was off immediately because she sounded nervous, but a little excited, too.
“Handsome.”
I waited for more, but eventually I had to say, “Yeah, sugar?”
“You’re on your way home?”
“Yes. Did you forget something? Need something? Do I need to stop somewhere?” I had asked.
“No. Take your time and get home.”
“Why are you calling me?”
“I don’t want to tell you over the phone. I just wanted to make sure you were coming straight home.”
But once I got home, I found her at the kitchen table with a pregnancy test sitting on one of the placemats. That’s something married couples needed, she joked when we bought them. We hadn’t talked about trying, though I no longer used condoms; she still took her birth control.
“I think I might be pregnant.”
I was calm as a cucumber. The moment those words left her mouth, though? I desperately wanted her to be. I was ready. I wanted it more than anything. My mind became one of those flip-books where the drawing starts out with Kayla as she was, standing before me, and her body changing as I flipped through the pages, her stomach growing and growing with our little baby inside of her. The end was us in a hospital room, admiring our new baby in her arms. I wanted that. Hell, I needed that. I couldn’t think of anything else that could make our lives more perfect than they already were than if she was pregnant.
Our stance on kids up until that point was maybe someday. We talked about it the night I proposed. Kayla thought we should finally have an official conversation. Any time we talked about it since then, it was always the same. We didn’t need to rush.
Now, she’s twenty-six. I’m thirty. We’re about to have our first kid.
Maybe.
If nothing goes wrong.
If it does, I could be walking out of this hospital by myself.
That’s the most terrifying thought I’ve ever had. God, they need to hurry up and give me an update. I don’t know what’s wrong. They just told me to leave the room.
“Logan,” Brent tries again.
My dad hasn’t tried talking to me. Neither has Sydney. Hell, my mom’s flight managed to get her here before my baby and she hasn’t said anything to me either. They know better. Brent doesn’t apparently.
“Leave me alone. I’m not going to eat or drink or sit or whatever else you want me to do.” I glance at him for a reaction. He’s standing still, leaning against the wall. “How are you not punching something or pacing or pulling your hair out or something other than just standing there?” I nearly shout by the end of my question, pissed as hell that his emotions aren’t getting to him. That’s his daughter and grandbaby in there!
“You’re doing enough of that for the both of us.”
I shake my head in disgust.
“Mr. Archer?”
I swivel on my heels and face the doctor. It’s been hours, many long agonizing hours.
“Your wife is recovering just fine.” He says a lot of medical mumbo jumbo, but my body slacks with relief and Brent catches me as I fall. “Take it easy there, son,” the doctor says. “She’ll be fine. Your baby girl is doing just fine, too. Do you want to see her? We’ll take you to Kayla, too. She’s asleep though and probably will be for a while.”
A girl?
Is that what he said?
Tears spring to my eyes and my throat tightens. I nod and manage to stand on my own to follow him. Kayla is asleep, looking like an angel, but an exhale of relief leaves me so quickly the moment I see her. She’s safe and sound and breathing. Can’t ask for more right now. With more care than ever before, I push some stray strands of hair away from her face and kiss her forehead. She’s okay.
“Mr. Archer?”
I swivel to see a nurse with a baby cradled in her arms. My baby. My baby girl. God, after the stress of the last few hours, I can’t even remember the girl names we’ve been tossing around. She hands my beautiful baby girl to me.
How are babies so little? And so pretty? Her cute little eyelids are closed. Her tiny hands form tiny fists. And talk about a button nose! My heart explodes in my chest as I admire all of her features.
She startles herself awake.
“Hey, baby girl,” I whisper. “I’m your daddy. Sorry you don’t have a name yet. You and me? We’re waiting on your momma to wake up to make it official.” No need to let her know that I have no clue what it is yet. She makes a face like she might cry and since I don’t want to wake Kayla up, I slip out of her room. And run right into our entire family. I smile at all of them. “This is my baby girl.”
They crowd around me to ooh and aww as I gently bounce her in my arms to keep her happy. Kayla’s parents step into her room to check on her, and by the time they return, a nurse comes to take my daughter from me.
It doesn’t seem fair that they can come and take her, even if they are checking on her or whatever else they’re doing. She’s mine. Why can’t I keep her with me all the time now? Besides, Kayla hogged her for nine months. It’s my turn.
Everyone urges me to get some rest and I tell them to do the same and go home. The excitement’s over. Everyone is here and okay. The hoopla has come and gone. But as I sit in the chair in Kayla’s room, the adrenaline from today still flows through my veins. I won’t be able to sleep until the woman lying in the bed next to me wakes up.
So, I sit and I wait.
I think about the moments leading up to this one. I think about this pregnancy and the roller coaster that was. I think about the arguments we had, like when she got a job after graduation, but her boss was a Grade A dick and we argued for months over her quitting because of the stress it was causing her. I think about every single great second we’ve had up until this point because I know there are many more to come for us, especially with our baby girl.
“Logan?” her whisper-soft voice has me standing in seconds.
I kiss her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, and her smiling mouth. “Don’t ever scare me like that again.”
She chuckles. “They told me they tossed you out because you were too chicken to handle it,” she lies. “Don’t blame this on me. Can I have some water?”
I step away to pour some water into the plastic cup with a straw and bring it to her lips.
“Is our baby okay?” she asks after she takes a sip.
“Yes,” I answer immediately to erase the fear in her voice. “We have a girl, pooks.”
“A girl?” Tears well in her eyes and quickly fall over. “When can I see her? Have you seen her? What does she look like?”
“She’s beautiful, Kayla. Prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Including me?” she teases.
“Knocked you right out of the number one spot, baby,” I say in my most apologetic tone. “Let me tell them you’re awake.” But I don’t have to because a nurse walks in just then to check on Kayla.
A few minutes later, Kayla bursts into tears when she sees our baby girl. “She’s so beautiful,” she says, even as our baby starts to cry and Kayla immediately soothes her. Hell, I might cry again. They both look beautiful. Seeing my wife holding my baby? The most perfect sight I’ve ever seen. “Come here, Logan,” Kayla says, snapping me out of my gaze.
I walk over and sit on the bed next to her.
“I already want another one,” she whispers, her eyes on our baby.
I laugh. “We might want to name this one before we start planning the next one.”
“Maybe,” she murmurs, kissing her forehead before lifting her lips for a kiss from me. “Jenny. She looks like a Jenny, doesn’t she?”
“Jenny is the perfect name for our baby girl,” I agree.
“Let’s just look at her for a minute or a week, okay?” Kayla settles into the bed with that as her official plan. “Let it soak in that this is where we are in our lives now.”
So, I lay an arm around her shoulders and pull her into my side and admire them both. She’s right, too. This needs to soak in. This day is massive and beautiful. It is the third best day of my life. The second was when she finally married me. The first was when I met Kayla because that day ultimately changed everything. Without that day, without this woman, none of the rest of the best days of my life would’ve ever happened.
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, you know that?” I whisper into her ear.
“Yeah, handsome, I know,” she replies quietly. My laughter jostles both her and the baby. She sneaks a smile up at me. “Don’t worry. I give you lots of credit for my happiness, too.”
“Just lots?”
Kayla glances down at the baby, asleep in her arms. “I can’t say all anymore.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” I let us fall into silence, let her forget about it, but then I say, “But I’m still number one, right?”
She laughs. “Always. I love you.” She kisses me and rests her head on my shoulder.
“I love you, too.” I rest my head on her pillow and within seconds, my body relaxes, my mind calms, and I finally fall asleep with a faint smile because Kayla is okay, she’s smiling and teasing me, and she’s right here next to me where she belongs.
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