Trying to surprise my husband is a chore. He’s so in tune with me he knows I’m hiding something. I hate lying to him, but telling him the truth would ruin the surprise. It’s all going to be worth it in the end.
It took me a few days to decide how I want to do this, but once I figured it out, I knew it was perfect. I’ve been planning and sneaking and I’m glad tonight is finally the night. My husband is ready to stage an intervention at any minute. I wouldn’t put it past him to lock me in our room, maybe even tie me to the bed until I tell him what’s been going on. He has this need to protect me, to fix what might be wrong. I love him for it, but he can’t always fix it.
Lucky for me, my father-in-law is amazing. When I told him I wanted to plan a surprise for Dylan and use the rooftop of the shop he smiled and asked what he could do to help. Together we came up with a plan for Dylan to run errands this afternoon so I could access the roof without him seeing me. Everything is set up, so now all I have to do is call him. I know he’s almost back to the shop.
“Hey,” he says after the first ring. “Dad has me running errands, why he couldn’t get one of the guys to do it I don’t know. I’m almost back at the shop, should be home in like a half hour or so.” He rambles on.
“Dylan.” I laugh. “Take a breath, babe. I’m actually at the shop now. I stopped by to see what time you were getting off and your dad told me you were running errands.” Just a little white lie. “I decided we should do date night on the roof.”
“Perfect. I’ll be there in about five minutes.”
“Drive safe. I’m heading on up to the roof.”
“Love you, Aves.”
“Love you, too.” I end the call and place my phone on the table next to the pizza box that is our dinner. I’m nervous, but I know I shouldn’t be. It’s just an all new experience for both of us. The unknown, I guess is what has my stomach feeling like a thousand butterflies are dancing around, flapping their wings.
“Aves,” Dylan calls out for me as he pushes through the door to the roof.
“Hello husband,” I say with a smile standing to greet him.
His eyes darken at me calling him husband. He loves it. We’ve been married for two years now and he still uses wife in as many sentences as he can. He says it’s just a daily reminder that our life is real, not a dream. We’ve been through a lot, but it’s only made us stronger.
“Best idea ever,” he says placing a kiss on my lips.
“Good. I just ordered pizza and then some dessert.”
“Perfect.” He grabs my hand and leads me over to the worn our patio couch and we both sit. This couch has been here for years, our first date and I’m sure many more before that. It’s old and faded but still in good condition. This old thing holds a lot of memories for us.
“How was your day?” he asks before taking a large bite from his pizza.
“Good. I went to the store, post office, bank, got all my errands caught up. I’m not sure what I’ll do the rest of the week,” I laugh. I’m a school teacher and summer break just started.
“Take a break, baby. You deserve it. Besides, once we have kids your summers will be full of activities.” He winks.
“In the meantime, I might just go crazy.”
“So what brought all this on?” he waves his hand at the pizza box and the box of dessert sitting on the table in front of us.
“It’s been a while since we’ve been up here. I just thought it would be nice.” I shrug as if it’s no big deal. I’m a terrible liar and we both know it.
“Uh huh, what else you got for me?” he asks sitting his plate on the table.
“Dessert,” I say pointing to the white box.
“Aves, come on babe, something has been up with you. I was hoping this was your way of finally opening up and telling me what’s going on. I’m worried about you,” his voice trails off. I can see that me trying to surprise him really has had him worried.
“Dylan, I’m fine. I promise. Let’s eat dessert, then we can go home and I’ll show you how fine I really am.”
He studies me, not moving.
“Really. It’s just an adjustment. Last summer I was helping Harley with the baby and that took up a lot of my time. I’m just trying to get in the groove.” I’m going to hell for lying to my husband. “Here,” I pick up the white box filled with brownies and hand it to him. “Eat up.”
Reaching in the box, he doesn’t take his eyes off of me. Grabbing a brownie, he takes a bite. Shit. He was supposed to open the box all the way. “Good?”
He nods. “Talk, Aves. I’ve had dinner, I’ve had my first round of dessert,” he winks, “now talk.”
“One more, I bought an entire dozen.” I hold the box up as if I’m presenting evidence, in a way I am.
Not one to ever deny me, he reaches for the box, again not taking his eyes off of mine. I pull the box away and he raises an eyebrow. “Look at them, don’t they look yummy?” I open the lid, like he was supposed to and hold the box out toward him.
“Avery, what’s going on?”
“Just look, come on, Dylan. I worked really hard to plan all of this. The least you could do is look.” I’m laying on the guilt but I’m getting desperate. My plan is about to fail epically.
He sighs, but turns to look at the box. I watch his face as he furrows his brow. I wait giving him time to read what’s written on the lid.
“Babe?” There is question and awe in his voice.
“Read it to me,” I prompt him.
“Eat up. My mommy doesn’t want to be the only one with a belly, Love, Baby Knight.” The last words are chocked out.
“Congrats, Daddy,” I say sitting the box on the table.
“Aves.” My name is a plea on his lips. “Are we?”
I smile and nod. “Yeah, we’re pregnant.” Dylan drops to his knees and buries his head in my lap. His large hands cover my still flat belly. I run my fingers through his hair giving him time to process the news. I’ve had a few weeks to come to terms with it.
“How are you? How is the baby?” he whispers lifting his head.
“Good and good. I went to the doctor two weeks ago and confirmed it. We’re due in seven months.”
He lifts my shirt and places his warm lips against my skin. “I love you, baby Knight.” Looking up his eyes find mine. “You.” He shakes his head. “I didn’t think it was possible to fall even more in love with you.” His hand gently caresses my belly. “You and this baby, you’re everything, Avery. I love you.” he leans down and kisses my belly. “I love you, too.”
I don’t even try to fight the tears. I knew he would be excited, but in typical Dylan fashion he melts my heart. “I love you, too.”
“We made a baby,” he says reverently. “Part of me is growing inside of you. Holy shit, we’re having a baby.” His smile is blinding. With one last kiss to my belly and one to my lips, he lowers my shirt and stands, offering me his hand.
“Where are we going?”
“Home. I need you in our bed. I need to make love to you.”
“That’s kind of what got us in this situation.”
He winks. “I know and we need to celebrate.” He gently tugs on my arm until I stand and follow him downstairs.