I left the shop early today. It’s our four-year wedding anniversary, and if I have my way, I’m going to convince my wife to stop taking her birth control. My little princess needs a little brother or sister—I’ll take either.
I pull into my in-laws and leave the truck running. “Dadda,” Katie says from her pop’s lap on the front porch.
Walking up the steps, I stoop down and hold my arms out for her. My father-in-law places her on her feet and she races toward me. “Dadda,” she cheers, then gives me a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. It’s hard to believe she’s two. We just celebrated her second birthday last month.
Katelynn Hope. I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love Avery. I was wrong. My daughter and my wife, they hold my heart.
“Hey, princess, you ready to go home?”
She nods, resting her head on my shoulder. This kid, I’m telling you she has me wrapped around that little pinky of hers. “We have to go get Mommy some flowers.”
“Flowers,” she says sleepily.
“We were working on swinging our way to a nap,” he tells me.
“You sleepy?” I ask, rubbing her back.
Of course, she replies, “No.” That seems to be her go-to word these days. Aves says it’s because that’s all she hears. The little bugger is into everything.
After gathering her bag, I get her strapped into her seat and we head to the flower shop. Of course, she’s asleep by the time we get there; she’s doesn’t move a muscle as I get her out of her seat. I called ahead and paid over the phone, so all I have to do is pick up the flowers I ordered.
“Let me carry these out for you,” the lady behind the counter offers. “Looks like you have your hands full.”
“Thank you.” I lead the way out to my truck and open the back door. She places the flowers in their box on the floorboard while I get Katie strapped back into her seat. With a thank you and a wave, we’re off to pick up dinner. I called ahead for Chinese and told them what time to have it ready. I’m a little early, so I sit in the truck and text Aves.
Me: How’s your day?
My wife: Good, the day’s almost over. Chinese for dinner?”
I text her a picture of the restaurant.
My wife: You’re off work early.
I text her a picture of Katie sleeping in her seat, careful not to get the flowers.
My wife: She looks like her daddy.
She does. She has my same dark hair and facial features, but she has her momma’s eyes.
Me: See you at home.
My wife: Love you.
Climbing out of the truck, I unstrap my daughter from her seat again and this time she rubs her eyes, slowly waking up. With her head nestled on my shoulder, we make our way into the restaurant.
“Bite,” Katie says.
I laugh. “Are you hungry?” She nods sleepily. I kiss the top of her head. “We need to wait on Mommy. She should be home when we get there.”
“Mommy,” she agrees.
After paying for the food and managing to get Katie into her seat without dropping it, I buckle her in. “Today is Mommy and Daddy’s anniversary,” I tell her on the way to our house. I catch a glimpse of her in my rearview mirror and she’s looking out the window. I guess I can’t expect a reply from a two-year-old.
Avery is waiting for us on the front porch when we pull in. “Hey,” she greets me at the truck. “I could’ve gone to pick her up or the food.”
I bend down and kiss her. “Happy anniversary, baby.”
“Happy anniversary.”
“Momma,” Katie calls out.
“I’ll get her. Can you take the food?” I reach into the back seat and grab the takeout bag. I make quick work of getting Katie unbuckled and carry her into the house.
“Babe,” I call out.
“In the kitchen.”
“Katie’s in here. I’m running back out to the truck.”
“What did you forget?” she asks, coming around the corner with Katie on her hip.
“Don’t you worry about it.” I tap the end of her nose, then run out to get the flowers. She sees me and the flowers as soon as I enter the house.
“What am I going to do with you?” She smiles.
“I have an idea,” I say, leaning in for a kiss.
“Oh yeah, and what might that be?”
“Make a baby with me.” My voice is even, no laughter. I want her to know how serious I am.
“This again?” she asks.
“Avery, come on, Katie just turned two. She’ll be three by the time the new baby gets here. You even said you don’t want there to be years between them like with you and Alan.”
“Can we talk about this after we eat?”
“Yes, as long as we talk about it. Tonight. And maybe even get started tonight.” I smack her ass, passing her to go to the kitchen. I sit her flowers on the counter and make Katie a plate. She loves Chinese just as much as her momma.
“How was your day? Did that new sales rep fix the shipping issue?” Avery asks. We spend the next hour talking about our days and laughing at Katie. She’s such a ham, my little girl.
“Baby duty or kitchen duty?” she asks me.
“I’ll take whatever you don’t want.”
“I want baby duty.” She grabs Katie from her high chair and heads upstairs.
I take in the cleanup—the worst part is the floor. We let Katie feed herself and she’s a little messy. I get to work and have the mess cleaned up in record time. Sprinting up the steps, I find my girls in Katie’s room. Avery is sitting in the rocking chair, reading her a story. Katie is sound asleep.
“She’s out,” I whisper when Aves catches me standing there.
She smiles, stands slowly, and places Katie in her crib. I join her, bending down to kiss my princess good night.
“Now we celebrate,” I say softly, leading Avery to our room. She makes sure the baby monitor is on, then sets on the bed.
“You ready for your present?” she asks me.
I pull my shirt over my head and grin at her. She throws her head back, laughing. “Not that one, this one.” She reaches into the nightstand, pulls out a small white box, and hands it to me.
“We still get the other one, right? You said we would talk about it, Aves.”
“Yes, I know I said we would talk about it, and we will. I just want to give my husband his anniversary present first.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll love it. It came from you.” I pull the lid from the box and search through the tissue paper. It takes some digging, but I finally feel a piece of long, thin plastic. Pulling it out of the bag, I see what it is. “Are you…? It says positive,” I tell her, even though I’m sure she already knows.
She laughs. “Yes, Dylan, I know it’s positive.”
“How? I mean, you said…” I’m holding a positive pregnancy test. We’re having another baby.
“I didn’t want you to get your hopes up. Mom had trouble after Alan, and I just didn’t want you to have to worry. I stopped taking my pills about three months ago.”
“So how are you feeling?” I sit on the bed next to her, placing my hand on her belly. “Have you been sick like before? How far along are you?” I fire off questions.
“No sickness this time, and I’m guessing not far, maybe four or five weeks. I have an appointment next week to see the doctor.” She runs her fingers through my hair where my head now rests on her belly, next to our baby. “Good surprise?”
“The best, but I don’t want you keeping things from me, Aves. We’re in this together. If we struggle with the next one, we go through it together. All of it.”
“The next one?” she asks, trying to hide her smile.
“We make cute babies.”
She laughs. “Katie is your only reference.”
“Have you seen that kid? Her daddy’s hair and her mommy’s eyes. We do good work,” I tell her, making her belly and my head shake.
“Let’s get baby number two here before we start thinking about three.”
“Deal.” Sitting up, I cup her face. “I love you, Mrs. Knight.”
“Remind me.”
And I do.