I have to admit, girls’ nights are not what they used to be. We used to meet up at my family’s bar, have a few drinks, and then the guys would drive us home. Once McKinley was pregnant with Walker, we moved them to one of our houses, but there was still alcohol.
“Can I have my turn now?” I’m fully aware that I’m whining, but baby Beau has been snuggled by everyone but me, and my sister-in-law is the current baby hog.
Everyone laughs. “I guess,” Jamie says, like I’m a huge inconvenience to her.
“Finally!” I walk to where she’s sitting in the recliner and carefully accept baby Beau into my arms. “Look at you,” I coo down at him. “You’re just the cutest little man.” Yeah, I know he doesn’t understand me, but I can’t resist.
“Y’all need anything from the kitchen?” McKinley asks. She’s moving around great for a woman who just gave birth to this little guy a little over three weeks ago.
“Do you mind grabbing me a water?” Whitney asks. She’s posted on the love seat, her feet propped up on the table, her hands on her baby belly.
“Olivia, Jamie, either of you ready for that glass of wine?” Her voice is wistful, as if she’s living through us. She’s nursing, so no alcohol for her. McKinley refuses the pump-and-dump method. She’s strict as can be when it comes to her babies. Not that I blame her; I’d be the same way.
“I’m good right now, thanks,” I say, not taking my eyes off the sleeping baby in my arms.
“Jamie?” McKinley asks again.
“Uh, just water for me too.”
Her voice is off. I look up and study her; she looks nervous as hell. “What’s up with you?” I ask her.
“What? Nothing,” she says way too quickly. I hold her stare and see the moment she caves. “I’m pregnant,” she says softly.
“I’m going to be an aunt?” I say too loudly, causing little Beau to jump in my arms. “Shh,” I soothe him back to sleep. “I’m going to be an aunt?” I say again, softer this time.
“Yeah.” She smiles. “You’re going to be an aunt.”
“How far along are you?” I ask, fighting the tears that are threatening to fall.
“Eight weeks.” She blushes. “When we decided to get married in the Keys, I stopped taking my birth control. We didn’t want to wait,” she tells us.
“I’m so happy for you,” I say as I lose the battle with my tears. I look down at Beau and then back to Jamie. “You’re going to have one of these,” I murmur. “My brother is going to be a daddy.” I laugh.
“He is, and he’s excited. We were going to wait until the first trimester ended, but I knew I would end up spilling the beans tonight. He told me to go for it.”
“Thank you.” I look Jamie in the eye. “Thank you for loving him, for bringing him to life and giving our family this gift.”
She wipes at her tears. “He’s my heart.”
“What about you?” Whitney asks. “Any wedding news?”
“No. I mean, he says we’re going to be married, and he even suggested I buy a dress, which I did.” I blush.
“What? When? We would have gone with you,” McKinley says, passing out bottles of water.
“She went with me,” Jamie says. “Called me out of the blue, asked if I had a dress, and we went shopping. We both fell in love with the first dresses we tried on and the rest, as they say, is history,” she explains.
“Does he know you found a dress?”
“He does. He keeps trying to get me to show it to him.”
“Show it to us,” Whitney tells me.
Grabbing my phone from the arm of the couch, I unlock the screen and pass it to McKinley, who oohs and aahs and then passes it to Whit. “That’s beautiful,” McKinley says.
“It really is,” Whit agrees.
“So, has he asked you?” Jamie chimes in.
“No. He went from asking me at least once a week to radio silence. Well, not really radio silence, but he hasn’t asked me once since then. We talked about it. He said he’s only getting down on one knee once in his life and he needs to do it right. Then he said it was happening. We talked about the wedding and what I’ve always dreamed it would be. He said he doesn’t care as long as I’m the one walking down the aisle.”
They all melt at that. I can see the soft expressions on their faces, not to mention the rounds of “He’s so sweet.”
“He said what I want is simple, and it sounded to him like the dress is the hardest part, so he told me to start looking. I never dreamed I would find the dress day one, let alone the first one I tried on. I bought it and sent it home with Jamie.”
“He loves you,” Jamie assures me. “You can’t look at that man when you’re around and not see it.”
“She’s right,” McKinley agrees. “He’s always looked at you like that.”
“He’s planning the grand gesture, I’m sure of it. It’s obvious he’s no longer playfully asking you because the next time he does, he’s going to be on one knee, and you better say yes.” She points at me.
I can’t help but laugh at her. “I’m so saying yes. I know you guys are right, but I’m anxious for it to happen. I spent all this time letting worry keep us from moving forward, and now that I’m ready, I feel like we’re at a standstill.”
“I get that,” McKinley says. “But you have to understand he’s wanted you to be his wife for almost as long as y’all have been together. He’s not a man to half-ass his once-in-a-lifetime proposal.”
“I agree,” Jamie adds. “He wants it to be perfect. It’s happening. He’s not stringing you along. He’s not like that.”
“I know that, in reality, but I can’t help but be mad at myself for keeping us from this for months.”
“You weren’t ready,” Whitney reassures me. “He knew that, and so did you. Now you are, and it’ll happen. Have a little faith.”
“I want babies. Y’all are so far ahead of me,” I say, wiping a tear from my eyes.
“Not really. I have two more months,” Whit explains.
“And I have seven,” Jamie adds. “Regardless, we’re going to be raising our kids together. I’m not stopping at one.” She laughs. “At least I hope not. So our kids aren’t the exact same age? They’re still going to grow up as family. All of them.” She looks around the room.
“I know, I just—”
“You’re just impatient.” McKinley laughs. “You always have been.”
“It’s hard not to be when I’m holding this little guy, or when he talks about our future.”
“He’s always done that,” Whitney says gently. “He waited a long time for you to tell him that you were ready to move forward. Give him this time to make it special for you. You said he told you he didn’t care how big or small the wedding was, just that he wanted you to be the one walking down the aisle toward him. Maybe the proposal is what he cares about. Maybe he wants a story to tell your kids and grandkids. Maybe he wants to blow your romantic fantasies out of the water.”
“Y’all are Team David tonight,” I laugh.
“No, we’re Team Olivia and David,” Jamie says. “We want you both to be happy. We can see it, from the outside looking in. It’s going to happen.”
“I know. He loves me. I’m so damn lucky to have him in my life. I just… want it all. Now,” I admit with a laugh.
“See, impatient.” McKinley nods.
“Fine, I’m impatient,” I agree. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I continue. “I know I’m the one who kept us from moving forward, and well, I just thought that the night I told him I was ready, it would be soon.”
Before the girls can reply, the front door opens and Evan, followed by Aaron, Mike, and my man, walk into the room. I watch as each of them makes a beeline for their girl.
“Livy,” David says, taking a seat next to me. “Have a good night?”
“We did. How about you?”
“Played a few games of pool over at Aaron’s.” He places a kiss just beneath my ear. “Missed you,” he whispers.
I turn to look at him, a smile on my face.
“That’s what I want,” he says softly, just low enough for me to hear. “I want that smile on your face every day for the rest of our lives.”
I don’t have words, so I lean in and press my lips to his. My love for this man grows every damn day. I never want to know what it’s like to not have him in my life.