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Instead, I had an idea of when she should go to bed and settled her down each night. But for the most part, she established her own rhythm, and I followed it. I found that she naturally napped around the same time every day and got hungry around the same time. But I didn’t need to be so strict and try to force her to follow along with those. I figured it made more sense to follow what she needed when she needed it.
This didn’t mean I didn’t know she needed her naps and would do my best to encourage them. Especially after something different like going out to the doctor, she needed to keep up her usual flow. Fortunately, my little daughter was cooperating with me, and after a brief feeding, she fell into a contented sleep again.
“You guys are still planning on coming out for Thanksgiving, right?” Ava asked.
“Definitely. We’ve already bought the plane tickets. We get in that Monday and are staying for a week,” I said.
“Perfect,” Ava said. “Maybe we can do some Christmas shopping together.”
“Absolutely. I would love to see what kind of Black Friday shenanigans you can get yourself into.”
We laughed and chatted for a few more minutes about baby Rosie and the upcoming holiday season. Tom and I had started talking about buying a little house in Astoria so we would have somewhere to stay other than the hotel when we went to visit his family.
I had a soft spot in my heart for that hotel. After all, it was where we’d really fallen in love and where I’d told him about his daughter. But it wasn’t ideal for a baby or a small child. Both of us wanted her to have somewhere comfortable where she could feel like she had a second home. Now that we had Rosie, both of us were even more motivated to spend time with them. We wanted her to be as close as possible with her grandmother and extended family.
There might only be one aunt and cousin for now, but with as many Anderson brothers as there were, I had a feeling it wouldn’t be too long before there were plenty more aunts and cousins for our little Rosie to love.
We got off the phone just as Tom was coming through the door.
“Hey,” I said, standing up from the couch to give him a kiss. “You’re home early. I thought you had that late meeting today.”
It was still strange to think there was another secretary now. Somebody else to try to organize Tom’s day and keep him on track. But I had trained Anthony myself, and I was confident he would do well. After a few months of not working in the office, it was still odd. I had gotten so used to the rhythm of work, I still sometimes woke up and started going into the motions of heading into the office.
But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Nothing had ever made me as happy as being home with Rosie.
“I rescheduled it. I wanted to get home today. How did the appointment go?” he asked.
“It went really well,” I said, carrying Rosie toward her nursery. “I’m all healed.”
“Really?” he asked, sounding excited.
I laughed and nodded. I knew why he was so excited. I was, too. Six weeks meant we were finally cleared and didn’t have to keep our hands off each other anymore.
Tom didn’t follow me into the nursery but headed toward the front of the house. I figured he was going into the kitchen to get a drink and snack after work like he usually did. I put Rosie in her crib and stood with my hand rested lightly on her chest and belly like I always did. I found that the soft pressure helped her to stay calm and kept her relaxed through the transition from my arms into the crib.
When I slipped out of the nursery and headed into the kitchen, I discovered Tom down on one knee. I stopped and laughed.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“Amanda, I love you more than life itself. I never thought I’d find this kind of love in my entire life, and I am beyond blessed that I found it with you. I believed I would be alone forever, and yet you were right there in front of me the whole time. I’m kicking myself for taking so long to realize it, but I don’t want to waste another moment. Now that I know and have you, I have grown so much. We have grown so much together. We have our daughter. Now I want you to be my wife. Will you marry me?” he asked.
I didn’t know when I started crying, but tears were streaming down my face when I nodded.
“Yes,” I croaked out, laughing at how pathetic I sounded.
