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The park. The Ranger duties? Those are just work. Home is where the heart is, and family is where the soul is.
“Coming, babies!” I call out, hustling up the stairs through the kitchen and into Stacey’s den.
“I’ve got an assignment due I’ve got to send in. Can you be a doll and change Beatrice, maybe get her a bottle too?” she asks, handing me our baby angel who gurgles with amusement.
Reminding me just how much our world revolves around her, but loving every minute of it.
Beatrice is a quiet baby, only letting us know when she’s upset if things are really not to her liking.
She loves to be held and cuddled though, watching either mommy or daddy work, while she blows bubbles and fills her diaper with determination, especially when neither of us should have the time, but always make it for her. No matter what.
“I thought you did that module, handed it in last week?” I ask, worried Stacey’s taking on too much with her online degree, already planning our little trips into both town and the city so she can complete her degree modules on-site.
Being the wife of a ranger doesn’t automatically make you one, and Stacey agrees, she’s going through the regular channels, with no help from me to get where she wants to be.
Ranger Stacey.
I kind of tear up every time I think of it like that, but I’m so proud of her, and I know little Beatrice is too.
And her dad, Greg? Don’t even get him started on him, he’ll bale you up for a good half hour, telling you his daughter should be the next congresswoman, not just a park ranger with a law degree to boot.
Heading to the kitchen to fix Beatrice her lunch as well as change her, I take a second by the back door, cradling her tiny body in my arms, and look out on what we’ve made so far.
I’d say it isn’t much, but Greg and anyone else who visits tells us both that we should slow down, that we’re maybe trying too hard.
But the work here, at home? It isn’t work at all. It’s us. It’s our future and it’s little Beatrice’s future too.
For her husband or partner someday too.
Almost forgetting her diaper and her lunch until I feel Stacey’s arms wrap around us, letting me know she’s done now and asking how she can help.
“I was just thinking…” I tell them both. “Maybe little Beatrice here needs a younger brother or sister to boss around. Give her something to do once she’s old enough,” I reflect.
“Maybe daddy needs to tie a knot in it,” Stacey teases me, taking Beatrice and making a face once she smells her diaper.
“I’ll get her lunch ready then,” I tell her, watching her walk to the changing table, counting the minutes in my head until Beatrice is asleep and daddy can have some quiet time with Mommy.
“Did you finish your assignment?” I ask, trying to sound innocent but my eyes betray me, traveling up and down her body as my true intentions show.
Stacey rolls her eyes, but smiles.
“Yeah, I did. And no thanks to you, we’ll have more than enough playmates for little Beatrice here. Maybe I should postpone my degree?” she says to herself, bouncing our baby girl and cooing into her ear that mommy likes babies just as much as she does studying.
I move over to her, hugging her from behind, kissing her neck.
“I’ll support whatever you choose, baby. But if you need more help from me, with anything. Just say so,” I tell her.
Suddenly feeling maybe I don’t need to spend so much time restoring the ancient baby furniture, we can just buy the store made stuff.
“That’s not what I meant, Ben,” she smiles again, kissing me tenderly. Beatrice gurgling before she starts to kick and hoot for food.
Her tiny feet pushing out in her onesie, making her mom and I laugh.
“I know,” I reply, “but I just want to keep things as they are, perfect. You’re happy, I’m happy… We’re all happy.”
“We can have more though, right?” Stacey asks, looking eager. Her eyes wide and shining with a look I recall from a year ago.
“You mean—” I gasp, feeling my heart bloom when she nods with excitement.
“No dad here, just mommy telling daddy and baby Beatrice she’s gonna have a baby brother or sister soon!” she squeals, and I can’t help but join her, slapping my thigh and praising everything holy.
“Blessed, we’re truly blessed, my loves,” I tell them both, holding them extra tight and wondering if it’s time to start building that second story onto the house after all.
“We’ve got time yet,” Stacey assures me, but I can already see the plans in my mind.
A bigger house.
A bigger ranch.
We’re gonna need it.
Extended Epilogue
Three Years Later
Stacey
The radio crackles to life, a sound that never gets old to me.
