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She belonged there with me. It felt wholesome and right.
Later, I loaded plates into the dishwasher while Amelia put the leftover pizza into bags in the refrigerator. We soon found ourselves back on the couch, with some reality show on TV in the background, sipping hot cocoa while we scrolled through our phones.
Amelia sighed, setting down her mug and scooting over to me. She rested her head on my shoulder and bent her knees up onto the sofa, leaning into me. I wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head, her silky chestnut hair smelling like shampoo and sweet vanilla perfume.
She let out a soft laugh. “This is what life is going to look like now. You, me, the couch and the TV. Homey and cozy and peaceful.”
“Not to mention a little baby, cooing, crying, pooping, sleeping. You say it’s peaceful now,” I teased, “but let’s wait until the baby is born to make a final assessment.”
“Fine, I guess the future won’t be so peaceful after all. It will be noisy and chaotic–an adventure. But it’ll be us. We’ll be together, with our child. A family.” Her lips stretched into a big-dimpled smile as she said the wordfamily, and my heart felt so full that it might burst out of my chest.
“Have you thought any more about your non-profit idea? Anything percolating in there?” I tapped a finger softly on her head. She swatted my hand away playfully, and tickled my ribcage as retaliation, then cuddled in closer.
“I’m still just dreaming about it. I haven’t gotten much deeper than that. Although, maybe a few years down the road, when we’ve found our stride as parents, I could step into that new chapter of my life.”
“I think it would be a pretty cool thing for you to do. You’d be able to share the leadership responsibilities with our child, too. Once they’re older, of course.”
She nodded and told me about her ideas for the organization. She had been wrong before; she’d done much more thinking and planning than she gave herself credit for. I encouraged her but tried not to be too pushy. Amelia would come to this on her own time, and I trusted that she would find the right path for herself.
We headed upstairs, brushed our teeth and got ready for bed. Amelia wore a tank top and tiny cotton shorts that showed off her toned legs before slipping under the covers with me. She curled up into the crook of my arm, and draped her free arm around my torso, snuggling into my side. I was crazy about her–gorgeous, sweet, sexy, kind Amelia–and had the usual feelings of desire stirring inside, being wrapped up so closely with her in bed, but I knew the move had really taken it out of her. She was exhausted, and frankly, so was I.
Turning off the light, I gave her one final kiss goodnight on her forehead, and she quickly drifted off into a peaceful slumber while lying in my arms.
Chapter 39
Amelia
Our first week living together had been amazing. We were happier than ever. Nathaniel came with me to my first doctor’s appointment, and we both learned a few things. One was that a mispositioned IUD can fail. Two was the baby’s due date.
Having everything confirmed by the doctor, finally it all feltveryreal. More pregnancy symptoms were appearing each day–I had begun to feel fatigued more quickly. My breasts were sore, and my sense of smell was heightened like I had never experienced before. This baby was real, and my body was starting to remind me of it constantly.
Nathaniel had been wonderful. He was in my corner, every step of the way, building me up and making me feel like I was on top of the world. I had never felt so loved and cherished before, and I was touched by how attentive and thoughtful he was.
I couldn’t wait to see him as a father. I knew he would be brilliant. If the way he treated me was any indication, our baby would have the most wonderful father in the world.
My sisters had stopped by a couple of times during the week, and we agreed to carpool to our parents’ house for the holiday dinner. When we picked them up at my old apartment in Point Loma, Melinda was holding a cupcake carrier filled to the brim with homemade treats she had baked for dessert.
“Those look incredible!” I said as they piled into the car.
“I hope you like them! They’re red velvet. I’m trying a new recipe.”
“Yum, my favorite,” Larissa moaned.
An idea came to me.
“Hey Melinda, how do you feel about baking for a crowd?”
“Hmm. Well, I’ve never done it before, but I’ve also never been one to turn down a challenge…”
“Do you want to bake our wedding cake?” I asked.
“Oh, wow! Well, that might be a bigger crowd than I can handle.” She laughed nervously. “I’ll have to think about it. Maybe I’ll look up recipes and watch some tutorials on large-scale baking.”
“No pressure. We’re still looking at venues, but we’ve narrowed it down to three–the vineyard, the beach club, and the cliff top gazebo. We’re also zeroing in on the date, so whoever can schedule us first, we’ll probably take that one. I want to make this happen sooner than later.”
Nathaniel jumped in, eyes still on the road. “Are you sure that doing this right away won’t pile too much on your plate? With work, being pregnant, planning for the baby…”
“Plus,” Larissa interjected, “dealing with Mom and Dad. You’ve only just started to patch things up, and Nathaniel has a point. Do you really want to rush all this important stuff?”
