AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I didn’t hear her wake up,” he says. “I could have gotten up with her.”
“It’s okay. You lack the proper equipment to soothe her hunger.” I smile. “Go back to sleep. I’m okay.”
“I don’t want to miss a single thing with Amia.”
I lay Amia down after she’s drifted off to sleep, and then I slide back into the bed with J.R. He opens his arms for me to lie in them, so I do. He’s warm, and I nestle myself against him. I feel his lips against my forehead, and then he rests his chin over my head. I lift my face toward his.
“How are you? After today? I know it’s not been easy for you, losing your dad and getting a new baby at the same time. It’s a lot.”
“I spent fifteen years pretending he was dead. I’ll be okay,” he says.
I think it’s sad, but then I felt the same when my mother died. A part of me had already mourned her a long time ago.
J.R.’s relationship with his father improved over the last few months, of course, and that’s where our situations are different. The principle is the same, though. We both said goodbye to our families a long time ago. We made our own lives, our own family.
“How is your mom?” I ask him.
“She’ll be fine,” he says with a sigh. “My uncle has agreed to stay here with her. Keep the farm running.”
I’m relieved to hear this. I had been so afraid to ask him what they had planned, afraid that he would say we’re staying and that he was going to take on the role his father always wanted him to take.
“Is that what you want?” I ask him this as more of a courtesy. I know it’s what he wants, but I have to ask, anyway.
“You know I never wanted to stay here. We have a home. A family. I miss my boat.” I hear him laugh at himself.
I smile with him. “I’m glad it worked out then.”
“I love you, Rachel. You never stop surprising me.”
“What does that mean?”
“Coming here with me, pregnant and all. You didn’t even hesitate. You just came.”
“It was never a question for me.” I kiss him.
41
I know I was gone awhile from this place before, but I swear I’ve never been happier to be back on the island. The last six months, in some respects, actually felt longer than the actual years I was gone after leaving J.R. As I step out of the truck into our driveway, I close my eyes and inhale the humid, salty air. The sea breeze catches my hair, and I hope I never have to leave this place again. This is home.
J.R. carries Amia into the house, and Knox and I follow behind. I’m strangely surprised to find that everything is just as we left it. The front porch rocking chairs sit just as they were in January, empty and waiting for a seat. Still, it’s a little obvious that no one has been here in a while. Well, with the exception of a woman we hired to come in and clean once a week. Kelley and Adam were here for a week back in the spring, too. Other than that, our home has been empty.
As J.R. unlocks the door, I recall Kelley telling me that she had left us a surprise inside when they were here in the spring. She wouldn’t say what, of course, but I remind J.R. in case the surprise is sitting right in front of the door.
“No surprise here,” J.R. says as he walks in. Knox and I follow behind him, and I feel myself smile as I glance around our house, more than elated to finally be home.
Knox takes off down the hall to her bedroom. I assume she’ll want to take inventory and make sure that the things she left are still there. I turn on the lights, open the curtains, and let in the sunshine. I can almost feel the walls yawning as the sunlight hits them.
“I think I found the surprise!” I hear Knox call from down the hall.
I glance at J.R. as he pulls Amia out of her car seat, and then we walk down the hall together to see what surprise Knox has found. We aren’t far when we stumble upon the surprise, too. The extra bedroom—not the music room, but the other room that was serving as a storage closet—has somehow been transformed into a nursery. The walls are now painted a soft pink, and a vintage style crib sits against the far wall. There’s a white rocking chair in the corner next to a small bookshelf loaded with children’s books. A dresser sits on another wall, which also doubles as a changing table; and the most beautiful, round oriental rug lies across the hardwood floors. There’s also a large, wooden wardrobe closet with its doors wide open, revealing several baby outfits.
I stand in the center of the room, completely overwhelmed with the transformation of this room. I didn’t even really know it could be a room. We had always used it to store stuff while renovating the house, and then we never really revisited it. Now, it’s a beautiful nursery. I have no words, but I feel tears surface and then stream down my face. J.R. looks surprised, too. His blue eyes are wide as he takes in each wall, each detail. Knox stands there between us, beaming.
I had been worried about having a room for Amia here. I could never take J.R.’s music room away from him, even though he would have gladly given it up, and I couldn’t have asked Knox to room with a newborn. I had thought it was something we would have time to figure out; but then January came, and we left so quickly, there was never a solution. The solution that Kelley provided us with is more than I could have ever imagined, and I’m pretty sure that no one has ever had a better best friend than I. She must have spent her entire vacation doing this for us.
“This is amazing,” J.R. says, his mouth gaping.
“So cool!” Knox says with excitement.
