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“And, now seeing you here, hearing those words, there’s nobody I’d rather have by my side tomorrow either. Or the next day. And nobody I’d rather Dorothy have as a father.” She squeezed my hand weakly.
It was hard not to explode with happiness, but I had to make sure she was finished speaking. I had to make sure that I wasn’t going to do anything to make her feel an ounce of upset ever again. Now was not the time to be interrupting her.
I waited a few seconds, biting my tongue to keep myself from saying anything.
“Well?” she asked. “Aren’t you going to say anything?”
My eyes filled with tears of joy and relief. I didn’t. I didn’t say a word. Instead, I used my lips to kiss her. And that kiss said more than anything I could have possibly said in response.
EPILOGUE
***MILA***
There was a lot to go over after that day at the hospital. We couldn’t take Dorothy home as she had to stay at the hospital for observation, which wasn’t ideal, but Leo assured me that it was necessary for her health and to ensure a complete recovery. All in all, it took a couple of months before she could leave the hospital. In the meantime, I took Leo back to the house and he took the opportunity to begin moving his stuff in.
For a while, the hospital was effectively our home for everything except for sleeping. There was always one of us there with Dorothy at all times, or both of us there together. And by the time we got to our real home at the end of the day, we slept very hard.
However, time passed quickly enough, and soon enough, Dorothy did come home with us. And when she did, she changed our lives completely. Overall, these changes were for the better, which was certainly saying something because she also introduced sleepless nights and endless feedings and diaper changing. In the months leading up to her birth, I’d assumed that my life had revolved around her, but things became even more Dorothy-centric when she was out of my body and breathing on her own.
Fortunately, she had a complete recovery from the arterial switch, with the only lasting sign of it being the scar across her chest. And it was important that she had a strong heart for all the love that she’d be giving and receiving.
If the time with her in my belly went by quickly, the time when she came out flew by like a Formula One racer. Before too long, she was crawling, and then walking on two feet, and even making adorable baby sounds that turned into her first word. I was expecting that first word to be “Mama,” and Leo was hoping for “Dada,” but both of us were wrong. Her first word was “Bay-guh.”
Bagel.
Bagel loved her, and she adored him. I admit that I was a bit scared to have my darling baby girl around a full grown pit bull, but I quickly realized that Bagel had a maternal instinct in her, and she was as gentle as I’d ever seen a dog. Even when Dorothy was pulling on her ears, Bagel just sat there and took it. I think she even enjoyed it.
As for the first human name that Dorothy said, Leo ended up winning. Her second word was, in fact, “Dada.”
Other parents might have felt a little jealous about this, but not me. It warmed my heart to see such a loving and devoted father as Leo. He was an absolute natural and it was remarkable to me that he’d — not too long ago — thought that he didn’t want kids. From the second Dorothy first came home with us, I don’t think he stopped smiling for a second. He never got tired of playing with her, and she loved him with all her heart. It was cute when strangers would approach us on the street to say hello to both her and Bagel and note that Dorothy had Leo’s eyes. I never knew what to say, but Leo took it in stride and replied, “Nah, hers are much prettier.”
It was during this time that the Matchmaker Plus dating app went through several revisions after entering a true public beta and, ultimately, we determined that the algorithm based on the random data was garbage in all of its incarnations. Cheryl told me it had something to do with improper use of regression analysis, or something like that, but the point was that it was pseudoscience and we had to throw it out completely. Which was fine, because the whole company had a massive reorganization, and my team and I were transferred to a different app designed to offer up recipes for people based on the ingredients they had in the house. As it turns out, food is much less complicated than love.
With the app's success, I was able to ask for a raise and a promotion and, along with that, the ability to work from home every day of the week if I so chose. I had been doing a lot of working from home in the six months leading up to Dorothy’s birth, but now I not only had explicit permission to do so, but they made me clear out my desk and offered me a one-time $3500 stipend to purchase items for my home office.
In other words, my job contributed to home renovations that I was going to make anyway.
Dorothy’s first birthday approached quickly. On the eve of the celebration, Leo put her to bed and afterwards, while lying in bed with me, asked, “Have you ever thought of us getting married?”
It was quite an abrupt way to propose, if that’s what it was, but the fact was that I hadn’t. I’d just assumed that we’d be partnered without being married. That life just wasn’t for me. But when he said it, my heart skipped a beat, and I wondered if it was something that I wanted. After all, I had a wonderful partner, why wouldn’t I want to declare my love for him in front of our friends and family?
“Honestly, no, I hadn’t,” I said matter-of-factly.
“I think we should,” he said.
“Well, here’s the thing,” I told him. “I can afford the mortgage. I can afford the baby. I can even afford the wedding.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“What I can’t afford,” I told him, “is a divorce.”
And, deep down, that was the truth. Making that kind of commitment to somebody was terrifying unless you were absolutely certain that they’d be around and you’d stay together.
He nodded at that. “Neither can I,” he said. “Maybe I would have been able to before, but I just spent a huge chunk of change on this.”
And, seemingly from nowhere, he materialized a small velvet box and handed it to me, then flipped it open to reveal a beautiful, tasteful diamond ring.
“I guess we’ll just need to stay married, then.”
