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It was hard to believe that the high school chapter of my life was now over. It didn’t seem real yet.
Mom whisked Elizabeth away into the kitchen, claiming she needed a taste tester. Truth was, they’d probably talk about the baby while eating early. Didn’t bother me any. The doctor still said Elizabeth needed to be gaining more weight, but we couldn’t exactly force-feed her. She’d get sick if she ate too much and overfilled her belly. So, Mom just made her snack a lot. Mom just hid the fact that she had to up her exercising so she wouldn’t end up overweight. But still, I loved my mom for everything she was doing for Elizabeth.
“Hey, Dad,” I greeted when I stepped out onto the patio, where he was currently grilling a rack of ribs. It smelled so good, my stomach rumbled loud enough that Dad ended up laughing at me.
“Congratulations, son. I’m extremely proud of you.”
I bumped his shoulder with mine as I came to stand beside him. “Thanks, Dad.”
Dad reached over to the small table next to the grill and handed me an envelope with my name written in his messy scrawl. I frowned down at it. I thought any gifts were going to be opened later when everyone was here. Mom was so extra when it came to parties like this that she literally bought everyone who was coming something because she wanted everyone to be able to open something and not feel left out.
“What’s this, old man?” I asked, looking up at my dad.
He grunted, rolling his eyes at me. “Just open it, Drake.”
I slid my thumb under the opening and ripped it before pulling out a piece of paper. I quickly began to read it, a broad grin spreading across my cheeks. My heart clenched in my chest.
I had no idea how I got so lucky to have amazing parents like this, but I would never take them for granted.
Dad was giving me a pay raise, moving me to full-time for the summer before my college classes started, and he had another surprise for me, but didn’t say what in his messily-scrawled letter. Hell, I didn’t know what could be better than this. A pay raise meant I could support me, Elizabeth, and our baby even better, and that was all I could ever ask for.
I didn’t want my family to want for anything.
I looked up at Dad, confused when I saw him dangling a set of keys in front of me. “What’s that?” I asked, reaching forward to take them from him when he only jingled them harder in my direction, arching a brow at me.
“I bought you and Elizabeth a tiny home and put it on the back end of the property.” My eyes filled with unexpected tears at his thoughtfulness, and I wasn’t much of a crier. But fuck, this was all too much. My hand trembled around the brass keys in my hand. “Your mother doesn’t want you two too far from home, not with you two about to have a newborn and starting college. Once you two finish college, you’re more than welcome to move or build something bigger, but—”
“Dad,” I rasped, finally finding my voice, “thank you.”
He wrapped me up in his big, burly arms, squeezing me to him. I wrapped my own arms tightly around him, my breath shuddering from my lungs as I tried to hold myself together. This was more than I had ever expected. More than I could have ever hoped for.
“I love you, son, and I’m extremely proud of the man you’ve become. You’re going to be an amazing father, and I can’t wait to witness it.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. None of this had been what I expected—not Elizabeth, not our baby, and not these gifts my parents just gave me—but I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.
I watched as Kaleb hugged Elizabeth, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh and smack his shoulder. He just grinned at her before dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Call me if you need me, alright?” My best friend looked at me. “That goes for you, too, fucker.”
I rolled my eyes. Elizabeth was going to pop any day now, so I knew we were all worried. But after tonight, Kaleb would be crashing on our couch until Elizabeth went into labor, and he’d asked to stay for a couple of weeks after once she got back home so he could help us take care of the baby.
I had the best friend in the entire damn world, to be honest. He wasn’t batting an eye at the mention of shitty, runny diapers, spit-up, crying, and multiple night feedings.
“We will,” I promised him.
He quickly left, and I grabbed Elizabeth’s hand, leading her out to my truck. Once she was safely in, I got in the driver’s seat and made the drive to the back of the property. Dad had thankfully smoothed out the drive and put gravel in for us. I’d never noticed it since it was on the side of the property I didn’t go to very often—honestly couldn’t remember the last time I had. The farm was pretty damn big.
