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It had taken a lot of planning for her and her family to visit, given their busy schedules, Harlow with the clinic where she works three times a week, and Dax with his furniture production schedule. She’d done the math and figured this week would be a perfect time. Knowing how exact she is, she might be right. Even my next-door neighbors Sam and Erik agreed.
They’re currently hosting the twins for their second sleepover since they arrived three days ago. Their kids have always got along well with the twins, and this sleepover will give Harlow and Dax time alone with us.
I squeeze her hand. “Can you believe it’s been a year since I took your advice to come out here? And look what happened.” It’s been over a year, but my brain isn’t exactly good at numbers these days. The doctor says it’s all those hormones going haywire.
“Let me guess. You fell in love and are living the life you’ve always wanted?”
“Exactly,” I reply, chuckling. “Hudson wanted to try as soon as the ink was dry on the marriage certificate.” We’d gotten married at the City Hall first, and I was five months along by the time we made it official with a church wedding.
“So what’s wrong?” Harlow asks. “You don’t feel a hundred percent about this?”
I sigh. “I don’t know if this is what Hudson wants. He’s not even thirty, and none of his friends are married or have kids.” I cock my head toward the window where Hudson is diving for the ball on the beach. He manages to get it in time, his partner bumping it back to him as he gets up from the sand.
“If this isn’t what he wanted, Arden, he wouldn’t be as happy as he seems, and I doubt he’s the type of man who’d do something he doesn’t want to do,” Harlow says. “Dax was only 27 when I got pregnant, and he was so excited about it that there was no doubt he wanted the same thing. People grow up, even guys who play beach volleyball every day. But then, it comes with the territory. Just look at where you guys live.”
I sigh. “I hate it when you’re right.”
“It’s probably hormones. It makes us think up these scenarios.” She checks the crockpot display. “Fifteen more minutes.”
I pull open the refrigerator, resting the bag of salad greens on my baby bump as I grab the salad dressing. “But, Harlow, I was his babysitter. I’ve heard people talk.”
She scoffs. “So what? You could have been anything; they’d still talk simply because you’re ten years older. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you and Hudson love each other, and very soon,” she rubs my baby bump, “you’ll both be parents.”
“And you’ll be a godmother.”
She laughs. “Damn right. I can’t wait to hold her.”
“Or him.”
Even though our doctor knows, Hudson and I decided not to find out whether we’re having a boy or a girl, so everything is yellow or green in the nursery. I like the suspense of it, the anticipation.
A contraction hits, and I lean against the counter, waiting for the pain to subside. “Oh boy.”
“How far along are they?” she asks as I press the timer on my watch.
“The last one was ten minutes ago, so not there yet.”
“Almost, though.” She rubs my lower back, the tightness slowly fading away. “Remember, five minutes, and we’re all going straight to the hospital.”
The five-minute mark comes two hours after everyone has showered and changed, had dinner, and is about to settle in front of the TV to see an old movie,Look Who’s Talking. It’s part of having baby on the brain, I guess, especially since one is just about to introduce himself (or herself) to us very soon.
Luisa Carmella Sloane arrives four hours later, and Hudson is right there with me the whole time, coaching me through every breath, every push. He’s there when they place her on my chest and remarks how she’s got my pert nose. When she opens her eyes and blinks, I’m happy to see she got his blue eyes.
“I love you,” Hudson murmurs as he kisses me. “I love you more than words can say, Arden.”
“And I love you right back,” I whisper as our baby decides right then to scream at the top of her lungs, as if not happy she’s not getting the attention she rightfully deserves.
As the nurse takes Luisa to be cleaned and weighed, I can’t help but marvel at how things happen when we least expect them to. Like meeting the boy you babysat twenty years earlier just when you’d convinced yourself you’d never find love again.
But you do.
And you realize all it took was a little patience and a lot of self-love to find a love that lasts.
* * *
