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“The names we chose for our first child.”He exited the room, and I heard the door’s lock click.
Good God, had Seshat been pregnant?If so, it would go a long way to explain why Puck was so far off the rails.
I’d nearly gone that way myself when Katherine and I realized she was pregnant with our first child.Thinking back on it, she and I were practically children ourselves.
* * *
Katherineand I spent Christmas Eve on the sofa in front of the tree like we had each year since the night I proposed.It seemed just yesterday but a lifetime ago at the same time.
Before I’d even graduated, a friend of my parents’ recommended me for a job at Military Intelligence, Section 5.As the man was a highly influential duke, the offer was immediately extended, and I accepted just as hastily.
It was no easy task to work full time and finish my studies in order to graduate and obtain my degree, but I’d managed.Credit was due almost entirely to Katherine, who made every day a joy and helped me every way she could while completing her degree at the same time.
I put my arm around her shoulders and drew her closer to me, then kissed her cheek.“It’s almost midnight.Penny for your thoughts,” I said.
She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder.
“Darling?”I prompted when she didn’t respond.
She shifted so she faced me.“I have something to tell you, Archer.”
Her frown worried me.“What is it?”
She bit her bottom lip.“I’m…um…pregnant.”
“You are?”My eyes opened wide, and my grin felt as though it stretched from ear to ear.
She nodded.“I took three tests just to make sure.”
I leaned forward and kissed her, then pulled back to look in her eyes.“Tell me you’re happy, K.”
She smiled and nodded through her tears.“I’m actually thrilled.I worried you’d think it was too soon.”
“I have a well-paid job, and we’ve both finished our degrees.I couldn’t think of a better time to start a family.”
Over the courseof the next eight months, my wife grew more beautiful with every passing day.We came up with lists of possible names, made decisions, then changed our minds.There was endless worrying—solely on my part—while Katherine embraced her pregnancy with grace.The other thing we changed our minds about several times was whether we wanted to know if we were having a boy or a girl.I was convinced of the latter while my bride was certain we were going to have a son.
Finally, Katherine’s desire to finish decorating the nursery won out, and at our next doctor visit, we allowed him to divulge our baby’s sex.We were having a boy.
We waited until the day he was born to choose his name.“Quint,” said Katherine, beaming up at me as tears of joy and relief spilled over onto my cheeks.
“Samuel Quint King Alexander,” I informed the woman completing the birth certificate.While he wouldn’t be the fifth, we chose to honor Katherine’s father in our own way.
“But we’ll call him Quint,” my wife repeated, gazing down at our baby boy, who appeared to like his name—and his mum—very much.
The following Christmas,we began what we jokingly referred to as our do-over.At precisely midnight, my beloved wife informed me we were once again expecting.I, of course, was absolutely over the moon about it.Not that it stopped me from fretting as much as I had with Katherine’s first pregnancy.
Given the initial trimester went much the same way it had with Quint, I predicted we were having another boy.Katherine was convinced she was carrying a girl.
We’d settled on a name while it was still too early for the doctor to tell us the sex definitively.It would work either way—Kennedy King Alexander.
Our bouncing baby girl entered the world in what had to be the quickest labor on record.A mere fifteen minutes separated our arrival to the delivery room from me holding our beautiful daughter in my arms.
Both sets of grandparents were just outside the room with Quint, who I wasn’t sure understood even a little what it meant to be a big brother, no matter how many times we explained it to him.However, he surprised me when my mum brought him into the room, and after taking one look at his sister, he reached out to touch her hand and said, “My baby.”
As I looked into my wife’s eyes, I marveled at the wonderful gifts the universe had bestowed onto us.We were madly in love, had two precious children, I had a good job where I was rising through the ranks quickly, and both sets of grandparents were healthy and happy to help out with whatever we needed.
Life couldn’t be more grand, I thought to myself the day mother and newest baby were released from hospital and I parked our new car in the drive.
