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Orlie laughs and then kisses me delicately. He doesn’t pull away, lingering there. Lips near my own. “I want to marry you.”
My insides twist. “Are you on drugs right now or am I?”
“No, I know we talked about waiting. But…” He clears his throat. “When I thought about living life without you. Taking care of our son without you. Having to remember you as the woman I loved. But not my wife…it killed me. Upon already killing me.” Orlie slides his hand over mine so together, we both are holding our boy, together. “I’m not going to rush you. I know there’s a lot of things to take care of before that.”
We both laugh, glancing at Owen. He blinks up at us.
“But my intention is to one day be your husband. If you’ll have me.”
I intertwine my fingers with his. “Of course. Us against the world.”
“The three of us.”
We kiss once more. Our son squalls. “Oh, sorry, little one,” I say and kiss his forehead. “You need attention, huh? Well, mommy and daddy have it.”
Orlie nuzzles my cheek. “Owen’s mom and dad. I like the sound of that.”
As soon asthe doctor clears me to have visitors, the Solace and Friends parade begins. Our fathers first. Dad supports Trevor through the first grandchild feels.
“I told myself I wouldn’t cry,” Trevor says, though the tears are already shining.
Dad shakes his head. “You cry your eyes out, Trevor. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
They both remark how he looks like me, to which Orlie waggles his eyebrows in an “I was right” way. I roll my eyes.
Gillian arrives next. At five months with her second, she’s grown immensely. Axel and Stella follow.
“Oh, let me see, let me see –” Gillian peers into my arms. Immediately, she’s choked up. “Kira, he looks –”
“Don’t you dare say, ‘Just like you’,” I interrupt.
Gillian’s eyebrows jump and she looks down at Stella who shrugs. “Okay, I won’t.”
Orlie laughs.
“How was the rest of the wedding? Is Dana upset?”
Gillian scoffs. “Why in the world would Dana be upset? You know her, she’s –”
“Always thinking of everyone else,” I finish.
“Exactly.”
“How are you feeling?” I ask.
Stella wraps her arms around Gillian’s waist. God, she’s gotten so tall. “I got to feel the baby move!”
“And so did I,” Axel says as he greets Orlie with a manly handshake.
“He cried. A lot.” Stella grins.
“Yeah, I did. What’s the problem with that, huh?” Axel shoots back.
The father and daughter sass each other back and forth, as is their way, and the rest of us laugh.
Soon after, Dana and Drew arrive with baby Mia. Mia is wide-eyed as she looks into the face of her baby cousin.A baby? Like me? This won’t do. She descends into tears soon after and Drew comforts her in the corner while Dana takes a seat on the bed beside me to coo over Owen.
Harley and Amy arrive soon after. Harley is wearing a shit-eating grin.
