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THE END
epilogue
. . .
Tuck
My Wife
May
“Y’all ready to come meet your new grandbaby? Oh, and nephew or niece?”
My parents are seated next to Leigh and Mark in the maternity ward’s waiting room. Jen is here too, having left Katie with Auntie Lu and Uncle Riley back on Bald Head. Coffee cups in hand, they’re all smiles as they look up at me.
“Heck yeah we are,” Dad says, rising. He’s wearing a smile. Nice to see him happy right now. He’s undergoing some tests for a few weird symptoms he’s been having lately, and I know it’s been weighing heavily on him. It’s been weighing on all of us.
Mom claps her hands. “My God, this never stops being exciting.”
“I literally couldn’t sleep last night.” Jen shimmies her shoulders. “This is better than Christmas.”
Leigh gets up and crosses the room to give my arm a squeeze. Her eyes are already wet. “I can’t believe the time is here, Tuck.”
“Maren really was a rockstar,” I reply. “Very brave, very calm. The surgery was quick.”
I came out to the waiting room an hour or so ago to tell everyone that the baby had been born and that everyone was doing well. The placenta previa didn’t correct itself, so Maren ended up having a C-section at 39 weeks. The baby still ended up being eight pounds, thirteen ounces. Which, considering Maren’s size, is pretty crazy.
I intentionally didn’t share the baby’s gender. Maren and I thought it would be fun for everyone to find out when they met him or her.
“Isn’t it amazing,” Mom says as she loops her arm through mine, “how you walked into the hospital just the two of you, and now you’re three, plus Katie?”
Sniffling, I wipe my eyes. “Everything about this is amazing, yes.”
I mean that. Joy continuously swoops through me, along with immense relief. If it wasn’t for my weekly therapy sessions with Dr. Bramble, plus some new meds, there’s a very real chance my anxiety would’ve gotten the better of me leading up to the birth.
I was still anxious. But I was also able to see the light instead of fixating on the dark.
Most importantly, I was able to be there for my wife when she needed me most. I’m proud of myself.
I’m proud of us.
I knock softly on the door. “Maren, it’s us.”
“Y’all come on in!”
Holding it open, our parents and Jen pass through the door. Maren’s mom goes in first. When she sees the tiny bundle in her daughter’s arms, its white hat topped with a bow, she covers her mouth and starts to cry.
“A girl?” Jen looks at me with wide eyes. “Holy shit, Tuck, you had anothergirl!”
Tears stream down my face as I hug everyone. “Y’all, meet Reese Lucas Monroe.”
Mark pounds me on the shoulder. “The name. Love it.”
“She’s beautiful,” Dad says. The baby is in Leigh’s arms now, and he looks lovingly down at her, a big smile on his face. “Looks like you, Tuck.”
“Doesn’t she?” Maren says. “That’s the first thing I said when I saw her—she is her daddy.”
“I see her mama in there too,” Jen replies. “The nose. And those lips! Goodness, she’s delicious.”
