Epilogue
Jude
a year and a half later…
I come home to find my gorgeous wife in a heap on our bathroom floor. She’s surrounded by wadded up tissues, empty boxes and… I think those white sticks might all be pregnancy tests.
“Peaches, what’s going on?” I shuffle my way into the room and squat down in front of her. I wipe her cheeks. “What’s the matter?”
“I’m pregnant,” she says between sniffles.
I sit down in the mess with her and pull her into my lap. “Is that such a bad thing?”
“Yes! It’s terrible!”
“Why, baby? We’re married. We love each other. We’re building our life. We’ve talked about having kids someday,” I say.
“I know. But I don’t know how to do this.” She swipes angrily at her tears. “I thought it would be okay, you know that I would just know. But I don’t. I never had a mom. I don’t know how to be a mom.”
I pull her up and carry her into our room, then cradle her on my lap on the bed. “You know I didn’t know the first thing about being a dad. And really I wasn’t one, ya know. I was still just their brother, despite the new role I had. I still don’t know what I’m doing. No one does.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”
I chuckle. “Okay, how’s this? You are a great dog mom to Rosie. You’d never had a pet before her, but you figured it all out.”
She sniffs. “I suppose.”
“And you handled the recent situation with Juliette like a pro.”
“I handled you like a pro,” she says.
“But you knew when to step in. You knew when I was fucking everything up and you fixed it. I never want to lose any of my sisters.”
“I know you don’t. And he really is very good to her. He loves her and she loves him.”
“He’s still too fucking old for her. He’s older than me for fuck’ sake.”
That pulls a bit of laugh out of my girl.
“We can buy all the baby books you want,” I say. “We can take classes. Interview other parents in town. Whatever you need to feel better about this.”
I put my palm low on her soft belly. “You’ve got a life inside of you, Emory. One you and I made together. We’ll figure this out together too.”
“Promise?”
“Yes, I promise. I’m not going anywhere. We’re a team.”
“Team,” she says.
“That’s right.”
She sniffles and then wipes her face again. Then she takes a couple of big breaths. “Okay, you’re right. I just freaked out a little.”
“Which is okay. It might happen again.”
“You think you’ll freak out?”
“Only if you’re in danger or pain. Otherwise I’m good. I want whatever this life brings me as long as you’re next to me.”
“I love you,” she says.
“I love you. Now let’s talk about how sexy it is that I knocked you up.”
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