We're One: Two wrongs always make a right

Chapter Twenty-Five

Zach

Leaving Sia’s apartment, I’m feeling too many emotions to process as I make my way down the stairs, out onto the street, and into my vehicle. I’m driving, pointing my car in unknown directions. Hopefully I don’t cause an accident. The weight of our argument presses down on me. I drive until I end up at the beach.

I park, get out, and take a walk along the shore, staring at the waves, and praying the sight, sounds, and smells will calm me. My thoughts are filled with Sia and the time we’ve spent together, both nine years ago, and for these past couple of months. I’ve never felt about another woman the way I feel about Sia, and I’m not willing to lose her. It simply isn’t an option.

I’m in no way ready to become a father, but that doesn’t matter right now, because whether either of us is ready or not, we’re going to be parents. I remember Gramps always telling us that if we wanted to make God laugh, all we had to do was tell him our plans. We don’t always get a choice in the way our lives turn out. One decision can set us on an entirely different path. We can either adapt to this or get run over. I’ve never been a person to get flattened. If something isn’t going the way I want it to, then I shift and make the situation work for me.

I’ll do it again. I smile as waves crash against the shore. I’m going to be a father. Not the way I planned on it happening, but how can I be upset when a beautiful child is going to come into this world, a child made by me and Sia? I hope it’s a little girl who’s the spitting image of her mother. The baby can’t be larger than the size of a peanut right now, and I’m already starting to feel love. Maybe because I love her mother.

I had this same thought in the store. It makes me pause. Do I love her? I think about this as I look at the waves crashing against the land. I really believe I do. I want to be with her at all times. I can’t keep my hands off of her. I’ve bought her a ring. Is it the kind of love that lasts a lifetime? It realist it is. In these moments I miss Gramps the most. He’d know exactly what to say to me. I don’t have him here, but I have my brothers, and we were all raised by the same parents, the same Gramps. They can help me.

I send each of them a text, telling them I need them at the house. I don’t wait for a response. I know they’ll come. I take another moment to look at the soothing sea, then I head back to my car, already feeling calmer. I immediately point the vehicle toward home.

I pull into the driveway and smile when I reach the house. Both Blaze and Callan are already here. They haven’t even gone inside, but are leaning up against Blaze’s tailgate as they wait for me, their faces full of concern. We rarely message saying we need each other. We try to be strong, and it shows vulnerability to tell someone you need help.

“What’s going on, Zach?” Blaze immediately asks as I step from my SUV.

I take in a calming breath and decide to spit it out just like Sia did for me. “Sia’s pregnant.”

Shock is the first thing that shows on both of their faces, and then they grin at me. My heart swells. I knew calling them over was the best thing for me to do. They’ll put a lot more perspective on this than I’ve been able to.

“Congrats, man, that’s amazing,” Callan says as he moves over and claps me hard on the back.

“Damn, we’re going to be uncles,” Blaze says with his own grin. “That’s phenomenal. Of course, I’ll be the favorite.”

“Not going to happen,” Callan says. “I’m always the favorite.”

I laugh, joy filling me. It’s a hell of a lot better than the despair I’ve been feeling. “Let’s head inside,” I say, and they eagerly follow. We move straight to Gramps’s den where we still feel his presence.

“I’m glad you guys are happy for me,” I tell them. “But it’s complicated. Sia’s scared and says she won’t rush into anything because of a baby.”

“You asked her to marry you, right?” Blaze asks.

“Of course I did, but she said she won’t marry me for a baby,” I say with a sigh. “Then we had a fight about it. I don’t know how that happened. I was in shock, then I blurted that we’ll get married right away, and then we were fighting. I want to raise our child together. I don’t see why that upsets her.”

Blaze moves over to the liquor cabinet and pulls out a bottle of champagne. “All of that will work out, bro. You’re going to be a father and that news is worth celebrating.” He pops the top and fills three glasses, bringing them over to Callan and me. He holds up his glass. “To fatherhood.”

“Fatherhood,” I say with pride. We clink glasses and I take a long swallow. I need it.

“I won’t feel like celebrating, though, until Sia agrees to be my wife.”

Blaze waves his free hand in the air. “I’m not at all worried. She loves you, it’s clear.”

“Yeah, once the worry fades, she’ll be fine. Time really does heal all wounds,” Callan says.

“I’m glad you guys are here. I feel better already. I want Sia here, but it will happen,” I say more to bolster myself than believing the words.

“What’s your plan of attack?” Callan asks.

I shake my head. “I wouldn’t put it like that.”

“You have to have a plan though,” Blaze says.

“My head’s still spinning, so I haven’t figured anything out yet. I know I won’t give up. I love her. I haven’t said it yet, but I do love her. Before I found out about the baby I was in a store, and I bought a ring.” I’m still in shock over that.

“Damn, I like it,” Blaze says. I pull the ring from my pocket and open the box. It’s truly a stunning ring. Beautiful and delicate, just like Sia.

Blaze whistles. “That’s a beauty. There’s no way she’ll say no to that. Did you show her when you asked for her hand?”

I squirm a bit. “I didn’t exactly ask. I sort of told her we’re getting married,” I admit.

Callan chuckles. “I’m sure that went over really well.”

“Yeah, obviously I’m here with you two and not her. That’s how well it went.”

Blaze and Callan both laugh. “Been there,” Blaze says.

“I wasn’t sure why I was buying the ring. I couldn’t walk away from it. Joseph pulled out his special black box of rings and I couldn’t look away from them.”

Callan and Blaze laugh at this. “They say Joseph’s the magic matchmaker,” Callan says.

“Yeah, any man who wants to stay single needs to stay far away from Joseph Anderson,” Blaze says.

“You’ll get the woman,” Callan says. “But you might want to figure out a way to ask her instead of telling her she’s going to marry you.”

“That’s what I have you two here for,” I say.

“We’ll support you no matter what. Sasha and Sia are already friends, which is great, and I know Courtney will love her. We’re going to continue to grow our family. I think our parents and Gramps and Grams are looking down with big smiles right now,” Blaze says.

“I think so too. We might take a while to get to where we’re heading, but in the end, we’re doing what they’d approve of,” I say.

“If the three of us put our heads together, we can have a perfect plan,” Callan says.

“Let’s figure this out and bring Sia home where she belongs,” Blaze says. He thinks for a moment. “Maybe you could recreate one of her favorite dates.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I tell them. “It isn’t like I’ve planned big dates though. We sort of fell into a routine. We’ve always had fun together though, and the nights are unbelievable.”

“We so don’t want to hear about your sex life,” Blaze says with a shudder. “But sometimes, it doesn’t need to be a big gesture, it only needs to be one filled with love.”

“I asked Sasha at the beach with just her and me and it was beautiful,” Callan says.

Blaze grins. “I had a flash mob, and I thought it was pretty impressive.”

“You’ve always been flashy,” both Callan and I say.

“You could get cheesy and do a room full of pictures of you two with candlelight and music,” Blaze says. “I like a little pizzazz with a proposal.”

“You’re such a girl,” Callan says.

“I sure won the girl,” Blaze points out.

“We’ll never know how you got a woman as beautiful and intelligent as Courtney to agree to spend the rest of her life with you.”

Blaze laughs, not at all offended. “Because I’m the best.”

“You could take her back home, to the place it all began, show her that while you want to be together forever, you want to also give her home. Seaville means a lot to her,” Callan says.

“I love that,” I tell him. “She’d be sentimental too, giving me a better chance.”

“You can also be honest and tell her that you love her,” Blaze says, being serious for a moment.

“Why is it so damn hard to admit to someone that you love them?” I ask.

“Because it’s scary as hell. It opens us up to rejection. It scared the hell out of me. I was in denial for a while,” Blaze says.

“Me too,” Callan says. “But once I knew, I knew, and there was no turning back.”

“Make sure she knows you love her, and that’s why you love your child together. She needs reassured that you aren’t settling with her because she’s pregnant, but you’re thrilled she’s pregnant because the woman you love is carrying the child you’ll both love.”

“That’s actually pretty dang beautiful. You should work for the card industry,” I tell him with a laugh.

“I have a romantic side,” Blaze says.

“Once she knows I’m in this for the long haul, she’ll realize this isn’t a sacrifice I’m making, but something I need. It’s her and me and our children from here on out.”

“I wonder if any of us will have triplets,” Blaze says. This fills me with horror.

“I hope not. I don’t know how our parents did it. One baby is hard enough to handle. Can you imagine having three at once? A person only has two arms and babies are wiggly. What if we drop one of them?”

“There are people out there with eight babies at once. That’s a horrifying thought.”

“That’s dedication,” I say.

“What can you do about it, though?” Callan asks.

“Not something I ever want to find out,” Blaze says.

“Well, we have a plan of action. You should write things down, then start making plans. It will work out. You’ll see,” Callan says.

“Don’t make plans for the jet this week,” I tell him.

“Done,” Callan says.

“Thanks for being here. I feel a hell of a lot better now.”

“I’m just glad we’re the first to know,” Blaze says.

I laugh. “Who else would I tell?”

“We are kind of in our own little bubble now, aren’t we? It’s funny because we were so determined to go out and make it on our own, to define ourselves as individuals, but we all came back home to where we belong. Maybe we had to take that time off to finish growing up. Now that we have, this is the best place to be. Nothing beats family.”

“I fully agree with you,” I say.

“To family,” Callan says, holding up his glass again.

“To family,” Blaze and I say.

We sit down. I have a lot of planning to do, but I’m not feeling so rushed now. I want to do this right. I want to make sure Sia knows who I am, knows I love her, and knows we’re meant to be together for all of time and eternity. We continue to talk, to laugh, and to plan. Being with my brothers only strengthens my resolve. It’s going to be fine. Tomorrow will be a brand-new day of beginnings, and it will keep getting better with each new day.