Chapter 37 – Deacon
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Deacon
Our baby comes home…
T hey don’t tell you how strange it really feels to go to the hospital with two people and have to come home with a third person, who you are now responsible for. I have no idea what to do and wonder if maybe we’re in over our heads. The last few weeks, I’ve been nesting like crazy while Keyshawn lies on the couch with hot water bottles on her lower back. But it’s finally here, we’re bringing John Henry Hollingsworth home.
Keyshawn seems tired, but she still hates doctors and begs for us to come home as soon as possible. We’ll have to be up in a couple hours for her to feed the baby again, but for now, we get to put him to bed and get a little sleep. Hold each other. I can’t wait for that. Keyshawn climbs into bed and her ass pushes against my crotch, which gets me painfully hard.
For the sake of keeping Keyshawn happy and healthy, we had to abstain for the last few weeks and we still have more time without sex.
“Is the new playroom done?” Keyshawn murmurs, saying it sleepily as if she can just pretend she didn’t ask about our sex dungeon minutes after climbing into bed with me.
“I’m not going to touch you,” I whisper, kissing her neck.
“That’s not what I asked,” Keyshawn mutters testily. “I asked if it’s done.”
“Yes.”
“How are we going to make that work with a baby?”
“My job,” I murmur, kissing her neck. “Not yours…”
2 Months Later…
Our Small Wedding
We debated whether our wedding should be as big and theatrical as the gender reveal party, but eventually agreed on getting married out in the field behind Ruger’s cabin with a small cadre of guests. Mom sat up front next to dad’s picture, so he could be there in spirit. She cried the entire time and after a few glasses of champagne before the ceremony, she told me she was surprised that I was getting married at all. Thanks mom.
Keyshawn’s cousin out in Boston – Amanda – never replied to the wedding invitation, and my beautiful wife was a little bent out of shape over having “nobody” on her side of the family at the wedding. Bullshit. We’re not two sides, we’re just one family. But I understand her emotions are running high and want to make everything better for her .
I ask her if she wants to elope in Vegas, but she insists that she wants to get married outside and “somewhere pretty”, so we get married out on Ruger’s land in the late fall. The Shaw brothers drove East for some family business, so only the Rebel Barbarians out in the Midwest and further out make it to the wedding.
The Sinclair twins and their wives arrive dressed in Keyshawn’s requested “baby blue” theme. I don’t know what the difference is between baby blue and light blue, but I quickly learn that it’s not an argument I want to start. I just care that Keyshawn is happy.
She looks beautiful holding our son. I’ll hold the memory of her standing there in that white dress holding our baby for the rest of my life. I don’t need pictures to have it burned on my brain. My cousin, Tanner, holds our son while I kiss the bride after the exchange of vows. Her lips are soft. Perfect…
And now, they’re mine forever.
When our brief ceremony ends, Keyshawn and I sit on the bench Ruger built next to the pond he installed on his land for Zayna. It’s beautiful out here, with sun streaking across the dark green water. John Henry is a lot more calm when he’s outdoors. His skin is much lighter than I expected, although Keyshawn thinks he’ll get darker when he grows up.
His hair is already so thick, and a light brown color with a bit of a frizz to it. I can’t believe this boy is mine… I always expected my kids would have red hair just like me, but it’s probably better for him that he won’t have that to get teased about. Especially since he has my nose and ears …
I can already tell he’ll have Keyshawn’s eyes. Her big, beautiful dark brown eyes. I put my arm over her shoulder as we watch the sunset together.
“I love you, baby,” I whisper. “I never want this to end.”
“It won’t,” she whispers back. “This type of love can’t ever really end.”
“What about when we die?”
Keyshawn laughs. “Stop ruining the moment, Deacon. Just watch the water and appreciate this…”
She kisses the top of John Henry’s forehead. I pull them in tighter. She’s right. The only way I can stop this moment from ever really ending is to immerse myself in it completely and commit it to memory. A fish breaks the top of the pond water and plops back in, making John Henry jump a little bit from the noise.
Before I know it, I’ll be taking him out on his first fishing trip and his first bike ride. It’s a scary thought, but it feels like the greatest honor in the world to have this little boy and this woman to share a life with.