24. Elise
24
ELISE
Elise
M onths later…
I glanced at my computer screen before closing the last open window. Seeing that everything looked all right, I clicked on the mouse and officially closed down for the day. It was an early day by my and Grant’s standards, but he insisted on celebrating my work anniversary with dinner tonight. I supposed that hitting seven years of employment could be a milestone, but I suspected that he just wanted an excuse to take me out.
Smiling, I caught a glimpse of my ring. It still resided on my right ring finger, but I wondered if this time tomorrow, it might belong on my left.
I rested my hand on my stomach. It was way, way too soon to be showing. Just this morning, I ran downstairs to the bakery where Claudia still worked. She was determined to work until those twins wanted to come out. With her due date next week, it seemed like something would have to give sooner or later.
She wasn’t only my cousin and best friend, but also the one other woman I knew personally who’d discovered what it felt like to be pregnant. This lightheadedness. The weird cravings for everything salty. Then feeling out of breath. Most telling was the fact that I missed my period.
In the bathroom at the bakery, she waited with me while I took the test. Sure enough, per her prediction, I was pregnant.
Grant’s suggestion for a dinner date gave me the perfect opportunity to tell him this big news. All day long, I was distracted and off balance. I mentally rehearsed how I’d tell him. I played out fantasies of how he’d react.
Already, I made lists of potential names. Visions of nurseries with color themes filled my mind.
I walked out of the Bowen Industries building shortly after five. The chilly fall air hit my face, and I bundled into my coat a little more.
Grant: The driver will bring you to the restaurant.
He’d texted me that earlier when he claimed that he needed to take care of a couple of things.
Now, I was glad for the ride. We seldom used the hired drivers, preferring to walk or drive ourselves. Tonight, I felt so distracted that I wouldn’t enjoy driving through the rush-hour traffic.
“Hi,” Grant said. It was a simple greeting, like always, but the love in his eyes and that huskiness of his deep voice made it all the more meaningful. This man had eyes only for me, and as I walked toward the front of the restaurant with him, I wished I’d thought to dress up a little better.
“Hey, you,” I replied, kissing him before we started dinner.
Conversations were never awkward between us. We’d talk about work, we’d joke about Derek and Claudia, and we’d flirt without abandon. That was how well we meshed, and over a scrumptious dinner, a little row of votives lining between us on the table, we “celebrated” my work anniversary.
“Do you think you’d ever want to work anywhere else?” he asked after he paid the check.
I smiled at the teasing tone he used.
Maybe at home. As a mother to our child…
“You know I’m happy.”
He cupped my chin and pulled me in for a kiss.
“Ah!” I laughed lightly when my hair drifted close to the candles. I sat back, sighing and wondering how I could tell him the big news.
“Something on your mind?” he guessed, his eyes glittering with amusement.
I nodded. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
He raised his brows. “Really? I do too.”
I shimmied in my seat. “Okay. You go first.”
“Not yet. Let’s get dessert first.”
I frowned, wondering why he didn’t think of that before paying the bill. I didn’t say anything, always excited for something sweet, and followed him outside.
“Where’s the driver?” I asked.
“I thought we could walk.” He held out my hand and flipped his coat collar up against the breeze.
“All right.” Kind of getting chilly, but whatever.
We held hands, strolling along the familiar path of Michigan Avenue, passing the Bean and street vendors selling roasted chestnuts and other autumn treats. At the scent of the sugar coated chestnuts, I wondered what Grant had in mind. He didn’t stop talking, asking me about my day and this and that. All the while, I wondered when I’d have a chance to tell him that we would be having a baby.
Eventually, Grant led me to an ice cream shop. He motioned for me to stay put on the sidewalk, pausing me near the Riverwalk. “I’ll be right back.”
I frowned, watching him head inside to get two cones for us.
Ice cream? In late October? They were forecasting snow this weekend. Ice cream didn’t sound like a seasonally appropriate dessert, but now that I thought about it, it sounded good.
He came out and presented me with mine. A single scoop of mint chocolate chip. “Cold.” I laughed lightly as he clinked his with mine—two scoops of plain vanilla. “But sweet.”
His nod was stiff, like he was about to admit he was freezing. But he dutifully licked the ice cream and gestured for us to keep walking.
“Maybe we can call the driver and enjoy these in front of a fire at home,” I suggested. That sounded cozy. I could see us snuggled on the couch. I’d turn and tell him that I took the test this morning and it was positive. His eyes would light up with surprise and?—
“No.” He steered me back in the direction to head north. Toward the Riverwalk. “I haven’t told you my surprise yet.”
“Really?” I scrunched my face at him, wondering why he was being so weird.
“Yeah.” He frowned as we hurried to cross toward the Riverwalk area.
“When will you?” I asked.
“Soon.”
“You couldn’t surprise me on the whole walk from Millenium Park to the Riverwalk? Or when you stopped to get—” I gasped, listening to myself and opening my eyes wide at him.
The river streamed along to my left. The sun set near Navy Pier. But I stayed rooted in place on the sidewalk.
A memory from many months ago came back to me. A memory many miles away, from far in the ocean in the Bahamas…
“After the candlelit dinner, we started to stroll from Millenium Park to the Riverwalk.”
I said that. That specific route when Grant and I couldn’t lie in sync.
“We got ice cream cones on the way.”
I gasped at Grant as it hit me. Everything I said then was coming true.
“Mint chocolate chip, your favorite.”
I dropped it. The cone tumbled out of my hand and splatted on the sidewalk. I was too shocked, too stunned. He was reenacting the proposal we made up.
As he lowered to one knee, he faced me. If anyone walking by watched, they’d assume he was stooping to get my ruined ice cream cone out of the way of another pedestrian. I knew otherwise. Happy tears filled my eyes as he set his ice cream cone on the pavement too. It’d probably freeze there within a moment.
Then he took both of my hands. His skin was chilly, and I bet mine was downright icy.
“It’s not the best weather for it—” he began.
“Yes!” I screeched it so loud, pigeons flew up from the corner.
“But I wanted to see if you’d be my real fiancée now.”
I gripped his hands. “Yes!” I repeated, laughing and damn near crying happy tears as he smiled up at me.
“Quite the enthusiasm,” he joked as he took my ring from my right finger and slid it back onto my left.
Without waiting for him to stand, I dropped into his arms and hugged him tightly. “That was your surprise?”
He stood, holding me easily, and kissed me tenderly. “Yes. That was my surprise. I love you, Elise, and I can’t wait to start a real family with you.”
I grinned, kissing him harder. “Consider it done.”
He frowned. “What?”
I laughed, overwhelmed with love and adoration for this thoughtful man. He'd remembered every detail of our sham of an engagement, making sure to repeat what we made up so long ago.
“I’m pregnant,” I said, gazing into his eyes. “I took a test this morning. That was my surprise.”
He smiled, an expression full of wonder and awe, and maybe a bit of shock. “Are you serious?”
I laughed and nodded, kissing him again as I knew that we would have so much to celebrate every day from here on out.