Chapter Five
Ellyn’s squeal proved me right, and within a matter of seconds, she was rushing from behind the table and jumping into my arms.
I caught her with a surprised grunt and spun her around in circles. My wife’s laughter filled the air, and I felt my heart thudding against my chest at the sound.
“So… I take it you’re happy with that idea?” I asked into her hair.
“Happy? Are you kidding?” Ellyn pulled back just enough so I could see her face, and the smile that adorned it was enough to make my knees feel weak. “Noah, I’m over the moon!”
Ellyn and I had spoken about having children soon, but with everything going on with Drakar and Shaar, it felt like there wasn’t a right time. There hadn’t been a lasting moment of peace for some time now, and maybe we weren’t going to get that for a little while longer.
But I wasn’t going to let Drakar stop me from building a family. And I wasn’t going to let him do anything to the one I already had.
“Look… I know this isn’t something we planned timeline wise, and I know there’s so much going on right now--”
“Noah--”
“But I just want you to know that I’m ready to start a family with you,” I continued. “I want a baby with you, Ellyn. It’s the next step in our relationship, and seeing you as a mother… it would make me fall even more in love with you, and I didn’t even think that was possible.”
“Noah--”
“What I’m trying to say is that if you’re not ready for it and you want to wait until after Shaar and Drakar are dealt with, then I can wait,” I rambled. “And I’d be okay with that. But just to prepare for when that time comes--”
“Noah!” Ellyn’s voice was louder this time but still soft as silk.
I blinked and closed my mouth, which was just about to spew another legion of words.
“I’m ready,” the pale-haired elf said with a small nod. “I’ve been ready for a little while, I just… think I was scared.”
I tried to ignore the pang of heat that shot straight to my groin at her confirmation, and I focused on her fear instead.
“Scared of what?” I asked as I lifted a hand to cup her cheek.
“Scared of what bringing a child into this world right now would mean,” my wife admitted in a quiet voice.
“I’m not going to let anything happen to you or our baby,” I vowed as I brushed my thumb under her eye. “I’d die before I let that happen.”
“Don’t say that,” Ellyn said with a sad smile. “I think Drakar and Shaar are counting on that.”
“Those two can kiss my ass,” I said dismissively. “Because if they think they’re going to stop me from having a kid with my wife, then they’re bigger schmucks than I thought.”
“Schmucks?” Ellyn’s eyebrows twitched, but the smile tugging at her lips was infectious.
“Idiots,” I rephrased. “They’re huge, colossal idiots.”
“That word I’m familiar with.” The blonde elf giggled and nuzzled into my touch. “So… what do we do first? I’ve never built a nursery before.”
“I’ve got some spare wood in the barn,” I said. “I can start by building our baby a crib.”
“Oh, we can get a mattress from Midhallow!” Ellyn said with an eager nod. “And throws, and toys, and all sorts of decorations.”
“We’ll add it to the list of things to do there,” I said as I gently set her back onto her feet.
“Oh, and I’ll need to repaint the spare bedroom,” my wife said as she began counting on her fingers. “And I can paint another mural like the one in our room. And maybe we can get new curtains that block out more light so the baby won’t wake up too early.”
“It sounds like you’ve been thinking about this a lot,” I teased as I watched her pace back and forth.
“And we should probably get a rug,” Ellyn mumbled as she completely ignored my comment. “I know it’s carpeted in there, but something extra fluffy would be good for the baby to play on.”
“Ellyn?” I asked as I waved a hand in her general direction.
No bite.
Ellyn continued pacing and counting on her fingers, and I knew I’d lost her to planning mode, so I slowly headed toward the door.
“I’m going to go and fetch the wood and tools!” I called out to her, but she didn’t even look up from the eight fingers she was now holding up.
“And we need to get plenty of clothes for them,” she said with a rapid nod. “Hell’s taint, I never thought I’d have a baby let alone be able to buy them anything they wanted!”
I decided to leave her to her own devices and quietly slipped out of the house to head to the barn. I hopped in my side-by-side to help manage the amount of wood I’d need, and once I’d placed a few large slabs onto the back of the Gator, I grabbed some tools that I’d need.
I didn’t have a baseline, so I was just going to be eyeballing the entire thing. But I’d seen enough cribs in my lifetime to know the general dimensions I’d need.
I grabbed a saw, a drill, and a box of screws before heading back into my Gator. Then I parked as close as I could to the house and decided to use the front porch as my workshop to cut the wood into smaller sections.
I cut the baseboard first, followed by the two larger side pieces. Rather than making a crib with paneled sides, I decided to just opt for two solid pieces of wood. That would save me a lot of time and would mean it would last the baby longer as they grew up.
I sawed some chunkier pieces of wood into four identical posts to make up the legs of the crib. Once all of the panels and legs were cut, I hooked them under my armpits and brought them inside.
Ellyn was nowhere to be seen in the kitchen, but when I heard the sound of clattering down the hall, I knew exactly where she was.
Piles of old stuff that had been stored in the spare room was now towering outside in the hallway. Boxes labeled ‘Noah’s High School’ and ‘Noah’s Childhood’ stood like relics of a time long gone, and they held enough embarrassing photos that I thought I might die if Ellyn saw them.
My old computer monitor looked like it had fallen through a time warp, a thick coating of dust, except for where Ellyn’s finger marked it.
There were also wicker baskets full of my old stuffed teddies that I’d forgotten about, along with two file cabinets full of decade-old tax rebates and loose flyers my dad had got through the mailbox and decided to keep.
When I peeked into the room, Ellyn was grabbing a bag full of my old clothes and throwing it over her shoulder like she was St. Nick. She yelped when she saw my form in the doorway and pressed her free hand to her chest.
“You scared me,” she huffed. “You did that so fast.”
“I could say the same to you,” I said with a glance around the mostly-barren room. “You’ve made quick work of this blast from the past.”
“I hope you don’t mind,” the pale-haired elf said shyly as she slinked past me and threw the bag next to the file cabinet. “I thought you might want some more space to work.”
“We’ve got to work somewhere, right?” I shrugged. “I might need your help holding some pieces in place, though.”
“At your service, Mr. Dawson.” Ellyn saluted me with a serious expression on her face that almost made me burst into laughter.
“Alright, let’s start by fitting the back pieces to the baseboard,” I said. “Then we can screw the legs in place.”
“That sounds like it’s right,” Ellyn said as she picked up one of the back pieces and pressed it against the base board on the floor.
“Trust me, I’m going on gut instinct alone,” I snorted as I knelt down beside it. “Believe it or not, I’ve never built a crib before.”
“We could always ask Alaek to do it?” my wife suggested as she kept the wood steady. “Or Hunter Gibbon?”
“They’ve got enough on their plates,” I said as I readied the screw and drill at the back of the baseboard. “Plus, I think it means more that we’re doing it ourselves.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Ellyn’s soft smile almost made me drop the small piece of metal in my hand, but I kept a steady grip on it as I prepared to screw it in.
“Alright, hold her steady,” I said as I used my foot to stop the end of the baseboard from sliding too far.
Then I lined up the screw toward the edge of the back board, took a deep breath, and activated the drill.
The screw cut through the wood easily and thankfully didn’t splinter it. That filled me with enough confidence to keep going, and it wasn’t long before I’d secured the first one of many.
To make sure it held well, I placed a few screws in a line across the back board. When Ellyn slowly released her grip on it, it stayed upright, and I took the small victory.
We did the same thing with the other back board piece, and then I flipped it onto its side so I could screw the legs in place. Once those were secure, I grabbed the first side panel and kept the crib on its side to make working a lot easier.
Ellyn watched as I finished off the crib, and once the last side panel was in place, I flipped it back onto its legs.
To my surprise, the wooden piece of furniture didn’t collapse as soon as I let go of it. It stood tall, and the light oak wood looked like it fit in the almost empty, pale, olive-green room.
It was the first thing that belonged to our baby that hadn’t even been conceived yet, but the sight of it standing there made something fiercely protective burn inside me.
“You know, on second thought, I don’t think this room needs repainting,” Ellyn said as she pushed off from the wall and leaned against my chest instead. “It looks like a forest.”
“It does,” I agreed as I glanced at the green walls. “Maybe Everglades rather than the Mist Woods.”
“I don’t think our baby would want a dark gray room,” Ellyn joked. “And they will already see enough of the Mist Woods every time they look out the window.”
“If the wall is gone by then, you mean,” I pointed out.
“It will be,” the blonde said with enough conviction that I almost believed it. “But this wall definitely needs some more color.”
“We still have some paint left over,” I said. “Did you want to start now?”
“Well, we’ve already been so productive.” Ellyn smirked. “Why stop now?”
“You’re only allowed to paint in here if you put some old clothes on,” I warned with a lazy grin. “No getting paint on my nice sweater or your cute dress allowed.”