Epilogue
Fiona
Three Years Later
It was late afternoon, and several bikes and cars were parked in our driveway. It was Sunday dinner at our house. Each weekend, it seemed like we had another guest at the table. That night, Bash and Match were out in the garage, while Bull and I prepared dinner inside.
Over the past few years, I’d made sure to make double of most dishes so that leftovers could get brought to the guys at the clubhouse.
As a result, they were showing up at my doorstep on Sundays and finding a seat at our table.
The more, the merrier, but I was going to need a second stove to keep up.
When Bash’s parents arrived a few hours earlier, Guard immediately assigned himself to babysitting duty.
In typical fashion, he swept in and commandeered Birdie’s attention while the rest of us split up to take care of different chores.
Cece typically hovered in the kitchen to gossip while Bull and I did the real work.
With dinner mostly ready, I popped my head into the living room to check on Birdie.
I had to hold back the laugh at the vision that greeted me.
Guard was sitting on the floor across from Birdie and her two favorite stuffies.
A tiara was on his head as he held a plastic pink teapot.
Catching my eye, he tried to give me a scowl as he poured imaginary tea for Birdie and her stuffed unicorn.
“Pinky, Grandpa! You have to wift your pinky fingers!” Birdie scolded him, and I couldn’t hold in the snort that escaped my mouth.
“Mama! We pwaying tea party!” Birdie told me, and I bent down to kiss the top of her head.
“I see that, baby. Dinner’s gonna be ready soon, so let’s get you washed up.”
“K!” she said happily, hopping to her feet and running for the bathroom. It took Guard significantly longer, and with far less grace, to get to the upright position. Giving him a hand up, I took the tiara off his head and put it with Birdie’s other dressup toys.
“Thanks, girlie. Not sure I could keep that crown on any longer. Damn thing digs straight into my brain. I swear, it’s like a lobotomy,” he muttered.
“You have a brain? Who knew?” Charlie said as she dropped her purse and shoes by the door. Before either of us could respond, a blur of red curls zoomed past my legs, heading straight for the newly arrived guest.
“Auntie Charwie’s here!” Birdie screeched, her Ls still morphing into Ws.
Charlie had just passed the bar and started working at a fancy law firm a few towns over. Between studying for the exam and adjusting to the new job, she had been busy the last few weeks. Birdie had missed her favorite Aunt.
“My Birdie-girl! I’ve missed you so much,” Charlie cooed as she entered the living room further, carrying the toddler in her arms. At almost three, Birdie was a walking, talking whirlwind of energy.
She clung to Charlie like a spider monkey as she prattled on about everything she had seen and heard that day.
Guard guided Charlie over to the couch while the rest of us went to set the table.
With Birdie distracted, we got dinner out and into the dining room in quick fashion.
I sent Bash a text, telling him to come inside.
He was out in the garage working on a 1968 Chevelle I had found him as a birthday present.
He was restoring it in his spare time, and I was so happy I had found a gift he enjoyed.
He was going to have Match do a completely custom paint job on the car—they were out discussing it at that moment.
As much as I tried to find out their plan, they were keeping it a secret from me.
I would allow it for the moment, but only because I had my own secret to share with everyone tonight.
A few months ago, Bash and I decided to try for a second baby.
It worked faster than expected, and I was fourteen weeks along.
While Bash obviously knew I was pregnant, we hadn’t told the rest of the family yet.
We were going to surprise them tonight with the news, but I had one last trick up my sleeve.
Bash and I had spoken about finding out if the baby was a boy or a girl, and he said he wanted to be surprised, but didn’t mind if I decided I wanted to know.
The back door opened and Match entered, followed by Bash, their voices ringing through the house, announcing their arrival. Bash walked straight for me, wrapping his arms around me from behind and pressing a kiss to my neck. I jumped in his arms, the stubble on his face tickling me.
“How you feeling, pretty girl? Don’t push yourself too much. You know what the doctor said,” he whispered into my ear, his hand coming to rest on the small baby bump hidden under my sweatshirt. Morning sickness had been kicking my ass, but finally calmed down the past few weeks.
“I’m good. No nausea,” I mumbled back to him, my cheeks flushing as I noticed everyone staring at us.
“Go sit down. I’ll bring you a cup of tea.” As Bash ushered me toward the dining room, I stopped short.
“No, why don’t you get everyone settled? I have to change Birdie anyway.” He frowned, but before he could protest, I ducked under his arm and headed for the living room.
“Dinner’s ready! Everyone grab a seat, we’ll be back down in a minute,” I said, picking my girl up, who eagerly snuggled into my chest.
Stopping in the nursery, I quickly changed Birdie into her new T-shirt.
It was black, and in shiny pink letters, it said BIG SISTER.
Once she was all set, we went into the master bedroom.
Birdie lunged for the bed. She loved to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy.
Sunday mornings were usually spent in bed, watching morning cartoons between tickle fights and quiet cuddle time.
As she bounced around in the center of our bed, I grabbed the gift I had hidden for Bash.
Heading back into the bedroom, I crawled onto the bed until I was close enough to grab my girl for a good snuggle. She giggled and squirmed in my arms.
“Mommy! Cartoon time?” she asked, giving me the best puppy dog eyes.
“It’s dinnertime, pumpkin. Remember, we’ve got big news to tell everyone?
” I reminded her. It was a risk, telling Birdie about the baby.
Thankfully, she didn’t fully understand it yet, we had only told her that morning, and it was a miracle she hadn’t said anything so far.
I slid off the bed and stood next to it, arms out.
“Surprise time! I get to yell it right? And show everyone my sparkwy shirt?” she asked, jumping to her feet on the bed and pulling her shirt down to make sure I could see it.
“Just like that! You ready?” I asked, and she nodded before launching herself off the bed into my arms. My girl was getting big—almost too big to carry. Putting her on the ground, we walked down the stairs hand in hand before making our way to the dining room.
As we stood outside the door, I stopped, taking in the scene in front of me.
The tabletop was covered with dishes, people were already halfway through plates or asking for seconds.
Every seat was filled, and the table was at full capacity.
Sounds of easy conversation and laughter floated over me, and I couldn’t help the smile that crossed over my face.
I loved those people, and I loved the life I had—one that continued to get fuller with every day.
“Mommy?” Birdie pulled on my hand, and I snapped out of the reverie I was in. I cleared my throat, and everyone at the table turned to look. Bash stood up and joined us, lifting Birdie into his arms as he wrapped his other arm around my back.
“I think Birdie has something she wants to share with all of you,” Bash said, his eyes were sparkling as he gripped my hip, pulling me tighter into his side.
Realizing it was her moment, Birdie leaned perilously forward in Bash’s arms as she threw both her arms up in the air.
“We’re having a baby! Look! I’m gonna be a sister. A BIG sister!” she screeched, then leaned back into Bash’s arms to look at us for approval. Nodding, we each gave her a kiss, then looked up at our friends and family.
Squeals and offers of congratulations rang out as everyone stood up to give us hugs.
Birdie took her time showing each of them her shirt, and when we finally sat down at the table, it was almost difficult to wipe the smile off my face long enough to actually eat.
We managed to get a few minutes into the meal before the questions started hitting us from every direction.
“How far…”
“Do you know the..”
“When are you due?”
“ZIP IT,” Guard yelled, cutting everyone off before the barrage of questions could start.
“They’ll tell us everything in due time. Give them a minute. No one has any patience anymore in this world. Let the pregnant lady eat,” Guard grouched, and I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Fiona is a little over fourteen weeks. So far, everything looks good. We don’t know the sex,” Bash replied, and I coughed. Suddenly everyone was looking at me. Bash was an amazing girl dad, and he doted on Birdie hand and foot.
As I slid the wrapped parcel over to Bash, I had a moment’s hesitation. Is this a good idea? I know he said he wanted to be surprised, but my gut told me that this was the right thing to do.
Marriage and babies were never in my plans. They never seemed like a feasible option for the life I thought was mapped out for me. I knew that those were limitations I put on myself, and the sooner I let them go, the further I would get, the more I would grow.
Now that I was married, and with Birdie in our lives, I couldn’t imagine a different life than the one I have.
When we talked about having another child, I didn’t have a particular sex in mind.
As long as the baby was happy and healthy, I was good.
Once I found out we were having a boy, though, I felt an urgency to share.