Midnight and Mine (Welcome to Kissing Springs: Midnight Season)

Prologue

Wynte r

S weeping the paintbrush against the wall, Scott says, “This is the last time we’re buying paint. You have to pick a color.”

There are three stripes of paint: taupe, creamy ivory, and blush pink.

“Let’s use all three. Taupe on three walls, ivory trim, and blush on one wall.”

“Your wish is my command.”

Blue painters tape lines the ceilings, trim, and floor as Scott paints the three taupe walls, and I paint the blush wall. When I finish the first coat of blush, we paint on the second coat of taupe, then we break for lunch. He has paint all over his old Panthers football shirt. Damn, I love it when he wears it. It’s more than a decade old, thin, and comfy. But it’s also tight across his chest and biceps.

“How about you feed me?” I ask, wiggling my brows.

“Lunch or… Oh. I think I can do that.” It’s the beginning of my second trimester, and I’m no longer nauseated, a t least for the time being.

After he feeds me, he makes us a charcuterie board of grilled chicken, grapes, hummus, and naan bread, then finishes painting. Next, we put the crib together that we bought at an antique store here in Kissing Springs. He hangs the photos I took of butterflies on the wall by the rocker while I place a few trinkets on the dresser—a swan, a frame with our initial ultrasound, and a photo of Scott and me celebrating our pregnancy in a hot air balloon.

I stand in the center of the room, overjoyed that I’m having a baby with the man I’ve loved but didn’t admit it for my whole life.

Life is perfect.