58. Trace
TRACE
A Year Later
The last twelve months have been some of the most amazing of my life. It's not been easy, knowing that I'm responsible for everyone on this ranch. That includes my wife and son, who we call Ward. Kyle and a girl he met earlier this spring, and ten ranch hands we've been able to hire on a permanent basis.
Glancing outside, I see the snow is starting to come down. Not as hard as it was the day that Ward was born, but still hard enough that I know most of the kids from his daycare class we've invited won't be coming.
"Guess it's going to be mostly family tonight," Katie says as she stands next to me, her arm around my waist as she leans into me.
"That's okay," I soothe her. I know she's spent most of the last month planning this party, and the fact she's not going to have anybody here is more than likely going to hurt her feelings. "The most important people will be here."
"I know, I just had this vision for his first birthday. We'd take pictures and there'd be so many people here, we'd have to take more than one person to get them all in. I wanted him to have what we never did," she pouts.
I hook my free arm around her neck. "He does have what we never did. Parents who love him and an extended group who will go to bat for him whenever he needs them to. As he gets older he's going to be excited that the ranch hands attend his birthday parties. It's going to be the coolest thing ever, I promise."
She shakes her head as if she doesn't believe me, and maybe she doesn't, but I know everything about what a little boy could want for his birthday. Her cell phone starts going off. "That'll be the people texting me, telling me they can't make it," she sighs. "I'll text daycare and see if I'll be able to bring over the leftovers on Monday. That way this food won't go to waste. This stuff was expensive."
I don't care about the money - it's never been about the money. It's always been about what could make her and Ward happy. "Whatever you want, babe."
Going over to the playpen we have set up in the living room,I reach in and pick up my son. He gurgles and makes all the cute noises that babies do. I'm certain he's going to start talking any day, along with possibly walking. He's been pulling himself up on the couch and crawling everywhere for the past two months. I'm convinced he's going to be early in damn near everything. "Happy birthday, buddy," I bump his face with my nose. "You've made the last year of my life the most special it's ever been. I bet you have no idea about that, do you?"
She grins, coming over and circling her arms around us. "He's made me happy too. So have you. I can remember walking up the stairs of the front porch from your truck, and wondering what in the fuck I was walking into. I didn't think we'd ever find common ground, because I didn't know how to talk to you. You were so intimidating."
"I was intimidating?" I laugh. "You were looking so damn hot all the time, and all I wanted to tell you go to fuck off because you weren't chosen by me. But at the same time, I was so attracted to you and it was more confusing than anything I'd ever dealt with before."
She's looking at me as if she wants to ask a question, but she seems a little apprehensive. She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, sucking before blowing out a breath. "I have a question for you."
"Oh yeah?" I put Ward back down in his play pen. "What's that."
"I vaguely remember on the day he was born, you said that for his first birthday you would get him a horse. I'm wondering if you actually went through with that."
My head tilts back and I laugh loudly. "I did actually. One that was born the same day as him. It was supposed to be delivered today, but given the roads, I think it'll probably be Monday."
She giggles, going over to the refrigerator and grabbing out a couple of cakes. One of them is for Ward to smash, the other one is for the rest of us to eat. "Can you go get him dressed in the outfit I have laying on the bed? I'm gonna get the food set out, since I know at least the hands will be here."
"No problem," I answer, going back over to where he is and picking him up carefully. There are still times when I'm worried I'm going to drop him or I'm going to steer him in some sort of direction that's going to hurt everything we've worked so hard for. I remember in the depths of teething, I wondered if we were actually going to make it as parents or not, especially when we were both so sleep deprived the only thing that kept us going was Monica taking him and letting us have a nap. When we get upstairs, I see the outfit Katie chose for today. On the front it has a horse and the words 'neigh, it's Ward's first birthday'. It's the best of puns and I can't wait to get pictures of him wearing it. Quickly I get him changed, and then we go back downstairs.
There's a group of friends who became family, and they've gathered to celebrate Ward. As I walk in with him, I feel like a rockstar as everyone stops me to say hi to him, to wish him a happy birthday. Ward's face is shining brightly and the smile is one of the best I've ever seen.
In the middle of all this, I see my wife doing what she does best. Making sure everyone else is taken care of. It all passes by in some sort of fever dream. Pictures are taken, the cake is smashed, and we eat a good portion of the food that's been prepared. When it's time for presents, Ward is on the edge of overwhelm, so we decide it'll be better if we open gifts later on.
We're both exhausted as we clean up the last of the party. Monica helped until we sent her home to take care of her own family. "Did you think we'd be here right now?" I ask as we sit on the stools at the bar. "When you walked down the aisle toward me, did you have any idea this would be us a little over a year later?"
"No," she shakes her head smiling. "I thought I'd still be hating you, that I'd be trying to figure out how to run away from you and live a life so different than the one I grew up with. I wasn't prepared for you."
"I wasn't prepared for you, either," I put my hand around her neck and dig my fingers into her hair. Pulling her close to me, I tilt my mouth down so I can capture her lips with mine. This is the one thing that hasn't changed in the year plus that we've been married. I always want her and she in turn always wants me.
But tonight? We're both exhausted as we pull away. "Can I take a rain check?" She asks, her full lips curled up in a pout.
"I was about to ask you the same question."
She laughs. "Is this what it's like when you get old and married?"
"Speak for yourself woman. We might be married, but we sure as fuck aren't old."
We head up the stairs and toward our new bedroom. When his parents moved out, we combined one of their suites with the one we were in, to make an even bigger one. We've been able to keep Ward in our room that way, and still have our own private time since it's almost as if he's in a different part of the house. We have ours and he has his.
We're quiet as we open the door, and then head to the bathroom. Most of the time when we're talking to each other is when we're doing our morning or night time routines. Those are my favorite parts of the day. We change, and then we stand at the double sink. I'm brushing my teeth, and she's doing what she calls skincare. I'll never understand it.
"I have a question for you," she looks at me in the mirror.
"Yeah, what is that?"
She smirks in the mirror. "You've gone so far overboard for Ward's birthday. What are you going to do for this baby?"
She's holding her hand over her still-flat stomach. When I look down at the counter, there's a pregnancy test. Pregnant is visible in the digital reader. My mouth agape, my heart beating heavily in my chest, I throw my toothbrush down before picking her up and spinning her around.
"Thank you," I whisper. "Thank you for this life."
"Answer the question, Trace. What are you going to promise them?" She pushes, trying to egg me on.
"We'll have to see what comes out of my mouth the day they're born. I didn't plan on offering Ward a horse," I admit. "I was just so happy he was alive, I was willing to offer him anything."
She laughs, throwing her head back, giving me her neck. I clamp my mouth onto the pulse point there, before pulling away and sitting her down. "Thank you, too."
"For what?"
Her smirk is coy, full of flirtation. "For making good on that marriage contract."
"Favorite fucking thing I've ever signed."
Kyle and the girl he met in the spring's book is coming in the 3rd quarter of 2025!