Epilogue
DAYTON
“R emind me why I handed over the planning of Chance’s birthday party to my mom?” Franny whispers, falling into the seat next to me, resting her hands on her belly.
“Because you’re pregnant and due any day.” I curl her into my side. “And your mom likes throwing parties and feeling involved.” I kiss the side of her head. “Plus, we don’t have to clean up after this.”
“We wouldn’t have had to clean up if we booked Chuck-e-Cheese like every other normal family with a five year-old.” She looks up at me. “I just saw a camel, a real-life camel, being walked by a clown in the backyard.”
“I’m sure the kids love it.”
“I guess.” She winces, rubbing her belly, and I frown.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just a little uncomfortable.”
“Are you having contractions?”
“No.”
“Francisca,” I growl, and she looks over at me.
“I promise I’m okay, big guy. Relax.”
“Excuse me if I have a hard time believing you, baby. You didn’t tell me that you were having contractions with Chance, and I almost ended up having to deliver him on the bathroom floor.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.” She sighs.
“Dramatic? He was crowning when the ambulance showed up, you gave birth to him on the way to the hospital.”
“I didn’t know I was in labor; I thought I just had gas.”
“Do you think you have gas right now?”
“No.” She glares at me. “I’m fine. I just need to put my feet up for a bit.”
“Aunt Franny, Uncle Dayton, there’s a mermaid in the pool!” Jenny shrieks, running towards Franny and me with Tucker and Miranda right behind her and Kingston behind them with his eyes glued to his phone.
“Is there?” Franny asks as I sit forward to grab Jenny before she can crash into my wife at full force—something she’s been doing since she started walking.
“Yes.” She giggles when I tickle her. “I also saw a zebra.”
“There’s a zebra?” I look at Franny.
“I don’t know.” She looks between Miranda and Tucker. “I told my mom that Chance wanted a zoo-themed birthday. Apparently, she took that literally; she can be a little much.”
“Are you kidding? This is the best party I’ve ever been to.” Miranda takes a seat next to Franny and rubs her belly. “How are you feeling?”
“I can’t talk about it because if I say that I feel like I’m going to pop, Dayton will take that literally and rush me to the hospital.”
“These guys are always so dramatic.” Miranda rolls her eyes
“That’s what I said,” Franny cries, and I look at my brother when he makes a sound in the back of his throat.
“I’m going to go check on our son.”
“He was with my dad and Jacob at the bounce house.” She says as I push up to stand then asks, “Can you bring me a lemonade please?”
“Yeah.” I bend to wrap my hand around her jaw and brush my mouth across hers.
“Stay here.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” she assures me, and I don’t believe her. She never stops going most mornings, and I’m half tempted to tie her to the bed so she can rest like she needs to.
“Can I go to the bounce house, Dad?” Jenny asks Tucker.
“Yeah.” He looks at Kingston. “You gonna hang here with Mom or come with us?”
“I’ll stay here.” He says, not even looking up from his phone.
“We’ll be back, baby.” Tucker leans down to kiss Miranda and then follows me out of the house.
The moment we step outside, the noise is overwhelming; there are dozens of kids running around and multiple food vendors set up around the yard with kids lined up waiting for popcorn, hotdogs, and cotton candy. Walking towards the bounce house, I can hear Chance’s laugh before I even catch a glimpse of him going down the slide with Rowen right behind him.
When he reaches the bottom of the slide and he sees me, his whole face lights up with a smile that knocks the air right out of my lungs. Years ago, when Clay told me that sometimes it’s the things we don’t want that end up being the best things to ever happen to us, I didn’t understand. Or maybe I didn’t believe him at the time, but falling in love with Franny and being a father to Chance changed that. I might not have wanted to be a dad or a husband, but I have zero regrets for how my life has played out. I can’t imagine things any other way, and not a day goes by where I don’t thank whatever higher power is out there for having Franny end up pregnant and changing the trajectory of my life.
“Hey, Daddy.” Chance shouts. Jumping off the end of the bounce house, he runs to me, his blond hair and eyes both the exact color as his mother’s.
“Hey, buddy,” I lift him off his feet. “Are you having fun?”
“Yes, Grandpa went down the slide with me.” He tells me, and I look over at Franny’s dad.
“He needed someone to go down with him the first time.” He shrugs.
“You okay, old man?”
“Ask me that question tomorrow.” He smiles then asks, “Where’s Franny?”
“Inside, she needed to put her feet up.”
“She needs to take it easy.”
“You can try to have that conversation with her. You know how stubborn she is.”
“She takes after her mother in that way,” he mutters, then looks around. “Speaking of her mother, have you seen her?”
“Not since we arrived.” I put down Chance when Jenny asks him to go down the slide with her and Rowen.
“Alright.” He mutters, patting my arm. “I’m going to see if I can track her down.”
“Sure.” I look over at Tucker. “Can you keep an eye on the kids for a few minutes? I’m going to take some lemonade to Franny.”
“Yeah, man.” He turns his attention to the slide when the kids start to shout.
“Be right back.” I head to the bar, get Franny’s lemonade, and head back to the house. When I get inside, I stop at the edge of the living room and watch my wife as she seems to hold her breath like she’s in pain while Miranda and Willow talk to her.
“I swear to God this woman is going to be the death of me.” Walking across the carpet, I squat down in front of her. “Are you having contractions, Francisca?”
“No, I already told you that I’m not.” She takes the lemonade from me.
“I know you said you’re not, but I just watched you hold your breath.”
“You’re being paranoid.” She takes a sip of her drink. “Where is Chance?”
“He’s at the bounce house with Tucker and the kids. Don’t change the subject.”
“It’s cake time,” Betsy sings as she comes into the living room with Barrett right behind her. “Are you guys ready?”
“Saved by the cake.” Franny hands Miranda her drink and holds her hand out to me. “Help me up, please.”
With a sigh, I help her up then take her hand so that we can follow her mother out of the house.
When we get down to the patio, a table that wasn’t there just a few minutes ago is set up with a cake on top of it that is larger than the one we had at our wedding. Then again, we got married at the courthouse, and the cake we ate the night we got married was one we picked up at the grocery store. We ate it in our kitchen, her sitting on the counter and me standing next to her with Chance asleep in his rocker a few feet away. No one except my brothers, her family, and her best friends knew that we got married until weeks later. Even then, no one was at the courthouse with us except Clay and Willow, and that is only because we needed witnesses. She wanted our wedding to just be about us. She didn’t want it to be a show, and I just wanted her tied to me. Her parents were disappointed, but they got over it quickly.
As people start to gather around the table, Chance comes over to us, and I pick him up, keeping hold of him as he leans over to hug his mom.
“I love you, baby. Are you having the best time?” She asks him softly smoothing her hand over his hair that is damp with sweat.
“Yes, and Grandma said I get to ride a horse later.”
“Wow, that’s so fun.” She looks at me with wide eyes, and I shake my head before focusing on Betsy. When she begins lighting the candles on Chance’s cake, everyone starts to sing.
Burrowing his face in my neck, he hides as everyone sings him happy birthday. He’s never been crazy about having a lot of attention focused on him. He’s like his mom in that way.
“You need to blow out your candles, baby,” Franny tells him, kissing the side of his head, he pulls his face from my neck as I walk him over to his cake, and he leans over to blow out his candles. When he’s done people start to clap, and I hug him tight.
“Do you want some cake?” Betsy asks, and he nods, so I put him on his feet. As he walks over to stand with his grandparents, I look down at Franny when she takes my hand and squeezes it.
“You okay?”
“Nope, I need you to take me to the hospital. My water broke about twenty minutes ago.”
“What the fuck?”
“I didn’t want to make Chance’s moment about me,” she says as I look around in a panic.
“Everything okay?” Betsy asks, passing out cake, and I glare at my wife.
“I need to get your daughter to the hospital. She's in labor and has been for God knows how long.”
“Francisca,” she cries, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
“I’m fine.” She waves her mom off. “Can you just make sure that Chance is okay?”
“Of course,” she says, grabbing my arm. “What do you need, do you want Barrett to drive you two?”
“No, I got her.” I look down at Franny. “How close are your contractions?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been timing them.”
“Of course you haven't.” I scrub my fingers through my hair.
“What’s going on?” Clay asks, walking up to join us with Tucker and Miles right behind him.
“I’m going to take Franny to the hospital. She’s in labor.”
“You’re in labor?” Clay looks at her in disbelief. Of course, my wife is one of the few women on the planet who can go through labor without even breaking a sweat. “Can you guys link up with Franny’s parents to make sure that Chance is covered and take PJ home with you when you leave?”
“Of course, we got you, you know that,” Tucker says and I nod then scan the yard for my son.
“Hey buddy.” I bring Franny with me when I see him sitting with his cousins eating cake and he tips his head back to look up at me. I squat down in front of him. “Mommy and I are going to go to the hospital,” I tell him, and he looks at Franny with a worried expression.
“I’m okay, baby. Your little brother is coming so Daddy has to take Mommy to the doctors.”
“You’re having the baby?” he asks, and even at his age, he sounds shocked. “Are you okay?” He gets to his feet, wrapping his arms around her.
“Yeah, baby, I’m okay.” She kisses the top of his head. “Hopefully I’ll see you later on.”
“Okay,” he says nervously, looking at me.
“She’s okay bud, we just have to go. If you want to call us just ask Grandma or Grandpa if you can use their phone.”
“Okay, Dad.” He hugs me tight and then hugs his mom.
“Make sure grandma takes pictures when you’re riding the horse. I want to see,” Franny tells him as Besty and Barrett take his hands.
“Okay,” he whispers.
After saying bye to my brothers, I hurry her out of the house or attempt to because, of course, she wants to talk to people like she’s not in labor.
When I finally get her into my SUV, I break every law that there is as I drive to the hospital and start timing her contractions on the way, which are about three minutes apart by the time we arrive.
When we get checked in and into a room, it is only about two hours later that she delivers Camden, who weighs seven pounds and comes into the world screaming.
Later that evening, with Chance lying on the bed with his mom and Camden on her chest, I stand next to the bed and look at my family in awe.
“You okay, big guy?” she asks reaching up to rest her hand on my cheek and my throat gets tight.
“Oh yeah.” I reach over to touch the top of Chance’s head and then rest my hand on Camden's bottom. “Love you.”
“More,” she whispers. I’m sure she thinks that’s a possibility, but she has absolutely no idea how much I love her and the family she and I have created.