Chapter 37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
WELLS
In the golden light of a waning November day, Wells held the entire universe in his arms.
All nine pounds, twelve ounces and twenty-two inches of her.
Daisy Styles-Maroo was born two weeks early, already overachieving at only four hours old.
Feeling her soft pink skin against Wells’s bare chest was a mind-boggling, world-shattering experience.
She’d crushed her Apgar score, proven herself a champion latcher, and had a hell of a grip that had already ripped out three of his chest hairs.
“That a girl,” he whispered as she yawned, ripping out two more. “Go after what you want.”
She had her father’s lungs—loud and demanding—and her mother’s need to be early. Both mother and baby did well with the surprise early delivery.
Wells, however, had been a mess until the doctor gave the all clear for both of them.
He watched the sun set on Daisy’s first day on earth as Allison dozed in the low evening light. What an absolute miracle she was. Both of them were, his girls.
His family.
He could hear his priorities reshuffling for the rest of his life.
For the rest of forever, he would be Daisy’s dad.
“I am so glad you exist,” he whispered to Daisy as he looked at Allison napping. “You helped me find your mother, did you know that? You are the reason I am deliriously happy right now.”
A nurse smiled as she walked past the hospital door.
Wells waved her down. “Hey, could we get some more water? She was thirsty.”
“Of course, I’ll be right back.”
“And another blanket.”
He’d laid his jacket and shirt over Allison, and she’d snuggled against his sleeve, wrapping it underneath her nose.
“We’ll need a heater for your room,” he whispered in a singsong voice to Daisy as he walked her around the room, “because your mother likes the house to be a walk-in freezer.”
“Her mother was baking a child and felt like a literal oven,” Allison said sleepily from the bed.
“Do you see that beautiful woman over there? That’s your mom,” he whispered to Daisy.
Daisy stretched.
Wells chuckled. “Yes, her. Oh, you’re already so advanced.”
He kissed Allison’s forehead, so proud of her. She’d been an absolute champ, asking for what she needed, yelling at him, getting mad during delivery.
She was a goddess at war, and she’d conquered.
“Hi,” he whispered, hoping he remembered to tell her all that when she was firmly awake. He laid the baby in her outstretched arms.
“Hi,” she whispered back, looking sleepy. “Do I look an absolute mess? People might take pictures.”
He stroked her mussed hair with a wistful smile. “I like you a mess. It reminds me of getting very messy with you.”
“Not in front of the baby,” she teased as she tugged him down for another kiss. “Thank you for thinking of those things. And for being shirtless.” She threaded her fingers through his chest hair as she smiled against his lips.
He kissed her again. “Thank you for baking the most perfect baby girl. I love you.”
Sudden emotion twisted her pretty lips. “Hardly compares to how much I love you.”
“Always have to win. So annoying,” he said warmly, and kissed her again slowly, wiping away the tear that slid down her cheek.
He felt the back of his neck prickle, and he turned toward the door.
Six sets of eyes stared at them from the doorway. His family, Luca, Annabelle, and Pearl all stood watching them with beaming smiles, laden with flowers, balloons, food, and gift bags.
“You guys like each other now?” Annabelle asked loudly, her wide smile showing off her missing two front teeth.
He and Allison bit back their laughs as she squeezed his hand.
“No,” Wells sighed, kissing her hand. “I love her now.”
And forever.
“Now, quietly” —Wells put a finger to his mouth for Annabelle —“come meet the newest member of our family.”
ALLISON
“Hi, Shortcake,” Allison whispered, stroking her finger along Daisy’s soft cheek. She was cuddled up in Allison’s arms on her first night on earth, wearing the newborn hat Allison had knitted night after night.
The moment Daisy had been handed to her after delivery, Allison had felt a seismic shift in her life, dividing it into a firm before and after.
The most miraculous thing—an entirely new little human, made from her.
Allison fussed with the hospital outfit, tucking it away from Daisy’s chin. The overwhelming sensation of love and instant devotion shook her to her core, seeming to build with every hour Daisy was on this earth. How is that even possible?
Wells, who’d been cuddling with them, had left to track down a firmer pillow, so it was just the two of them in the dim, quiet room.
She kissed each finger so gently, taking her time with each tiny miraculous one. Then she moved to the little button nose, the wrinkled brow, each cheek.
It gave Allison deeper, more nuanced empathy for herself and her mom. How could she look at this little being who’d been part of her one day ago and think they were anything other than connected? It had made sense her mother had wanted to share her burdens because they were connected.
But Allison had also been a child, and she’d deserved better than to be an adult’s problem solver.
She couldn’t fathom doing that to the bundle in her arms, a sweet blank slate full of life and mistakes and joy ahead of her.
Her life will be hers to live. Allison would honor their connection while allowing Daisy to blossom on her own.
“I promise to be the best momma I can. I’ll always hold your hand in the parking lot. I’ll love you no matter who you marry or divorce or what color your hair is. I’ll probably mess up, but know that it’s because I love you so much.”
In the hospital room, surrounded by her favorite things, including flowers from her favorite people, she’d never been more at peace with her choices.
Life had turned out the way she’d always hoped it would, but it had also bloomed in ways she’d never expected.
“Thank you,” she whispered to Daisy, whose eyes started to close. She inhaled the sweet baby smell of her, kissing her cheek so slowly. “Thank you for bringing me a story I never expected.”
Wells had been the perfect birthing partner, coaching her, pushing her, supporting her, and keeping her calm through it all.
After Wells’s family and Pearl had arrived, Martha and Pop had fussed over Daisy, proclaiming her to be the most beautiful, most special, most advanced infant to have ever existed. And while everyone had been fawning over the baby, Wells had been fawning over her.
Allison could have burst.
She had a family.
A kind, warm family that wanted her to be human and not perfect. Didn’t care whether she did anything for them. They liked her.
Daisy shifted in Allison’s arms as Wells came back to the room with two pillows in hand, looking proud of himself.
Allison put her finger to her lips, nodding to Daisy who was falling asleep again.
“I have gone out on the hunt,” Wells whispered, holding up the pillows, “and returned to the cave with spoils.”
She snorted as she leaned up.
He put the two pillows behind her. “I asked the nurse to come by to help you with the shower tomorrow morning. I hope that’s okay. I sent extra food from the diner to their break room so that they would give you first dibs.”
He leaned over to kiss Daisy’s head, inhaling the baby smell.
“It’s so good, right?” Allison said with a laugh.
Wells chuckled as he took another huff, their eyes connecting over their shared joy. “Literally the best thing I’ve ever smelled. And I make a mean cinnamon roll.”
Wells’s phone dinged and he snorted reading it.
“Another incendiary text from Pearl about how she’ll damage your manhood if you make me lift a finger?” Allison asked.
Wells showed her his phone.
KEITH
Thanks for the beers, man!! Dunno what I fumbled but my fishing buddies and I can’t wait to make a dent.
Her eyebrows shot to her hairline. “Keith texted you?” she whispered in shock.
Wells kissed her forehead. “I sent him a pallet of Michelob’s finest as a thank you for being such an idiot.”
Wells sat on the bed and linked their fingers, stroking his other hand over Daisy’s head. “I owe all my happiness to him fumbling the most perfect woman in the world.”
Allison smoothed a hand over his cheek, and he kissed her, his hand sliding up into her hair.
There had never been a more perfect feeling than the one in this moment, being held by the man she loved and holding the nearly ten-pound heart who lived outside of her body.
Wells snuck one more kiss, nuzzling her nose with his. The tickle of his mustache against her lips made her sigh.
“You happy?” she whispered.
He kissed her forehead slowly. It felt like a benediction, connecting the two of them forever. “I don’t think there’s a big enough word for what I am, other than yours.”
They spent Daisy’s first night talking, kissing, and after finally demanding he rest, Wells relented and said he’d go home to sleep once she and Daisy were both asleep.
The next day, as they prepared to leave the hospital after receiving the all clear, Allison had a spectacular view of the golden and orange sky as she held Daisy in her arms.
Wells appeared in the doorway, holding the car seat. “There are my girls. Car’s out front. Ready to start our adventure?”
How is this my real life? She’d found her home in Fairwick Falls, found her family in the friends she’d made, and in the past year, she’d found herself—finally.
Finally living the life I’ve always wanted.
“You know what? I’ve rarely said this, but I think you’re right,” she said with a mischievous grin. He squeezed her hip as he kissed her cheek, and they put Daisy into her car seat.
“It’s time to show you around town, young lady,” Allison said, buckling her in.
“The diner, obviously,” Wells said, grabbing Allison’s bag from her.
Allison smiled, her flower blanket folded over her arm. “The flower shop. You’ll love the Parker sisters.”
“Then we’ll drive by your grandmother’s law office, and your aunt’s dance studio, then your uncle’s car shop.”
“Your honorary aunt and uncle’s bookshop and bakery,” Allison said, feeling so full from a life she couldn’t believe she was lucky enough to have.
“And of course, the town square, where your mother practically begged me to hoist her onto the gazebo last Christmas.”
Allison rolled her eyes as she kissed his shoulder.
Daisy squeaked with a stretch, and they considered it a good sign that she was up for the trip.
They had adventures to begin for the rest of their chapters in Fairwick Falls.
Five and a half months later
Allison blinked awake, trying to put together what was happening. Wells murmured something, but his voice sounded far away.
She groggily sat up and realized the baby monitor’s audio was on. She hadn’t even heard Daisy cry. He must have handled it.
She watched him on the monitor’s small screen.
“A tort is when we do something that causes damage, like when you threw up on my favorite sweater last Sunday,” Wells said in a singsong voice. He slowly walked in the nursery holding Daisy with a burp cloth on his shoulder.
“And I’m sure you’re asking yourself, ‘But Papa, if I did something and it hurt somebody’s sweater, am I liable for what happened?
’ And yes.” He pulled back, grinning, as Daisy grinned back up at him.
“You are. But that is not the same thing as the act of doing the thing that destroyed the sweater.”
Daisy babbled in response, and Allison smiled at how it matched Wells’s cadence, mimicking him.
“Yes, exactly,” Wells said, still bouncing her as he walked, patting her back. “Your mom is going to teach you so many amazing things, too.”
Allison slid out of bed, wrapping herself in the robe that Wells had given her after she’d stolen his every night for the first three weeks they’d been home with Daisy.
Wells’s hushed whisper was barely audible as she peeked through the door of the nursery. “She’s going to teach you all about art, colors, and flowers, how to dress like a grandma, and—” He kissed Daisy’s head slowly. “—how to be kind, which is the most important of all.”
A smile tugged on Allison’s lips, and Wells turned to face her.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” she asked. Daisy’s smile widened and her arms lifted, wanting to be held.
It’s the best feeling, still.
Allison pressed the weight of Daisy’s snuggly warm body against her, noting she was already getting so big.
“We had to get something ready for you,” Wells said with a smile at Daisy who was now firmly awake.
She kissed Daisy’s head. “At four-thirty in the morning?”
“Who am I to judge Shortcake’s genius?” Wells said, tugging Allison by the hand to the living room.
A red-and-white picnic blanket was laid out on the floor. A vase of daisies sat beside fresh pineberries in the ceramic colander she’d thrifted last week.
In the middle, a new ceramic kitten figurine of a momma cat and kitten sat beside a paper that featured two prints: a tiny paw print and Daisy’s tiny hand print.
“Happy first Mother’s Day,” Wells whispered, kissing her temple.
She almost couldn’t believe that this was her life, even as she buried her face in his chest.
Soak up this moment.
Of getting everything I’ve ever wanted, right here, right now.
The scent of him, the feeling of Daisy cuddling against her. The press of his scratchy beard against her cheek as he kissed her.
“We’d planned to make you apple-pie pancakes, but someone was too eager to get started.” He smoothed Daisy’s curls.
“No, that can wait,” she said, capturing his mouth, running her fingers up through his hair.
His arm wrapped around her, tugging her against him and squeezing her hip as he deepened the kiss.
Daisy babbled beside them, and they smiled against each other’s lips at the adorable interruption.
“I think we should renegotiate that timeline,” Wells said, kissing down to her neck, and she laughed. “Get started on the next one two weeks early.”
“I’ll see if I can find my mushroom dress,” Allison said, biting her lip and grinning mischievously.
Wells took Daisy from her arms, holding her up. “We’re going to need to schedule your big sister lessons with Smokey-Harry,” he said to Daisy, laying her down on the picnic blanket.
And so Allison spent the dawn of her first Mother’s Day in bliss on a living room picnic blanket, tucked in Wells’s arms as Daisy crawled over them.
Between kisses, tummy raspberries, feeding each other bites of pineberries and muffins, and baby giggles, she basked in the glow of being Daisy’s mom and the love of the most unlikely, perfect man as a pink sunrise colored their morning.
It was bright and perfect and sparkly, and everything she’d ever wished for.