Epilogue
Evie is rearranging her stuffed animal collection in the nursery for the thousandth time since I hung the shelves up on the wall this afternoon.
Leaning against the doorway, I watch as she moves one here, then there, then steps back to tilt her head and frown at it—before finally moving it back to the other side of the room.
“I’ve been doing some thinking,” she says without looking at me, stroking her pregnant stomach as she scrutinizes the stuffed toy’s placement for the umpteenth time.
“That’s never good.”
She shoots me a caustic smile. “I want to do something to commemorate the baby we lost. Here in the nursery.”
I push off the doorway and come up behind her. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I drop a kiss to her neck. “What did you have in mind?”
We stare at the wall of cuddly toys together.
I was able to recover the collection for her by chance.
Or maybe it wasn’t chance at all. Just like when I stumbled across her diamond necklace on the side of the road, Teddy stumbled on three plastic crates worth of the little beanie animals at Goodwill when we were out shopping one day not long after Maggie’s fall.
I thought Evie mentioned something about downsizing when she moved out of her Grandma’s house, and when I turned one of the tags around to look at the name of the stuffed toy, it had Evie’s initials.
G.C.M. Genevieve Catherine Montgomery. All of them did.
She’d donated her prized collection—the one her mother started for her when she was two years old. I knew it was not an insignificant decision on her part to donate the collection. She once told me she’d only ever give them away if she thought her mother wasn’t going to come home.
I wasn’t sure how she’d receive me regifting something she intentionally donated to heal and process her mother’s absence, but, thankfully, she was over the moon. She cried harder than I’d ever seen her cry when she discovered that not a single one of those stuffed animals was missing.
“Well, I never actually got an ultrasound because I didn’t know I was pregnant until—” She pauses to collect herself.
“But maybe in lieu of hanging an image of an ultrasound, we could get something with her name, conception date, and date of passing framed. And we could hang it above the crib as a reminder to cherish every single moment with our miracle rainbow baby.” She looks down and rubs her hand across her stomach.
Our breath catches when her belly ripples with a kick. “Ow,” she coos, stroking her bump.
Misty eyed, I bury my face in her hair. It took us about a year to conceive after we got married, and Evie was beginning to despair, thinking it was never going to happen for us.
But then it did. She’s due any day now.
“I love that idea, baby.”
She faces me. “And I love you. Thank you for making me a mother.”
I smile. “Thank you for making me a dad. Times two.”
She grins shyly. “I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I,” I admit, thinking back to those hazy but precious newborn days with Teddy.
He’s six years old now, and I don’t know how.
Time flies when you’re having fun, I guess.
He’s at that age where I’m basically his superhero.
I can’t wait to do all the things with him that I used to do with my own dad—like go hiking and fishing and watching all my favorite war films.
I also can’t wait to teach him what it means to be a real man—the kind of man who loves and pursues God above all else.
A man who exhibits Christlike behavior in all he does, including how he treats women, so he never makes the kind of mistakes I made.
The love of a good, virtuous woman is one of the most precious gifts God can give a man; it’s worth far more than diamonds and rubies, and he’ll grow up knowing how to love, honor, and respect the women in his life.
“Do you think it’s gonna be a boy or a girl?
” Evie wonders for the millionth time, beaming up at me.
She wanted to know the gender, but I wanted to do things the old-fashioned way and wait until the day of.
We couldn’t come to an agreement, so we ended up flipping a coin—and I won.
She looked so disappointed that I had mercy on her and offered to do best two out of three. I still won.
“Does it really matter?” I ask, grinning, knowing it doesn’t.
She sighs theatrically. “I guess not.” She frowns then, and I wait. “I think I’m more concerned about what I’m going to be like as a mother. What if I’m horrible? What if—”
I grab her face, and she goes quiet. “You’re going to be an amazing mother, Evie.
Mark my words.” She’s been incredible with Teddy from the very beginning, and she’s also taken to being his step mother like a duck takes to water.
I have no doubt mothering will come naturally to her, but even if it doesn’t, well, that’s okay, too.
She nods warily, rubbing her stomach. Pulling her in by the waist, I bend to kiss the tip of her shoulder.
She’s wearing the most adorable maternity dress, and it makes me want to get the ball rolling with this labor and delivery .
. . My lips slide up the curve of her shoulder, trailing kisses up her neck before landing on the corner of her jaw.
She jumps when I nip her, then laughs, cringing away from me.
“What do you say we try and get this show on the road?” I ask, wagging my brows as my hands wander all her beautiful new curves. Pregnancy looks incredible on her.
“I’m too tired,” she complains, trying to shimmy out of my grasp. “Just standing takes superhuman strength these days. I could honestly use a nap right now.”
“I’ll do all the hard work,” I promise, bunching the skirt of her dress in my hands as I nuzzle her neck. “And then you can take a nap. You’ll sleep better afterward. Trust me.”
She laughs again. “I’ll tell you what,” she teases, disentangling herself from me and backing away, hands clasped behind her back. “I’ll let you make love to me . . .” She pivots suddenly and sprints off, laughing shrilly. “If you can catch me!”
My girl. Always keeping things interesting.
I bound after her. “I will always catch you.”
Unfortunately for me, Teddy and Jamie are waiting for us when I catch up to her downstairs.
Jamie cringes when he sees Evie looking flushed, still giggling as she rounds the corner.
Just to get under Jamie’s skin, I grab her by the back of the dress, whirl her around, and dip her into a passionate kiss.
She’s red-faced and flustered when I set her back on her feet.
“Ew,” Teddy groans, flopping down onto the couch.
“Yeah,” Jamie concurs in a petulant voice. “Get a room.” He likes to pretend he doesn’t like seeing us together, but our relationship has grown on him. He was the best man at our wedding, and I know he would have officiated it himself if Evie wasn’t intent on having Pastor Mark do it.
“What kind of ice cream did you get?” Evie asks, collapsing onto the couch next to Teddy. She wraps an arm around him and kisses his cheek. He snuggles into her embrace, smiling.
“What do you think?”
“Mint chocolate chip?”
He nods.
“Excellent choice,” she says, yawning. Her expression shifts from one of contentment to discomfort, and she sits up, clutching her stomach. “Ugh.”
I kneel in front of her and take her hand. “Everything okay?”
“Braxton hicks, I think,” she says, cringing as she leans forward. “They’ve been coming pretty regularly all afternoon. And they seem to be getting worse.”
Jamie and I exchange a wary glance. Evie is past her due date. “How regularly?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know. I haven’t been tracking them.”
“Maybe we should.”
“The baby can’t come today,” she insists, glancing at the stairs. “The nursery isn’t finished.” She stands, as if she plans to go back upstairs and continue moving those stuffed animals around.
“Just relax,” I insist, trying to steer her back toward the couch.
She shakes her head. “No—agh!” She stiffens, then folds over in a violent sneeze. Righting herself, she gasps and glances down, shocked. Her face flushes bright red. “Oh my gosh.”
“What?” I demand, frantically looking her over.
“I think—” She shoots Jamie and Teddy an apologetic look. She lowers her voice for my ears only. “I think I just . . .” We gaze at each other, wide-eyed. “Either that, or . . .”
“Um, Evie?” Teddy says pointedly, wrinkling his nose slightly as he points at the back of her dress. “I think you might have just peed your pants.”
“Oh my gosh,” she groans. “It’s actually happening.”
Jamie jumps up and rubs his hands together, grinning. “It’s showtime.”
“No,” Evie laments, gazing at the stairs.
“Forget about the nursery,” I say, stroking her hair. “It can get done later. Your water just broke. We need to get you to the hospital.”
She nods, looking around with a sigh. “Can you clean up the living room while we’re gone?
” she asks Jamie. He moans, and she shoots him a death glare before gripping her stomach and cringing in pain.
“Oh, and let Grandma know. She wanted to be the first to know.” She winces and looks at me. “My bag is by the door.”
While I hate that she’s in pain, I’m bubbling with excitement as I guide her toward the door. Grabbing her bag, I throw it over my shoulder and turn to Teddy. “You gonna be okay hanging out with Uncle Jamie for a little while longer, bud?”
Teddy grins, nodding excitedly as he runs up to Evie. “Is the baby finally coming?”
“I sure hope so,” she moans. “Because if this is what labor’s like, I’d rather just get it over with.”
“Do we have everything we need?” I ask, looking around one final time as I open the door.
“Don’t you need to get your bag?” Evie asks, shuffling barefooted into the summer sunshine. I grab her sandals and throw them into her bag.
“It’s in the trunk.” I’ve been ready for this moment for weeks. Months.
She nods, looking terrified as she continues waddling toward the car with wide, unseeing eyes. Rushing forward, I grab her hand and spin her to face me. I press my forehead against hers and take her face in my hands. “Breathe, Evie. You’ve got this. And you’ve got me.”
Closing her eyes, she nods and takes a deep breath. “I’ve got this.”
“You’ve got this.”
She threads her fingers through mine. “We’ve got this.”
My heart expands, pushing against my ribcage like it wants to break free and fly away. “Yes. We do. With God’s help. He’s always with us.” Nodding, she smiles, looking much more at peace now. “Now,” I say, smirking. “Let’s go have a baby.”