“Aww! Oh my gosh!” She cradled the puppy and nuzzled it against her cheek. “Thank you!”
My eyes watered while I watched her. I could already see how it was going to be. My husband planned to spoil our daughter rotten. But if any kid deserved it, she did.
“You’re my puppy,” she said softly.
“Is it a girl or a boy?” I asked Ryke.
“It’s a boy, and he’s a hockey player.”
Melody and I both laughed.
“How do you figure?” I asked.
“Look at his eyes.”
Melody held him up and we both admired the patch of black hair surrounding one of the pup’s eyes. He was pure white otherwise.
“Luke and I saw him and figured if he’s got a black eye, he must play hockey,” Ryke said. “You’ll have to think of a good name for him, Mel.”
“I think we should name him Stanley, after that one cup you told me about.”
“That one cup? That’s the only cup, sweetheart,” Ryke said. “And that’s a great name.”
I saw love in his eyes when he gazed at her, and my heart swelled. This sense of completion was so much more than I’d ever thought it would be. I wondered if there was a chance we’d end up a family of four, but the hope flickered for just a second before I dismissed it. My dream had come true when we signed the papers at the courthouse yesterday. I didn’t dare ask fate for anything more.
***
My chocolate ice cream cone dipped in chocolate candy coating was dripping all the way down to my fingers, and I licked it quickly to save a mess.
“I’ve never seen you like this over chocolate,” my mom said, her brows arched with amusement. She was walking with Mel and I to a downtown park on a hot summer day, with the promise of sunset still far away though it was already evening.
“I think it’s a pregnancy craving thing. I’ve been willing to maim for chocolate the entire past five months. Even in the beginning, when I was sick. I’d puke and then eat a candy bar.”
“Well, you’re doing something right, because you haven’t gained much weight outside your belly.” She popped the last of her much smaller ice cream cone into her mouth.
“Have you seen my boobs?” I gave her a pointed glare.
“I’ve seen them!” Melody stopped skipping in front of us and turned to yell loudly. “When you were getting in the shower and I came in the bathroom that one time!”
“Melody, inside voice, please,” I said, my cheeks warming.
“But we’re outside!”
We’d caught up to her now, and I put an arm around her shoulder. “Remember how there are some things we don’t talk about in public?”
“Like when people stink?”
“Right. It’s the same with … boobs, which are really called breasts,” I said. “They’re part of the personal parts that I told you no one should touch or talk about with you. Except … well, it’s okay to talk about it with me, at home.”
“Oh. Why don’t I have boobs?” She looked up at me with wide eyes and I smiled at my mom.
“You will, sweetheart,” I said. “When you get older. How’s your ice cream?”
“Good. Can I go now?”
We were almost to the playground we were walking to, and she was eyeing the other kids with longing. “You can, but remember that I need to be able to see you at all times. And no talking to strangers.”
“Is Brody’s mom a stranger?”
“No, because we know her. It’s okay to talk to her.”
“She said Ryke’s a piece of candy.”
I furrowed my brows at her. “Brody’s mom said that? When?”
“Last time we came here. You were talking to that other lady, and I heard her say you’re married to a piece of man candy. What’s man candy?”
I widened my eyes at my mom, begging for backup.
“It means he’s sweet, honey,” she said to Melody, who took off for the playground, apparently satisfied.
“She reminds me of a certain someone,” my mom said, laughing. “Always full of questions.”
“It’s funny how I’m still getting to know her, but already I’d walk through fire for that little girl. I didn’t know motherhood would grab ahold of my heart so deeply.”
“It does,” my mom said. “That time you were in the hospital with pneumonia when you were six was the worst three days of my life. I was beside myself until we knew you’d pull through. And seeing you hurt over the babies you lost … I’d have given anything if I could’ve hurt instead of you.”
“If I turn out to be a good mom, it’ll be because of you,” I said.