“She’s on her way down to you.”
“Stay put until you hear me leave,” I added.
“The answer is yes.”
“To which question?” I’d forgotten already. My mind was in a million places. It hadn’t helped that I’d stayed up late writing a message in a special card for her.
“Both. I will stay put, but also that I missed you. I hate knowing you’re that close and I can’t see you. How much harm can one kiss do?”
“I don’t want to find out. In a few hours you’ll be my wife, and then you can spend forever kissing me. Just so you know, I’ll expect morning breath kisses, coffee kisses, and every other kind of kiss that you find gross. Now’s the time to back out, Kat. When you say forever today, you better mean it.”
“I’m ready to take the plunge. How about we just call the official right now, get him over here, and have them marry us so we can go back to bed for the rest of the day?”
“You didn’t sleep either?”
I started walking up the stairs even though I knew I wasn’t going to open the door. The last thing we needed was bad luck. “I couldn’t get comfortable.”
“Me either. Listen, its a couple more hours. Get all dolled up for me and meet me out back. I can’t wait to see you, Kat. You’re going to look so perfect.”
“I’m going to look fat. You better say a prayer that this dress still fits me. I haven’t tried it on for two weeks, and I swear I’ve gained ten more pounds.”
“Being four months pregnant will do that, but just to be clear, you’re not fat. You’re beautiful.” She was. I loved her little bump. “Imagine if you would have gotten pregnant over the summer. Then you’d be huge,” I teased.
“Are you just going to stand at the door all morning torturing me?”
I tapped it twice before I replied. “I came up to tell you that I love you. I’ll see you in bit.”
Cold feet.
It was something I’d never have with Kat. She was mine and the piece of paper making it legal wasn’t going to change anything.
I’d been wondering how I was going to sneak into our house without seeing her, but B made it the perfect excuse. Before we headed back to my parents, I tucked a card underneath of the package of peanut butter cups on the countertop.
She’d get a kick out of the card considering it was sentimental. Being that it was both our wedding day and Valentine’s Day, a particular special day for someone that carried the name, I was more than excited to give it to her.
When Katy opened my card, she’d probably cry. The poor woman had been a babbling mess with her pregnancy hormones.
I smiled thinking back to the day we found out. On the first day of her missed period, I drove to the store and bought the test while she and B waited at home for me. I always got a kick out of seeing my daughter standing at the window, watching for me to pull in the driveway, especially since we’d moved into Kat’s family home.
They’d met me at the door and the three of us rushed into the bathroom as if there were a tornado headed for the house.
Three minutes later we celebrated.
Our lives had changed for the better, especially since we’d moved. Kat smiled every day, making me feel like I was doing my job, keeping her happy and safe.
As far as our daughter, well let’s just say that she was spoiled beyond belief and had become both of my parent’s reasons for breathing.
Brooklyn wasn’t just my daughter. Seeing what Kat and I brought into the world, and knowing that she helped bring us back together, made me the happiest man on the planet.
My brother was in the kitchen when we both walked inside. B spotted him and ran up to him, smacking into his legs. “Good morning, pretty girl. Uncle Branch has something for you.”
He leaned down and handed her a stuffed bear holding a heart. When he squeezed it, it said ‘I love you’.
B hugged it and brought it to show me. “Daddy, look.”
“I see it. Go say thank you.”
She hugged Branch and ran into the living room before we could tell her that nobody else was awake, and being that it was such a special day, I didn’t care if she woke up the whole house.
While waiting for her to come back, Branch cleared his throat and got my attention. “I guess it’s not necessary to ask if you’re ready for today.”
I raised my eyebrows and let out and air-filled laugh. “Yeah, I’ve been ready for this my whole life.”
My brother looked down at his cup of coffee as he replied. “I shouldn’t have been such a dick to you when we were kids.”
I leaned across the counter and looked my brother in the eyes. “None of that matters anymore. She’s mine forever, man.”