Terry laughed. “Good luck on that one, son.”
“So, what are your names?” Nathan asked the two children.
“Billy,” one said. “And he’s Ron.”
“Think you can beat Terry?” Nathan nodded to Amy’s father.
“That’s not a fair question,” Terry argued. “I’m the best.”
Nathan guessed that Terry was going to purposely shoot close enough to a low score but would let one of the kids win, and as it turned out, he was right. The course was fun enough, and Nathan tried to visualize what it would be like when he and Amy brought their kids out to a mini golf course. The thought made him smile.
He’d long ago forgotten his dreams of having a happy family, one he could come home to after a long day at work and spend his time with. But now it was all neatly coming together, and he couldn’t have asked for a better wife to make that happen. He recalled how Tyler referred to her as average when Nathan insisted on the interviews. It seemed to him that Amy was much more than average. She was the best of all the women out there.
When the game ended and they went out to eat at the place Billy, the winner, picked, Tyrone turned to Nathan. “I hear you specialize in travel.”
Nathan swallowed his food and nodded. “Yes. I own Rudolph Travel Agency.”
“I also hear that you took a bad turn with Jack Bently and his cruise line.”
Nathan glanced at Terry who most likely discussed this with Tyrone. Looking back at Tyrone, he said, “Things did not work out as I’d hoped.”
“To be honest, I’m very selective in who I do business with. I have my children and grandchildren to be an example to, and I take that responsibility seriously. From what Terry’s told me about you, you’d be the right kind of person to offer my own vacation packages through.”
“You’re in travel?” Nathan asked and glanced at Terry again.
“Oh. Did I forget to mention that?” Terry’s eyebrows rose innocently. “Must have slipped my mind.”
Nathan grinned at him, surprised but pleased the man thought well enough of him to recommend him to his good friend. Directing his attention to Tyrone, Nathan waited for Tyrone to reply.
Tyrone gave Terry a knowing look and told Nathan, “I know a man who owns a private island he wants to offer family getaways to, and I think he might like to make a deal with you.” He took out a business card from his shirt pocket. “His name is Zane Shermon.”
“I’ll give him a call,” Nathan replied. “And thank you.”
Terry wiped his mouth with a napkin and leaned forward. “I should have also mentioned that Tyrone works at a cruise line.”
“I don’t own it though, Terry,” Tyrone clarified.
“Maybe not, but he does have a position of influence,” Terry added.
Tyrone shrugged. “It’s a small world.” Then he smiled at Nathan. “I look forward to working with you.”
Nathan returned his smile and continued eating.
***
That evening, Amy and Nathan joined her parents at a Christmas party at her uncle’s house which was on the beach. Christmas carols played softly in the background as the majority of Amy’s relatives sat in the large living room in front of the Christmas tree or talked in the kitchen. The rest ventured out onto the large deck where they could sit on the chairs and enjoy the sunset.
Amy and Nathan decided to take off their shoes, roll up their pants, and walk along the beach. The sand was cool and the wind blowing against their jackets left Amy feeling nippy, but she wanted to enjoy a nice romantic stroll along the water. She didn’t think she’d ever want to go for another walk on the beach when Sean died since they had done it many times when they dated and after they were first married, but it was time to replace some of the older memories with new ones.
“The water really is emerald, isn’t it?” Nathan mused as he stared out at the Gulf of Mexico where the clear blue-green water lapped lazily up to the shore.
“I told you,” she said and gave his hand a friendly squeeze. “I used to come here every Christmas Eve when I was growing up and imagine what the next year would be like.”
He glanced at her. “Are you doing that now?”
She smiled. “I can’t help it. Old habits die hard.”
“So what do you think will happen?”
“Good things. Many good things.”
He laughed. “That’s a tad bit vague.”
“I know. But I already know I’m going to be happily married with a baby. What else is there?”
“Not much, I guess. My life is complete.”
As they strolled along, she inhaled the familiar scent of saltwater. Part of her missed being here along the Florida panhandle, but she loved Omaha more and couldn’t imagine her life anywhere else. All it meant was that she would look forward to visiting her parents.
“I made a decision,” she finally said.
“About what?”
“Whether or not to work after I have the baby. I want to work. I like Danielle, and my days wouldn’t seem the same without her.”
He nodded and smiled. “Alright.”
“You’re not disappointed?”
“Why would I be? It just means that I’ll get to set up a playpen in my office and spend more time with our daughter.”
She shook her head. “Why do I have the feeling that she’ll be a daddy’s girl?”
“Because she will be.”
“You’re not allowed to spoil her. We have to teach her responsibility, hard work, and cooperation.”
“I won’t argue with you. Whatever you say will go.”
“Nathan,” she playfully admonished, “we’re going to work together at being parents. We’re a team.”
“Whatever you say, dear.” He stopped walking so he could wrap her in his arms and kiss her.
She groaned but couldn’t quit smiling. “I’m serious, Nathan. We work together.”
“Yes. I know. I’m agreeing with you. That is allowed, isn’t it?”
“Well...yes. But I don’t want you to think I intend to take control of the situation.”
“I know.”
“You agree with me a lot.”
“Yes. Is that wrong?” he asked, amused.
“No. I guess not. It’s just surprising, that’s all.”
“What’s so surprising about it?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know exactly. I assumed that you’d be more insistent that things would always have to go your way.”
He kissed her again, longer this time and silencing her ramblings. She melted in his arms and leaned into him, her arms circling his waist.
When the kiss ended, he whispered, “I owe you a beach fantasy, if memory serves.”
“Oh.” She blushed as she recalled telling him she’d dreamt of having sex on the beach. She took in her surroundings. “I change my mind.”
“I didn’t mean right now. I meant later. When we could be in a deserted location.”
“No. I still don’t want to. Look at all this sand. There are places that sand could go that wouldn’t be comfortable.”
“We could use a blanket.”
She thought it over and shook her head again. “It still doesn’t seem comfortable. I’ll tell you what. Why don’t you join me on our private balcony later tonight and we’ll call it even. Deal?”
“I love how practical you are. Okay. Deal.” Keeping an arm around her shoulders, he turned and led her down the beach so they were now going toward her uncle’s house. “Amy, I was wondering... Did you know that your dad set up an unofficial meeting for me and Tyrone Johnson?”
She snuggled closer to him. “My mom mentioned something about it.”
“I thought that was nice of him.”
She chuckled. “He has his moments.”
“Your parents don’t think our company is going through the same problem it went through this past summer, do they?”
“No. I told them you were able to pull out of that and have plans to expand again.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “I thought your dad did that because he thought we were still in that sticky situation.”
“No. I think he did it because he likes you and thinks you’d make a good business match for his friend.”
“That means a lot to me that he thinks so highly of me,” he softly admitted.
She huffed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Both of my parents have adored you ever since they first laid eyes on you. It was disgusting.”
“Is it disgusting now?”
“No. Now it’s disgusting that I adore you,” she joked and threw her arms around his neck. “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be with, Nathan. I love you.”
“How can a woman be disgusted because she adores her husband?”
“I don’t know, but it’s true.”
“Well, I’m disgusted that you’re disgusted but happy that you adore and love me. And as undisgusted as I am to admit it, I adore and love you too.”
She laughed. “Nathan?”
“Hmm..?”
“Shut up and kiss me.”
“Anything you say, dear.” Then he obeyed her.
***
February 23
Omaha, Nebraska
Amy held her newborn daughter in her arms and laughed when Danielle entered her maternity suite with a vase of flowers. “Good luck.”
Danielle paused and glanced around the room. “Where am I supposed to put this?” she asked, motioning to the countless number of flowers that covered the entire place.
“If I knew, I’d tell you,” Amy replied. “Nathan went a little crazy.”
“A little?” Danielle rolled her eyes and sat with the flowers in her lap. She scooted the chair closer to Amy so she could see the baby. “Oh, she is so adorable. Sometimes I miss newborns, but then I remember the sleepless nights, the midnight bottle feedings, the constant demand for my time...” She glanced at her flowers. “Maybe I should send a ‘get through this stage soon’ card.”
Amy shook her head. “Babies are so cute.”
“Have you been pooped on or spit up on yet?”
“Are you trying to ruin my moment here?”
Danielle chuckled. “I’m just teasing. Yes, it’s great. But I’m still glad it’s over. My kids are a lot more interesting now that they can have a conversation with me. I can actually do things with them.”
“Well, I love looking at Amber and singing to her while I cuddle her in my arms. When she gets older, she’ll realize I can’t hold a tune and run off if I sing anything.”
“I’ll be sure to buy her a kid MP3 player so she can enjoy the cool stuff, like the Spongebob theme song.”
“Spongebob? Isn’t that your husband’s favorite show?”
“He started watching it because of the kids. But yeah... Now he’s hooked.”
“You want to hold her?”
Danielle set the flowers by her feet and took the baby in her arms. “I forgot they were this light and tiny.” She cooed at Amber who watched her with wide eyes. “I’m glad you’ll be coming back to work. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”
“No, it wouldn’t. I think this suits Nathan just fine. He already got his office baby proofed. He’s looking forward to hanging out with her.”
“He’s the boss. He can do whatever he wants.”
“Do you believe he’s already changed a dirty diaper? I asked but I didn’t think he’d actually do it.”
“Wow. Rich, good looking, and changes diapers. How did you luck out?”
“She answered the questions the best,” came Nathan’s reply.
Amy looked up at him and grinned. “I want another one!”
Danielle grunted and rolled her eyes. “Wait until this one crawls and gets into everything. Then decide if you want another one or not.”
“You have two,” Amy reminded her before she looked at Nathan. “Did you talk to my parents?”
Nathan sat in the chair on the other side of Amy’s bed and took her hand in his. “Yes. They’ll be here tomorrow. They’re pretty excited about seeing their grandchild.”
“Almost as excited as you were,” Amy reminded him.
“Oh please.” Danielle snorted and glanced at the baby. “Your mother could talk of little else but you,” she told Amber. “You are definitely one well-loved little girl.” Smiling at Nathan and Amy, she said, “Congratulations.” She stood and Nathan took the girl. “I’ll come back tomorrow.” After giving Amy a hug, she added, “We’ll have to do some more shopping and introduce Amber to the world of womankind,” and left.
Nathan sat down on the bed next to Amy, so she snuggled up to him. She held her finger out to Amber who grasped it with her hand.
“Everything’s perfect, Nathan,” she whispered, staring in awe at their daughter.
“Almost.” He reclined in the bed and put his arm around Amy’s shoulders. Giving her a kiss, he said, “Now it’s perfect.”
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