by Ford, Brenda
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Oliver
Waking up in Ellie’s bed always feels so incredible. Even though it’s smaller than the bed that I have at home and the mattress is slightly less comfortable, none of that matters because I have her in my arms. I stayed here the night after she had all that drama with her father, and I haven’t left yet. She doesn’t want to be alone; she doesn’t quite feel safe yet despite her father being locked away, and I’m more than happy to comply.
But this morning, it doesn’t feel as great and it takes me a couple of moments to work out why. As I stretch my arms across the bed, I realize that I am alone. The other side of the bed is cold too which means that she has been gone for a while. As far as I know she isn’t working today and Marie isn’t coming around, so why isn’t she having a lie in with me? We love waking up in one another’s arms, it’s absolutely everything I want.
Ah, unless Seth got up early and woke her up. Sometimes, she gets up with him and lets me sleep in. Occasionally, if Seth comes to me first, I do the same for her. Obviously, he tends to go for her first, but we have a good bond here. He’s warming to me more than I ever thought possible. I assumed that after his father ruined him, sending him to endless therapy sessions, he wouldn’t warm to another person, but thankfully I was wrong.
I sigh and smile to myself, so grateful with the way that things have worked out. Everything inside of me is so much better now. Having Ellie by my side makes me brighter and happier, more open and willing to do new things. I’m more productive at work, which makes Brad a lot more proud of me as well, and everything is brighter. She really is good for me; I can’t believe that I almost turned my back on the best thing to ever happen to me. Just because of her age as well. How stupid would that have been? It’s more simple knowing that Rosie is on our side too, and she’s really kept to her promise. She’s kept her distance but been around us whenever we have needed her. She’s still single at the moment and working on herself, loving herself so that she will make better choices in the future. I’m happy for my friend, glad that she’s finally in a good mind set. Moving forwards in a positive direction. I’m sure that wherever she goes next, life will be good to her.
Everything is absolutely perfect. It would be a million times better if Ellie was still in bed right now, but I can’t have everything I suppose. She has gotten up for a reason which means it’s time for me to do the same. I pull my aching body off the mattress, stretching and fully waking up as I do.
“Ellie?” I call out as I pad slowly across the apartment. “Seth? Where is everyone?”
I find Seth in the living room with the cartoons playing loudly on the TV. He turns and half nods at me before returning to his bowl of cereal. It doesn’t matter what Seth is doing, I always make an effort to speak to him. Just in case there is anything he wants to discuss that he can’t do with family. It hasn’t happened yet, but it might.
“How are you doing, buddy?” I ask him while resting a hand on his shoulder. “Good night of sleep?”
“Mhmm.” He barely bothers to drag his eyes off the screen. “You?”
“Yes, I did, thank you for asking. Are you looking forward to school today?”
“I can’t wait to see my friend, Josh.” All of a sudden, he becomes incredibly animated. “He got a new space ship for his birthday, and he’s going to bring it in to school to show me which will be very exciting.”
“Oh wow, that sounds amazing, buddy. I like a good space ship as well. Maybe over the weekend we can go to the science museum and see what space things they have there. They might have a really cool collection.”
“I would like that. Thank you, Oliver. I love space ships and the moon!”
When he gives me a grateful smile, my heart swells with joy. He is such a delightful kid and he honestly deserves the best out of life. Thankfully now he has me, Ellie, Rosie, and Amelia all working to make that happen.
“Where is Ellie?” I ask him, wondering why she hasn’t made her presence known yet. “Has she gone out?”
“She’s in the bathroom,” he replies without much weight. “She’s been there for a while.”
My instinctive reaction is that she’s sick which of course worries me. I can’t help panicking and being over protective of her. After everything, it’s a natural reaction, right? At least, I hope so.
“I’m just going to check on her.” I leap up quickly. “I will see you in a moment.”
Seth has turned off to me now, he’s lost in the cartoon all over again, so I hurry myself towards the bathroom and I bang on the door. Every time that I’m on the other side of the door to Ellie, it brings back that horrible terrifying sensation I felt when she was locked inside this very apartment. Sometimes I wonder how she stays here with all those horrible memories clinging to the walls, but she says that she is okay, and I believe her. I hope that she can open up to me enough to tell me if that isn’t the case. I would think so by now.
“Ellie?” I call out to her, shaking all over. “Are you okay? Are you sick or something? Can I help?”
“Yeah, I’m good, come in,” she croaks back. “Sorry I should have yelled you.”
I shove the door open and find her inside on the floor, resting her palms on the cold tiles. She’s pale as all hell and looks ill. She must have been throwing up because there is a green tinge to her face.
“Oh my God.” I collapse on the floor next to her. “What’s going on? You are ill!”
“No, no, I’m not.” She shakes her head fast. “Not sick. Don’t worry. You don’t need to panic.”
She reaches out and softly drags her fingers down my cheeks. I shiver under the magical power of her touch, even now after all this time together she has the ability to make me tingle and send me wild. That intense chemistry still rockets between us, only growing rather than depleting over time.
“Oh, Oliver, you wonderful man. What would I do without you?”
I don’t quite know what’s going on here, I’m not sure if this is the sickness talking or if she’s over the moon, but it feels nice to hear her saying these sweet words to me. She’s making me feel very special.
“You don’t ever have to find out,” I insist. “I hope I have proven to you that I’m always here.”
“I’m glad you said that.” She reaches behind herself and pulls out a strange white plastic stick thing that she hands over to me. “Because the reason I’m hanging out in the bathroom is because I just got some news. I kinda suspected for a while because… well, you know, the usual signs. I was late, feeling nauseous, dizzy all the time… just not like me. I figured that I would do a test to block out the idea really, to prove myself wrong, but that didn’t quite happen.” She pauses and sucks in a deep breath. “So yeah, here we are. What do you think…?”
“What are you talking about?” I plead. “What’s going on here? Should I be worried?”
“Can’t you see that?” She takes the stick and twists it around to show it to me. “The blue cross.”
“Am I supposed to know what that means?” I stare at her. “Am I being totally naïve here?”
“Oh God,” she groans. “That isn’t a good sign. It means I’m pregnant, Oliver. We’re having a baby.”
Pregnant… baby… Those words swim around in my brain, but they take a little moment to settle in and make sense. I obviously know what they all mean but fitting in the jigsaw pieces and connecting them with me is the hard part. “Are… are you for real?” I gasp, slowly building the excitement. “We’re going to have a baby?”
She giggles and nods, but I can clearly see the emotional tears in her eyes which I can feel welling up in me at the same time. This is amazing news; I absolutely love it. I haven’t ever thought about having kids with anyone else, but with Ellie it’s perfect. The idea of growing our family is everything to me.
“Are you scared?” she asks me. “Or excited by the idea? I’m a bit of both.”
“A bit of both too, but mostly I’m over the moon.”
I bring her lips to mine and we kiss for a while, relishing in the idea of taking this amazing romance of ours to the next level. It might not be expected, and it may seem a little fast to anyone else, but to us, it’s perfect. Our love is so intense that nothing could ever seem too fast. We just know that we’re meant to be, so why wait?
“Oh my God, Ellie.” I pull back and stare at her with wide eyes as another idea smacks me in the face. “I love you so much and now you’re having my baby! Do you know how wonderful that is? The woman who has changed my life and made me the best version of myself is having my child. I couldn’t be happier. And now…” I pause for just a second before deciding that yes, this is the right thing to do, even if I’m not totally prepared for it. “Now I want to marry you. I mean, not now, I have always wanted to marry you, but now I want to ask you. I don’t have a ring or anything because I wasn’t prepared enough for that, but I’ll still ask if that’s okay…”
“Oliver…” she giggles while taking my face in her hands. “Calm down, you’re speaking so fast.”
“Sorry, I just…” I gasp and pant. “I’m so excited. I can’t get over it.”
“You can ask me whatever you want to,” she reassures me. “It doesn’t matter if you aren’t prepared. I don’t mind. That just means you have to take me ring shopping afterwards.”
“Of course I will. You can pick what you want. I love the idea of that.” I position myself on one knee and grin at Ellie. “So, what do you say Miss Ellie Clark, would you like to get married to the father of your baby? Would you do me the absolutely amazing honor of agreeing to be my wife?”
The tears stream down her face as she claps her hands to her mouth. “Oh, my goodness, Oliver, I can’t believe this. The fact that you’re even asking is just… and then for you to actually be happy about the baby…”
“Are you kidding me? Of course I am! I can’t wait to be a father. A journey that I can’t wait to take with you.”
“My answer is yes,” she declares, putting me out of my misery. “I would love nothing more than to be your wife. Ellie Smith has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”
I grab her and kiss her deeply, silently promising to her that I will do whatever it takes to make her happy, to ensure her life is amazing. I won’t ever hurt her or let her down. She’s had enough of that. She doesn’t need it from me as well. I will be the perfect husband to an even better wife.
Epilogue
Ellie
One Year Later…
“I don’t know if I can do it,” I moan as I strap little Dakota into her pram. “I can’t go out and leave her.”
“I will be with her,” Seth jumps in. “She’s okay with her Uncle Seth, you know that. Plus, Rosie and Auntie Amelia. We will all be with Dakota looking after her. Everything will be fine.”
“Yes,” Oliver agrees while circling his arms around my waist. “And we need a date night. You are such a wonderful mother, but everyone needs a break. Tonight, we are both having a break.”
I sigh and nod, knowing that he’s right. “Okay, okay, let’s go, already shall we? Before I change my mind.”
We climb into the car and Oliver drives us towards Auntie Amelia’s home. I keep darting my eyes backwards as we go, checking on my gorgeous baby girl, but I don’t need to really because Seth constantly has his eyes on her. He’s relishing his role as the older kid taking care of Dakota. I don’t know what I’d do without him.
“Hey, Oliver, where are we even going tonight?” I ask suddenly realizing that I have been so preoccupied with Dakota that I haven’t even thought about our date. I barely had enough time to get dressed up. I only made that happen because Oliver insisted that we needed to do whatever we could to make the night special. I’m glad that he did really, because it does feel nice being all smart and not covered in baby sick.
“Hmm? Oh, you’ll see when we get there,” he replies mysteriously.
“What do you mean? Is it something weird that I’m not going to like?”
He tosses his head back and laughs but continues to drive on without explaining further. I would push him, but to be honest I’m too focused on checking that Dakota is okay, which of course she is.
“Isn’t there a weird atmosphere?” I demand as soon as we pull up to Auntie Amelia’s home. “Can you feel it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Oliver shrugs. “It feels normal to me.”
But I can’t stop flickering my eyes between my old house and Oliver’s old home too. I can’t put my finger on it, but there is definitely something a little different. Like a buzzing in the air, as if something massive is about to happen and no one knows it yet. But that lack of knowledge won’t stop it from coming.
“Oh, my goodness, my favorite baby!” Rosie soon distracts me by claiming Dakota. “I have been looking forward to babysitting all day long. Mom has as well. This is so exciting.”
“I’m babysitting as well,” Seth reminds her. “Don’t forget about me just because there is a new baby.”
Auntie Amelia grabs Seth and hugs him tightly. “We could never forget about our handsome big boy. I’m so glad that you’re here to help us. We need you and your baby knowledge.”
“I live with Dakota.” He pushes his chest out proudly. “So, I do know the best.”
Auntie Amelia listens to everything that Seth tells her as if she’s hearing it for the first time which is so lovely. She’s so good with both of the children. I never take her for granted, I always know how lucky I am to have her. After everything that we went through last year as a family, we are stronger than ever.
“So, do you know where you’re going yet?” Rosie asks. “Or is it still a secret?”
“Oh yes, you were weird about it in the car!” I say, turning to Oliver. “Can I know now?”
“Come on, let’s just get going. It won’t be long until you see.”
I shrug and decide to be patient. He hasn’t ever let me down before so there is no reason to believe that he will now. I decide to roll with it and go along with whatever he wants to do. It’ll be nice whatever.
“Okay, sure. Let’s get going.” I stare at Rosie. “I will have my cell phone with me all evening, so please call me if you need us at all. If there is anything wrong with Dakota, please let me know.”
She rolls her eyes. “You know, Mom is used to looking after children. She has done it before.”
“I know, I know… I can’t help myself, can I?”
“If we need you, I will call you right away. Now go out and enjoy yourself.”
It’s agonizing to leave. I almost don’t do it, but in the end, I let Oliver drag me out because rationally I know that everything will be okay. I don’t actually have to worry at all, even though I will.
Oliver takes me to a beautiful Italian restaurant where I can eat a meal that I haven’t cooked myself and that I won’t need to wash up after either. Nor do I have to stop every two minutes to look after Dakota, so it’s lovely. I’m not sure why all the secrecy, but it’s a really incredible night. I don’t want to leave.
“Thank you for our date,” I say as we walk out of the restaurant. My hand is in his and my head on his shoulder. “It’s been really nice to spend some time just me and you. I didn’t realize how crazy life got.”
“I know, right.” He tilts his head towards me and smiles. “But it isn’t over yet.”
“It isn’t?” His words give me yet another unexpected surge of energy. “Why, what are we doing?”
“I just have something to show you. Come with me.”
He doesn’t head for his car; he walks us right passed it and towards a nice hall room opposite. The closer that we get, the more I realize how nicely it’s decorated. There are flowers and streamers all over.
“What’s this?” I ask Oliver curiously. “Where are you taking me?”
“This is the surprise. Come on, you’re going to love it.”
He pulls me inside, not giving me nearly enough time
to admire the twinkling lights up above us. They are so beautiful, but I don’t get long enough to really see them before I find myself in another room.
“What the…?” That’s the moment I spot everyone, and I mean everyone from my life. Oliver’s too. His brothers and their plus ones, Auntie Amelia, Rosie, Dakota, Seth, Marie and other people from work. Everyone who is important to all of us. I turn to stare at Oliver again, wondering what’s going on.
“Welcome,” he says with a dramatic flair, holding his hands out wide. “To our wedding.”
“What?” I gasp, staring at my engagement ring. I know that we planned to finally tie the knot after Dakota was born, but I didn’t expect it to be like this! Oliver has done all of the planning for us, and it’s perfect as well. Really simple and sweet with everyone that matters to me around. Nothing too intense or over the top. I wouldn’t want a big lavish affair designed for everyone else and not us. “This is amazing, Oliver. I can’t believe that you did this. You are such a perfect man.” I grab his cheeks and pull myself up to kiss him.
“Hey, hey, hey.” He disconnects us after only a second. “You have to wait for those magical words first. ‘You may now kiss the bride’. This is our wedding day after all.”
I want to squeal with excitement, this is just incredible. I can’t believe how good to me he is. I must honestly be the luckiest woman alive. My life fell apart over and over again, but now it’s more whole than ever.
“You better get down the other end of the aisle then,” I laugh. “Make it more traditional.”
“Who will walk you down the aisle though?” he demands. “You can’t do it alone.”
“Well, I sure as hell won’t be asking Daddy.” Thankfully my little joke draws a laugh from everyone. “Seth is the main man in my life, so I’m going to ask him to walk me down the aisle.”