He looked at me, then back at the sticks. “Pregnant,” he repeats in a whisper. He turned and kissed me, hard before he picked me up. He carried me back to the bed and laid me down gently, my legs hanging off the edge of the bed. He lifted my shirt just above my belly and kneeled between my legs, putting both hands on my stomach.
“Hi, baby,” he whispered as he kissed my belly. “I just want to let you know that Mommy and Daddy love you so much. I can’t wait to meet you, my sweet baby.”
Tears fell from my eyes. This moment was a moment that every woman dreamed about. But this moment, this moment right here, was more than anything I could have imagined.
He stood. “You’re going to be the most beautiful mother ever.” He leaned down and kissed me.
I laughed. “Right. You have to say that.” I pulled his face back down to kiss me. He was my everything.
He was my light in this dark world.
“One more,” he breathed into my ear. “You can do this, baby. I’m so proud of you.”
I took a deep breath.
“Okay, Khloe. One more good push. Can you do that for me?”
I nodded. I had been pushing for almost an hour. Max was going to be stubborn just like his daddy and me. Colton wiped the cold cloth over my forehead. “You’ve got this, baby.”
I gripped my thighs and gave this last push everything I had. I felt like I was going to faint or that my head would pop off from pushing so hard, but then I heard his cry. It was small at first, pitiful and precious. But after they cleared his airways, it was a good cry, one that let everyone in the room know that he was here.
Colton leans down and kisses me hard. “Baby, you did it! He’s here. You did it!” He glanced over at Max.
I did it.
They cleaned him up and laid him in my arms. His eyes open for just a moment. “Welcome to the world, baby Max. I’m your mommy and this is your daddy. We are going to love you until the end of forever.”
Colton leaned down. “Happy Birthday, Max.” He kissed him on the forehead. “We made a good looking baby,” Colton chuckled as he picked up Max and held him close. The tears fell as I watched my husband hold our baby; his love is overwhelming.
They say that everything happens for a reason, but for years I didn’t believe them. I thought people said that to ease their heartbreak and I was convinced they were lying to themselves. But now I knew that it was true. Every decision I’d ever made had led me here. Every decision Colton has made led him here. We were always meant to be together, and obviously no one or nothing could get in our way.
I was happy.
Truly, deeply happy.
This right here was what life is about. This was my fairy tale. And we know how every good fairy tale ends …
We’d live happily ever after.
FIRST AND FOREMOST, I want to thank God for giving me the ability to be able to translate my thoughts onto paper for everyone to read. I also want to thank my husband for putting up with me during this whole process and helping me out so much with everything; especially our children.
The following people have had a hand in this story coming to life. For that, I’m forever grateful and I can never say thank you enough.
Jennifer (Editor)- Thank you so much for helping me through this process, again. Thank you for all the advice and words of wisdom. This story would be nothing without you.
Beta Readers (Brett Burrow & Deana Wolstenholme)- Thank you for taking time out of your day to read this story and give me your thoughts on it. Thank you, thank you.
Robin from Wicked by Design- Thank you for my amazing and beautiful book cover. This is everything I imagined when I began writing this story. You are such an amazing person, and I appreciate you allowing me to be a part of the whole process. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Casey from Hardcover Therapy- Thank you so much for my blog tour. You are always such a wonderful help during this whole, crazy process.
Kassi from Kassi’s Kandids Formatting- Thank you for making my story look so pretty on everyone’s reading device. Lord knows how all over the place it would’ve been without your skills!
Melissa- I cannot possibly say everything I want to or need to in this acknowledgement. So I’ll say this; thank you for never leaving my side, never letting go of my hand. You are my biggest supporter and I’ll be forever grateful for that. In my lowest of lows during this story, in the moments I was ready to delete the whole file or throw my MacBook across the room, you talked me down and got me back on track. Thank you times infinity. You are such a precious soul, and I thank God and my lucky stars everyday you are in my life.
Under the Stars Page 11