“How’s it going?” Connor asked us. “Showing Casey your old stomping grounds?”
Alexander let out a nervous laugh as Mrs. Preston walked in from the kitchen, oven mitts still on her hands and a flour-covered apron over his clothing. “What is it, Alex? I don’t want to burn the casserole.”
“We have something to share with you,” Alexander said. “Two things, actually.” He squeezed my hand so hard I thought it was going to fall off. Once everyone was looking up at us, Alexander directed me to step out in front of him. I glanced back and forth between my fabric-covered bump and Alexander’s family.
Jaws were dropped all over the room, but Emily was the first to respond. “Oh! My! Gosh!” she squealed. “You’re having a baby?!”
“We’re having a baby,” I said, smiling. She darted over from her seat and gave us both a hug.
I can’t believe I’m going to be an aunt!” Emily said. She turned to me. “And that Alexander finally found his soulmate.”
Emily’s positive reaction meant a lot to me, and I could tell it did to Alexander, as well, but we were both nervously waiting for his parents to say something.
“Mom? Dad?” Alexander nudged.
Alexander’s mom kept a stoic look on her face as she took a seat at the end of the table. “Oh my,” she said. “What a surprise! It’s marvelous, of course. I’m just, well, trying to soak it in.”
“I know it’s a surprise,” Alexander said. He put his arm around my waist. “But we’re really excited about this!”
Alexander’s father pounded his fist on the table. “Then we are, too!” He got up from his seat and embraced Alexander in a way I almost envied. I’d never had to worry about sharing news—either good or bad—with family members, so this was all new to me. Everyone got up from the table and took turns offering congratulations and hugging Alexander and me.
“Wait a minute,” Patrick said, breaking us from our huddle. “What’s the other news?”
I knew it was my turn to drop the bomb. I looked at the glistening rock on my finger, held up my hand, and said, “We’re engaged!”
“Holy shit!” Emily exclaimed. She and I jumped up and down together like we’d been best friends our whole lives, while Alexander high-fived his brothers. I’d never had anyone who resembled a sister in my life, other than Liana, so having such a warm welcome from Emily was more wonderful than I was sure she’d ever know.
“I can’t believe this,” Mrs. Preston said. “My baby boy is growing up! A baby and a wedding?! This is definitely a Christmas to remember!”
After another round of hugs and congratulations, Emily and I went to the kitchen to help Alexander’s mother carry the food to the table. They took turns looking at my ring and seemed thoroughly impressed by Alexander’s choice. Emily asked about the pearls, and I gave a vague but honest response about how pearls were important to my mother.
Once Emily had left the room with a serving dish in tow, Alexander’s mother pulled me to the side. “I have to confess something, dear,” she said.
“What is it?” I asked. I knew this had all been too good to be true, but I was ready for anything she threw my way. I had my ring, and my baby, and my guy, so nothing could tear me down.
“I knew from the minute you walked in the door two days ago that you were going to become a part of our family,” she said. She took my hands in hers. “I didn’t know I’d be a grandmother so soon, but I did know that I’ve never seen my son so happy.”
Chapter 24
Alexander
Either I had gotten vastly out shape during my few weeks off from the gym since Christmas, or the stairs to Casey’s apartment had gotten longer. I decided it was the latter, for the sake of my sanity, and hoped that it would be one of the last times I ever had to climb this deteriorating staircase.
I knocked on the door and waited. Patience wasn’t one of my strengths, and it had taken me over an hour to finally talk myself into making the trek over to Casey’s apartment to convince her to move in with me. I wasn’t sure how this would go. Casey could be pretty stubborn sometimes, which was a quality I admired, but also one that often worked against me. What was taking her so long?
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock. I pounded my fists against the door a bit harder this time. Maybe she hadn’t heard me. It was possible, even likely, that Casey was enjoying a bath or watching Netflix with her headphones in, but my gut told me something wasn’t right. I looked to my left and right to make sure no one was looking, then I took Casey’s spare key from under her rug and opened the door.
There was a half-eaten bowl of soup on the kitchen counter with a plate of crackers beside it. If there was one thing I knew about Casey, it was that she’d never leave her meal half-eaten.
“Case,” I called, looking around. When I saw the light on in the bathroom, I breathed a sigh of relief. She must’ve simply not heard me. I took a few steps forward to make my way closer to the bathroom. “I’m coming in!”
I figured that was enough of a warning. I walked into the too-small bathroom and found Casey lying on the floor. Her eyes were shut, but she seemed to be breathing normally. “Alexander,” she mumbled.
It was hard to comprehend what I was seeing. Casey was stretched out on the cold ground in her oversized nightshirt. Her face, a shade of white I’d never seen before, had confusion written all over it. “Oh my goodness,” I said. “What happened? Should I call an ambulance?”
“I’m fine,” Casey said. “I came in to use the bathroom and suddenly felt really dizzy. The next thing I knew I was on the floor, and I heard your footsteps.” She tried to sit up, but what little I knew about fainting told me that wasn’t a good idea. I cradled her head in my lap and planted a kiss on her forehead.
“How are you feeling now?” I asked.
Casey shrugged. “Mostly better. Still a little dizzy.”
We argued back and forth about whether or not Casey should go to the hospital. She told me that she hated hospitals and never wanted to step foot in one for the foreseeable future, with the exception of giving birth. I told her that it didn’t matter that she hated hospitals, that her health was more important. I wanted to push Casey to go to the hospital, to make sure everything was alright with her and the baby, but I could tell she was already in a fragile state. She hadn’t hit her head or lost consciousness, so she did have that on her side.
I decided the best next step, besides taking a shaken-up Casey out of the apartment, was to call my VP of Finance’s wife, Lorraine, who sometimes did house-calls. She was the closest thing I had to my own personal doctor.
“Alexander, it sounds like it was probably just a freak thing,” Lorraine said, once I was done explaining everything. “Women who are pregnant faint for all sorts of reasons, like dehydration or overheating. By the way, congratulations on the baby! Tom never mentioned it to me.”
In all of the chaos, I hadn’t thought about the fact that no one at work knew about me and Casey dating, let alone having a baby together. It wasn’t that I had been hiding it from them. I simply chose to keep my personal life private. “Actually, I haven’t really told anyone at the company yet,” I said lamely.”
“I see,” Lorraine replied, with a tone that said she was more than a little curious about Casey and the baby. “Well, your secret’s safe with me. I’m on my way to see a patient now, but how about I come by afterward to check on Casey?”
“That would be wonderful, Lorraine.” A question popped into my mind. “In the meantime, can I move her to her bed? Or should we wait for you?”
Lorraine paused. “Since she didn’t hit her head and she’s feeling better, you can move her to the bed,” she said matter-of-factly. She gave me instructions to move Casey slowly and have her sit down right away if she got dizzy again.
“Great! Thanks a million!” I hung up the phone, pleased with the compromise I had come up with. The look on Casey’s face told me she was equally satisfied.
I squatted down and used all my stren
gth to carry Casey and our unborn baby over to the bed. Each step felt like a mile, with my nerves telling me not to move too fast or drop her to turn at any weird angles. As soon as I had Casey tucked under the covers, I ran across the apartment to get her a bottle of water. Lorraine had mentioned dehydration, and I didn’t want to take any chances.
Casey slowly sipped on the water as I watched her intently. She was putting on a brave face, and I both admired and resented it. I wanted my fiancé, my future wife, to feel comfortable opening up to me. As if she was reading my mind, Casey looked up at me and said, “I was so scared. I don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come.”
“Shh,” I whispered. I scooted beside her in the bed. “We can’t think like that.” I placed my hand gently on Casey’s stomach and waited. As soon as she rested her hand on top of mine, the baby moved.
Tears fell down Casey’s face. “The baby’s ok,” she said. “That’s all I wanted to know.” Casey squeezed her eyelids shut and rested her head on my shoulder. For nearly half an hour, we laid there in complete silence, Casey somewhere between awake and asleep. I gazed at this beautiful woman I had come to love. While finding her on the floor was terrifying, every alternative seemed far more terrifying.
Despite not having stepped foot in a church in at least three or four years, I bowed my head and prayed. I prayed that Casey would feel better and deliver a healthy baby. I prayed for Casey’s physical and mental well-being. I prayed that nothing would interfere with our happily ever after.
“Alexander.” Casey’s voice shattered the silence, and I immediately jumped up, assuming something was wrong.
“I’m right here,” I said. “What is it, babe? What’s wrong?”
Casey opened her eyes and looked at me groggily. “Nothing’s wrong,” she said. Her lips separated to reveal a semblance of a smile. “I was just wondering what you came by for.”
“What?”
“You know,” Casey nudged. “Your reason for coming over. I’m guessing it was something beyond just wanting to see me, or you would have texted first.”
I drew in a breath. I didn’t think this was the right time to have an important conversation with Casey. She was still fairly weak and fatigued, and Lorraine could be arriving at any moment. “I just had something I wanted to talk to you about. We can talk later,” I said.
Despite my best efforts to keep her where she was, Casey sat up and readjusted herself for a conversation. “What’s up? Tell me!”
“Fine.” I knew better than to upset not only a hormonal pregnant woman, but a cranky, tired, hormonal pregnant woman. “I just wanted to talk to you about the possibility of you moving in with me.”
Without hesitation, Casey let out a resounding, “Yes!”.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I know this is a big decision, but I think it might be—”
“I already said yes, Alexander,” Casey said. “I’d love to live with you. There’s nothing I want more.”
Casey explained that the timing was perfect, as she had just gotten the paperwork to renew or leave her lease, which ended in early March. We sealed the deal with a kiss. As I mumbled about loving our life together as an effort to segue into my next idea, there was a knock on the door.
I motioned to Casey to stay put and walked over to open the door. “Thanks for coming,” I said to Lorraine.
“Of course,” she said. “Plus, I didn’t really have a choice. You’re my husband’s boss.” Over the five years I’d known Lorraine, she’d made that joke at least a dozen times, but I still found myself feigning a laugh each and every time she made it.
She pushed me to the side and stepped in the apartment with her enormous bags of medical equipment. “I could have helped with that,” I said. “I apologize.”
“Don’t be silly,” Lorraine said with a smile. “That was my exercise for the day.”
I laughed at Lorraine’s second joke in a span of thirty seconds—nothing unusual for her—and led her over to Casey. The two exchanged pleasantries as I not-so-patiently waited to make sure everything was alright with Casey.
Lorraine was thorough. I had to give her that. She asked Casey all of the typical medical history questions, checked her blood pressure three times, listened to her heartbeat, tested her vision, and checked her ears, nose, and throat, just in case. “Everything appears to be perfectly normal,” Lorraine said.
Before I could thank her, Lorraine held up her hand to silence me and put the stethoscope tips back in her ears. She placed the cold metal piece against Casey’s stomach, presumably to listen to the baby’s heartbeat. After a minute or two of listening, Lorraine motioned to me to come closer. Without saying a word, she moved her stethoscope tips to my ears.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum. There it was—my baby’s heartbeat. I was filled with all sorts of emotions I didn’t know existed. I felt excited, and overwhelmed, and in love with the sound of this heartbeat. “Wow,” I whispered. I locked my eyes with Casey’s as I listened for a few seconds longer.
“The baby’s going to be just fine,” Lorraine said, packing up her medical equipment as she spoke. “And so is the baby’s mother.” She paused. “Are you having a boy or a girl?”
I looked to Casey for an answer, wondering if she had found out our baby’s sex and just not told me yet. “We’re actually going to find out at my next appointment on Thursday,” she said with a big smile.
This was news to me. I knew Casey had an OB/GYN appointment on Thursday, but she hadn’t made any mention of us finding out the gender. I supposed she figured me to be like most of my friends, these big, macho guys who didn’t care what their baby’s sex was. I, on the other hand, was secretly excited to find out. I was hoping for a boy, but I decided I’d be just as fine with a girl, too. This whole scare had made me realize how lucky I was just to have Casey and the baby.
“Well I hope everything goes perfectly for you both,” Lorraine said. She had the sort of demeanor that told you she meant it. I walked Lorraine to the door and thanked her over and over again for coming out of her way to check on Casey.
After saying how wonderful and sweet Lorraine was, Casey laid her head on my shoulder and squeezed me tight. “Well, I think that’s enough excitement for one day,” she said with a giggle.
Something told me I should get the other half of what I’d come there to say over with. “No room for a little more?”
“What?” Casey asked, clearly confused. She tilted her head up to look at me.
“There’s one more thing I wanted to talk to you about,” I said. “But it can wait until tomorrow, or even next week, if you want.”
Casey rolled her eyes, a look I knew by now meant, “Yeah, right. You know I have no patience.” I started by telling her how my company had been expanding rapidly, as we’d recently acquired a smaller company. One of my administrative assistants had given notice that she’d be leaving in a month, as her husband had landed a job out in California.
“I don’t understand,” Casey said. “Do you want me to help you find her replacement? Don’t you have an HR person for that?”
I laughed at Casey’s pure obliviousness. “Not exactly.”
“Then what is it?”
“I was thinking maybe you would like to be her replacement,” I said. I studied Casey’s face to gauge her reaction, but she remained stoic. It suddenly crossed my mind that my earlier fear was coming true, that she was viewing this as a handout. I tried my best to backtrack. “I mean, there’s no pressure. I know you like your job at the clinic. I was just thinking that we needed a new administrative assistant, someone I can trust, and you fit the bill. You’re great at what you do. I’ve seen you deal with some of those nasty women at the clinic.”
“Uh huh,” seemed to be the only thing Casey could muster.
“Not to mention,” I added. “Once you move in with me, you’d have a much shorter commute to the office.”
Casey sat up to face me. “Are you serious?” she asked. “About the job, I
mean.”
“One hundred percent,” I said. “I know this position isn’t exactly where you want to end up, but I’ve got this all figured out. You could sit in on some marketing meetings, and maybe eventually make your way over to the marketing team. The sky’s the limit, baby!”
“Definitely didn’t see this one coming,” Casey said softy. Slowly, her eyes brightened and her smile widened. “But it sounds absolutely amazing, Alexander. I’d love to. After the baby comes, of course.”
“Of course.” I placed her hand in mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I don’t want you to feel pressured. I know this has been a whirlwind of a few months. If this isn’t what you want, I completely understand.”
“It’s exactly what I want,” Casey said. She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on my lips. “A new job for a new chapter in my life.”
Chapter 25
Casey
“There’s the heartbeat,” Dr. Ellis said, moving the ultrasound probe around my belly. The cold gel was annoying, to say the least, but I was too excited about seeing my baby to care. Alexander held my hand as we saw our baby on the screen for the first time as an engaged couple.
“Wow,” Alexander said. I could see his eyes getting watery as he tried his best to remain composed.
Dr. Ellis waited a moment before continuing. “Your baby is looking just perfect. Everything is right as it should be.” He paused. “I know you were concerned after that fainting spell of yours, but I promise that the baby looks completely healthy.”
“Thank you,” I said. I could see the gratitude in Alexander’s eyes, as well.
“Would you like to know the baby’s sex?” the doctor asked.
Alexander and I looked at one another. It wasn’t something we’d discussed, but I always figured we’d know ahead of time. Once Alexander gave me a go-ahead nod, I shook my head at the doctor. “Yes,” I said, my voice a soft whisper.
“Congratulations,” the doctor said. Alexander squeezed my hand in anticipation. “You’re going to be having a baby girl!”
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