Family & Promises
Page 11
Rand came down on one knee in front of Phaedra, and the significance wasn't lost on her. Her face paled as she saw how serious he looked.
"Rand, please, get up…"
"No. I am going to do this right. We seem to be remarkably good at skirting the important issues. I am in love with you Phaedra, and I love you. Maybe they're the same thing, but this is a real first for me. I find myself looking at you and wondering about next year, and five years from now. In the middle of the day, I realize my mind is wandering and I am lost in reverie about you. Today, with my folks, I knew that I wanted to be with you, when I am as old as my dad. I was envious of the times my parents must sit quietly together on their front porch, just holding hands. I want to share my life with you." He saw Phaedra parting her lips to speak, but he pressed his fingers against her lips to stop her. "Wait, honey. When I saw you with the baby, Tessa, in your arms, I was jealous. I wanted it to be our child in your arms!"
Rand moved his hand to caress the side of her face, sliding his hand down her neck and chest. He loosened the towel and it fell to her waist. He cupped one large breast in his hand, holding her tenderly, almost reverently.
"I daydream about how you would look pregnant. I've imagined your breasts getting bigger, and more sensitive. I think about your belly getting rounded, when we first find out about the baby. And then slowly, your tummy starts getting bigger and rounder. I want to feel our baby kicking inside your womb, knowing that he or she is just as eager to come out to meet us, as we are to welcome them. I want to show off the ultrasound pictures of our baby to our friends and everyone at work. I've even been talking to Mark about childbirth classes, and what it was really like in the delivery room."
Phaedra gasped, his words astonishing her. She had daydreamed about having Rand's baby too! At the hospital, she had found herself spending more of her time with the babies, just wanting to hold them. Of course, the nurses had been grateful for the help, and Phaedra had been perfecting her feeding and diapering techniques. But her thoughts had not taken her as far as childbirth classes!
Rand smiled. "And when I think about you nursing our baby, I feel something deep down inside of me, yearning for the reality. I want the dreams to become our real life. Please, Phaedra, marry me."
Phaedra realized she had tears running down her face. Her heart and her soul were telling her to say yes, but she had to point out something. "What if I can't have a baby? Children seem pretty important…"
Rand's fingers stopped her once again. "There are lots of ways to have children these days. And if we never manage it, one way or another, I know we'll find ways to enrich our lives. But there is one more thing I should tell you, my love."
He paused and gently pushed her hair back off her face. "I own a large parcel of land, near where my folks are. I want to leave my business for others to manage, and move there. Not tomorrow, but in a few years. I've discussed this a lot with my family. If you feel you can't live outside of the city, then we'll work something else out."
Phaedra took a deep breath. "I love you, Rand." She quickly shook her head as he started to move towards her, this time pressing her fingers to his lips.
"Wait, please. You haven't been at all what I expected you to be. I've enjoyed being with your friends from work every weekend, and I'd like to know your family better. And your understanding about my work…" her voice cracked for a moment, and she gulped to hold back her tears. "But I come from a really dysfunctional family, as you saw today. I hope to God, nothing of that will affect how I am, with my kids… but I can't guarantee it."
Rand smiled. "I've seen you with children, in several situations, and I have no doubts. Marry me, and take a chance on life with me! Please, my love…" He paused and did something he'd never done before. He quoted the only line of poetry he'd ever been able to remember. "Come grow old with me, the best is yet to be."
Phaedra was crying as she nodded her head yes. Rand hugged her close, showing her how much he loved her with long, eager kisses and tender caresses. Holding her close to his heart, he whispered that he was quite anxious to start their life together. Phaedra grinned and slid her hand between their bodies. She lay back on the bed and guided him into her body. As he thrust into her hot, wet flesh, Phaedra told him that she was quite eager to get to work on his addition. Her arms wrapped around his neck and shoulders, and her thighs circling his hips, Phaedra pulled him into her rising hips. He groaned half in arousal and half in laughter as she whispered into his ear.
"And if you want to do this every day until we're a hundred, well, that sounds all right to me!"
Epilogue
Phaedra was watching the football game from the sidelines with Naomi. The twins were busy in the nearby sandbox. It was a hot day, and they had had to take frequent breaks during the game. Phaedra was feeling particularly pregnant today, dressed in a loose fitting sundress, to accommodate air movement more easily.
Naomi passed her some more lemonade. "I can see that you miss playing."
"It's okay. And even after the baby comes, it will be awhile before I can play again."
Naomi shook her head. "As soon as your doctor says okay, I'll be happy to add your baby to my blanket full of babies!"
Phaedra laughed, looking down at the sleeping baby at their feet. While the twins were old enough for the sandbox, and light supervision, Carol's three-month-old son was happy to sleep until half time, when he could be breast fed again. "Well, if I have a boy, we're halfway to the next generation's football team already!"
Naomi laughed. "What's happening with work?"
"The new unit will open while I’m on maternity leave, if everything stays on schedule. And after I come back, I'll either use the new on-site daycare the hospital has, or just go for two hours and let Carlita take care of the baby while I'm gone."
"She will love that, I have no doubt!"
Phaedra nodded. "She and Fernando have even set up a small nursery in their quarters so we can get some rest if we need it."
Naomi looked at her friend. "Girlfriend, you have it made!"
Phaedra watched Rand calling another play out on the field. Her hand was resting on her swollen tummy. She answered softly and almost reverently. "Don't I know it, and I thank God every single day!"
Suddenly, Rand raced across the imaginary goal line and made a touchdown. Phaedra jumped up and started clapping and yelling. But she stopped abruptly as she felt something, and looked down. Beside her, Naomi was calling out to Rand, to get over there. Over the roaring in her ears, Phaedra heard her friend shouting, "her water's broken."
Eight very long hours later, Phaedra gave birth to a lovely little girl, weighing in at just over seven pounds. Rand got to cut the cord, and place the baby on Phaedra's chest. A tiny hand curled around his finger as bright blue eyes opened and gave her daddy the once over. And from that moment on, she would hold her daddy in the palm of her hand. But Rand didn't care as he looked from his daughter to his wife. His life was better than he had ever thought possible, and he couldn't wait for the next moment to begin!
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