He leans in to kiss me as he puts it on his wrist.
“It’s engraved on the back.,” I tell him as I flip the watch over and read the inscription aloud.
“We will love you for all time. Your wife and children,” I say through a smile a mile wide. My heart is racing waiting to see his reaction. I’ve been holding this news in for days and I’m about to explode.
“Oh no, they wrote the wrong thing,” he says, grimacing.
“No, they didn’t,” I smile waiting for him to catch on. It takes him a minute, but when he does, his face lights up.
“Are you serious?” he yells. He grabs me around the waist, lifting and spinning me in the air. “I can’t believe it. You’re giving me a baby?” He asks putting me back on the ground and pulling me in for a hug.
Still unable to control my smile I explain, “I went to the doctor earlier this week because of the pains I was having all through my stomach. I thought the Endometriosis was coming back. She gave me an ultrasound after I told her some of the other symptoms I was having and she told me the problems that I was experiencing were due to pregnancy.” I pull the ultrasound out of my bag and hand it to him.
“This is our baby?” He asks staring at the picture. “I thought you couldn’t get pregnant,” he wonders.
“That’s what I was told when I had my surgery. Dr Cam said it is very unusual, but not unheard of. She is going to want to keep a close eye on the pregnancy, but she said there is no reason we won’t have a healthy baby.”
“When are you due?” Andrew asks, dropping to his knees and kissing my still flat belly. It won’t be long before I start showing.
“February.”
“February?” I could tell he was trying to do the math quickly in his head. “But that’s …”
I was nodding before he could finish his sentence. “It had to have been that first night I saw you at the bar.”
“Well, talk about fate stepping in and taking over. A baby. I can’t believe I have been reconnected with the love of my life, the woman who I can share a real love with, and now a baby.”
“Well, believe it mister. Do you think you can handle it all again? Diapers, midnight feedings, crying, messes?” I ask, knowing his answer.
“Absolutely!” he yells. Laughing, we walk back up the beach to where everyone is standing on the boardwalk. Ella walks up to me with her teacher look.
“The photographer wants to get some pictures of everyone on the beach before the limo bus gets here,” Ella tells me as she turns me around and leads us back to the beach.
After several hundred pictures are taken of everyone, we all head back up to the limo bus that is waiting to take us to the reception.
We walk into the restaurant, and I’m blown away with everything that Andrew and Judy did yesterday. It’s more than I could ever have expected. Once cocktails are handed out, Jake and Ella pull seats into the middle of the make sift dance floor and direct Andrew and I to sit down.
“Can everyone please have a seat,” Jake says, giving everyone a minute to sit. “First, I would like to thank everyone for being here. It’s not like you had a lot of notice from the bride and groom and yet, here you are.” Everyone laughs at Jake poking fun at us.
“But seriously, I’m glad so many people could be here to celebrate Andrew and Bailey. There are no two people who deserve this more than the two of you. Andrew,” he pauses and swings his head toward him. “I’ve known you for many, many year. We’ve been through a lot together. Many girls for me, many headaches for you.” The crowd laughs again. “But we’ve come out on the other side much happier men. You are the brother I’ve never had, and as a brother I can tell you. You did good this time,” Jake says gesturing toward me. I blow him a kiss as a thank you.
“Now, having been friends with Bailey as long as I have you, I can say I’m like a brother to her too. So if you hurt her, I will hurt you,” Jake threatens with a smile.
“Hey! You stole my line,” Ella chimed in pushing Jake out of the way. “You’re done. My turn,” Ella says standing in front of Jake. This gets another laugh from the guests.
“Bailey, WE’VE been through a lot too. You’re MY best friend,” Jessica turns to the guests and says, “I swear I wrote my speech first. He copied off of me.” She swings her gaze at Jake and says, “Slacker.”
“Bailey, I recently told you that you are the strongest woman I know. I admire your passion for life, I value your trust in me, and I depend on your friendship to get me through the hard times in my life. I’ve seen you forgive the unforgivable, and care and love everyone if they deserve it or not. I’m so happy that you finally found something real to hold onto.”
As I try to stand, Andrew leans over to help me and places his hand on my stomach, and I put my hand on his and smile. Ella catches the whole exchange, her eyes get huge, and she puts her hand over her mouth. I see in her eyes that she’s guessed my secret. I give her a tiny nod to let her know she is correct and she starts crying.
Ella leans over, kisses and hugs me tight and whispers, “Congratulations, Momma.” As she hugs Andrew I hear her say, “Those are quite some swimmers you’ve got. Congratulations.” Andrew gives her a big smile.
Jake followed behind with his own hugs and kisses, oblivious as to what just happened.
“Grab her before she gets away,” I whisper in Jakes ear. He smiles and pats my cheek.
As Jake and Ella sit down, our first song starts to play. Andrew takes my hand and spins me across the floor to Kenny Chesney’s “Me and You.”
“So the cat’s out of the bag. Do you want to tell everyone now?” Andrew asks.
I smile and nod looking around for Emerson. Finding her sitting between Ella and Jake, I call to her, “Emerson, come here.” She comes running around the table and jumps up into Andrew’s arm.”
“Did you have a good day Emerson?” Andrew asks her.
“The best ever,” she says pulling his face over to give him a kiss.
“What if I told you I could make it even better?” I ask her.
“What could be better than the beach, and pretty dresses, and throwing flowers, and cake, and the beach?” She asks.
“What if I told you that you were going to be a big sister?” I ask.
“I’m going to be a big sister?” Emerson throws her arms in the air and cheers. “I’m going to go tell everyone right now.” She wiggles her way out of Andrew’s arms and runs up to her grandma.
“I don’t think she is excited at all about that,” Andrew’s eyes light up with laughter. “She might take some convincing to get her to come around.”
“Yeah, she’ll warm up to the idea eventually,” I say as I look over at her jumping up and down telling anyone who will listen. I turn back to my handsome husband. “What about you?”
“What about me?” He cocks his head to the side waiting for me to finish my sentence. We continue to sway slowly. People are starting to fill the dance floor around us as another slow song starts.
“Are you going to warm up to the idea of being married to a girl you knocked up on the first date, weaseled her way into your life on the second date, and moved in with you and married you in less than three months.” I paused for a second and gasped. “God, that sounds like an episode of Jerry Springer.”
“First of all, I told you, that wasn’t the first date. That was destiny setting us up for our happily ever after. I think that we were supposed to get married young and rough it for a while.” After tucking a piece of hair behind my ear, he rests his hand on my cheek. I tilt my head into his caress. “We were taught lessons in our time apart that will help us as a couple now. We’re stronger and wiser. We appreciate each other more because of what we’ve already been through.” His words warm my heart. I release a sigh just thinking about our future together.
“That version sounds a whole lot better than my Jerry Springer one,” I laugh as I lean in and put my head on his chest. “I’m pretty lucky to have finally found such an amazing guy
.”
“I’m the lucky one. I thank God every day for him bring you back to me. For bringing me my real.”
Mallory Grant is a wife, mother of two, an avid reader, and educator.
She’s from a small town in Pennsylvania and likes to pretend she’s a runner but really only likes to wear yoga pants and only runs when the chocolate starts to hit her thighs.
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My Husband: This book would never have been possible without your love and support of my crazy dreams. When I came to you and said, “I’m writing a book,” you did nothing but support and encourage me and I love you for that. Hopefully the Mallory in me makes you just as happy as you make me.
My Family: Very few of my you know that I wrote this book but those that did are amazing. Thank you for your support in this crazy journey, for acting excited when I drone on and on about “my book,” and for cheering me on for adding another author to the family.
Deena Bright: As I sit here and enjoy my nice big bowl of pasta, I realize how much I owe you. I started out as a stalker bugging you to write more Schooled. You were my inspiration to get started, my sounding board for questions, my cheerleader to keep me going, and most importantly, my friend. I’m so honored to be able to call you friend. Thank you for everything you did for My Real. Thank you! Thank you! I never would have published without you!
Shannon Girard: Thank you for encouraging me, listening to me whine and complain, and offering suggestions. I am so thankful for your friendship. When you, Deena, and I all make it big, we will buy beach houses next to each other and spend all summer in the sand.
To All by Beta Readers - Mel, Shannon, Jen, Bette, Colleen, and Amanda.Thank you for taking a chance on a newbie. Your advice and suggestions helped make My Real so much better.
Last, but certainly not least: Thank you Sprinkles on Top Studios for my beautiful cover. Debra Celentano at The Book Enthusiast for my cover reveal and blog tour. Fictional Formats for making My Real look so beautiful!
My Real Page 24