When We Fall
Page 17
Her feet shuffle to the other side of the table and I hear her sit. “Okay, you can take off the mask now,” she calmly instructs.
I pull it off to see a room completely decorated in white paper baby booties, pink and blue baby bottles, yellow giraffes, green race cars, trains, paper dolls, rainbows, and there are even little pacifiers in multiple colors thrown like confetti all over the table.
“Is there a theme for this luncheon?” I ask, teasing her. She picks up her napkin and throws it at me, but I catch it before it can hit my plate and push my chair back. I stand and go over to her, pulling her chair out, but push down on her shoulders when she attempts to stand.
I fall to my knees, placing my hands on her belly and caress it with my thumbs. I choke back a sob as I think of our baby or babies growing inside of her. At the ripe age of forty-five, I never thought I’d have children. That time had come and gone with the passing of Olivia.
I bend low over her belly and whisper, “I’m gonna be the best daddy in the world to you. You’re gonna be so loved and spoiled.“ I hear her sniffle her nose and I look up at her smiling through the blinding sheen in my own eyes. Tears are rolling down her cheeks and landing on her shirt where I hold her stomach.
“Yes, you are,” she whispers. “I have no doubt of that.” She places her hands on my head as I bend down low again and lay my head on her belly, listening. I kiss her shirt and rub it again.
“I’m the happiest man in the world right now,” I say, placing little kisses all over her flat belly. “I can’t wait to see our baby growing inside you. But now you must eat because I can hear your stomach growling. That or you’re growing a lion in there.”
I stand and hold her hand as I walk back over to my seat, never losing contact with her. She wipes her tears with the crook of her finger before she picks up her fork and takes a bite.
We eat for a few moments before she breaks her silence, “Do you want to know when we are going to be parents?”
“Yes, of course, I do,” I reply. “I’m sorry for not asking before. I have a million things going through my mind right now. Please tell me.”
“Our child should arrive in the spring, around tax time. We are due April 15th,” she laughs.
“Great. Just in time for Coachella to see Radiohead play,” I tease, but she doesn’t laugh. Instead, she hurls her forkful of rice at me like a cannonball. I watch it hit my shirt and fall to the floor. “Hey, I’m kidding. I swear. So, you’re about five or six weeks along?”
“No, WE are five weeks along,” she intimates, circling her index finger back and forth, gesturing between us. “We do this together.”
“Yes, sweetheart. We do everything together,” I assure her. “I swear I can’t eat now. I’m so excited, I want to run to the bar and buy everyone a drink on the house.”
“No, it’s too early to tell people. We have to wait until we are out of our first trimester,” she says, “in case something happens”. She whispers the last words, not wanting to jinx it.
Yes, I remember Jenna saying something like that. “Okay, we’ll wait, but when we get back from our honeymoon, I’m shouting it from the rooftop,” I laugh. “Or maybe I’ll rent one of those skywriters and tell the whole fucking state. Yeah, that’s what I’m gonna do.”
“C’mon, babe,” I say standing. I pull out her chair for her and help her stand. “I love the meal you’ve prepared, but I’m seriously too excited to eat. Let’s go to the bookstore and get that pregnancy book I always saw Jenna reading. I think she practically memorized it. We’re gonna need that.” She grabs her purse from the hook by the door, and off we go.
“Frank, do you want a boy or a girl?” she asks quietly. I assume she has a preference in asking, but I don’t know for sure. “I want a healthy child and that’s all that I’ll request.” I rub her belly before sliding my hand to her lower back, finding that perfect divot where my hand goes.
“What about you?” I ask, holding the car door open for her. She hugs me tight and whispers in my ear, “I want a perfect blend of you and me. A child that has all of our best qualities.”
Dreams really do come true, so never give up on them no matter how old you are. Life really does come full circle: you live and then you die, but sometimes you die and then you live.
About the Author
CM LALLY GREW UP IN a small village in southern Ohio near the West Virginia border. Her dreams were too big for that small town, so she set her sights on big city life in Cincinnati, Ohio. She currently lives there with her Prince Charming, two teenage children, and cry-baby cat named Buddy.
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Also by CM Lally
The Falling Series:
All Men Fall, December 2016
Falling Hard, March 2017
Miami Lust Novellas:
I. Thiago, Brazen, June 2017
II. Mateo, Stroke, August 2017
III. Dante, Taunt, September 2017
The Miami Lust BoxSet, October 2017
Coming in 2018
Bodacious