“It’s wonderful,” Slater said, taking in the bakery. “You really didn’t-“
“Shut up,” Chasen groaned. “You being all polite is giving me an ulcer, just enjoy yourselves, you deserve it! And soon we’ll do the reveal!”
“I don’t want to wait,” I said, trying not to sound petulant but probably not succeeding. I rubbed my stomach. I wanted to know.
Slater turned his head to Chasen. “Neither do I, any way you can accelerate the proceedings a little, Chasen?”
Chasen sighed theatrically, a hand on his forehead, the ghost of a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He clapped his hands, grabbing everyone’s attention.
“Fishstick,” Chasen announced. “Your time is now!”
Fishstick didn’t move, looking over at Chasen like he’d lost his mind. He wasn’t moving for anybody. Chasen sighed and turned to Slater, exasperated. “Little help here, big brother?”
“He has a process, Chasen, you can’t rush these things,” Slater said with a wink. He left my side for what was probably the first time that evening and crouched down next to the canvas and beckoned Fishstick closer. The sight of Slater perked him up.
Fishstick got to his feet and started across the canvas, his paws leaving a pink trail behind him, bright, fluorescent (as was Slater’s favorite shade) and seeming to glitter in the lights of the bakery.
My hands flew to my mouth, the tears quickly filling my eyes. I looked to Slater who was looking a little misty-eyed himself. Suddenly it all felt a little more real. We were having a little girl, a beautiful baby girl. I mean, I knew she’d be beautiful, the genetics were right!
“A baby girl,” Slater said softly, the words only just making it over to my ears. His voice was trembling. He stood up and came over to me, wrapping me up in his arms. “Our very own baby girl!”
A cheer erupted from around us, an applause so sudden and loud that Fishstick darted across the bakery floor, sending pink paw prints everywhere. But no one else seemed to notice, they were excited for Slater and I, for the family we had created.
He swept me up, pulling me in close, my swollen stomach pressing into him. Here we were, our little family, all together as one. It would start here.
The party was exhausting. It was a lot of Brent and Tate talking to me about what it was like to have a baby, and getting to know Chasen and Jarrett a lot better. It was only early evening but Slater saw that I was flagging and scooped me up to take me home.
“Okay, sleep,” Slater said as he walked through the door. “Today has already been way too dramatic, we need to sleep, tomorrow is a big day.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Is it now?”
“Yes, I have a surprise for you.”
“Is it this baby magically being removed from my insides, because that would be the best kind of surprise?”
He laughed. “I’m afraid not, but I think you’re going to like it all the same.”
“Fine,” I said. “If you say so.”
19
Slater
“Where are we going?” Niko groaned. He’d spent most of the morning complaining that he hated surprises and most of the car ride complaining that he hated blindfolds when they weren’t being used for sexual purposes. “They’re just no fun, I mean, I know I’m not about to get blown or fucked because I’m in a car with my clothes on.”
“You’re about to be a father, you might want to dial back that kind of talk,” I parried.
“I’m a sexual being, Slater,” he shrugged. “You might be an old man, but you’re going to have to keep up, okay?”
I drew the car to a halt and took a deep breath.
“What?” he said. “Are we here? Can I take this stupid thing off now?”
I laughed. “Let me get you out of the car first.”
“I can get myself out of the car, I might be really fucking pregnant, but I can still move.”
I didn’t give him a chance to try and get out of the car blindfolded, rushing out of my door and to the other side so I could take his arm and guide him out.
“You’re such a gentleman,” he said, kissing me on the cheek.
“Careful steps now-“
“All my steps are careful steps,” he said. “I’m waddling, I’m pregnant, I’m a walking house.”
“All right, all right, calm down,” I said, guiding him a little closer to where we needed to be. “Now you can take it off.”
He reached up and ripped off the blindfold, his hands immediately flying to his mouth when he saw what was in front of him.
“SURPRISE!” The shout came from Jarrett, Chasen, Brent, Tate and the kids, all of them stood in front of a beautiful house. It was huge, honestly too huge for the two of us right now, probably for the three of us when the baby came along, but maybe not if we wanted to have an even bigger family. Even then we’d probably be alright, it was gigantic.
“What the hell did you do?” he squeaked, turning around to look at me, tears streaming down his face. “Slater Ewen, what the hell did you do?”
“It’s what you always dreamed of, huh?” I said. “A big old house by the lake that you could raise a family in, big bedrooms, a beautiful garden, somewhere for you to DJ, somewhere for me to do my art, all of it. It’s all in there.”
The event at Artscapia had gone better than even Malynda could have hoped for. Selling all the paintings was one thing, selling them at the price she sold them, and the bidding war on ‘Tainted Love’ meant that I suddenly had a lot of money. And I knew exactly what it was I was going to do with it.
There was a patch of land on the outskirts of town that had been completely empty for years. I bought it and got Chasen to help me figure out how the hell I was supposed to build the house of Niko’s dreams without him finding out. He took care of practically everything, making sure it was as gorgeous as it could possibly be. Every time I went out to get groceries I would check up on it, make sure it was okay, help out by painting something or moving something, putting little touches here and there so the second we moved in, it was already our home. The nursery was practically done and I couldn’t wait for Niko to see it all.
“Why did you do this?” he asked, still crying.
“Because I love you, Niko,” I replied. “I thought that would be pretty obvious by now that I love you with all my heart and all I really want, more than anything in the world, is for you to be happy.” And then, I cried too, the tears rolling before I had a chance to stop them. “Let’s go inside and take a look at it. If you want to change anything, just let me know, if you hate it, we’ll sell it and buy somewhere else, whatever you want. I want you to be happier than you ever could have dreamed of being.”
He snaked his arm up to rest his hand behind my head and pulled me into a kiss, just a soft one that brushed my lips and sent sparks racing through my entire body. How did he do that? How did he have such an effect on me that he could make me feel weak?
“Get a room!” Chasen shouted. “You have enough to choose from!”
Niko broke into a laugh and we started towards the house. He thanked Chasen for his hard work on it, thanked everyone else for coming along to help surprise him, but he couldn’t wait to get inside.
We walked through it all. I’d done this so many times before, that it was like second nature to me, but I could see in his eyes just how much it meant to him, how every room sparked a different thought, a different idea of what it could look like once he got his hands on it, on how we could make it a home.
When we got to the nursery, he just stood in the doorway and stared at it. I found myself doing the same. It was the only room in the whole house that was properly decorated, baby pink walls, built-in wardrobes and a crib near the window with a mobile over it. Everything else in the house was stark white and a little bit lifeless, this was the only bit that looked like it was ready. And everything was here, from the changing table to the teddy bears, the crib to the play mat, everything was right here and ready to go.
“Oh wow,
” he whispered. “I’m getting that feeling again. That one where I realize this is all happening, it’s really happening.”
“It is,” I replied. “You’re okay.”
“Better than okay,” he said. “This is perfect, Slater. How in the hell can I possibly repay you for any of this?”
“You’re kidding right?” I replied. “You don’t have to repay me for a damn thing. You’re carrying my child, you’re already doing too much for me.” He kissed me on the cheek and went back to looking at the room. “Do you want to maybe go inside?” I said.
He nodded and stepped into the nursery.
“You know, I think this might look better over here,” he said, pointing to the crib. “I know how much I hate getting woken up by sunlight and this window is facing east.”
Chasen and Jarrett had helped us to start moving our stuff over, so every other room in the house was half finished with boxes in it. But we still found ourselves gravitating towards the nursery, wanting it to be finished and as perfect as possible before our daughter arrived, which would be any day now.
Niko was particular keen on it, knowing he would be spending a lot of time in here with her and wanting it to be perfect. He was nesting and it was quite incredible to see.
“Happy to try it,” I said, crossing the room towards the crib.
“Do you want me to-?”
“If you even try and lift this, I will scream,” I smirked. I lifted it across the room and pushed it close to the wall so it was no longer beneath the window. “Better?”
“Much.” He moved over to the changing table and started stacking diapers on it.
“How are you doing?” I said.
He sighed. “Not long to go now,” he replied, looking around the room. “But I think we’re ready aren’t we?”
“I think so,” I said. “You’ve read all the books, you’ve prepared the nursery, we’re ready for the most important part.”
“God, it’s not going to be long before we’re going to be tortured into watching kids TV you know?” he said. “I remember how much my Dad hated when Pokemon came on the TV because we’d watch it loud and be screaming the words to the opening song then he’d go nuts because he couldn’t get it out of his head.”
“You make it sound so blissful,” I replied sarcastically.
“You know what I mean,” he sighed. “We’ll be getting tortured by Sesame Street and Peppa Pig and Mr. Rogers before you know it. She’ll be here.” He started rubbing his belly affectionately. “She’ll be out in the big wide world and we’ll finally get to meet her.”
I started across the room to him, softly singing ‘It’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood’. He smiled. I wrapped my arms around him, letting my hands fall on top of his, caressing his baby bump, the little bundle of love that I too, couldn’t wait to meet. We rocked back and forth to the sound of my singing, every now and then I would kiss him on the neck to let him know I was there, that I was here for him no matter what, that this was just the beginning of us.
It truly was a beautiful day for a ‘neighbor’. So glad I found mine.
Epilogue
Niko
I’d never been more exhausted in my entire life but I’d also never been happier. It was a very strange sensation, one that I imagined I would get used to as the years rolled by. Shyla Ewen was born just over a week ago at a healthy weight and with the most gorgeous head of dark hair, just like mine. She was gorgeous! I mean, of course she was, you just had to look at who her parents were to figure out that was going to be the case.
Tonight was the first night with visitors and Slater was running around the house trying to make it look all sorts of perfect before anybody got here. It was pretty difficult to keep a house tidy when you were either constantly with the baby or exhausted when you weren’t.
“They know we’re new parents, Slater,” I growled. “They’re not going to care that the flowers in that vase are long dead, who has time for flower maintenance we have an actual child to look after?” Shyla made a sound that sounded like she laughed. “See? Even Shyla thinks you’re being silly.”
“Papa isn’t being silly, Shyla,” Slater said. “Papa just wants there to be some clean plates to eat the food on.”
“There will be plates!” I groaned. “Come on Slater, you’ve not sat down once today and you’re making me feel guilty.”
“You don’t need to feel guilty, you’ve only been out of the hospital for a week, you need your rest.” The doorbell rang and Slater jumped out of his skin. “Oh god, they’re already here.”
“You’re infuriating,” I called after him as he darted out of the room. “But we love him, don’t we Shyla? We love your stressed out Papa.”
“Oh my god,” Tate poked his head around the door, his eyes widening as he looked at Shyla. “She is so precious!”
“I agree, Niko is precious. Slater is all right, though you look tired, man. I think the appropriate greeting is hello, Tate,” Chasen said, barging in past him. “How have you been Niko?”
“I’m well, thanks Chasen,” I replied. “And she’s perfect.”
“Oh they all start that way,” Brent said as he walked in. “You just wait, the sooner they talk-“
“The sooner they talk back,” Jarrett finished. “Gosh she really is precious, Slater, congratulations to you both.”
Everyone had brought food along with them, laying it out on the kitchen table so we could all eat. It was really sweet of them and, more than that, it was a blessing to not have to try and cook for the entire pack.
Shyla was fussed on all evening, being passed from uncle to uncle, cousin to cousin, being completely adorable and winning the hearts of absolutely everyone present.
“Oh my god,” Jonica, one of Tate’s friends, repeated over and over and over again. “Honestly, you’re going to have to search me when I leave because I might just have to try and smuggle this little one out of here.”
But it was Nyle who really couldn’t get enough of her, which certainly surprised me. We’d never really had a chance to discuss it, everything had happened so damn fast. I guess he was super excited to be an uncle because whenever Shyla got a little bit upset about something he was at her side. He would lift her up, he would spin her around. And she loved him too. She couldn’t get enough of him, her little face lighting up when she saw him, making all sorts of unintelligible noises that Nyle responded to like they were meaningful pieces of conversation. I could have watched them for hours.
As the night drew on, everybody made their various excuses and left. All except Nyle, who was on the sofa snuggled with his newborn niece. Once he’d gotten hold of her and she was restful, he didn’t want to let her go, couldn’t bring himself to pass her to anyone else in case she got upset. So he sat down and curled up, quietly joining in conversation while holding Shyla like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“God I love this little kid, Niko,” he whispered into the quiet of the living room. “I don’t know how you’ve done it, but she’s totally perfect. I can’t get enough of her.”
“Yeah, I think you’re the one I need to be searching before you leave,” I said.
“Can I say something really corny?”
“Wait, you’re asking?” I said. “That never stopped you before.”
“I just wanted to say that I’m really proud of you, Niko,” he said. “Look at you. You’ve got this whole life, this beautiful house, a beautiful partner, this beautiful baby.”
“It is all pretty beautiful.”
“I could learn a lot from you, Niko,” he said. “I could learn to take a few more chances in my life, to really push myself and stop being so scared.”
“What the hell do you have to be scared of?” I asked.
And, almost like I’d summoned it, Nyle’s phone started to buzz on the coffee table. His eyes widened.
“Um, I should probably get that.”
On cue, Slater swept into the living room and scooped up Shyla, rocking
her back and forth, as Nyle grabbed his phone and moved out into the hallway. I could sort of hear Nyle on the phone but it was muffled, so I turned my focus to Slater and Shyla, to my beautiful man and my beautiful girl. How on Earth did I get so lucky?
She looked so small in his arms, almost like a doll, and his lips were pursed and pouty as he shushed her and tried to keep her calm. It was late, he was probably trying to get her off to sleep after all of the excitement of the evening.
I couldn’t keep the smile off my face, watching the two of them together and, though it had been a little bit of a trial to get here, I knew everything was going to be alright. I knew that we would be able to make it through whatever it was that came our way. Who knew that I could be this happy? If you’d told me this was where I’d be a year ago I would have called you a liar. But my party-hard lifestyle was done and I had a family to take care of now.
“What?” Slater mouthed.
“Nothing,” I whispered. “It’s just-“
But I didn’t get a chance to finish my thought because Nyle hurried back into his room, his energy suddenly up, his eyes wide, his mouth stretched into a ridiculous grin.
“What?” I said, quietly, not wanting to wake Shyla. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No. Something is right, something is very right,” he said. “Seph’s back.”
“No way,” I gasped.
“Who’s Seph?” Slater asked.
“My best friend,” Nyle replied. “He was in the military, I didn’t think I’d be seeing him for a little while yet but, fuck, he’s back, he’s actually back!”
“And in Howling Hills?”
He nodded. “To surprise me.”
“Wow,” I said with a smile. “Nyle that’s amazing. When are you seeing him?”
“Now, actually,” he said. “Sorry to ditch it’s just-“
“Oh please,” Slater said. “Shyla’s pretty much asleep anyhow, she’s going to be no fun until tomorrow.”
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