AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Two Years Later
The private waiting room pressed in on us, attempting to steal the oxygen from my lungs. For once, Preston was the calm one while I rubbed damp palms down my thighs.
He snickered, and I shot him a glowering frown. “What? It’s kind of funny.”
“Is not,” I muttered, glancing at the door, sick and tired of the delay. It’d been twelve hours already. How much longer could it possibly take?
Preston grabbed my hand and slotted our fingers together, gazing at the ring on my left hand. He fiddled with it a bit, a contented smile on his lips.
A rush of happiness welled up inside me, and I yanked him off the chair he sat in, settling him atop my lap.
Sighing, he snuggled in.
“Better,” I grunted, caressing my husband’s soft, warm skin to soothe myself.
I’d dreamed endless times about the life we had together—the house with the picket fence and how I’d swept my husband into my arms to carry him over the threshold exactly as Preston had told me he’d always fantasized about.
And now our son was soon to arrive.
My throat went thick at the thought of my dad missing out on meeting his grandson. But some days, I swore I could feel him close by in spirit. An occasional Aerosmith song would tear me up with longing for the old days of being carefree and not having responsibilities, but I wouldn’t trade the past for the future ahead of us.
The door pushed inward on silent hinges, and Preston scrambled off my lap at the sight of the nurse holding a bundle swaddled in blue.
“He’s finally here and healthy,” she said, and I slowly stood, my voice choked off and eyes watery as my husband reached for our son, his elegant fingers grabby with excitement.
I swallowed a sob as Preston gathered the boy into his arms with the sweetest gentleness, cooing noises spilling from his lips.
The nurse slipped back out, leaving us alone as a new family of three.
Tears coursed down my cheeks as Preston lifted his bright eyes to me. “Come meet your son, Papa.”
I sniffed and moved closer on unsteady feet, for the first time in my life unsure and hesitant. More than anything I’d wanted my kryptonite by my side and to have babies together.
My dream stood before me in living color. My greatest wishes had come true.
I wrapped my arms around them both, afraid to squeeze as hard as I wanted to.
Murky eyes blinked up from the bundle of blankets. He was tiny. Pale as his daddy, hints of red hair peeking beneath the knitted cap on his little head. I hoped his eyes would be as emerald green as Preston’s but had learned from all the books we’d read together that it would be a while before that happened.
“You are so precious to us,” Preston murmured, stroking the infant’s plump cheek with a trembling fingertip. “Papa and I will accept you for whoever you become as you grow up. We’re going to love you forever and ever no matter what.”
“I’ll remind you said that when he’s screaming at three in the morning for a bottle or needs his diaper changed,” I said with a shaky chuckle before kissing Preston’s temple.
“Even then, I’ll adore everything about you,” he said, leaning down to kiss our son’s nose.
The bundle squirmed in his arms, the tiny mouth parting and letting out a shriek.
Damn.
I blinked, straightening a bit but still keeping my arms around them both.
Preston laughed, his face glowing as bright as his eyes in a confidence I suddenly envied. “We’ve got this.”
“Fucking love you,” I rasped, overrun with a slew of emotions.
“Love you more,” he said, leaning up to plant a kiss on my mouth. “Hmm,” he said, eyeing my beard as he pulled back.
“What?”
