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“A unicorn? They’re magic, aren’t they?” Layla asked, her eyes darting around the room as if looking for one to appear.
“Yeah, they are, but I was thinking of something that’s real, not a mythical creature,” Harper replied.
“Hmm, then I have no idea. Do you, Daddy?”
Letting Harper lead the way, I shrugged as her little bright eyes stared quizzically at me from my side.
“What would you say if I said you were going to be a big sister?” Harper asked gently.
Layla’s feet immediately cycled their way from under the comforter and she climbed out on top. Kneeling to face us, she sat back on her heels and her huge bright eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Me? Where’s the baby?” she asked with her hands wide and her eyes twice as big and round as they were with her reaction to the sleepover.
“It’s in my tummy,” Harper told her.
Layla frowned and glanced at me then back at Harper. “But you’re not my mommy,” she replied. “How can I be your baby’s big sister?”
“Because I’m your daddy and I’m this baby’s daddy as well,” I explained.
Layla squealed with excitement and jumped up and down, bouncing on her knees completely unable to contain her pleasure and asked Harper if she could see her stomach. Harper gladly obliged by pulling up her tank top, but with her belly still largely flat, there was nothing much to see.
Patiently, Harper stroked her hair and smiled.
“Right now, my baby is only the size of a lemon, but it’s getting bigger every week, and by the time it’s ready to be born, it will look like a real baby.”
Eventually Layla calmed down enough to slide back into bed between us, but her questions continued, and although at this stage we had very few answers for her, she was clearly accepting and enthused by the news. Harper had been a little worried about how Layla would take it but the look of pure joy was evident.
It was almost two hours later that my daughter finally fell asleep and Harper’s hand slid across to rest on my hip. A sigh of contentment left her lips and I turned to look at her face.
“Thank you. I know all of this isn’t easy for you,” she whispered.
“Baby, it’s me who should be thanking you for putting up with my whiny ass.”
“I’ve never thought you were whiny, Cole. You love deeply and knowing that, and that you found it in your heart to love again, makes me so happy it’s me you love now. This event is bound to stir up horrible memories you thought you’d dealt with.”
Turning on my side, I rose up enough to perch my head on my elbow and looked past Layla at her. “I keep telling myself this is different. This right here is different,” I admitted nodding at Layla lying between us. “This was a great idea and, Baby, right now my heart has never felt so big.”
My comment earned me a beaming smile and brought tears to Harper’s gorgeous blue eyes, and I thought she’d never looked so beautiful. “You’re so good to me,” I told her.
“I know,” she replied, a grin widening on her lips as a tear trickled down her cheek.
Leaning across Layla, I cradled her face with my hand, brushed her tear away then stroked her lips with the pad of my thumb. “Thank you for loving me.”
“Aw, I guess someone has to,” she teased, taking the seriousness out of the moment, and instantly making my heart feel light.
“I want to come to the ultrasound scan,” I stated impulsively, making Harper shift onto her elbow too.
“Yeah?” she asked in a tentative tone, as her curious eyes searched my face for the truth.
“Yeah, I want to support you. It has never been that I don’t want this. I want this baby as much as you do, I’m just… scared, you know?”
Harper didn’t reply, but stared long and intently as her thoughts took over.
“Get some sleep, Baby. God knows when this one will be awake, and I’d place a bet it’ll be even earlier than normal.”
Grabbing my hand from her face, Harper kissed my palm, let it go then settled down on her side, still facing Layla and me. I lay down doing the same, and for the first time since Harper had told me about the pregnancy, I fell asleep without the deep dark thoughts in my mind about what could go wrong.
“Are you my brother or my sister? What’s your name?” I heard the sweet muffled voice of Layla coming from under the sheets and felt her wriggle around, shoving my thigh out of the way for a better position.
