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“Don’t be, Firefly. You’ve got this.” He leans in and kisses my cheek, and everything that was bouncing out of control in me calms and soothes on contact.
“I wasn’t talking about me, old man. I was talking about you. I’m nervous you don’t know how to work arocket-thing,” I quip, and he only offers me a sly smirk that sends shivers down my spine.
Everyone is lined up and ready to watch the show, so Em turns to Sterling and signals something with the snap of her fingers. Sterling nods her head before hitting something on her phone.
Suddenly, music starts playing out of speakers I didn’t know existed and the entire gazebo is filled with echoes ofBaby Shark.
Everyone starts singing along, swimming their hands through the air and bobbing their heads to the beat. Even Callan is getting his groove on and I laugh internally at the sight.
But right in the middle of mommy shark, Emsley screams, “HEDGEHOGS RULE!”
Nolan and I struggle to get the gender reveal rockets cracked open fast enough but we both finally get them pulled at the same time and confetti blows everywhere around us.
Pink.
“IT’S A GIRL!” I shout as I jump up and down, Nolan nearly in tears as he watches the pink ribbons fall from the sky.
Aria and Em join hands and also jump around, my mom’s face is in her palms as she cries happy tears and Sterling is making her way up to hug me.
Nolan shares a handshake with Callan and Mitch high-fives Dex.
I can’t actually fathom the amount of joy and love that takes over my heart at this very moment. Everything feels so surreal as I look at the last of the pink confetti flutter down to the ground at my feet.
“It’s a girl,” I whisper to no one but myself, and I can’t help but let the over joyous tears fall freely from my eyes as strong arms wrap around me.
“We’re gonna have a girl, Nolan.” He holds me as we both harbor the emotions of this life changing moment, thisone thingthat we both have dreamed of.
Baby Sharkstarts playing again in the background, and I look up from my fog of tears and see Em had gone over and pushed play on Sterling’s phone again.
Everyone starts dancing and celebrating. And of every memory I’ve had the pleasure of creating over the course of my twenty-four years of life, it’s this exact moment that will forever live rent-free in my head.
“Where are you taking us, Daddy?” Aria asks from the backseat of his truck as we turn down a windy dirt road.
I look over at Nolan after seeing the hot air balloon park come into view.
“I really hope it’s not what I think it is,” I say. My face heats at the memory of us high up in the sky. But I also will not allow him to take Aria up in one of those things. At least not for a few years.
“You’ll see,” he responds, just smirking the entire way.
But within ten minutes, he slows the truck down to a creep as we approach a driveway that curves in a C shape from the road up to the garage of the house. A big beautiful, black and white ranch-style home sits at the back of the driveway, surrounded by lots of oak trees and a mini playground that is set up near the back side of the house.
The house itself is white. The shutters and trim are all black including the roof. The front door is a bright, welcoming yellow and there is a swing-chair on the covered front porch, which is lined by flower beds, mainly home to some sunflowers and green dahlias.
I notice a few workers seem to be building a fence around the perimeter of the home as we drive by the little code box and park in the curved driveway.
“Come on,” Nolan says as he turns off the car and jumps out. He opens the back door to help Aria out and I follow along.
But as I look around, I’m not sure what I’m actually looking at. Maybe he wanted to show us what he does for a living?
“Hey, Boss.” A man with a hardhat approaches Nolan and they do a little handshake thing.
“Josh,” he greets him. “How’s it going?” Nolan asks as he looks around.
“It’s going great, should be wrapped up by tomorrow afternoon.” Josh nods at the fence.
“Congrats on the baby girl, Dakota.”
“Thanks, Josh.” I nod at Nolan’s good friend.
