Despite those hiccups, at almost ninety-five she says she’s not going anywhere until, Carla, Bryce’s sister, gets married and has children. Carla says she wants Nonna to live forever, so she’s not getting married. I want Carla to be happy, but I also don’t want to lose dear Nonna, wielder of the wooden spoon and the sweetest woman you could ever meet.
After Evan’s birth, we decided I would become a stay-at-home mom, which gave me lots of time to appreciate Nonna, Carla, and the rest of Bryce’s family.
Which is good because we’re going to need them as forty minutes into I Love Easton Day I clutch Bryce’s arm, my short nails digging into his bare forearm, and let out a gasp.
“Angel?” he questions, his dark eyes moving over my no-doubt pale face.
“Call your mom and have her come get the boys, please,” I grit out before easing my fingernails from his skin.
Excitement wars with nerves as my husband fights back a grin. His humor wins out as he swiftly gets us turned toward the parking lot and places his arm around my waist in case I need him for support. “Are you sure you don’t want to walk around some more? Really get those contractions coming?” he teases.
“I love you, but now is not the time for jokes,” I groan as another slow contraction tightens up my stomach.
“Afterwards, got it,” he says, pressing a kiss to my jaw and helping ease me into the front passenger seat.
He straps the boys into their car seats and loads the stroller into the trunk in record time, and then we’re off heading to the hospital. My hospital bag has been packed and in the car for weeks now, which is a relief as I concentrate on breathing and not scaring the boys, who are beginning to doze in the backseat. Bryce calls his mom, and she beats us to the hospital, meeting us at the entrance.
Nine long, and not very fun, hours later, we’re officially a family of five. Looking at my husband’s dark head bent over our newest child, Cameron Sarah Jeffries, my breath catches.
I almost let my insecurities get the best of me, never knowing all that I would lose out on. Thanks to a quick-thinking friend and the patience of a wonderful man, I’m blessed with three beautiful children and a man that I truly believe is my soul mate. We temper each other and, in the end, we just mesh. As Bryce likes to say, our notes may be different, but together we make beautiful music.
Bryce carries Cameron over to me, placing her gently on my chest. Lifting my eyes from my daughter to my husband, I see his dark eyes shining as he smiles at me. “She’s beautiful, just like her mother.”
I never thought of myself as beautiful until Bryce. But every time he tells me, I see the truth of that in his gaze.
“I love you,” I say, reaching out a hand.
Taking it, his warm lips press a kiss to my knuckles. “I love you, my angel, the queen of my heart.”
“Forever, my king of rhythm.”
“Forever,” he echoes after me.
THE END
