Tears filled Dean's eyes and he wasn't able to blink them all back. Two of them ran down his cheek and he wiped them away slowly. “I love you so much, Noelle. I don't know how I would do any of this without you.”
“You don’t have to do it without me,” she said. “I love you so much too. I think we should sign you up for the surgery and postpone our wedding. Everyone will understand. It’s disheartening to have to wait, but I want you to be healthy and feel good when we get married.”
“Okay.” He stroked her hair back from her forehead, feeling a sense of peace come over him. “This feels like the right decision. I don't want to have to wait to marry you, but you're right that our wedding will be better if I'm feeling at my best.”
Noelle kissed his cheek. “We’re decided then. Now all we have to do is tell the rest of the family.”
Dean nodded. He hated to disappoint his family with the news, but he felt sure that he and Noelle had just made the right decision.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Julia stood in the middle of the baby's nursery, looking around with a sparkle in her eyes. She couldn't wait until their little bundle of joy entered their lives. She was beginning to feel impatient in the midst of all her excitement, and she had been channeling that impatience into buying many adorable but ultimately unnecessary items for their incoming baby.
Sighing with a mixture of happiness and impatience, she left the nursery and wandered down the stairs to the living room. She sat down on the couch and picked up a magazine. She thumbed through the pages for a few minutes, but it soon became clear to her that she wasn't going to be able to focus on what was in front of her. Her mind was filled with daydreams about when the baby arrived.
Just when she was thinking to herself that she should bake muffins or do something else constructive while she was feeling so restless, she heard a knock on the front door. She jumped up eagerly a moment later, suddenly feeling certain that the knock came from the mailman. She was expecting an adorable wall hanging featuring baby animals that she had purchased online for the nursery a few days earlier.
She glanced down the hallway as she made her way to the front door. Cooper had been teasing her that she had a baby item addiction, and that she'd been buying far more than they truly needed, especially considering they still had some baby items from when Macey had been born. Even though she usually liked to open packages with him to show him what she’d bought, she wanted to be able to open this package without him there. If he saw what she was opening, he was sure to tease her even more.
She opened the front door, and sure enough, there on the front step was a little brown box with her name and address printed on it. She snatched it up eagerly and carried it into the living room. She looked around for something to rip open the tape with and eventually settled on one of the bobby pins in her hair.
She was just tugging apart the top flaps of the box when Cooper strolled into the living room. “Hey, sweetheart!”
She froze and blinked at him for a moment, and then quickly shoved the box behind one of the couch cushions. She sat down on the couch in front of the cushion, keeping her hand on the box. “Uh, hi.”
Grinning at her in amusement, Cooper walked over and sat down next to her. “What are you up to?”
“Oh, nothing,” she said innocently. “I was thinking about making some Italian sausages for dinner. I could make some mashed potatoes and salad for sides. What do you think? It will feel like a fancy dinner, but it's ultimately pretty easy for me. I'm feeling a little tired today.”
“Is that why you're sitting on the couch?” His grin was looking more and more suspicious by the moment.
“Well, of course. Why else would I be sitting on the couch?”
“Oh, I don't know. If you’re so tired, why don't you go up to bed for a while? Come on, I'll help you.” Cooper wrapped his arms around her and leaned her body to the side as if he wasgoing to scoop her up and carry her up the stairs. As he did, her hand, which was still holding the cardboard box, got tugged out from behind the couch cushion.
“No!” she squealed and then burst out laughing.
“What’s this?” He grabbed the box from her, shaking it gently next to his ear. “Could it be something we actually need? Or is it another unnecessary item for a baby who has yet to express their taste in nursery decorations?”
“Oh, no babies ever express their taste in nursery decorations,” she protested, grabbing at the box, which he held above her head. In the past, she would have clambered onto the couch and jumped off to grab the box from him, but because of her large belly carrying precious cargo, she kept both feet planted firmly on the floor.
Cooper opened his mouth, clearly about to say something witty and sassy, but at that moment Julia's phone began to ring. She had a sudden flash of intuition that warned her that the phone call was important. She pulled it out of her pocket and saw that Dean was calling.
“Hey, Dean,” she said, feeling suddenly worried. “What's up?”
“Hey, Julia. What are you three up to right now? Or four, I should say.”
Julia laughed. “Well, Macey is still at daycare, and Cooper and I are both home since he’s here for his lunch break. Did you want to stop by?”
“No, actually we were wondering if you would come to Ocean Breeze Café. Noelle and I want to have a family meeting right away. We have something to tell everyone.”
“Oh. Yes.” She glanced at Cooper, knowing that he would say yes, especially since his job was good about letting him take extra time away when his family needed him. “We’ll be there in just a little while. Is everything okay?”
“It’s fine,” Dean assured her, but he sounded tired, and she felt a flash of worry despite his reassurance. “We’ll see you both soon, okay?”
“Yes. We’ll see you soon. Love you, Dean.”
“Love you too.”
