Finally, he sinks in behind me, and I snuggle back against his chest, loving the way his strong thighs and arms wrap protectively around me. But it’s not just me anymore.
“What’s wrong?” Everett asks the second I gasp.
“Nothing,” I breathe, grabbing his hand and pressing it against the side of my stomach where I just felt movement.
Every week, it’s getting stronger. Our little one getting more powerful.
Maybe today is the day that he’ll get to experience it too.
“Can you feel that?” I ask.
“No,” he says sadly. “Maybe it’s still too early.” I hate the sadness in his tone. I hate that he’s missing out on something.
“Press a little harder,” I encourage.
“I-I don’t want to hurt you.
“You won’t,” I assure him.
Only the sound of our heavy breathing fills the bathroom as we wait.
The seconds tick by as I will our little one to move again.
And then, right when I think it’s not going to happen. That familiar flutter happens inside me before something pokes me in the side.
The hitch in Everett’s breathing tells me he felt it too.
“Oh my god,” he whispers, as if speaking any louder will scare him off.
Thankfully, he doesn’t, and our little one does it again. If anything, it’s harder this time. The moment Everett feels it, the most incredible sound erupts from him. His laughter is infectious ad I find myself giggling along with him.
“This is crazy,” he final confesses. “There is a person literally inside you.”
“Yep,” I confirm, just as in awe of the whole situation as he is.
“Our baby.”
“Our baby,” I confirm, my heart so full it causes my eyes to burn with tears.
“I promise, I’m going to do my very best for both of you.”
“I know,” I breath, losing my fight with my tears.
68
EVERETT
The fear from my nightmare still lingers as Bea and I enter my childhood home hand in hand later that afternoon for a family meal.But also, the memory of feeling our baby moving. Fuck, it’s still blowing my mind.
There might have been a time where Parker and I would rather have been out with friends, or doing quite literally anything other than sitting around a table with our parents, but since they started travelling and I moved up to Seattle, family time has become such a rarity that we now embrace it.
“You okay?” Bea asks as we climb the steps to the wraparound porch.
“Yeah, of course. Why?”
“You seem…nervous?”
I can’t help but laugh. “I’m bringing a girl home for the first time. I’m…I dunno. In disbelief, I guess. I genuinely didn’t think this would ever happen.”
