“I’m still debating that…I like John… Johnny… For Nick, ya know? But…”
“Johnny Johns is some kinda name,” I laughed.
“Yeah, so now I’m kinda stuck.” She bit her lip in thought.
I gently laid him back on her stomach and she looked up at me in question as I slowly knelt down on my knee.
“Griff…” She looked at me with wide eyes.
“Well, I figured I got a ring, you should get one too,” I smirked.
Tears pooled up in her brown eyes again and she covered her mouth.
I fumbled to unhook the chain holding the ring around my neck and show it to her. “Now, it doesn’t have the best reputation, but how would you two feel about the last name Griffiths?”
She laughed through what I hoped were happy tears.
“It’s a great reputation to me,” she said seriously as she looked at me.
She really saw me.
She knew I needed to hear that.
And that made me tear up.
“So that’s a yes, right?” I asked for clarification while quickly wiping my eyes.
She laughed out loud then. “Yes, ya crazy boy. I love you.”
I leaned over her bed and kissed her fiercely.
Sav - Epilogue
Present day - May 2022
My mom always said that the way people entered into the world was characteristic of their personality… I never understood what she meant by that until Johnny.He was a little spitfire– hewaited for no one and always ran on 110% energy… and forget Cocomelon, the NHL network was the only thing that glued him to the tv. When he was a toddler, every time Griff had an interview or when they focused the camera on him during an away game, he’d stand up with the help of the tv stand and pound on it saying, “Dada.” It was actually the cutest thing… Now as a kindergartener, he loved when Griff would take him to practices. He’d always sit patiently in the stands waiting for the last five minutes when he was allowed to get on the ice with the big guys…
So, this birth told me that our little girl would be calm, just like her daddy.
The delivery was way less hectic this time around. Last night, Griff was kissing me goodbye before leaving for his playoff game at Madison Square Garden when my water broke all over his nice dress shoes.
I looked up at him in panic, but his face was just calmly surprised.
“It’s happening, eh?”
I closed my eyes and rubbed a hand over my hard stomach… Hard because of the contraction.
“Breeeeathe, baby,” Griff coached me, and I nodded trying to listen to his advice.
“I’m sorry. I thought she’d wait until her due date.” I winced against the pain.
“I don’t think you’ll ever make it to your due date, babe,” he joked. “And don’t be sorry. This is perfect timing. She didn’t want her dad to go.”
She was born just hours after that, so I guess it really was perfect timing…
My heart melted as I listened to Griff coo-ing across the room while cradling our tiny baby girl.
“Does it feel different than last time?” I asked. Going into this pregnancy, I was terrified he wouldn’t feel the same about Johnny after holding this baby. I knew it was probably an irrational fear, but it still worried me.
