I gasped, and it felt like I stopped breathing for a minute. “What?”
“This is our new home. There will be more being built over the next year, but ours is the first in the subdivision. Each of them will be uniquely designed, no cookie cutters. I heard everything that you said over this last year. This is the first phase of our new company, H&T Homes.”
Tears fell from my eyes. “Harlem, baby. What did I do to deserve you?” I babbled through my tears.
He pulled me into his arms, kissed the top of my head, and replied, “Fell from Heaven and straight into my arms. I think you were personally sent by God to make me believe there was love out here for me too.”
“When can we move in?”
“Whenever you want, Baby, but I’d say give them a week tops, to finish the last-minute touches.”
My heart burst with joy at this new chapter in our lives. I could see this home being filled with little ones, the sound of children’s laughter, running feet, and many dinners and celebrations for our family and friends.
TEGAN
BABY MAKES THREE – TWO AND A HALF YEARS LATER
“Go, Harlem! Go!”
I jumped up and down, excited about the game. As soon as Harlem made it to home base, the crowd went wild.
He broke the tie and won the game. This was the first time that his team had defeated the Eagles in three years. As much as I loved the outdoors, I had never suspected that I would become a superfan of softball, but I had.
There wasn’t a single game of his that I missed. My husband had been involved in the softball league prior to us meeting, and he was dedicated to the sport with everything else that he had going on. I thought the least that I could do was support him the way he supported our family.
“Damn, that man is fine as hell,” I muttered, biting my bottom lip.
“Eww.”
I looked at my sister-in-law. “You do know I feel the same way about you and EJ, doncha, Court?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “My man is fine.”
“Eww. I don’t want to hear about my brother like that.”
She laughed. “Same, sis, same.”
We did a victory dance as the announcer proclaimed what we already knew: Our team, the Warriors, had won. There was going to be a big celebration after this.
“Is EJ going to join us?” I asked as we made our way from the stands after the crowd had thinned out.
We always took our time leaving because there would be a major rush to the parking lot for everyone to get out before the traffic grew out of control. Courtney and I usually sat in the stands chatting afterward as the guys talked and put their equipment away, while everyone else left the park.
I rubbed my stomach, and a knot of worry formed in my belly.
“Oh, shit,” I mumbled, rushing down the last couple of rows of the bleachers.
I didn’t bother to wait for Courtney or flag Harlem down. I knew that my time was limited, and as much as I hated using a public restroom, I had no choice.
I ran into the restroom and passed a mother and her young child. I ignored the concerned look on her face as I barely made it to the toilet in time.
The hotdogs, popcorn, and chili cheese fries all came up, along with the red cream soda. My stomach burned, my throat felt raw, and my mouth was nasty. Just when I thought I was done vomiting, another round hit, and I vomited more. It didn’t stop until everything had been expelled from my stomach.
When I was certain that I had finished, I stood on shaky legs with my hands splayed against either side of the restroom wall. I felt yucky, and all I wanted was a shower.
It was bad enough that it was hot outside, and I already felt sticky from the humidity, but being in this public restroom really made me feel nasty.
I groaned as I pressed my forearm against my forehead. I wanted to go home and shower and take a nap. When I pushed the stall door open, the mother and her child were gone, and in their place was my sister-in-law.
