I closed my eyes, letting his words hang there in the air. I wanted to cherish them. To freeze everything around us so we didn’t risk anything else coming between us. For the moment, everything I wanted was finally happening, and there were no secrets anymore.
I ran my hands across my stomach. “I haven’t even had time to really be happy about the baby yet. I think I was so busy trying to keep it from you, I half-way convinced myself this whole pregnancy wasn’t real.”
“You wouldn’t have gotten away with either of those things for very long,” he quipped, also placing his hands on my still-flat belly. “You’re going to make a super hot pregnant lady. I hope you know that. And you know what else this means?”
“What?”
“Shopping. Lots of shopping. You’ve got a nursery to decorate and baby clothes to buy. And maternity clothes too!”
“Actually, I don’t have a nursery to decorate. I don’t have anything but an abandoned apartment back in Cherry Falls and this shitty little motel room.”
He pulled me to my feet, wrapping his arms around me. “Actually...before I knew you were pregnant...I was going to ask you something. I was hoping you’d move in with me.”
My big round eyes lifted to his. “Really? You mean it? You were going to ask that even if I wasn’t pregnant?”
“I wanted to ask while we were at the beach. But I was worried about getting everything straightened out with Nadia first. But yes, Lizzy. I mean it. It would make me really happy. There’s only one condition.” I tilted my chin in anticipation. “You have to quit working. Or at least quit one of your jobs.”
With a squeal, I wrapped my arms around him tighter and squeezed. “That would make me really happy. Yes, I will gladly quit working so much. And move in with you.”
He grinned and took my face into his hands, bringing my lips to his for a long gentle kiss. When he pulled away, we both eyed the bed behind us.
He turned back to me with a coy grin. “No point in letting this new bedding and this room go to waste...as long as we’re here…”
Epilogue
One year later...
A beat pumped through unseen speakers, and I felt the percussion reverberate through the soles of my flawless, snow-white Adidas sneakers. I stood behind the bar and surveyed the club – my club, I reminded myself silently with a satisfied smile. The dance floor was empty. The evening’s first few customers hovered around the bar and lounged on sleek velvet couches in the dimly-lit space, sipping on their first artisanal cocktails of the evening.
“My man, D!”
I turned to see Nick approaching the bar, still dressed in the business suit he must have worn to his last closing of the day. Nick raised his hand to give me five with a wide grin. “Looks amazing in here, bro’. Where's my complimentary Hennessy bottle service, as your business partner and all?”
“Complimentary? Nah, price is double for you,” I laughed, but turned to pull a bottle of brown liquor from the shelf behind the bar along with two glasses. Nick took a seat at a barstool while I poured two neat glasses, sliding one across the countertop to my lifelong friend.
“So, how’s it feel to own the hottest nightclub in the city?” Nick asked.
“Living the dream, man. Can’t believe you haven’t been out here to see the place sooner. I had to give your spot on the VIP list up to Beyoncé and Jay Z,” I joked, shaking my head.
“Oh, you know how it is,” Nick explained with a wave of his hand. “Poor Del is so pregnant she can hardly walk. I’ve spent every free minute waiting on her hand and foot.” Smiling, Nick added, “Not that I’m complaining, bro’. Can you believe it? Soon I’ll be changing diapers instead of taking shots, and I’m deliriously happy about it.”
I smiled back. It was contagious and I understood. It was strange to think of how far we had come, Both of us happily tied down, transformed from major players into family men. “Wouldn't have it any other way,” I said in reply.
“Cheers,” we said in tandem, tipping our glasses toward one another before bringing them to our lips.
But before I could take a sip, the phone in my pocket buzzed angrily as the alarm went off, the sound nearly lost under the beat from the speakers. I sat my glass down and pulled my phone out to confirm: it was six o’clock. I needed to wrap up with his staff and get on the road ASAP if I was going to make it home on time.
Nick seemed to read my mind. “Gotta head home already, huh? That's alright, you can just leave your drink with me.”
“Shoot,” I laughed, “you better be careful. If Del kicks you to the doghouse for coming home drunk, you can’t stay at my place tonight.”
Nick waved me off again. “No worries, brother, I’m here to see you and your club, not for the free alcohol.”
We both grinned and leaned in to clap each other’s backs warmly. “Thanks for stopping by, man,” I said. “You tell Del we’ll see her at the baby shower next weekend.”
“Can’t wait,” Nick replied, and with that, he turned to leave with the same spring visible in his step that I could feel in my own.
With everything in order, I left my club through the back door, just as the line at the front entrance was beginning to form.
I drove home in my sleek black Mercedes, first through the busy city streets, then on as the avenues sprawled out into a quiet, suburban landscape. It was a bit of a drive to our new home, a stunning, stately, expertly-constructed mansion nestled in the hills outside the city. The commute afforded me plenty of time to think.
As the radio played and the sun began to set in the distance, I thought about how different my life was now from even just a year prior. I had cleaned up my act: no longer was my sweet and wholesome persona just, well, a persona. No longer did I croon in a woman’s ear that I’d be faithful while sleeping around behind her back. In fact, these days I went home to the same woman every damn night – quite happily.
Well, the same two women, anyway, I thought with a chuckle to myself as I pulled my Mercedes up to the gate in front of my five-story home.
I shrugged my Tom Ford jacket off my shoulders gently and kicked off my Adidas as I quietly opened the door to one of the mansion’s many lavish bedrooms. I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding when I saw the scene before me.
Lizzy sat back with her legs up in a big, plush recliner, a soft blanket laid across her lap. Little Lilly sat in her mother’s lap, small arms gripping a storybook as Lizzy read to her.
“And the hamsters lived happily ever after,” Lizzy read. Pointing to the illustrations on the page, leaning her head down to Lilly’s level, she added, “Look! See how happy all the hamsters are in their new hamster palace?”
Lilly cooed and patted the illustration with her tiny hand, giggling.
My heart leaped up in my chest, then melted. It was so full of love at the sight of my two girls, I could hardly stand it. And to think, this was what I had to come home to every remaining day of my life. I was happier in that moment than I ever thought possible, and yet I knew that somehow it would just keep getting better and better. Living the dream, I had said to Nick, and meant it. The club was nice and all, and sure, its success brought me satisfaction – but I’d give it all up in a moment for Lizzy and Lilly, the twin lights of my life.