Swallowing hard, I tried to tamp down the rapid beating of my heart with each step. “I was coming to see about a certain dog with a broken foot, but thought I’d talk to you first.”
She raised an eyebrow, blinking slowly. “Luka?”
I found a smile splitting across my face. “Yes, Luka. The dog who aided in helping me first run into the cute barista I’d seen at Starbucks across from my condo for years. I thought it was about time he needed a home.”
She shook her head, her eyes darting to the ground. “Adopting a dog isn’t just going to fix things.”
“Well, then who else am I going to bring to the new dog park, especially during food truck Friday? I’m sure Luka will be a big fan of the waffles on a stick.”
She snapped her head up. “What? Dog park? Waffles?”
I took two steps forward, closing the space between us as I took her hands in mind. “Yes. I’m voting yes to the park. I spent all night calling different food truck vendors and I think a new proposal with a rotation of food trucks will bring just as much business and a place for my girlfriend and I to take Luka for a walk.”
“Girlfriend?” she stuttered.
I laughed, brushing my thumb against hers. “Is that not the right word? What else should I call you?”
“You can call her whatever you want as long as you just kiss her!” I turned to see Aubrey and Emma both smiling behind the desk.
I turned back to Melanie’s reddened cheeks. “Well, what do you say, Melanie? Should I kiss you?”
She leaned onto her tippy toes, whispering into my lips. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Part III
Melanie
Epilogue
Eight Months Later
Two pink lines stared back at me.
“No. Not now, not today,” I whispered, hoping no one was standing in ear shot outside of the one stall bathroom of Vinny’s restaurant.
Today was the biggest day of my new career as assistant in the Parks and Recreation Department. The one I got because of my internship with Aubrey Bloom-Bateman and a successful implantation of a new park. And I guess with a little help from my boyfriend, councilman Adrian Chase.
The one who was also the source of my current problem staring at me from a stick I just peed on.
The ribbon cutting ceremony was in twenty minutes, yet here I was, sitting in the bathroom at Vinny’s.
I thought I was sick the past few weeks.
Even my office mates told me I should go home, but I had to press on.
Though they didn’t see me sneaking into the bathroom for nausea that I thought came from the stench of stale coffee wafting from the break room.
Well, there was another kind of bean and it wasn’t coffee.
“Hey, babe, are you okay in there?” Adrian’s smooth voice carried over the door.
How could he be calm in this moment?
It was a big day for him, too.
He took a big risk with this project and voting against the other council members. Though now that a few of them have invested in some companies with food trucks, they’re warming up again.
But I guess he didn’t know what else was going on.
He just knew about my late nights working.
The ones where I’d spent the nights at his condo, telling my mom I was at the office and not rolling in his 1000 count bed sheets before firing up my laptop.
We’d both talked about eventual next steps, or at least hinted at them.
But this...
This was jumping a few more steps ahead.
“Coming,” I called, staring again at the stick.
I could throw it away, but what if one of the staff collected the garbage and saw the test?
My brain not connecting with my fingers, I wrapped the stick in a wad of toilet paper and shoved it into my purse. I’d think of a way to dispose of it later.
After washing my hands, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.
Did I look any different than I did a few moments before I knew I was pregnant?
Would Adrian see it?
Letting out a deep breath, I smoothed out my hair, grabbed my purse and headed out the door to my awaiting leading man. Always in his three-button suit and those glasses I thought I hated so much. The appreciative smile on that chiseled face.
“Ready for your big debut?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.”
***
The mayor stood behind a podium on the newly laid out sidewalk.
A red ribbon wound its way through light posts and park benches to circle the new lot complete with fenced off dog park and brand-new covered playset, donated by a very apologetic Mr. Stark.
The mayor was talking, the high school band was playing, and everyone was genuinely upbeat. Except my former boss sitting next to me.
“Hey, are you okay?” Aubrey whispered, squeezing my knee.
Her eyes had been on her husband who was wrestling the kids from trying to jump the ribbon and get to the playground, but her voice was still, as always, a comfort.
Could I see Adrian wrangling some kids while I did ribbon cutting ceremonies?
I mean he did love Luka, who he affectionately called ‘our son’, even when he did hog the bed.
“Yeah...just...a lot on my mind,” I muttered.
“And I’d like to call up Parks and Recreation assistant director, Melanie Knopp, to say a few words.”
The crowd clapped as the mayor’s voice echoed in my ears.
I was walking in a fog, so much so that I didn’t realize I’d kicked over my purse, the contents spilling out onto the sod in front of me.
Only a few feet from where Adrian sat.
My breath caught in my throat as a wad of toilet paper unraveled, landing in front of him.
He stiffened, looking down as his brow furrowed.
Then, as if the world moved in slow motion, I couldn’t stop him from picking up the test. He blinked once then twice before slowly standing up.
He wasn’t smiling. Or frowning.
And I...
Was a giant mess that wanted to crawl inside of myself, yet found my heels glued to the ground.
“Is this yours?” he whispered, his words sounding like a foghorn in the silence that drifted around us.
“Yes...” I whispered, tears prickling my eyes.
Hormones. That’s what that was.
He sighed, shaking his head as he put his free hand in his pocket.
I widened my eyes, a cold chill raking my spine.
Shit. What did this mean?
“Well...I was going to wait until the party at Vinny’s afterward, but I guess now is as good of a time as any.”
Slowly he dropped down to one knee, holding a velvet box.
The crowd around us gasped, but their whispers and voices slowly drowned away.
This man who I thought was my enemy, turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Personally. Professionally. Everything.
“Melanie Knopp, will you do the honor of marrying me?”
And with that I did the only thing left to do to complete this journey.
“Yes.”
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