“Tom,” she said, when our embrace broke, her cheeks red and looking back and forth between us and the snapping photographers.
“It’s fine,” I said. “I don’t care if people know now. You’re moving into a new position, and I don’t want to hide you.”
She blushed, and one of the reporters moved a bit closer, and I recognized him. He was one of the few who seemed to have a bit of respect for my privacy and had been the only person I had talked to when they had hounded me before over other things.
“Sorry to surprise you,” he said, a smile on his face. “But it looks like you don’t seem to mind all that much.”
“I don’t,” I said, “but I am curious as to how they found out.”
“You guys got caught smooching at the grand opening of the bar, and the pics made their way to the tabloids online immediately,” he said.
“Ah.”
The reporter shrugged. “You can never put anything past these vultures when they need something to occupy a day’s news cycle on the gossip pages,” he said.
“I get it,” I said. “Hopefully now they leave me alone.”
“Probably,” he said. “Hey, you wouldn’t have a statement for me, would you?”
“About this?”
“I mean, that’s why I’m here,” he said, laughing.
“Just that sometimes, love just happens,” I said. I pulled Amanda in and kissed her again, eliciting another wave of flashes.
“Perfect,” the reporter said, and I whisked Amanda inside the building, our cheeks hurting from smiling so much.
We reached the elevator with minimal fuss, only some not-so-secretive gossiping by people on the fringes of the room.
“I didn’t see that coming,” Amanda said as she wrapped up in my arms when the doors closed.
“Well, at least it’s over now. If they’re still out there later, just don’t answer them,” I said. “That’s just giving them what they want.”
“Speaking of,” she said as the doors opened and what seemed like every eye in the room turned to us. We walked out to a room full of watchful people and headed to my office. When the door shut behind us, it only took a few seconds before Landon knocked.
“Come in,” I said, and Landon opened the door, a big smile on his face.
“Tom, Amanda,” he said respectfully as he shut the door behind him. “There, now the door is closed, I can say this. It took you two long enough to finally get together!”
We all laughed heartily, and Landon clapped me on the back.
“Thanks, man,” I said.
“Seriously, it’s good to see you two together,” he said. “Ignore anyone who says anything else.”
“Well, there might be more,” Amanda said, grinning and looking over at me.
“More?” Landon asked, looking between the two of us as we stayed silent, smiling at each other. “Will someone tell me what is going on?”
“Amanda is pregnant,” I said. I didn’t say anything else as I waited for the statement to sink in. Slowly his jaw fell further and further open until I thought it would hit the floor. Then he snapped it back up almost all the way and smiled.
“You’re kidding,” he said.
“Nope,” Amanda said. “Most certainly not kidding.”
“Well, damn!” Landon said, getting another excited laugh from me and Amanda. “Congratulations to both of you, damn! It’s amazing to have a family, and I am so excited for you to go on that journey.”
“Thanks, Landon. We appreciate that. Can you do me a favor?” I asked.
“Of course you can name the baby Landon,” he said without missing a beat. We all laughed again, and I shook my head.
“No, I was going to ask if you could get everyone to meet up in the conference room. No use in letting this hang above everyone and no one getting any work done. Might as well address the elephant in the room.” I said.
“Sure, absolutely. But my offer still stands. I can help teach him the wise and noble ways of men named Landon,” he said.
“Who said it was going to be a boy?” Amanda said.
“The wise and noble ways of anyone named Landon,” he corrected.
“We will think about it,” Amanda said, “but I think we already have a couple names picked out.”
“I will settle for being a godparent,” Landon said. “Or at least a cool person you call ‘Uncle Landon’ despite no familial relations. But that’s as far as I’m willing to go.”
“Deal,” I said, offering my hand. He shook it vigorously.
“Seriously, congratulations, you two. I’ll see you out there,” Landon said and left.
We had a few minutes alone, and Amanda’s smile slowly faded. She looked to the door apprehensively, and I looked up from the laptop where I was firing off an email.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’m just worried,” she said.
I closed the laptop and moved over to her. “Don’t be. Remember, no matter what, I’m always going to be by your side.”
She smiled and nodded her head. I dipped mine in for a kiss and pressed it to her lips.
“Always,” she said.
“Always,” I repeated.
Epilogue
Amanda
I felt like I was getting into the groove of motherhood. There was plenty more to come, I knew. A lot of challenges weren’t even on my radar yet, but I would deal with them when they showed up. For now, I decided to think of being able to juggle Rosie sleeping in her car seat and the diaper bag and unlock the door without waking her up as a victory.
My maneuver for getting inside the house involved pushing the door open a couple of inches, catching it with my foot, pushing it open with a bit of a kick, and moving inside either sideways or backward so the baby didn’t go inside first. It wasn’t the smoothest or most attractive of movements, but it worked.
The grin on my face was still lingering from my doctor’s appointment. The six-week postpartum checkup had been written on my calendar since the day Rosie was born. I couldn’t believe it had been that long, and at the same time it felt like the day took forever to come.
Setting the car seat down on the sofa, I carefully slipped the baby out of her harness and cradled her close to my chest, resting a kiss to the top of her head. It was chilly outside, so she wore a little pink hat to go with her pink rose-themed romper. Maybe it was a bit predictable, but I couldn’t help myself when it came to putting her in rose-colored or themed clothes and accessories.
I had a feeling that was going to be a thing for the rest of her life. Or at least until she was a teenager and decided to rebel by rejecting anything pink or floral. But if that happened, at least I had a good fourteen or fifteen years ahead of me where I could get in my fill.
Holding Rosie in one arm, I took out my phone and called Ava.
“How did it go?” she asked.
“Great,” I said. “I was nervous about it, but the doctor said everything looks good, and I’m getting back to normal. I still have some weight to lose, but the breastfeeding is helping.”