I heard the creak of the hardwood floor as she walked back toward the living room. To my confusion, there was a big box in her arms with the word ‘decorations’ written across the front. “Did you go up to the attic?” I asked.
“I thought we could decorate the tree tonight,” she said.
“You could have just asked me for help with getting this down. You have a hard-enough time walking, I don’t need you climbing ladders.”
“I’m fine.” She waved off my concerns and sat down in front of the tree, popping open the box. “Although, now that I think about it, you might as well grab the lights. I can’t believe I failed to notice how pathetic this thing looks until just now.”
“Just don’t overdo it,” I cautioned.
She got up and gasped, placing her hand on her stomach. I was by her side in an instance, concern written all over my face. She laughed. “Gotcha.”
I shook my head. “You are lucky that I love you.” I kissed the top of her head and smiled.
***
The rest of the night was spent rocking around the Christmas tree. We had Christmas tunes playing and despite Molly’s swollen belly, we managed to do a bit of dancing.
“You make me so happy,” she said as she finished stringing the rest of the popcorn. “Like there are still some days when I think it's still just a dream and that I’ll just wake up in my bed and find that you’re back with the Marines and that I’m still just as alone as I was before.”
I sat behind her; arms wrapped around her. “That’ll never happen, babe. For better or for worse, you’re stuck with me.” I rested my hand on her stomach and felt the movement of our baby. “He’s an active little guy, isn’t he?”
“You’re telling me. You’re not the one being kept up at night by his constant moving.”
“No, but your snoring does make it difficult to sleep sometimes,” I tease lightly, loving how cute she got whenever she pretended to be mad.
“I do not snore,” she protested.
“Whatever you say, honey.”
“Shut up and put the star on the top of the tree.” She shoved the star into my chest.
I thought about telling her how cute she was but I didn’t quite feel like getting pelted by the leftover ornaments so I did what I was told and placed the star at the top of the tree. With everything in place, I plugged in the lights. The rainbow lights twinkled, filling the entire room with color. My heart swelled at the sight of it. Our first Christmas tree, I think. Our first Christmas.
“It’s beautiful,” Molly said in awe. “We have to decorate the tree like this every year.”
“As long as I’m with you, we can decorate the tree however you’d like.”
“You really shouldn’t give me that sort of freedom.” She grinned but that grin disappeared in an instant. Her lips became frozen in an ‘O’ shape and her body was as stiff as aboard.
“Molly?” I took her by the shoulders and took a step forward and that’s when I felt the wetness underneath my feet. We both looked down, blinking like we couldn’t believe what it was that we were seeing. “Did… Did your water just break?” I asked.
“I… I think so…” She looked back at me.
Suddenly, I snapped into action. I was grabbing the hospital bag one second, installing the car seat in the next. Why didn’t we do this sooner? I thought as I struggled to loop the seatbelt through all the right places. “Just hang on a second… let me just… figure this out.” I was getting frustrated. The instructions were useless, and I could hear Molly’s labored breathing. “Just… uh… breathe…” All those parenting classes and that the best I could do in terms of moral support. “Breathe.”
“Just give me the car keys so I can sit down.”
“Right.” The engine roared to life just as I finished installing the car seat. I jumped behind the wheel. “Are we forgetting something? I feel like we’re forgetting something. Did we feed the cat?”
“We don’t have a cat.” Molly laughed. “I’m the one having a baby and yet you’re the nervous one.”
Well, I thought, becoming a dad is a big deal. I don’t want to fuck it up.
***
Despite the last-minute Christmas shopping traffic and a fender bender that clogged up an entire intersection, I made it to the hospital. Molly was fighting regular contractions at this point and despite being in the Marines, I was a mess.
“Do you want me to carry you? It might be better if I carry you. The walkways are slippery.”
Molly laughed.
Then everything happened in a blur. They rolled her into the labor and delivery wing, prepped her, and then there she was, legs in the air pushing as hard as she could. There came a point where I feared the loss of my hand. She was holding onto it with that tight of a grip. She kept breathing. I kept telling her to breathe.
I could tell that she was getting tired. “You’re doing great, honey. Just a little bit more and you’ll get to hold your baby boy for the very first time.” I dabbed her head with a cold washcloth. “Just hang in there.”
She screamed. A second later, a baby’s cry filled the room. The nurses swaddled him in a blanket and handed him to me. He was just this tiny little thing. Gently, I placed him on his mother’s chest and saw him immediately clamp onto one of her nipples. “That’s my boy right there,” I beamed.
***
A few hours later, Tyler and his new girlfriend, Emily paid us a visit. “Hey sis, how you are feeling?”
“Like I never want to do that again,” she laughed. “You guys have it easy. You just –”
Tyler covered the baby’s ears. “Watch it. I don’t want you corrupting my nephew. He’s way too young to be learning about the birds and the bees.”
“Do you want to hold him?” I asked.
“Have you guys chosen a name?” Tyler held out his arms, letting me position the little guy into place. “Damn… he’s so tiny and unfortunately, he has your ugly mug.”
“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just call my baby ugly,” Molly said. “Because I will get out of this bed –”
“Noel,” I answered before things could get too nasty between the siblings. “His name is Noel.”
“Welcome to the family, Leo,” said Tyler with a smile, “and Merry Christmas.”
CLICK HERE To Read The Bonus Epilogue: https://BookHip.com/CRRJPA
READ THE NEXT BOOK IN THE HOT FOR CURVES SERIES!
CLICK HERE for Her Midnight Mistake by Barbra Campbell: https://geni.us/MidnightMistake
READ THE FULL HOT FOR CURVES SERIES!
Sadie King
Her Midnight Mischief
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NHWMMKK
C.L. Cruz
Her Midnight Promise
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NZYTC8H
Lana Dash