The floor plan for the house was spectacular. It was open-concept and huge. Gourmet kitchen, with a large island. Six bedrooms, six full baths and three half-baths. The exterior had a built-in pool, large deck and screened porch. It was perfect.
“I love this. But where?”
“Your dad has an acre and a half near them. He offered it to us, if we want it.”
“Dad? An acre and a half? Jesus, Tristian. This is perfect. Easton wouldn’t have to change schools and we’d still be close to my parents and grandparents.”
“Just say the word and it’s ours.”
“The word. I’m in.”
He picked me up and we spun around. “I thought you’d like this. If we break ground now, it’ll be done before the baby arrives.”
“Ha! I won’t hold my breath, but okay.”
“I’m a taskmaster. I’ll stay on them.”
“You can ask Mom for help. She is too. What else did you want to show me?”
He turned to his credenza and pulled out a tube. Inside was another set of plans. “Remember when we talked about remodeling the mansion? Take a look. I want your opinion.”
“Seriously? What about the wedding?”
“This is mostly cosmetic stuff. We won’t be tearing into anything. Just lightening things up, adding new window treatments, furniture, and things of that nature. We’ll be fine. Besides, we’re not setting a date until after the baby, right?”
“True, but I didn’t know how extensive you were getting.”
“Just peek at those.”
All the colors were labeled and all the dark paneling would be painted over, brightening up the place. The floors would be redone in a light stain and the furnishings would be replaced with updated versions.
“This looks great,” I said. He had fabric samples along with paint colors for each of the rooms. “I don’t see anything for the second floor.”
“That will be next. Everything in this stage will be the first floor and the stairway, running into the upstairs corridor.” He also had new carpet samples, and it was so luxurious, I wanted to test it out now.
“Um, can we get this carpet in our bedroom in the new house? I hate hardwood on the second floor. It’s too noisy and I love the feel of luxurious carpet under my feet. This is beautiful.”
“You got it. Anything you want.”
“You spoil me.”
“It’s what I aim to do.”
I checked the time to see we were going to be late for my doctor’s appointment if we didn’t leave now.
We rushed out, but Tristian drove like a ninety-year-old over there. “You need to go faster.”
“No, I don’t. I don’t want to take a risk with you in the car.”
Good thing he couldn’t see my eye-roll. It was magnificent.
I was scheduled for another ultrasound that day and this time they rubbed the goo on my stomach. It wasn’t as embarrassing as having a giant wand that resembled a dildo shoved up your vagina.
She moved that thing around and asked, “Would you like to know the sex of your baby?”
We both shouted, “No!”
“I want us to be surprised,” he said.
“Yeah, me too. It’s so much fun finding out after they come out.” Then I frowned.
He covered my forehead with a hand. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m not looking forward to pushing this thing out, that’s all.”
“I’ll be there to help.”
“Right. If you could do the pushing out, that would be helping. Holding my hands does nothing.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t do more.”
“Hey, it’s fine.”
The doctor laughed. “I love hearing these conversations. When it gets down to it, all well-rehearsed plans often go out the window. Just remember, we’ll have an epidural available.”
“And I’ll be asking for it.”
On the ride home, we discussed decorating the nursery, picking things out for the house, and a wedding date.
“Let’s wait until the baby is at least eight weeks old until we set a date. Then we can take a honeymoon. Any earlier than that, neither of us will want to leave.”
He was right. With breastfeeding, we couldn’t go anywhere until the baby was at least twelve weeks old. “Make that three months old at a minimum because of breast-feeding.”
“Right. Then we can enjoy it more.”
I went into silent mode, remembering back when Easton had been that tiny. Leaving her for even an hour had been unbearable. My parents had often asked me if I wanted to go out with Stacey, but that held zero interest for me. Staring at Easton while she slept, or ate, or did anything at all was the only thing I’d wanted to do.
“What’s rambling around in your head? You’re usually not the silent type.”
He knew me well. “I was thinking back to when Easton was a baby and all I did was gaze at her for hours on end. What if we plan an elaborate honeymoon and I can’t leave baby number two?”
“Starshine, you’re overthinking things. We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.”
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Tristian
With the help of my mother-in-law, we were able to stay on top of construction for the new house. A month before the baby was due, we moved in. The contractor admitted it was the first time he’d even completed a project this large before the estimated completion date.
“Your mother-in-law drives a hard bargain. She was here every day, and not once, but twice.”
My wife grinned. “She’s very determined when she wants something and is impossible to ignore or deny.”
“That’s exactly what my team said. She’s also very knowledgeable about construction.”
“I don’t know how, unless she Googled it. Are you going to be that way too?” she asked me.
“I hope not. I hope this is our forever home.”
“Me too.”
“Then let’s do the walkthrough so we can create your punch list.”
We started with the kitchen, which only had a couple of minor things, like a missing light bulb and loose cabinet pull. The downstairs was easy. Then we moved to the second story. English inspected the master suite. She’d picked everything out for the closets and bath and I didn’t know what went where.
“These aren’t the shower heads I ordered.”
Our contractor had his clipboard with him and flipped through the pages to check. “You’re right. I’ll get these changed out ASAP.”
“Everything else looks great. I also ordered the custom closets and it seems the drawers are missing in Tristian’s.”
He clicked his fingers. “Yes! I have a note in here about that.” Another flip through his pages and he said, “They’re on back order and the release date is next week so we’ll put them in as soon as they arrive.”
English found a few places she wanted touched up with paint, but after that we went upstairs. All the bedrooms had been painted the same soft neutral hues of off-white, except for Easton’s room. English had found a muralist to come in and paint rainbows and unicorns on one wall, with a pale pink background. It had turned out much better than I had imagined. It was actually really cute.