“You left me,” she says, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her soft blond curls bounce as she carries her stuffed bunny in one hand. “I was scared.”
I’m about to tell her that she’s fine, but Jacob leans over and takes her in his arms. “We would never leave you.” His gold band is on his hand. The minute we found out I was pregnant, we got married two weeks later. That was me putting my foot down. I wanted to have a wedding dress and flowers and all that jazz, so he gave me seven days. With all the contacts I’ve made over the year and with Olivia’s help, I was ready in three.
We are about to walk inside when we hear another car pull up, and I look over to see it’s my mother. She stops the car and gets out with a huge smile on her face. “There she is,” my mother says, and Amelia smiles huge while she looks over at my mother.
“Hey there,” Jacob says, and as soon as my mother gets close enough, Amelia leans forward to go into her arms.
“Oh, hello, my angel girl.” She kisses Amelia who lays her head on my mother’s shoulder. “I missed you.”
“You saw her yesterday,” I point out and shake my head while Jacob comes and stands next to me, putting his arm around me.
“Well, it was a long time ago.” She side-eyes me with a glare and then whispers to Amelia, “Do you want to come over to the house, and we can bake cupcakes?” Amelia shoots up, and her eyes go big and the smile on her face is huge as she nods. “Then we can have a sleepover in the princess room.” Another thing, my room at home is now the princess room.
“Yeah,” she whispers and then leans in. “Can we do chocolate chip?”
“We can do anything you want.” My mother holds her to her chest. “Say goodbye to Mama and Daddy.”
“She doesn’t have shoes on,” I say, and she shrugs.
“I have three pairs at home,” my mother says and then whispers in her ear. “Let’s get going.”
“Hey,” I say, and they look over at me. “I want kisses.” I walk down the step and to them, pushing Amelia’s soft curls behind her ear. “Love you, baby girl.” I kiss her lips.
“Honey bunch and oats.” She finishes the sentence that I started saying to her when she was a year old.
I watch them drive off, waving and then look over at my husband. “What’s that look about?” He stands there at the top of the step with his arms folded over his chest.
“It’s what happy looks like,” he says to me.
“It also looks like you want something.” I walk to him.
“If it’s from you, I want it all,” he says, holding my hand and walking inside with me.
I walk over and grab a piece of pie, zapping it in the oven for a couple of minutes since my boy only likes warm pie. I eat the piece and then go sit on the couch next to Jacob, who moves over so I can lie on him a bit, and he places his hand on my stomach.
I lie here watching whatever he is watching, not even caring at this point. I don’t care about anything when I’m in his arms. My eldest son is fishing with my father, my daughter is baking cupcakes, and my baby is kicking my husband’s hand—I couldn’t be more content. I never thought this would happen. I never thought I would be here after I lost Gabriel. My future was black, and I didn’t see anything. I thought I would never have this. I turn my head to the side and kiss Jacob’s arm. “Love you,” he says to me, and I look up.
“Love you more,” I say. “Thank you.” He looks at me confused. “For giving me a second chance at life.”
“Baby,” he says, “thank you for giving me the world.” He leans forward and kisses me.
Find out what happens next with
Casey & Olivia
in
Southern Comfort