Once Zack places the truck in park on the driveway, Luke jumps out and runs up the staircase to our front door. “Come on, come on, come on! Open up!”
Zack and I laugh as we lock our hands together and make our way inside the house.
The living room is simple and clean with new furniture we picked out together. It’s pretty void of personal touches, but we’re a new couple starting our life out. I’m sure it’ll be filled with knickknacks and photos in no time.
Luke ignores the new dining room table and bolts up the stairs to his room. He swings his door open and stops mid-step. “No way! This is so cool!” He spins around, checking out his baseball-themed room.
Zack made shelves out of wooden baseball bats that have hooks for him to hang his hats on. There’s also an oversize chair in the corner that’s in the shape of a baseball glove. My favorite part is the posters Sandy kept of Zack’s favorite players, growing up. Legends like Ken Griffey Jr. and Nolan Ryan are mixed with Luke’s favorite players, like Mike Trout and Bryce Harper.
“I love it, Dad!” He wraps his little arms around Zack’s stomach and then comes to me, giving me the same hug. “Thank you so much, Jolene.”
“Hey, I didn’t do anything. This is all your dad,” I say, embracing his hug anyway.
“But you did. All of this has happened because of you.” Luke smiles at me, and my heart swells two sizes bigger.
I hug him again as Zack comes over and hugs us both.
“Why don’t you take some time to enjoy your new room while I show Jolene a surprise I have for her?” Zack says to Luke, taking my hand and walking out of the room.
Before we head out, I pause in the doorway and stare at Luke as he opens every drawer of his new dresser.
Down the hall is my and Zack’s room. When I walk inside, I see the bed we purchased—a navy-blue tufted headboard with nail heads, fitting a king-size mattress. On the opposite side of the room is a dresser and armoire that are beautiful, but they’re not the ones we picked out at the store.
It takes but a moment for the memory to flood me and the emotion to well behind my eyes.
“How did you—” I start, but those tears fall. “Is this my parents’ furniture?”
He walks up to the dresser, which is a touch darker than I remember and slick with a fresh polish. “I had them taken out of your storage unit. My dad helped me refinish them at the shop. If you don’t want them, we can put them back. I just thought you’d like a piece of your history here in our home.”
“Put them back?” I rush over to him and kiss his mouth, his cheeks, and his jaw. “You are too good to me. I love it so much. I love you so much.”
I continue my loving attack on him, and he starts to laugh as he teases, “If I had known recycled furniture would make you horny, I would have taken their kitchen table too.”
He’s joking, but he’s serious because his hands are on my ass, hoisting me up in the air and bringing me down to the bed. His groin levels with mine as we kiss and grab, hold and savor after the seventy-two hours we’ve been apart. As he crawls up my body, I point to the hallway.
“We have a child in the building. I think you should close the door,” I say with a laugh.
Zack’s head falls to my shoulder. “Right. I have to get used to having you and him in the same residence. Oddly enough, I’ll settle for blue balls, knowing my two favorite people are under one roof.”
He kisses me on the lips and then stands, adjusting his pants that have shifted.
“I’m gonna shower in my new bathroom, and then I’ll start dinner,” I say, rising as well.
“That’s a good idea.”
I’m walking toward the bathroom, and Zack is following me.
“You know we can’t shower together,” I say, wondering why he’s stalking me in here like a creeper. “And I’m certainly not peeing in front of you. I already told you, I refuse to be one of those couples who drops trou with the other in the room, and … why are you smiling like that?”
His eyes dance toward the glass shower door. I look behind me and see there’s a blanket on the bottom and a tiny fur baby nestled in the center, taking a nap.
My hands fly to my mouth. “Oh my God. Is that a kitten?”
Zack opens the shower door and lowers his hands to the floor, swooping up the tiny ball of gray fur into his arms. “I’ve been calling him Mr. Jenkins Jr., but you can name him anything you’d like.” He speaks to the baby cat, “Mr. Jenkins Jr., meet your mommy and the love of my life, Jolene.”
I take the tiny creature from Zack as its eyes part, showing blue and looking up at me.
“Aren’t you the most precious thing?” I coo, petting its soft head. “When did you get him?”
“This week. One of my employee’s cats had kittens, so I put my request in weeks ago. I had to wait until this little guy was old enough to bring home.”
I lift the kitten to my cheek and give it a snuggle. “Welcome to our family, Jenk. Would you like to meet your brother? He is going to go crazy over you.”
When I look back at Zack, I see him grinning.
“I love the way you just said that.”
“What?” I ask.
“Our family. I just realized, I can’t wait to start one with you.”
Judging from the way his eyes are gazing into mine and how his tone is steady, I know Zack means every word. And from the zing in my belly and the quick beats of my heart, I’m surprised to find I’m not spooked at all. In fact, I think I’m ready for that too.
“Here, come on in.” I motion to Monica as I open the door.
Another grand perk about relocating to San Francisco is spending time with my best friend—and not over FaceTime and texts. We’ve had a lot of wine-induced late nights and a girls’ trip to Napa, where we really bonded in a way that was needed.
Now, instead of fleeting conversations about my travels and her quick comments about work and her son, we’ve started back on our deep-diving conversations like we used to. She knows more about my insecurities and abandonment issues than I’d let on before. She said she always knew they were there and was grateful I opened up the right way. She confessed that married life with a child had many downfalls, which she hadn’t told me about because she didn’t want to sound like she was complaining about something she knew deep down that I wanted.
I’ve come to rely on Monica about so much, and today is no different.
“Luke’s in his room, so you can head on in there, Nicholas.” I usher her son up the stairs to where Luke is building a replica of a Porsche, using Legos that Zack’s friend, Austin Sexton, sent him.
Even though Luke’s a few years older than Monica’s son, Nicholas, they’ve become instant friends. Normally we hang with them, but today we have a mission that we need to accomplish, and she made an intentional stop to the pharmacy to pick up a stick that I’ve been dying to pee on for the past hour.
We head back to my master bedroom where I run into the bathroom, needing the release—now.
“I didn’t want to mess with the one that shows a blue line or not. I went with the no questions asked one that will literally tell you if you’re pregnant or not,” she says with a business-like nod to her head.