“You sure I don’t look fat?” she asks, eyeing herself in the mirror again.
Forget the love, honor, and cherish parts of the wedding vows. Instead, you should vow to only place what Kailey calls “skinny” mirrors in your house.
“You’re beautiful,” I say.
“Cause I’m feeling a little . . .” She turns around and looks at me, a huge smile on her face. “Pregnant!”
My jaw drops, and my eyes nearly pop out of my head. I’m shocked, scared as shit, and over the moon all at the same time. We had a do-over of this moment a few years back, but it doesn’t compare to this.
I kiss her hard on the mouth, my hand lightly landing on her flat stomach. Having another baby isn’t something we talked about regularly. When we first got back together, she told me she would need some time. I told her when she was ready, so was I. And that was that. I meant what I said. I wasn’t going to hound her to have a child. She went through a lot, so I could be patient. She took care of the birth control, so the decision was in her hands. So this is coming as a total shocker, having no idea she stopped taking the pill.
I fall to my knees and whisper to my unborn child, “I love you.”
I feel Kailey smiling above me, her fingers going through my hair. She knows when I use those words, how much I mean them.
“Jennings,” she whispers.
New Girl
New girl in a small town
You were sixteen and so was I
Your momma warned you ’bout me
My daddy did the same
I was the jock
You were just the trouble I was looking for
Said the words I knew you wanted to hear
We went too far—way too far
We sat on that old porch swing
Swinging, swinging
We jump in the lake off that old rope
Swinging, swinging
Dancing under the stars, I twirled you around
Swinging, swinging
They say I’m tough, hardcore
The crowd pleaser
You called me a liar.
If I lied, I didn’t know it.
By summer,
I called it quits
There are things you shouldn’t say
Growing up in a small town
Too young to mean the words
But can’t take ’em back
We sat on that old porch swing
Swinging, swinging
We jump in the lake off that old rope
Swinging, swinging
Dancing under the stars, I twirled you around
Swinging, swinging
You said you needed to talk
But you never told me
You never told me
Just threw my words in my face
Some words live forever
Some we take to our grave
New girl buried in a small town
Matching graves in a small town
My Forever
I’m not a man that’s easy to love
But I’m hoping I’m harder to hate
’Cause you are my forever
Come back to me
Baby, please come back to me
There was rain in your hair
The day that we met
There were tears on your cheek
The day that you left
But you are my forever
I’ll be the man
that you deserve
I’ll say the words
I need to say
I’ll tell truth
stop all the lies
’Cause you are forever, my forever
I wish you could read my mind
Know how I feel
when I can’t say the words
Forever I’m lost
Never to be found
The only way to get through this is to go through
Through the pain
Through the hurt
Through the anger
And be forever with you
I will hold your hand
I will dry your tears
I’ll feel the pain
I try to hide
I cannot run
I’ll promise you forever
I’ll be the man
that you deserve
I’ll say the words
I need to say
You are my forever
Kailey, I’ll love you forever