I wrapped the blanket around my body and went in search of Grant.
I found him and Spuds on the front porch.
He turned as I creaked the door open. “Morning.”
I smiled. “Good morning. What time is it?”
“About ten.”
“Yikes. You must’ve been up for hours already.”
“Nope. Slept until nine.” He lifted a Styrofoam cup from next to him, one that matched the one in his hands. “Went to the store up the road and got us coffees. Yours is decaf. Though it might be a little cold by now.”
“Oh. Thanks. I’ll drink it cold. I don’t care.” I sat down next to him on the top step of my porch, and he leaned over and kissed my forehead while I peeled back the top of the container. “Does that mean you missed the sunrise?” I asked.
“I did. Slept right through it.” He smiled.
“You’ll have to catch the sunset then.”
Grant shook his head. “As much as I like you in that blanket, drink a little of your coffee and go put some clothes on. I want to show you something.”
I swallowed a few mouthfuls and went in search of my clothes. I found them scattered from the kitchen to the living room and smiled as I went to the bathroom to change. Spuds followed and waited outside the bathroom door.
“Where are we going?”
“Just for a walk.”
“Alright. But it better not be too far, or you might have to carry me. I have no energy after last night.”
Grant looked over and grinned. “I plan to keep you that way: thoroughly fucked and smiling.”
We walked hand in hand down to the open lot at the lake where we’d sat last night. When we got to the edge of the water, Grant looked around. “This would be a nice spot for a house.”
“It would be. I actually looked at this plot before buying mine. But it’s ridiculously expensive.”
He nodded. “I know. I just bought it.”
I blinked a few times. “You what?”
“I called an hour ago and made an offer. They called back five minutes before you woke up and accepted.”
“I don’t understand…”
Grant took both my hands. “You wanted this property. I want to give it to you, if you’ll let me. I’d like to build a house on it. One with a big fenced yard and a bunch of bedrooms we can spend the next few years filling.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am.” Grant’s smile fell. “I’ve been living on that boat for seven years. Every day it ripped my heart out to step onto the back deck and remember… I need to move. Leilani will always be a part of my life, but there’s room in my heart for more than one.”
“Oh my God, Grant.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “But what about my house?”
“Sell it. Or rent it. Or maybe just keep it, and we can use it to sneak away when the kids are driving us nuts someday. You are kind of loud, and I don’t want that to have to change.”
I laughed. “Keep a whole house just so we don’t need to have sex quietly? You’re insane.”
“We’ll figure it out. We have plenty of time. It’ll take us a while to build something anyway.”
“Oh my God. I just envisioned your house being done before my house.”
Grant leaned in and brushed his lips with mine. “That’s not possible.”
“Why not?”
“Because there is no my house. There’s only our house.”
I smiled. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” He pulled back and bent to kiss my belly. “And I love you, too.”
After we kissed, I had to come back to reality. “I have a lot of work to do this afternoon. Would you want to come hang out at my apartment for the day while I get it done? We can get takeout, maybe?”
“Can you bring your work to my condo?”
I shrugged. “I guess. I just need my laptop and some files. Did you want to watch the sunset from there or something?”
Grant looked into my eyes. “Nope. Just figured I’d make my girl and our baby a good meal. Then rather than watching the sunset, I’m planning on watching the face you make while I lick your entire body.”
I liked the sound of that. But… “You missed the sunrise this morning. I thought you watched either a sunset or a sunrise every day as a reminder that good things in life can be simple?”
Grant cupped my cheeks. “That was the past. I realize now that not all the good things in life are simple. Some of the best things are complicated, but beautiful and worth all the risk. I don’t need to watch every sunrise or sunset for a reminder that good exists anymore. I have you.”
Chapter 36
* * *
Grant
Ireland took my hand. The doctor had just done an exam and said everything seemed fine. But since it was our two-month checkup, he wanted to do a sonogram to see if he could hear the baby’s heartbeat.
I watched as Dr. Warren squeezed a dollop of gel onto Ireland’s flat stomach and started to move a wand around. Shadows flashed on the screen across from me, and all three of us stared at the monitor. The doctor zoned in, pushing down a little more firmly on the wand, and suddenly a sound began to echo throughout the room.
A heartbeat.
My baby has a heartbeat.
Ireland had been reading to me from her What to Expect While You’re Expecting book, which said the early months of pregnancy produced a surge of hormones that made many women more emotional than usual. But the damn book failed to mention that the father-to-be would get all choked up.
My eyes welled, and it was impossible to hold back the tears, no matter how hard I tried. Ireland squeezed my hand and smiled.
Fuck it. Who cares if I’m a total pussy? I didn’t want to fight it anymore. I let the tears flow as I leaned down and kissed my girl’s forehead. Seven years ago, my own heartbeat stopped, and today mine found its purpose again. I wanted to take Ireland in my arms and dance with her to the rhythm of our baby’s magical beat.
The doctor pressed a button and a few inches of the heartbeat printed out from the machine. “Heartbeat sounds good. Strong. I’m just going to do a few quick measurements and I’ll have you out of here.” He turned a knob on the machine, and the heartbeat disappeared. I felt a stab of panic.
“Could you…leave it on until you finish the exam?” I asked.
Dr. Warren smiled. “Sure thing.”
He clicked around and printed out a few more sheets over the next five minutes. When he finished, he gave Ireland a paper towel to wipe off her stomach. Nodding, he said, “Measurements look really good. We can see you back here in a month, and hopefully you’ll continue to have a morning-sickness-free pregnancy.” He extended one of the little slips of paper with the baby’s heartbeat he’d printed from the sonogram machine. “Thought you might like to keep this, Dad.”
“I would. Thanks. Sorry about getting emotional.”
He waved me off. “No need to apologize. This is a big time in your life with a lot of change. Give in and go with the moment. Enjoy the happy times, even if they come with a few tears.”
“I will. Thanks, Doc.”