Page 65 of Soaring and Saucy

Was it cute?

I sure hope so, he thought silently, looking around the apartment. If someone had told me a year ago that I would be giving my wife a baby shower and fussing over decorations, I would have told them they were insane; but this isn’t half bad.

And it wasn’t.

It was actually pretty spectacular.

He had been hitting the dollar store each paycheck and buying all the cheap flowers he could find for about six weeks now, hiding them in the spare tire well on Stephanie’s car. If she ever had a flat, the jig would have been up immediately. The spare was sitting in the storage closet outside beside the patio.

Every time Stephanie went to work, he spent hours reading that well-worn book to learn what his wife liked so much about it and was doing his best to recreate that feeling. He spent almost a week weaving those roses and flowers into strands of Christmas lights – that were currently strung around the living room, held up by a plethora of thumbtacks. If the apartment complex saw this, they would probably end up evicted but then again, he also painted the baby’s room without permission. He didn’t plan on moving anytime soon and would just repaint it later.

Family first…

Their rules came second.

The baby’s room was a pale cream color. He had taken the bottom of a two-liter bottle to make a flower stamp, putting several over the crib. His wife was so sure they were having a girl despite having decided to keep the sex of the baby a secret until birth. He teased her about having a boy, but truthfully, the idea of having a little girl tickled his heartstrings wonderfully. Those ruffled diaper covers are gonna be the end of me, he thought with a faint smile.

“Dude, seriously? This is lame…”

That single comment drew him out of his reverie – and Lance nodded. It was lame, very un-mannish, and bordering on silly, but he would do anything for Stephanie. It showed, too. Each of the guy’s T-shirts had a goofy-looking ‘crest’ stenciled on it.

“Wear it for ten minutes when she gets here, and then you can ditch it.”

“I like it,” Orion’s son, Jeremy, beamed happily, posing with his sword as his father looked on proudly. “This is gonna be cool, Daddy. I’m a knight.”

“Thank you, Jeremy,” Lance began as he swallowed the lump in his throat. He realized he would be doing the same thing in a few years, except with tutus and peddling Girl Scout Cookies at the base or grocery store. “I appreciate that.”

“She’s going to cry, Trophy,” Orion smirked, nodding in approval. “I already texted my wife to bring some Kleenex. She ran home to get her Polaroid camera for this event – and a project. Heaven help me, Pinterest and the craft department at Walmart are massacring my wallet. We do not need twenty pool noodles at my house.”

“Cherry said you would say that,” Jeremy piped up, laughing, causing Orion to roll his eyes as Lance’s phone dinged loudly.

Stuck in traffic. We’re hurrying!

Okay. Thank you, Madeline – be safe.

Tell my husband I think he’s hotter than a firecracker, and I want a baby, too.

No.

Nope.

Heck no! – You tell him that yourself.

We’re friends, but not THAT good of friends. LOL!

“Memphis,” Lance chuckled, ignoring this last text message. “Your wife wants to talk to you later tonight.”

“Is everything okay?”

“Dude, trust me – you are good.”

Pasteur was moved away from the other guys and was looking at his cell phone. He had this strange look on his face, that caused Lance and Ohio to look at the quiet man.

“Are you okay?”

“I think so.”

“You look green.”

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