Page 57 of A Twist of Fate

Rounds of congratulations were shouted to him. “How is Gretchen?” I asked.

Kane smiled down at me before pulling me into a hug. “She’s doing just fine. My woman is one tough momma.”

I couldn’t stop the tears from falling again. “I’m so happy for her. Can we go back?”

Kane

Watching Gretchen sleep after giving birth to our son was surreal. She hadn’t complained once through the birthing process. Obviously, she was in a lot of pain, and still, I swear the woman smiled the entire time. Well, when she wasn’t grunting in pain that smile would slip right back onto her face as if it had never gone anywhere. I’d never seen anything like it, and I had made the mistake of Googling natural childbirth and watching videos after I found out she was pregnant. Those women in the videos did not make it look like something I even wanted to be in the room for. With Gretchen, I didn’t want to miss a single second.

I had everyone give us a little time together with the baby before they started coming back to Gretchen’s room to visit. Once they started, it was Ever and Deck who showed up first.

“How did everything go?” Ever asked in a nervous tone.

“It went so smoothly. No complications, she didn’t yell at me, and my son is perfect. I couldn’t have asked for a better experience for any of us,” I bragged.

Deck looked relieved when I mentioned it being the best experience, but then he kept glancing over my shoulder almost as if he didn’t believe me. Finally, it got to me. “What’s up with that,” I asked him while I circled my finger in front of his face.

“We came here from the cemetery since it’s the anniversary of T-Bone’s death.” He glanced back towards the room where I had left Gretchen sleeping when they knocked on the door.

“Fuck!” I yelled, pissed at myself for not realizing the importance of the day sooner. “You mean to tell me that my woman just gave birth to our son on the day she lost her other child and Toby?”

“Oh no!” Ever cries out. “I didn’t even think of it like that when we were on our way over. Do you need us to get anything special?”

“No, I just need you to get your asses inside the room,” Gretchen called out from the other side of the door.

“Oh Gretchen!” Ever said as she moved right to my woman and hugged her. “You know he’s with your other little one, and now they’re looking out for your son, making sure you both have the happiness they were denied. I bet they’re both over the moon for you.”

Gretchen broke down bawling on Ever’s shoulder. “I felt them today. At first, I was scared and freaking out about not being able to do this today and then suddenly, it was like warmth and love filled me up and just blanketed me the whole time.”

“That sounds like something my brother would do,” Ever told her as they hugged once more before Deck bent down to take a look at our boy who was sound asleep in the rolling bassinet they had brought in.

“So, what’s his name?” Deck asked.

“Nathaniel Tobias,” I told them. A sad smile slipped over my face as I thought about all the ways that Nate and I wouldn’t be here if Toby and Gretchen’s first child had survived. I gave thanks to their memory even while still feeling guilty for doing it.

“That’s beautiful,” Ever told me before leaning over and kissing the cap that helped to keep the heat in on my son’s head. “Sleep well, little Nate. When you’re ready to come home, Auntie Ever is going to offer up some babysitting services so we can hang out and I can get some more practice in with a little one again.” Deck smiled at his woman before Gretchen’s question stole their attention.

“Practice?”

“We’re expecting,” Ever informed her.

“This turned into the best day,” Gretchen told her, and the smile on her face was one of pure, genuine happiness when she did. Fuck! I had to thank Toby all over again for making my woman happy. I didn’t mind one bit. I could share her with his ghost since his sacrifice brought us here.

THREE YEARS LATER

Kane

I had just finished painting the Haint Blue on the porch ceiling when I heard the roaring engine of Joker’s truck. Just behind the truck was my woman’s car. I wished I could see her face already. Merc, Double-D, Deck and Joker were all standing around in front of the miniature replica of the house Toby had planned to build for Gretchen on this very land. When we ended up building our own house she insisted that she didn’t want what Toby planned because that was meant for another life, and it wasn’t fair to me to have to live with another man’s ghost every day.

What she didn’t realize was Toby’s spirit and I had already come to an understanding. Don’t worry, I haven’t gone completely fucking crazy. The man gave his life for hers. I owed him. I owed him in making sure that she lived the best fucking life possible. I owed him for our son and the daughter we had on the way. Giving this little memory to her, allowing our children and our nieces and nephews to crawl around in a house their uncle imagined, that was part of my repayment to him for the life that I was gifted with. For Gretchen, for my family, for everything he had to miss out on so that she didn’t.

The cars came to a halt, and the moment the women stepped out where we could see, I knew that they all knew just how important this little playhouse was.

“Damn it,” Double-D grumbled. “You made every damn one of them cry. Bad enough to see just one doing it, and look at that!” He pointed to his wife, daughters, Gretchen, and Tiger Lily as they all stood awed by what we managed to accomplish today.

“Kane!” Gretchen called out as she ran to me. Well, she did a weird sort of pregnant waddle-jog, but still. “What did you do?”

“Gave the kids a piece of the man who made everything possible, Sweet G. That’s all.”

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