Page 95 of Before You Go

“No.” She glares at me. “I’m fine. I just need to put my feet up for a bit.”

“Aunt Franny, Uncle Dayton, there’s a mermaid in the pool!” Jenny shrieks, running towards Franny and me with Tucker and Miranda right behind her and Kingston behind them with his eyes glued to his phone.

“Is there?” Franny asks as I sit forward to grab Jenny before she can crash into my wife at full force—something she’s been doing since she started walking.

“Yes.” She giggles when I tickle her. “I also saw a zebra.”

“There’s a zebra?” I look at Franny.

“I don’t know.” She looks between Miranda and Tucker. “I told my mom that Chance wanted a zoo-themed birthday. Apparently, she took that literally; she can be a little much.”

“Are you kidding? This is the best party I’ve ever been to.” Miranda takes a seat next to Franny and rubs her belly. “How are you feeling?”

“I can’t talk about it because if I say that I feel like I’m going to pop, Dayton will take that literally and rush me to the hospital.”

“These guys are always so dramatic.” Miranda rolls her eyes

“That’s what I said,” Franny cries, and I look at my brother when he makes a sound in the back of his throat.

“I’m going to go check on our son.”

“He was with my dad and Jacob at the bounce house.” She says as I push up to stand then asks, “Can you bring me a lemonade please?”

“Yeah.” I bend to wrap my hand around her jaw and brush my mouth across hers.

“Stay here.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” she assures me, and I don’t believe her. She never stops going most mornings, and I’m half tempted to tie her to the bed so she can rest like she needs to.

“Can I go to the bounce house, Dad?” Jenny asks Tucker.

“Yeah.” He looks at Kingston. “You gonna hang here with Mom or come with us?”

“I’ll stay here.” He says, not even looking up from his phone.

“We’ll be back, baby.” Tucker leans down to kiss Miranda and then follows me out of the house.

The moment we step outside, the noise is overwhelming; there are dozens of kids running around and multiple food vendors set up around the yard with kids lined up waiting for popcorn, hotdogs, and cotton candy. Walking towards the bounce house, I can hear Chance’s laugh before I even catch a glimpse of him going down the slide with Rowen right behind him.

When he reaches the bottom of the slide and he sees me, his whole face lights up with a smile that knocks the air right out of my lungs. Years ago, when Clay told me that sometimes it’s the things we don’t want that end up being the best things to ever happen to us, I didn’t understand. Or maybe I didn’t believe him at the time, but falling in love with Franny and being a father to Chance changed that. I might not have wanted to be a dad or a husband, but I have zero regrets for how my life has played out. I can’t imagine things any other way, and not a day goes by where I don’t thank whatever higher power is out there for having Franny end up pregnant and changing the trajectory of my life.

“Hey, Daddy.” Chance shouts. Jumping off the end of the bounce house, he runs to me, his blond hair and eyes both the exact color as his mother’s.

“Hey, buddy,” I lift him off his feet. “Are you having fun?”

“Yes, Grandpa went down the slide with me.” He tells me, and I look over at Franny’s dad.

“He needed someone to go down with him the first time.” He shrugs.

“You okay, old man?”

“Ask me that question tomorrow.” He smiles then asks, “Where’s Franny?”

“Inside, she needed to put her feet up.”

“She needs to take it easy.”

“You can try to have that conversation with her. You know how stubborn she is.”

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