Page 118 of The One I Hate
I stand up to get Charlie’s clothes for her, but she just stays sitting on the table, a little dumbfounded as to what I just did.
“You really want to know?”
I nod. “I do. I want us to sit together in the future nursery. I want you to be in my arms when we open the envelope together. I want us to share the reaction when we see girl or boy. Just us. Nothing flashy. Nothing big. Just you and me and Baby Bug.”
Charlie’s in tears as she holds out her arms for me. “I love that.”
“I love you.” I wrap my arms around her, holding her tighter than necessary. “But we’re still having the party because I had to call in a favor with my bounce house guy, and I can’t get that deposit back.”
This makes her laugh as she comes up, wiping the tears away. “You have a bounce house guy?”
“Cute you think I didn’t. What kind of fun uncle would I be if I didn’t have a bounce house guy?”
She pops off the table and grabs her clothes. “One of these days I’m going to quit being surprised by you.”
I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “I hope you never do.”
“What’s all this?”
Charlie looks up from where she is on the floor of the nursery—which right now is just an empty room. “Dinner.”
I smile and sit down on the blanket that Charlie has laid out. Sandwiches. Fruits and veggies. A few slices of Mellie’s cheesecake. A bottle of sparkling grape juice.
And the envelope.
“If we’re going to make this a night to remember, let’s do it right.”
I dive in for a kiss, but make sure I’m careful to not let it get out of hand. We have important things to do tonight. “When did you do all this?”
A coy smile crosses her face. “You’re not the only one who has a guy.”
I laugh and swoop in for one more kiss. My hand goes to her stomach, which I do multiple times a day. Like Baby Bug knows what’s going to happen, I feel a kick.
“She’s really going,” I say.
“Yes, it is…”
“Any final guesses?”
She shakes her head. “Healthy. And prone to sleeping through the night.”
I laugh. “You know I want that too, right?”
“I know.”
Our foreheads touch as we take in the moment. “You ready?”
She nods. “Let’s do it.”
We take the envelope together and Charlie gently tears it open, but doesn’t take it out. “Together?”
“Together.”
Each of us takes a corner of the picture of the ultrasound from today that’s in the envelope. We turn it over, and there, in bright pink letters, are the words I always knew to be true.
“It’s a girl…” My voice is a whisper. “We’re having a baby girl.”
Charlie is smiling through the happy tears as we kiss and embrace and hold each other on the floor of the nursery where our daughter is going to grow up.
