Page 110 of Isolated
I could easily spend a lifetime in this man’s arms.
I couldn’t wait for him to make it happen.
Landen
Two years, three months later
I stood across the room, watching.
Watching and feeling such peace and love and euphoria at the sight before me.
My wife.
My beautiful, pregnant wife.
She was standing there with a smile on her face and a hand resting on her rounded belly.
God, she was breathtaking.
Beside her was Walter.
Iris and I had gone out yesterday to purchase the cribfor the baby’s nursery following her twenty-week ultrasound on Friday. And because I refused to have her even think about picking up something so bulky, she decided she’d get Walter to help me carry it inside.
I probably could have managed on my own, but Walter liked to help. He enjoyed being useful. So, whenever the opportunity arose, we included him.
Just like we included him in today’s celebration.
Yes, celebration.
We’d decided to have my mom, Iris’s family, and Walter over for what they all believed was a family dinner. What they didn’t know was that we intended to reveal the sex of the baby to them today. She glanced at me from across the room, and I couldn’t miss the joy oozing from her.
Always so happy.
“This is it.”
I looked to my side to find my mom smiling at me.
“What?”
She placed her hand on my shoulder. “That feeling inside, that’s it. That’s the thing I wanted you to feel for so long. The love for her and your baby. I wanted you to have that. Now you know why I pushed so hard for you to find someone.”
I wrapped my arm around her back and squeezed her opposite shoulder. “I understand it now. I couldn’t rush it, though. It wouldn’t have been this way with anyone else, so I’m glad I waited for her.”
My mom tapped her hand on my chest. “Me, too.”
In the time I’d spent conversing with my mom, Iris had moved from where she’d been standing. Her hand touched the back of my arm. “I’m sorry to interrupt.”
“Oh, you’re not interrupting,” my mom insisted. “I wasjust telling Landen how happy I am you two found each other.”
“You and me both, Lucy.”
Both women laughed, the sound like music to my ears. Not that I’d had any doubts, but my mom and Iris got along from day one. And they often found time to get together without me. I loved what they’d managed to give to one another.
Glancing down at Iris, I asked, “Is it time?”
She nodded. “Everyone is here.”
I released my hold on my mom, took Iris by the hand, and got everyone’s attention. As Walter, my mom, and Iris’s parents, grandparents, sisters and their spouses brought their conversations to a halt, I said, “Iris and I wanted to thank all of you for coming today. We’re going to sit down for dinner in a minute, but before we do, we wanted to share some news with you.”
