Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
She’d forgive me too.
Because as much as she would never say so, I was sure she was sad that she wasn’t having a baby shower. I’d caught her watching videos of them online when she thought I wasn’t around once. And when she saw me, she quickly wiped away a stray tear.
I was glad the event was finally here. It was breaking my heart to watch her think such a big event wasn’t being planned for her.
“Where are you going?” Lolly asked, watching me as I turned into a driveway.
“I just have to make a quick stop first,” I told her, reaching over to give her thigh a squeeze.
Every single minute detail of this day had been planned out. Up to and including Ariah and Ariah’s mom Kenzi making a show of gifting Lolly a beautiful floral maternity dress that they’d designed and made the day before when Lolly had been at the homestead for her usual weekly visit, knowing she would want to wear it the next day.
So that was what she had on. And she was fucking glowing. Even if she claimed she felt like her belly weighed a million pounds these days.
“This is a pretty place,” she declared, watching out the window as we drove past the perfectly manicured lawns and gardens—maintained with the idea of wedding photography in mind.
“A barn?” Lolly asked, face scrunching. Then, “Oh. Oh, is this a, you know, work thing?”
“Not quite,” I said, cutting the engine then climbing out and going around to her side. “This is more personal.”
Maybe she would have been suspicious. If Gracie’s plan for me hadn’t included several surprise trips to do fun, unexpected things. Which, of course, made it so Lolly wouldn’t immediately guess what this trip was about.
So she was completely in the dark until I slid open the barn door.
And everyone yelled Surprise!
It was worth every single careful plot point Gracie had planned to see the shock turn to genuine joy on Lolly’s face.
Excited by the noise, Edith and Blanche rushed forward toward their mom, both wearing matching Big Sis shirts.
“You were in on it too, huh?” she asked, petting their heads as they jumped on her, knowing she could no longer lean over to do so with her belly.
It was mostly the girls gathered. The men hadn’t been excluded, but most had decided to let the women have their day.
Dezi, of course, appeared, lured by the promise of several courses of food.
Otherwise, it was the princesses, their moms, and other local friends. Including two women Lolly had befriended at her computer classes.
The place was packed.
And I could see the wonder on Lolly’s face as she looked around, as she was met and embraced by everyone.
She’d had no one. For her whole life.
She’d been born into a family who barely gave a shit that she existed. Then she’d lived alone temporarily. Before, finally, being taken away from the world, locked up, and controlled.
Now, now there was a whole community who loved her, who were glad to know her, who were happy to celebrate this giant milestone with her.
She was swept away into the crowd.
It was Gracie who moved in at my side.
“We did good,” she decided, nodding.
She’d been working on setting the place up for days. Tables were draped in pastel pink tablecloths with big floral arrangements on each, along with a set of crocheted booties—courtesy of all the women who’d gotten together to learn to crochet just for the occasion.
Flowers were strung in rows to make curtains all down the walls, working as a perfect backdrop for pictures.
There were tables lining the sides, some with food warmers, others where gifts were piled high.
On a smaller table was a book and several leftover instant cameras for everyone to snap candid pictures.
A Sweet Little Wildflower is on the Way the front of the picture book said.
On another table was a sign Books for Baby. Luna’s idea, clearly. And it was towering with stories for us to read to our baby when she came.
“We?” I asked, looking at Gracie. “This was all you.”
She fought the smile for a second before letting it break free. It lit her up from the inside out.
“It really was. And it was such a labor of love. It’s so great to see so many months of preparation come together like this. She’s glowing.”
“She really is.”
“Are you getting excited? She’s so close?”
“Excited. Nervous. Happy. Terrified. You name it, I’m feeling it.”
“Oh, stop. You’re going to be a great dad.”
That title never failed to make my stomach flip.
I’d had months to wrap my mind around it, but it still felt strange and wonderful.
“I have been practicing,” I agreed, thinking of all the trips to ‘hang out’ at club brothers’ houses who had small kids and babies, so I could get some more experience with them in a practical way, since there was only so much you could learn from books or through the classes Lolly and I had taken together.