Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 566(@200wpm)___ 453(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
“Oh my God,” Candace swoons, putting her hand to her face.
“What if I ask you to spend the rest of your life with me?” I look at Ariella, who looks at me with tears running down her face. “What if I told you I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you? That I love our life and I’ll fight the rest of my days to make sure it only gets better. That going to bed with you in my arms and waking up with you in the morning is the best thing I’ve ever done. I want to grow our family, side by side, with your hand in mine. What do you say, Ariella?” I look up at her as she wipes away the tears from her face.
“I don’t know if I’m crying because I’m happy you are finally proposing,” she sniffles, grabbing my face in her hands, kissing my lips, “or the fact I think my water just broke.”
epilogue one
Ariella
One week later
I turn from my side onto my back as I open my eyes and look over to Jaxon’s side of the bed. Seeing it empty, the covers put back in their place as if he just snuck out of bed. The indent on his pillow is still there. I reach out my hand to his side and find it still lukewarm, which means he probably just got up. Raising myself on my elbow, I look over to our bedroom door that is always open, but now it’s pulled closed halfway. I sit up, listening to hear if there is any crying but the whole house is silent. My eyes go to the TV screen monitor sitting on my bedside table, aimed directly at the baby crib and finding it empty.
Tossing the covers off of me, I look over at the clock beside the television screen and see that I slept for a full three hours straight, which after the week with a newborn feels like a full eight hours of sleep. I feel like a brand-new woman as I get up and slip my feet into my pink plush slippers. I hear his soft voice. “I love you.” The smile fills my face immediately as I make my way toward them. The soft light is coming up the steps from the kitchen lights that are still dimmed. Something we’ve kept on since we've been going through the night feedings. Twice Jaxon went down to grab me a glass of water or something to snack on while I was feeding our son and blinded himself with the big strong lights, so this was the best solution to that.
“You are so loved, and I’m so proud of you,” I hear as I get to the nursery and look into the open door, finding him sitting in the rocking chair with our son on his naked chest, rocking him back and forth.
He looks so tiny on his chest, even though he was born nine pounds fourteen ounces. He came out with a vengeance, if you ask me. The minute Jaxon slipped the engagement ring on my finger, I stood up and my water had, in fact, broken because it gushed right on his feet. It was as if he was waiting for his father to get his shit in order so he could make his appearance.
Our parents tried to stay calm, but it was like herding five-year-olds on the first day of school. Jaxon snapped and gave each of them duties. One set of parents were to go to our house and get the hospital bags, while the other set of parents had to drive the car. It really was the four of them going in one car, but it had them with a mission. My mother had this look on her face and my father looked like he was going to pass out at any given moment. I guess considering my own birth mother died in childbirth, this was a big step for him. He almost refused to let me go. By the end of maybe a minute of him telling me how much he loved me, Manning put a hand around his shoulder and led him away from me. “She’s going to be fine,” he told him. “Jaxon will make sure of it.”
Jaxon got me to the hospital and wheeled me into labor and delivery, which was a breeze. I literally had the thought that I could do this, no problem. This was what my body was made to do. That was what all the books said. It’s what all the blog posts wrote. Your body was made to do this. It knows what to do. That was my mindset going into this thing. It was a mind over matter. The contractions felt like period cramps at first and I, for some ungodly reason, thought I could do this without drugs.