Seven Months Later
Gigi took a big bite out of the fragrant fruit, and I licked the peach juice off of her wrist before it slid down her arm. “Noah!” She placed her hands on her hips and stood in the middle of the two rows of tables and booths filled with bundles of carrots, crates of shiny zucchini, trays of tomatoes, and corn in their husks.
“What?” I rubbed her swollen belly affectionately. “I didn’t want to get it on your new dress.” She’d had to go up a size from her largest maternity dress. She’d grown enough so that even her biggest articles of clothing no longer fit during her eighth month of pregnancy.
“Ugh, I’m getting rid of every single pregnant person outfit as soon as these babies are outta my belly.” She came to a dead stop and whispered in my ear. “Daddy, I need a cookie.” Her long finger pointed at the Sparkle booth, which held award winning cupcakes, cookies, pies, and homemade bread.
I waved down the vendor and ordered, “We’ll take a dozen chocolate chip, please.” I’d be damned if I made the same mistake twice, falling asleep with an insufficient number of sweets in the house in case my little fox got a craving so I had to make a run to the store in the middle of the night.
I no longer had to hide my feelings for her, we were having babies together after all. Instead, I let them all hang out. We’d discovered we’d been blessed with not one but two babies. My little fox was having twins. Holding out a single sweet for her, she reached for it and I snatched it away, holding it over my head so she had to stand on tip toes to try and reach it.
This was one of my favorite games. She was always so grabby when she wanted something, and I could make her move closer to me by holding something she wanted just out of reach.
“What will you give me if I give you a cookie?” Her nearness was overwhelming and my lips found a way instinctively to hers.
She leaned towards me and pressed her cheek against my chest. “My eternal devotion.”
Her intonation was on par with a Disney princess for dramatic effect.
No matter.
Even when I knew I was being played she had me wrapped around her little finger.
“Alright. But I’m feeding it to you.” I ordered in a voice of authority.
Not much had changed. She still found perverse pleasure in challenging me, and she definitely had the upper hand now that she was in her third trimester. “One cookie’s not gonna cut it, Bub. We’ll be here all day.”
“Bub? That’s daddy to you, cherub.” I held a bite of cookie up and a flash of temper lighted her eyes. I gave her a one-word command, “Open.”
A sudden look of humor passed across her mischievous face. “I’m not the only one you’ll be feeding soon.”
An uncontrollable smile curled my mouth. “Can’t wait.”
Her features became more animated. “Even in the middle of the night?”
I reached around her, and snatched up a bouquet of pink roses and burgundy columbine from the adjacent booth. Holding it between us, I invited her to take it, and handed the vendor forty dollars for the flowers. A bottomless peace and satisfaction sunk into my bones. “I’ll work the night shift for you. No problem.”
It was still true; I didn’t talk much. A man of few words they called me. But every single one of them was filled with more meaning when I was with her.
And soon there would be a little one running around under foot. They’d be my responsibility, and I was up for the task.
If things turned out anything like it had with Gigi, they’d be taking care of me just as much as the other way around. Revealing my heart’s undiscovered passages, as yet unexplored.
My commitment to my little fox had freed me from my fear of the past. She danced, skated and bulldozed her way past the mountains of baggage that held me back.
Gigi shoved an entire cookie in her mouth, disabling her ability to call out to her parents. Instead, she bounced on her toes, waving both hands above her head, blissfully happy and fully alive.
“Colonel,” I said, encouragingly, stretching a beckoning hand in the air. “Over here.”
They visited us six months ago, after Gigi told me she was pregnant and moved into the house I built for us, permanently. That was a big step for my little fox, deciding to live with me.
Bob and Flora came to visit and loved the “relaxed pace of life” and “wild scenery” so much, they decided to return this week and look for property on The Lost Coast. It was clear Mrs. Halliway held the Colonel in the palm of her hand, as her daughter did me. Must run in the family. Once she learned Gigi was pregnant, she started talking about being here for the birth, and of course she had to visit her daughter beforehand to make sure her nursery and nesting needs were taken care of.
I saw where Gigi got her loving concern and nurturing nature.
The Colonel walked ahead of us, his arm around Gigi. Because she was my business, I didn’t feel out of line overhearing their conversation.
Her dad murmured, adoringly, “Proud of you baby girl. You put down roots and learned to look inside your own heart to ground yourself. I couldn’t ask for more.”
“I love you, dad.” She leaned her head into his shoulder and they walked side by side in front of us.
She was my purpose in life.
It wasn’t her job to make me happy. She allowed me the honor of showing her compassion, guidance and discipline when necessary. I couldn’t ever go back and change the beginning by preventing my mother’s death. But I could live every day as a way to change the ending, by ensuring Gigi’s safe keeping, and letting her guard my heart.