“HARLEY! HURRY!” Vince ran around the small apartment and gathered the things they’d need—pacifier, baby bottle, blanket, diapers. “They’re going to have the ribbon-cutting ceremony without you.”
Life was good. A joy. Not a test of survival.
Harley was close to finishing up her first year of an apprenticeship with an architect in Santa Rosa. Vince was working as a part-time carpenter for the contractor the town council preferred. He was a full-time student studying civil engineering at Sacramento State University. And a full-time dad. To save money, they were living in the apartment over the family’s repair shop in Harmony Valley.
The theater and tie-dye shop were finally finished with renovations and ready to open. Harley’s ideas had been embraced by the architect Rose and the mayor had chosen.
His wife should have been floating on air like the theater balcony. Instead she was dragging her feet in the bathroom.
“Harley, I’m packing up Colton.” He lifted their three-month-old son out of the playpen where he’d been fascinated with the brightly colored butterflies dangling from a mobile above him.
Colt put his hands on Vince’s cheeks and squealed. On cue, Vince blew the thick black hair on top of Colt’s head. His son giggled as if this was the first time they’d ever played that game.
He was a beautiful, healthy boy. Every day, Vince counted his blessings.
“Vince.” Harley stood in the open door of the bathroom. “Do you remember the day you asked me to marry you?”
“The day I asked you to marry me twice?” Vince jiggled his happy son into the car seat and buckled him in.
“Yes, that’s the one.” She smiled, tentatively at first and then wider. Motherhood and marriage agreed with her. She was always smiling, always gracious, always beautiful. Today she wore a slim pair of black slacks, fancy half-boots and a white sweater that draped off one shoulder. She looked good enough to kiss long and slow and make them miss the ceremony entirely. “Do you remember what you said that day about taking small steps?”
“Sorry, honey. We don’t have time to go slow or we’ll be late.” Although he wouldn’t mind being another minute late if it meant he could steal a kiss. He walked over and put his hands on her slender waist. “We have time for just one kiss.”
“Baby steps.” There was a dazed look in her eyes, like the one that greeted the morning some days lately. She was busy and the baby didn’t always sleep through the night.
Vince captured her lips for a tender kiss. He pulled back and drew her across the room toward the diaper bag, the baby and the door.
“I’m pregnant.” Harley wasn’t smiling when she said it. But then she grinned and said softer, “We’re pregnant.”
“But…I’m just getting used to having one.” Another baby? He gazed down on the drooly, gummy, sweet-faced grin of his son. Another baby. It was going to be awesome. “I love you.” He pulled her into his arms. “I love you both. I love you all.”
“Tell me the truth. It scares you a little, doesn’t it?” Harley grabbed Vince’s hands and swung around so she was nearest the door, dancing the way Sam did with him sometimes.
“It’s getting hot in here.” Knowing Harley would get the joke, he picked up Colt’s car seat and diaper bag. “But…a little fear can be exciting, if you’re by my side.”
She gave him a quick kiss and her smile turned wicked. “Always.”
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