months later
“Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod.” I pinch my eyes shut and squeeze my sister’s hand. She screams when I scream.
“You’ve got this,” Dr. Brooks says from his spot at the end of the bed. “Only a few more pushes and the baby will be here.”
“I can’t make it. It hurts too much. Give me drugs.”
Emily scowls at me from the bed. “You’re not the one giving birth here, I am.”
“But we’re twins.” I blot the sweat from her forehead. “I feel your pain.”
Dr. Brooks laughs. “Are they always like this?” he says to Jonathan.
“Pretty much.”
“Are you ready?” I ask, watching her contraction peak on the monitor.
“Okay, Emily, I need another hard push from you. Here we go. Push push push push. Attagirl. Push again. There he is.”
A loud shriek pierces the air.
“A he?” Emily asks, looking at Jonathan. He nods his head and kisses her cheek.
“It’s a boy. Congratulations, sweetheart. You were amazing.”
“I love you, Jonathan.”
The new parents kiss and hug while I watch my nephew get cleaned off. He’s a wiggly mess of blood and something else. I cringe. How can something look so disgusting and precious at the same time? “Ten fingers, one penis, and eleven toes.”
“What?” Emily and Jonathan say at the same time.
I grin. “Just kidding. Only ten.”
My sweet nephew is transferred to Emily’s arms, and I slip out of the room and run smack dab into Aiden.
“Well?” he asks.
“It’s a boy. How’s my niece?”
“She’s the most beautiful little thing I’ve ever seen.”
I frown, and Aiden pulls me to his side. “Second to you.”
I laugh. “I don’t mind taking second to your niece.”
“Would you like to meet her?”
“I’d love to. I want to give Emily and Jonathan some time alone before we go back in to meet the baby.”
Aiden wraps his arm around me, and we walk to Millie’s room. “Knock, knock,” he says, opening the door.
Millie is sitting up in the hospital bed, a tiny bundle of pink wrapped in her arms. Calvin is sitting on the edge of the bed, looking adoringly at his two girls.
“Would you like to hold your niece, Aunt Lizzie?” Millie asks.
“Please. What’s her name?”
“Jacie.” She transfers the baby to me.
“A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” Her chubby cheeks are pink, and she has the most beautiful set of dark eyelashes. “I might never give her back.”
“She’s perfect, isn’t she?” Aiden says, wrapping his arm around me. He uses his other hand to pull the blanket away from the side of her face.
“I think she’s smiling at me.”
Jacie farts, and Aiden laughs. “Nope. Just gas.”
“Next time, save those nasty little farts for your uncle Aiden,” I coo, swaying gently from side to side. “Us girls have to stick together.” I kiss her head and breathe in her soft baby scent. “I’m going to spoil you rotten, pretty girl.”
A couple of minutes pass, and when I feel Aiden staring at me, I look up. “What?”
“Nothing,” he says, smiling. “It’s just…a baby looks good on you.”
“Don’t get any ideas, Mr. Wallace, we’re not even married.”
The next day, I’m helping my sister pack up her stuff. Okay, that’s a lie. I’m holding my nephew while my sister and Jonathan pack up.
“I just had a baby, shouldn’t you be doing this while I’m sitting down?” Emily says.
“Probably, but I’m leaving tomorrow, and I have to hug Bennett as much as I can before I go.”
Emily stops beside the bed. “I’m not ready for you to go.”
“I’m not either. But Aiden has to get back to work, and I’m on the schedule to substitute teach next week.”
“No full-time job yet, huh?”
“Nah, but it’ll come.”
“How’s Millie?”
“Getting discharged as we speak. It’s so cool that you two delivered here at the same time. You guys saved us a trip.”
“You’re welcome?” Emily says.
“Knock, knock,” Dad says, walking into Emily’s room. He reaches for Bennett, and I growl.
“You’ve been holding him for hours,” Mom argues.
“Give me a few more minutes, okay?” I ask, trying not to cry. I kiss Bennett’s head and silently make him a few promises.
I’ll always be here for you.
You can come to me anytime you need anything, no matter what it is.
“Hey, everyone.” Aiden walks into the room followed by his parents, Calvin, Millie, and baby Jacie. “Calvin and Millie wanted to say goodbye to you before we leave.”
The room is packed full of everyone important in my life. Everyone except Edna. But I’ll be sure and tell her about it later over the phone.
I stand up with Bennett in my arms and walk to Calvin. He puts his arm around me.
“Thank you for being here.”
“Thank you for giving me a niece. Send me lots of pictures.”
“We will,” Millie promises.
I bend down and kiss Jacie’s perfect little head. “Be good to your parents,” I whisper.
Tears fall down my cheeks, and when I look up, Aiden is watching me. I try to smile, but it falls short.
Bennett picks that moment to start screaming, and I had him off to Jonathan. Instantly, the baby quiets.
“Lizzie?”
“Yeah?” I wipe my tears and look at Aiden.
He rubs his hands down the front of his pants, blows out a breath, and drops to one knee.
Oh my God. I cover my mouth.
“Sweetheart.” He takes my hand. “I know this probably isn’t the most ideal place to do this. I had the perfect proposal planned. I was going to pack a picnic and take you to that beautiful lookout spot by the Golden Gate Bridge that we love so much and pop the question there, but this feels more special.” Aiden looks at our surrounding family before bringing his soulful eyes back to mine. “Lizzie Donovan, you are so much more than my best friend. You are my soulmate, the holder of my heart, my lover. I can’t imagine living this life without you.”
“You don’t have to,” I whisper. “The answer is yes.”
“I haven’t asked the question.”
Everyone laughs, including me. “Sorry, please keep going.”
“Lizzie Lou…will you marry me?”
“Yes.” I throw myself at Aiden. Everyone in the room hoots and hollers. “Yes. A million times yes.”
We kiss and hug and laugh and receive congratulations from all of our family.
“We need to call Edna,” I say, looking at the shiny teardrop-shaped diamond on my finger. Wow, this is going to take some getting used to.
“She already knows.”
I look up. “What do you mean?”
“The center diamond of your ring was the diamond in Edna’s engagement ring that Robert gave to her.”
“What?” I shake my head in disbelief. “I… I don’t understand. I…”
Aiden hugs me. “I told her I was going to propose, and a few days later, she called me with an idea. She always wanted to pass her ring down to someone, but there was never anyone to pass them down to. Until you. She wanted you to have the diamond that Robert gave her. And, someday, she wants you to pass it down to one of our children. So, on one of our trips back here—while you were at your sister’s baby shower—I took Edna and her ring to a jeweler. We picked out a new band and setting for the diamond.”
“Oh my God, Aiden.” I cup Aiden’s face in my hands and kiss him. “I don’t know what to say. I need to thank Edna.”
“We’ll go see her before we leave.”
“Okay.” I nod and cry and kiss Aiden some more because I can. Because he’s going to be husband. I get to kiss him forever and ever. “I can’t believe we’re getting married.”
“Finally.”