For The Love of Easton : A Single Parent Romance and Sequel to For The Love of English

by A. M. Hargrove

  Warm hands covered my own and she spoke. “It’s fine. I understand. Easton has a way of getting to the heart of matters. She has this intuition for when someone needs something. Did I ever tell you about the time she drew your sister a picture of a rainbow because she didn’t think Ravina knew what one was?”

  English told me the story of when she and Easton had gone out there the day of their accident, when Easton had given Landry the picture to give to Ravina. It was just like Easton to want Ravina to be under the rainbow too.

  I scooted the chair back and pulled my wife onto my lap. “I am so thankful for the two of you. Having you both to love is more than I ever hoped for.”

  “Well, since we’re here, and I guess there’s never a great time for anything, I may as well tell you.”

  My heart stuttered in my chest. “Tell me what? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Dandy, in fact.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “You’re going to be a daddy. Again.”

  “Huh? Did the attorney call about the adoption?”

  “Nope. But the pregnancy test came out positive. I’m going to have a baby.”

  “A baby?” Nothing was sinking in.

  “Yep. You know, an itty-bitty human.”

  My maw sagged open like a gigantic cave waiting for a spelunker. “A tiny human. A baby. Oh, my God! You’re going to have a baby! You’re pregnant!”

  “Shh. I don’t want anyone else to know until everything’s okay.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I sort of want to wait until I’m about twelve weeks, you know, in case I lose it.”

  “Lose it? Why would you lose it?”

  Her shoulders popped up. “Who knows why it happens, but it does sometimes. And I don’t want to have to field questions if I do.”

  “Okay, so when can we say something? How much longer?”

  “I need to go to the doctor and then we’ll know something. I have an appointment next week.”

  “Great. Good. Appointment next week.” I squinted at her. “Can I go with you?”

  “Of course. I demand you come.”

  “Yes! I get to go!”

  She leaned close and whispered into my ear. “Do you think you ought to chill a bit? Maybe take it down a notch?”

  “Fuck, no. This is stupendous.”

  “Dear God, if you’re like this now, I can only imagine you at the birth.”

  “I’m going to order a ton of cigars.”

  A week later we were at the doctor’s office. English was on the table as the doctor spoke to us. “Looks like you’re about six weeks along. Let’s get an ultrasound.”

  Another woman came in and asked my wife to put her feet in the stirrups and slide down. When English did, she squirted goo on a wand and then inserted it inside of her. What the hell? I’d always thought they rubbed something on the belly.

  The doctor explained. “We do transvaginal ultrasounds this early as they detect more than the other kind.”

  Suddenly, a heartbeat was heard and I grabbed English’s hands. “Starshine, do you hear that?”

  “I do.”

  “Can you tell if it’s a girl?” I asked the doctor.

  “I’m sorry. It’s too soon to tell. But your baby has a strong heart.”

  “A girl?” English stared at me like I’d lost it.

  “Sure. I love the ones I have, why not have another one?” I asked. Her grin swallowed up the room. Man, I loved this woman. “I would pay to have a dozen girls like Easton and you.”

  Then the tears began.

  “Babe? What’s this?”

  “I was just thinking about how much better off I’d have been if you were here when Easton was born.”

  “Let’s make up for lost time then, shall we?” I’d have to come up with something very special because my wife deserved the best.

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  English

  “You sure you don’t want a wedding after the baby comes?” I asked. “With the trials behind us, it would be fun.”

  “Eh, I don’t care, but if you do, I’ll say yes.”

  Tristian had relaxed some since his mom and Sherman had both been found guilty of murder and attempted murder. They were serving long prison sentences and wouldn’t be bothering us again. After it was over, even Ravina had softened up. She’d told us that their mother had poisoned her against her brothers, telling her they’d cheated her out of everything. No wonder her disposition had been so soured. But the one that totally broke my composure was when she said, “Tristian, you did really well with English. I wasn’t so certain at the beginning, but when that little kid of hers drew me a rainbow because she didn’t think I knew what one was, it was my undoing. No one had ever done anything that nice for me, except for Dad.”

  We’d invited her over, along with Landry and Stanton, and they’d come and spent time with the crazy Bridges household. It was an introduction to what a normal family was like.

  Neither Tristian or I could decide about the wedding. One day, Mom and I talked about it.

  “Your father and I did it because we thought you’d enjoy it. How do you think Easton would feel?”

  “She’d love to wear the princess dress, that’s the truth.”

  “Then why not have a vow renewal and reception at our house?”

  “Mom! Are you insane? That’s a ton of work.”

  “Not if you hire people to do it all. A wedding planner, caterer, photographer, and so on can handle all the details and your father will write the checks.”

  “Fine, if you and Dad are willing. But I want to run it by Tristian too.”

  We had our discussion and he wanted to take the burden off my parents and have the event at mansionville.

  “But that’s not a happy place for you,” I said.

  “Starshine, if we do a vow renewal and host a reception there, it will be my new beginning for the place.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

  “Positive. Let’s tell the others.”

  And they were excited for us. Even Ravina wanted to help, so I put Mom to work with her. I had a baby on the way and didn’t want this to interfere with anything.

  A few days later, Tristian said, “I have a surprise for you.”

  “You do?”

  “Yup.” We were at work and he took my hand and pulled me into his office. “Check these out.” On his desk were plans, architectural plans for a new house. “Thoughts, please. And when you’re done with that, I have something else to show you.”

  The floor plan for the house was spectacular. It was open-concept and huge. Gourmet kitchen, with a large island. Six bedrooms, six full baths and three half-baths. The exterior had a built-in pool, large deck and screened porch. It was perfect.

  “I love this. But where?”

  “Your dad has an acre and a half near them. He offered it to us, if we want it.”

  “Dad? An acre and a half? Jesus, Tristian. This is perfect. Easton wouldn’t have to change schools and we’d still be close to my parents and grandparents.”

  “Just say the word and it’s ours.”

  “The word. I’m in.”

  He picked me up and we spun around. “I thought you’d like this. If we break ground now, it’ll be done before the baby arrives.”

  “Ha! I won’t hold my breath, but okay.”

  “I’m a taskmaster. I’ll stay on them.”

  “You can ask Mom for help. She is too. What else did you want to show me?”

  He turned to his credenza and pulled out a tube. Inside was another set of plans. “Remember when we talked about remodeling the mansion? Take a look. I want your opinion.”

  “Seriously? What about the wedding?”

  “This is mostly cosmetic stuff. We won’t be tearing into anything. Just lightening things up, adding new window treatments, furniture, and things of that nature. We’ll be fine. Besides, we’re not setting a date until after the baby, righ
t?”

  “True, but I didn’t know how extensive you were getting.”

  “Just peek at those.”

  All the colors were labeled and all the dark paneling would be painted over, brightening up the place. The floors would be redone in a light stain and the furnishings would be replaced with updated versions.

  “This looks great,” I said. He had fabric samples along with paint colors for each of the rooms. “I don’t see anything for the second floor.”

  “That will be next. Everything in this stage will be the first floor and the stairway, running into the upstairs corridor.” He also had new carpet samples, and it was so luxurious, I wanted to test it out now.

  “Um, can we get this carpet in our bedroom in the new house? I hate hardwood on the second floor. It’s too noisy and I love the feel of luxurious carpet under my feet. This is beautiful.”

  “You got it. Anything you want.”

  “You spoil me.”

  “It’s what I aim to do.”

  I checked the time to see we were going to be late for my doctor’s appointment if we didn’t leave now.

  We rushed out, but Tristian drove like a ninety-year-old over there. “You need to go faster.”

  “No, I don’t. I don’t want to take a risk with you in the car.”

  Good thing he couldn’t see my eye-roll. It was magnificent.

  I was scheduled for another ultrasound that day and this time they rubbed the goo on my stomach. It wasn’t as embarrassing as having a giant wand that resembled a dildo shoved up your vagina.

  She moved that thing around and asked, “Would you like to know the sex of your baby?”

  We both shouted, “No!”

  “I want us to be surprised,” he said.

  “Yeah, me too. It’s so much fun finding out after they come out.” Then I frowned.

  He covered my forehead with a hand. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not looking forward to pushing this thing out, that’s all.”

  “I’ll be there to help.”

  “Right. If you could do the pushing out, that would be helping. Holding my hands does nothing.”

  “I’m sorry, I can’t do more.”

  “Hey, it’s fine.”

  The doctor laughed. “I love hearing these conversations. When it gets down to it, all well-rehearsed plans often go out the window. Just remember, we’ll have an epidural available.”

  “And I’ll be asking for it.”

  On the ride home, we discussed decorating the nursery, picking things out for the house, and a wedding date.

  “Let’s wait until the baby is at least eight weeks old until we set a date. Then we can take a honeymoon. Any earlier than that, neither of us will want to leave.”

  He was right. With breastfeeding, we couldn’t go anywhere until the baby was at least twelve weeks old. “Make that three months old at a minimum because of breast-feeding.”

  “Right. Then we can enjoy it more.”

  I went into silent mode, remembering back when Easton had been that tiny. Leaving her for even an hour had been unbearable. My parents had often asked me if I wanted to go out with Stacey, but that held zero interest for me. Staring at Easton while she slept, or ate, or did anything at all was the only thing I’d wanted to do.

  “What’s rambling around in your head? You’re usually not the silent type.”

  He knew me well. “I was thinking back to when Easton was a baby and all I did was gaze at her for hours on end. What if we plan an elaborate honeymoon and I can’t leave baby number two?”

  “Starshine, you’re overthinking things. We’ll cross that bridge when the time comes.”

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Tristian

  With the help of my mother-in-law, we were able to stay on top of construction for the new house. A month before the baby was due, we moved in. The contractor admitted it was the first time he’d even completed a project this large before the estimated completion date.

  “Your mother-in-law drives a hard bargain. She was here every day, and not once, but twice.”

  My wife grinned. “She’s very determined when she wants something and is impossible to ignore or deny.”

  “That’s exactly what my team said. She’s also very knowledgeable about construction.”

  “I don’t know how, unless she Googled it. Are you going to be that way too?” she asked me.

  “I hope not. I hope this is our forever home.”

  “Me too.”

  “Then let’s do the walkthrough so we can create your punch list.”

  We started with the kitchen, which only had a couple of minor things, like a missing light bulb and loose cabinet pull. The downstairs was easy. Then we moved to the second story. English inspected the master suite. She’d picked everything out for the closets and bath and I didn’t know what went where.

  “These aren’t the shower heads I ordered.”

  Our contractor had his clipboard with him and flipped through the pages to check. “You’re right. I’ll get these changed out ASAP.”

  “Everything else looks great. I also ordered the custom closets and it seems the drawers are missing in Tristian’s.”

  He clicked his fingers. “Yes! I have a note in here about that.” Another flip through his pages and he said, “They’re on back order and the release date is next week so we’ll put them in as soon as they arrive.”

  English found a few places she wanted touched up with paint, but after that we went upstairs. All the bedrooms had been painted the same soft neutral hues of off-white, except for Easton’s room. English had found a muralist to come in and paint rainbows and unicorns on one wall, with a pale pink background. It had turned out much better than I had imagined. It was actually really cute.

  “Aww, Easton is going to love this. It’s adorable.” English shed a few tears when she first saw it. “Oh, my.” She fanned her face. “I’m a little hormonal.”

  “It’s fine, babe. I love it too.”

  “It reminds me of my room when I was growing up. I loved that room.” She let out a huge sigh.

  “And our daughter is going to adore this one. I’ll put up that pink tent with all the lights and she’ll be in heaven.”

  “She will. She’s so excited about her baby brother or sister, but I don’t want her to feel pushed aside.”

  “I’ll make sure she won’t. Don’t worry.”

  The contractor cleared his throat. We’d forgotten what we were here to do.

  “Sorry. We got a bit carried away. This room is perfect,” my wife said.

  All in all, the walkthrough was painless, compared to what I had heard from other people. This builder had done an excellent job and I told him.

  After a brief chuckle, he said, “You might want to thank your mother too. She had a big hand in this.”

  “You might want to hire her,” I said.

  “You know, that might not be a bad idea.”

  We completed the paperwork and told him we’d see him the following day at closing.

  As we drove home, which took all of five minutes, English was sighing.

  “You okay over there?”

  “I am so in love with the house. It’s perfect and came out better than I ever hoped. And little Bucker is going to love his doggy door and fenced-in area. That was the best idea. Thank you.”

  “Thank you for agreeing to it. It’s going to be a lovely place to live. And Easton will be so excited to have her pup with her all the time.”

  A month later, we were settled in, at least mostly, and Easton was enjoying her new tent in her rainbow and oonicorn room. One night, I slept in the tent on the floor with her. Well, sort of. My legs didn’t exactly fit so they shot out one of the openings. English took several photos of us, inside, with the tent lights on. It was pretty damn cute.

  In the middle of the night, she came in and kicked my leg. I went to sit up, but my head hit the top of the tent and I remembered where I was. Crawling out of the pink p
alace, I asked, “What’s up?”

  “My water broke. Mom is on the way over to watch Easton. I’m jumping in the shower and I thought you’d want one too before we went.”

  I jumped up and ran to the bathroom, shoving her out of the way. Then it hit me what I’d done and I turned to see her laughing at me.

  “You dork, just go.”

  My hands tore through my hair. I didn’t know what to do. Normally, I was the calmest person around. What the hell was happening to me?

  I ran to the bathroom and turned on both shower heads, waiting for the water to warm up. Then I went to search for my wife, who was pulling off the bedsheets.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Getting the sheets off the bed.”

  “Stop and get in the shower. The baby’s coming.”

  “Not yet. I’m not having contractions yet. And these need to come off.” I watched in horror as she finished pulling them off. I was having none of that so picked her up and carried her to the shower. Then I pushed her inside.

  “Tristian, it would’ve been better if you had taken off my clothes first.”

  “Are you crazy? We can’t have sex now. You’re about to have a baby.”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “I meant take my clothes off so I could take a shower. Look at me.”

  “Oh.” God, what was wrong with me? I helped her strip off the pajamas that were now stuck to her body. “I’m such a dumbass.”

  “It’s fine.” When she was naked, she started washing her body and, God help me, I wanted her.

  “Uh, I’ll be back.”

  “Where are you going?”

  I didn’t answer her. I just ran out and back upstairs to another bathroom and relieved myself. When I returned, she was toweling off her body and hair. It was my turn to quickly shower.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Fine. I’m fine.” I dressed and handed her some clothes.