by Vivian Ward
“Thanks, dad,” I say to him. “I’m glad you like everything.”
“Oh sweetheart, I love it. Oh, by the way,” he pulls away as the song comes to an end. “We want you kids to have this.”
He pulls an envelope out of his breast pocket and hands it to me.
“What is this?” I ask, opening the envelope.
“It’s a gift from mom and me. Logan would never take something like this so just stick it in the bank and put it toward your house or something.”
I pull a check out of the cream colored envelope and am shocked that it’s $20,000! I feel like I’m going to faint.
“Dad, we can’t take this! It’s too much money,” I say.
I try to give it back to him, but he closes his hand around mine forcing me to keep it.
“No, that’s for you kids. Mom and I are retired now, and we have more than enough. This is our way of giving you guys a head start in life. You can do whatever you want with it. Put it toward your house, save it for college funds for the grandkids that you’ll start working on soon, or for a rainy day. We know you’ll use it wisely.”
I’m speechless. I literally have no words to say. It’s the most selfless gift we could ever get, and we could do so much with this money.
I throw my arms around him and give him a big hug as my eyes begin to tear up. There’s no way that we could ever say thank you enough.
“I love you! WE love you! Thank you so much, dad. This means the world to us,” I say, wiping my eyes, hoping my makeup doesn’t smear too much.
“It’s our pleasure. It would’ve been nice if we would’ve had that kind of money starting out, so we wanted to do it for you kids.”
Words cannot express my gratitude.
“How about another dance?” I offer, laughing as I dry my eyes again.
“I’d love to.”
Epilogue
Piper
Logan and I just found out that we’re expecting! I had to schedule my first OB appointment on our wedding anniversary which is where we officially heard the good news.
I started feeling tired and bloated, and then when the morning sickness kicked in, I realized that I might be pregnant. Dr. Graham is one of the best OB’s in St. Louis, and I know my baby, and I will be in excellent care with him.
I’m pretty sure our little Peanut was conceived on Logan’s office desk at Ford and Associates. There have been so many times that he’s taken me there that I’m certain he’s going to have to get a new desk soon or he’ll run the risk of having ass prints where his mouse and keyboard normally go.
Who would’ve thought that I’d get pregnant for our fourth wedding anniversary? We decided about a year ago that we wanted to start trying because I wanted to have a baby before I hit 40; although, that’s still a few years away.
Nobody wants to chase kids around in their 50’s, so I thought 35 was a nice age to start trying, that away the baby will be in school shortly after I turn 4o and graduate while I’m in my 50’s.
We’re dying to find out if we’re going to have a boy or a girl, but we’ll be happy with either. I’ve already started coming up with nursery themes and different ideas that I want to do. My baby’s going to have the cutest damn nursery any baby has ever seen.
Since Logan’s parents gave us that twenty grand, we decided to sell the two-bedroom house that we were living in and put a bigger down payment on a five bedroom house. We wanted to have enough bedrooms that our kids would have plenty of room once we created them, and we each wanted to have a home office.
I’ve already talked to my boss at ZenForce, and since I’ve moved up in the company and rarely see clients anymore, they’ve agreed to let me begin working from home so that I don’t have to worry about the commute or finding a sitter.
I never realized how hard it would be to manage a career while becoming a mom but I’m quickly realizing that my mothering priorities are higher on the list than I would’ve imagined, and I’m only a couple of months in. My little peanut won’t be here until Valentine’s Day of next year.
Logan and Oliver are like two peas in a pod and hang out pretty regularly. The two of them go golfing and attend major events together. Oliver actually made Logan senior partner with the firm, which means he gets a bigger slice of the pie.
Pardo finally made partner at the firm while Lester left the practice. He was pissed that he was passed over twice to become a partner, so he moved to L.A. He said that he was going to where the “real” big shots are. Little does he know; everyone was glad to see him go. He was a creep.
Logan swears that the only reason Pardo made partner is from all the years of ass kissing. He said that Oliver probably felt bad for him and eventually gave it to him.
When we met in college about a decade ago, I would’ve never believed that Logan and I would have such a happy, wonderful life together or that either of us would be as wildly successful as we are.
“What are you doing?” he leans over my shoulder as I sit at the kitchen table.
“Looking at some of the catalogs,” I hold up a baby catalog. “Do you know that they have portable changing stations that you can take everywhere you go?”
He laughs and leans down to kiss my hair.
“I think you and Peanut are going to be very close,” he studies the picture of the portable changing station. “Tell me again why you would need one of those? I thought they had changing stations in public restrooms. They hang on the wall, right?”
“Yeah, but other people use those!”
Laughing at me, he shakes his head.
“You realize that our mom’s probably changed us on the floor of the supermarket when we were born over 30 years ago, right? I think our baby will be fine, but if you want to buy it, go right ahead.”
Maybe he’s right, and I am being too paranoid. It’s just a kid. They’ve been surviving for thousands of years.
But this is my baby. My precious baby.
“I don’t know, I’ll think about it,” I say closing the book. “Are you almost done grilling? I’m hungry.”
“The steaks are getting close,” he says. “Do you want me to make a Greek salad to go with them? Or do you want baked potatoes? I can wrap a couple in foil and throw them on the grill.”
Everything, yet nothing, sounds good. I don’t know what I want to eat. I just know that I want to eat something.
“Sure. Just make whatever you want. I’m not picky,” I say reaching for an apple.
“Hey! I just said dinner’s almost done. What are you doing with that?” he points to the apple in my hand.
“Hello? Peanut wants a snack and anything Peanut wants, Peanut shall get.”
“Oh boy,” he shakes his head at me. “Tell Peanut that even though daddy makes good money, he or she can’t eat us out of house and home before they’re even born.”
The two of us laugh as he goes out and finishes grilling our food.
“Push on the count of three,” Dr. Graham says. “The head is almost there.”
I feel like I’m dying and like I’m going to shit on myself. Whoever said childbirth is a glorious miracle forgot to say how gross and disgusting it is.
Logan is hovering over me, worried for me and eager to see our son. Holding my hand, he kisses the back of it and says, “You’ve got this, baby.”
When the doctor gets to three, I give a hard push, and that’s when Dr. Graham announces our baby has been born. Within seconds, we can hear him crying just before he’s placed in my arms.
Snuggling him against my chest, tears of joy overwhelm me. He’s so perfect and precious.
“Ohh,” I coo. “Isn’t he adorable?” I look up at Logan who is beaming with pride, gloating over our new son.
“Jackson is going to be just like his old man,” he says, rubbing the baby’s back.
“I know you said that I would be close to the baby, but I think he’s going to be a daddy’s boy.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Logan says.
> Ever since this baby has come out, the smile has not disappeared from his face. He’s the proudest daddy that I’ve ever seen.
“Ready to start trying for our next one?” he asks.
My mouth pops open in shock.
“What? You are not serious!” I shoo him away with my hand. “I’m not even out of the hospital yet.”
“Well I didn’t say today,” he says. “We can wait till tomorrow.”
“Logan!”
We both laugh.
“Seriously. Maybe it’s time for you to think about leaving your career so Jackson can have a little brother or sister. I make more than enough as senior partner. We’ll be fine, and you won’t have to worry about the stress of work while trying to take care of the house and kids.”
He might be on to something. It will be a lot to manage the house with kids and work.
“I’ll think about it,” I answer him.
“Piper? Logan?” the nurse says. “Your parents would like to meet their grandson. Is it all right if they come in?”
“Yes, please let them in,” I say.
Both of our parents are fussing over the baby and talking about all of their plans with him as soon as we get back home, and they’re already scheduling their weekends with each other so that they both get to share him equally.
We literally have the perfect life with the perfect family. It doesn’t get any better than this.
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About the Author
Vivian Ward was born in Brooklyn, New York but now lives in St. Louis, Missouri. Growing up the daughter of a single mother, her life was a struggle from day to day. When things got hard, she retreated to her room where she would write about fantasy worlds that would take her away from reality. Even as an adult, her passion for writing never went away and now she hopes to share it with the world.
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