Chapter 24 - Happiness & Flutterings

I can’t believe she said yes!  Alright, well I do believe it because lets face it, she would have said yes had that been the question prior to her departure to sort things with Adam a few months ago.  As a man on bended knee, proposing to the woman he loves, professing his never ending sentiments, I’ll be the first to admit that regardless of knowing the final answer or not, it was nerve-wracking.  I officially found myself one step closer to wedded bliss.

“I don’t think you know how happy you’ve made me.”  I whisper to her as we sat there, on our knees, on a bed of leaves and twigs, holding each other.  Forgetting completely about the ring I held in my hand; no care in the world about the diamond encrusted white gold band that surrounded the large one in the centre; my love had said yes.

“I can’t believe you rehabbed our old fort.”  Amelia told me after she got over the shock of the proposal, the ring, and the reality that was sinking in.  “It looks fantastic!”

“Did you see what I had added to it though?”  I asked her.

“You mean besides the paint?”  She laughed.  I nodded and then grabbed her hand to escort her inside our fort.  If you lay down on your back, you were now staring at a painting of both our names, centered in a heart.

“It’s as best as I can do.  I’m not an artist like you.”  I tell her.

“It’s perfect.”  She says smiling and I couldn’t help but cuddle her to me.

We walked our way back to my parents’ house, taking our time, stealing kisses from one another.  Everyone but Amelia was aware of what I was about to do which meant we had the three most important people in our world, waiting for us back at the house.  I was so ecstatic I could have screamed it to the top of my lungs.  Aiden came running toward us as we came out of the thicket of brush and trees.

“Are you my Mommy yet?”  He asked and I couldn’t help but laugh.  Amelia looked at me and I smiled at her.

“They all knew.”  I whispered in her ear.  She crouched down and pulled Aiden to her and held his hands as he looked into her face.

“I can definitely be your Mommy if you want, Aiden.”  She tells him.

“Daddy, Amelia’s the best Mommy there is, isn’t she?”  He says aloud.

“For you son; definitely; I only keep the best.”  I say and wink at Amelia.  As we approached my parents, Amelia ran to them to show off the ring I had got her.  It was wonderful to see how my parents interacted with her; it was like she had been theirs since we were kids and I knew that it wasn’t too far from the truth.  Then again, Mom knew everything that had happened back then; even the part about how much I had loved her, surely, as a friend but even so, my mother attested that it was all part of the process that had brought us to this very day; this very moment.

My parents had offered to keep Aiden over for the night, just I had suspected.  At Aiden’s request, I had let Amelia put him to bed.

“I want my Mommy to do it.”  He had explained to me.  Never once, had I ever imagined that my son would have the mother figure he deserved and if he did, I had been terrified that he wouldn’t have wanted her.  In Amelia, I had it all.  She is beautiful inside and out, she loves, she nurtures and is patient.  She has a zest for life like no other person that I have met.  I love her simplicity about as much as I love everything that makes her intricate and complex all at the same time.  She’s a wonderful package of delicateness mashed with solidity which I had come to admire; how could she be soft yet strong at the same time?  Her mysteries were what had me amazed and wanting more of her.  Every time I was done solving one of her quirks, a new mystery popped up and asked for me to solve it.

“Is Daddy okay?”  I feel her soft warm arms come around my shoulders.  I had been sitting out back talking with my parents as I waited for her to come back.

“I’m more than okay.”  I tell her.  “I love the way Aiden is stuck on you.”

“Can you blame him?”  She says, winking at me.  My parents laughed along with me.

“You two should get going.”  My father tells us.  With a few extra hugs and kisses, we headed home.

“What a day!”  Amelia exclaimed as she had let herself fall on the sofa.

“It’s not over yet, my love.”  I tell her, sitting down, propping her feet up on my knees as I looked at her smiling face.  We sat there, content, in silence, enjoying each other’s company.  I loved these moments.  Nothing needed to be vocalized, yet plenty was said regardless, only in the form of looks, gestures and body language.  Our mouths didn’t need to speak in order to communicate and be understood.  I remembered something my father once had told me about finding the right woman.  “You know you’ve found a good one when you can stand being in the same room with her and not have to say a word to know how they feel.  That unspoken bond will serve you right at times.”  He couldn’t have been more right.

The following morning, I woke up with Amelia curled up beside me, her blankets at the foot of the bed while I was covered up to my neck.  I thought it ridiculous that she couldn’t feel the icicles forming in the air with the way she had cranked the AC throughout the night.  I felt like wearing a parka at night, that’s how horribly cold it was.  After discussing various pregnancy quirks last night while Amelia was putting Aiden to bed, my mother had explained to me that with the raging pregnancy hormones, some women have wicked hot flashes.  Thankfully enough, it seemed to have been the only annoying quirk of her pregnancy thus far.  Her ice cream and frozen drink addictions, she wouldn’t admit were a by-product of her pregnancy; at least, not when I pointed it out.  She loved to claim that it was all because of the heat wave and her never-ending hot flashes.  Watching her sleep, I couldn’t help but smile at a memory from last night when she had pouted once I had mentioned that my parents had taken Aiden out for ice cream.  God forbid I hadn’t told them to get her some while they were out.

“So what’s on the agenda for today?”  Amelia had asked me over breakfast.

“I was thinking we’d spend the day at the beach again, like we had before you left.  Aiden had so much fun and I’m just looking at holding my fiancé.”  I smile at her.  It felt great to be able to call her that.

A few hours later, we found ourselves, sitting on the beach, watching Aiden try to outrun the crashing waves that washed up on the shore.  Being a father wasn’t without its rewards.  Sure, I got praise on how I raised my child but my largest reward was being able to feel like a kid again.  As exhausting as parenting can often get, in moments like these, where we watched Aiden, I found myself feeling invigorated and rejuvenated.  I looked forward to seeing how great our family dynamic would become after the arrival of this little miracle of ours.

“What are you thinking about?”  Amelia asked me.

“Just how beautiful you look today.”  I tell her, kissing her temple as she leaned back into my chest, sitting between my legs.

“Liar.  Come on, out with it!”  She smiled.

“Actually, I was just thinking that we should get started on the baby room soon.”  I tell her.

“Oh good!”  Amelia cheered.  “But don’t you want to know the sex of the baby first?”

“I really don’t care what the sex is, Sweetheart; as long as the baby’s healthy.”  I tell her as she nods in agreement.

“Sounds good to me.”  She says but I knew she hadn’t finished.  Those wheels were turning in that head of hers as they seldom stopped.  “What do you think it’ll be?”  She asked me, straightening up so I could shift and she could see my face.

“I’m hoping for a girl this time around.”  I tell her.  “I would love for her to have my green eyes and your strawberry blonde hair but as long as she’s beautiful and smart like her mother, I won’t have any complaints.”  I loved the smile that it put on Amelia’s face.

“I can’t wait to see if you’re right on your requests.”  She tells me.  “Oh!”  She jumped up with an excited gleam in her eye.

“What is it?”  I ask, catching the wide smile that was slowly creeping up on her lips.

“I think I just felt a kick!”  She said, giggling, her eyes sparkling with a reminder that there was something amazing happening within her.  “It’s almost like a really big flutter of sorts.”  She told me and I couldn’t help the grin.

“Our very own flutter bug.”  I called it.

“I like that.”  She says and jumped again as she felt another one.  I had to laugh this time around because her facial expression was priceless; her mouth hanging with a delightfully surprised ‘Oh’ formation.  The look on her face was all the consolation I needed for not being able to feel our baby’s movements just yet.  I looked forward to the day I could.