Seven months later...
Slipping the sundress over her
head, she pushed her hair back and stepped out onto the balcony. This would be the last time here for a
while. She smoothed her hand over the
basketball her stomach had become. A
hand or possibly a foot beat a light tattoo against her palm and brought a
quiet smile to her face. She was seven
months along and her travel days were just about over. She had convinced her doctor to let her come
here one last time before the baby came.
It would be another year, at her best guess, before they could get back
to Hawaii so she was going to cherish every moment of these two weeks.
Tipping her head back, she
breathed deeply of the tropical salty air.
Opening her eyes she watched as the sun stretched fiery fingers of
daylight in pinks and golds across the sky.
God she loved it here.
“Everything okay, Sweetheart?”
She whirled around so fast she
nearly lost her balance. “Oh, Rich, you
startled me. I didn’t think you were
awake.”
He looked out at the pending
sunrise and then back at her. “I’m usually
not. What’s got you up?”
She took his hand and laid it
on her stomach, “this is one very active little baby.”
He smiled at the light beat and
followed the movement with his hand.
“Could be a whole marching band in there for all we know.”
She narrowed her eyes at him, “don’t
even joke about that. I’m only prepared
to push out one kid, not an entire band.”
He chuckled quietly. “And one is more than enough, Sweetheart.” He took her hand and stepped toward the stairs. “Take a walk with me?”
She followed along behind him, down the
stairs and across the cool sand. The
tide was out and they strolled along the water, the sun creeping ever higher in
the sky.
They hadn’t gone far when
Richie angled them away from the water and on to dry sand. He stopped and turned, taking both her hands
in his. “You know I want to marry you,
right?”
Surprise colored her features and
she nodded her head, “yes, I know.” They
had talked about marriage more than once since she had gotten pregnant. She still wasn’t sure she wanted to go down that
road again.
“If I asked you right now” he
started, “what would you say?”
She looked up into his eyes, “no,
Rich. I’d have to say no.”
He let of one of her hands go
and reached into his shirt pocket. “That’s
what I figured.” He let the necklace
drop and it dangled between his fingers.
“That’s why I got you this instead of a ring.” Letting her other hand go, he unclasped it
and put it around her neck.
She looked down at the
pendant. It was beautiful and it very
nearly matched the ring he had given her the last time they had been here. The bold, red rubies and lighter rhodolite
garnets swirled together in an infinity loop, him and her, no beginning, no
end. “It’s beautiful, Rich. But why?
I don’t need you to buy me jewelry to keep me around. Even though I can’t see myself getting
married again, I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know” he told her. “But I want you to know that I’m not going
anywhere either.” He took her hands
again. “I want you to know, right here, right
now, that I will always be here for you, whether you take my name or not. Whatever the future holds for us, the ups, the
downs, the good, the bad, I’m not going anywhere. Right here with you is where I’m going to
stay.”
Emotion swam in her eyes, her
hormones weren’t ready for such a declaration.
She took a deep, steadying breath.
What could she say to him after that?
She searched his eyes and opened her heart. “Just because I won’t take your name, doesn’t
mean I don’t want to be with you. I do,
Rich. I want to be with you more than
anything.” She put their hands on her
stomach. “I want us to raise this child
together. And I want you to know that I’ve
got your back, always. I love you more than
I thought I could ever love someone again.
I’m here to stay, for as long as you’ll have me anyway.”
He chuckled and as their child
moved he slid his hand over her stomach.
“Forever, Sweetheart.”
***
