One Simple Step (Journey #3)

“Well, fancy meetin’ you here.” I whirled around, and groaned when I came face to face with Danny. At least it wasn’t Nick, or better yet, Kara. I’m sure she would just have a field day if she could get ahold of me.

“Yeah, right. Do you hang around craft stores often?” I turned to walk down the aisle, but he quickly jumped in front of me, preventing my escape.

“No, they really aren’t my thing. I’ve just been trying to catch up with you, and now I did.”

I placed my hands on my hips as he continued to block my way. “So, what exactly are you saying? You’ve been stalking me?”

An amused smile took over his face. “I’ve missed that smart ass attitude of yours. Can’t we still be friends? Please,” he added, giving me a sad puppy face.

“Sure, just answer me one question, Danny.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I think I can handle that, Ally-Cat.” I really felt like smacking him. When he heard Teddy’s nickname for me he thought it was hilarious, and had called me it repeatedly that night at the bar. Apparently, he was sticking with it. For some reason, it didn’t get on my nerves like it did when Teddy said it.

“Did you know?”

“Know what?” he asked, giving me a confused look as he finally relaxed his arms that had been blocking the aisle, and crossed them over his chest.

“About Nick and Kara? Did you know that they were back…together?”

“Ally.” He let out a loud sigh, and shook his head. “Nick is a lot of things, but one thing he isn’t, is a jackass like that ex-husband of yours.”

I snorted loudly, and looked down, trying to find something interesting on the sterile white floor.

“You might not believe me, but no, they weren’t together. There’s more to the story, but I think Nick needs to tell you that part.”

I felt a little bit of weight lift off of my chest at what Danny said, but not much. At least he hadn’t cheated on me, well, at least according to Danny. He had been a good friend to me when I was dating Nick, so I guess I believed him. He had no reason to lie. “Okay, fine. We can be friends again as long as you never mention Nick to me again. Got it?”

“Not a problem, it’s not like I ever get to see him now that—”

I cut him off with my hand. I so did not want to hear about him being with her all the time. “No Nick talk, whatsoever.”

“Okay, fine. Whatever you want, Ally-Cat.” He bent down and picked up my basket for me. “So, what other frilly shit do we need to find?”




Nick



“Okay, Kara. C’mon, we need to push one more time.” My hand felt about ready to break off from her squeezing it so tightly, and she let out a long stream of curse words, the nurses not even blinking twice about it. I’m sure they heard that kind of thing all of the time.

“Yeah, one more push my ass, and there’s no we about this,” she panted out as she flopped back onto the pillow behind her head. “Just quit talking, I’m ready to get this kid out. Oh, no, another one’s coming.” She sat up quickly, and I grabbed onto one of her legs like the nurse had instructed. I watched her bear down with everything she had, and felt like I was about ready to pass out just from watching her.

“Alright, here we go,” I heard the doctor say before Kara pushed one more time, and the nurses went to work quickly, scooping the baby up and swaddling her in a towel.

The baby. My baby.

I was an actual dad now.

They stuck something in her mouth, and a tiny wail escaped as soon as they pulled it out. I never thought I would be so happy in my life to hear a baby cry. The feelings that were running through me were almost overwhelming as the nurses finished doing what they needed to do, and came walking towards us with the tiny bundle.

The nurse started to hand the baby to Kara, but she shook her head, letting out a groan as she collapsed onto the pillow. “Okay, then. Here we are, Daddy. Your beautiful baby girl.” I was nervous as hell as the nurse handed me my daughter. I had absolutely no clue how to hold a baby, and I think the nurse could sense my hesitation.

“Just like this, Daddy.” She moved my arms into a better position, and I felt myself relax just a little. “Make sure you support her head, and let the rest come naturally. You’ll find your favorite ways to hold her.”

I looked down, mesmerized by every little detail, from the dark tuft of hair to her heart shaped lips. Even her tiny little fingers were fascinating. She had my olive complexion and two tiny little dimples that I could just barely make out. She was the spitting image of me. I could barely see any of Kara in her features. I thought I knew love before her, but this, nothing compared. Nothing ever would.

“Alright, Daddy, we just need to get some fingerprints here quickly. Do we have a name picked out?”

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