Zoe looks at me first, then to Ace. We both nod to let her know it’s okay. “Yes, there’s something I want to tell her.”
When the nurse places her in Zoe’s arms, tears instantly spring to her eyes. “Hello, beautiful baby girl. I know Layne will tell you one day, but I want to be the first to say it. I love you, and that’s the only reason I’m giving you up for adoption. It’s not because I regret having you. It’s not because you’re unlovable. You are going to the best family I know. You’ll grow up with more love than you can imagine. If you decide to find me one day, I hope it’s to thank me for giving you the best chance at a happy life that I could. If you love your new mommy half as much as I do, I’ll never regret this choice.”
Zoe softly kisses her little pink head before her teary eyes find mine. “Layne, come meet your daughter.”
Before I take the baby from her arms, I wrap mine around Zoe and kiss her head. “I love you, Zoe. You’re every bit as much of a daughter to me as she is.”
“I wish you were my mom, Layne. I really do.”
She lifts the baby and I take her in my arms. Ace wraps his arms around me from behind us and folds them underneath mine so we’re both cradling our baby.
“I’ll sign that consent to adopt form now,” Zoe says to the nurse. “She’s in the best hands I know.”
Ace’s chin rests on my shoulder as we continue to hold her as one. “She needs a name, you know. Are we set on the one we picked out?”
Because I’m unable to speak, I nod and Ace announces her name to the room. “Kylie Eden Sharp, our little piece of heaven on earth.”
“That’s beautiful,” Zoe replies.
* * *
The family has come and gone, and now Zoe is sleeping while Ace and I cuddle together to coo over Kylie. “How many kids would you want if you had a choice?” Ace asks softly.
“I’d love to have a house full of them,” I admit. “I’ve always wanted a big family because I never had one growing up.”
“I’m glad you said that,” he replies, pulls something out of his shirt pocket, and hands it to me.
“Wha— Where did you get this?” I stammer.
He smirks. “The bathroom counter, where you left it.”
“Ace, is this real?”
“As real as it gets, my love. You’re pregnant with my baby.”
“All this time, I thought I couldn’t get pregnant. I thought something was wrong with me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you in any sense of the word. But, there is something I need to tell you.” The suddenly serious tone has my full attention.
“What? What is it, Ace?”
“When I went by the house to get that, there was a strange car in Mom’s driveway. The construction crew just finished working earlier that day, so I thought it was one of them at first. But it wasn’t. It was Bobby.”
“Bobby? Why would he be there? I made it clear I wanted nothing else to do with him.”
“That’s pretty much what I told him, after I told him you’re my wife now. Not in those words exactly. I may have provoked him in somewhat of a different manner.” Ace smiles and it reaches from ear to ear. I can’t help but giggle at him.
“What did you do?”
“Oh, you know, manly stuff. I had to mark my territory, baby. Anyway, there’s a slight chance I went a little overboard, because he blurted out something I know he’d never have admitted otherwise.”
Dead silence. He’s killing me. “And?” I prompt.
“His gun may be loaded, but it doesn’t shoot bullets, babe. For about a year before you actively tried to get pregnant, he’d been trying to get you pregnant without you knowing. Poking holes in the condoms. Stupid shit like that. He thought he’d lose you when you became a hotshot lawyer, so he decided he’d take care of that himself. But he figured out he physically couldn’t do it, only he never told you. He let you believe you were the problem.”
“That son of a bitch. After all this time.” Absorbing all of this is a bit much, but when my eyes drop back to the plastic stick in my hand, I realize it doesn’t matter. “It’s in the past. He’s in the past. I’ve found everything I could ever want or need, right here in Oak Grove.”
“Exactly. But you have to admit, my swimmers are strong. They can do the breaststroke like nobody’s business. We need to come up with a better name for how mine perform, though. Something manly, like ‘big daddy stroke.’ No, I’ve got it. ‘The Big D Stroke.’ That’s perfect.”
Through the happy tears that are falling from my eyes, I start to laugh and can’t stop. The harder I try to contain it, to not wake the baby, or disturb Zoe, the worse it gets. “I love you more every day, Ace. Thank you for showing me that a life without love isn’t a life worth living at all.”
“You made me want to love, Layne. You’re the only woman my heart recognizes.” He kisses me softly. “But you’ve also taught me how to open my heart and love in other ways. There’s one more beautiful love surprise waiting for you, if you feel up to it.”