I had a little surprise for her, and this morning had been the perfect moment to build it. Skye went into the city early, and I’d met her at the ob-gyn. I led her outside to where I’d installed a double swing.
“When did you have that set up?” she asked with a huge smile. “I love it.”
“I built it,” I said. “With Cole, Ryker, and Hunter, this morning.”
Skye whirled around to look at me. “Wow.”
I nodded, feeling proud. The wooden poles had been easy enough to find, and the swing itself was made from wood too, covered with pillows.
“Looks a lot like the one I told you about from when I was a kid,” I said. I’d sent a picture to Anne, and she’d agreed with me. My sister seemed more cheerful lately. She’d even been on a date, though I thought her good mood had more to do with Walter stepping up to the plate, being a dad to Lindsay.
The thought of him still made a vein in my neck pulse, but that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
“I love it,” Skye said.
Ever since I’d found out she was pregnant, my view on certain things had shifted. I couldn’t pinpoint how exactly, but I suddenly found myself having thoughts I hadn’t had before, seeing angles that had been invisible to me before. I liked our space, and I wanted to bring as many good things as possible in it from my childhood.
Most of all, I liked that we shared every single experience. Pushing her hair to one side and pulling at the collar of her jacket, I kissed my favorite place: the patch of skin between her neck and shoulder. I propped one hand at her side, the other on top of her belly.
“You make me so happy.”
“Glad to hear that,” she whispered.
Finally, I felt her relax in my arms, come off that frenzy she’d worked herself into. But I’d gotten used to this. It was just how Skye ticked. She’d spent her first month of pregnancy mapping out a work plan for the other eight and for the first six months after birth. I’d let her do her thing, because she was more relaxed once she had a plan. She and Tess had hired a few full-time sales associates, so they were planning to take a huge step back from day-to-day operations in the store.
“Je t’aime.”
“I love you too.”
“I like hugging you like this,” I said.
“It’s the only way you get to hug me these days without my belly getting in the way.”
Laughing, I walked with her to the swing. I sat on it, and Skye rested in my lap.
“I can still keep the indoor swing, right?”
We’d brought it over from her old house. “Sure, babe. I’ve actually started to like it.”
“And to think you fought me about bringing it in here.”
“I didn’t see the point. Now I do.” It was relaxing and a great spot for us to huddle together.
“Ah, keep that in mind.”
“What?”
“That I have good ideas too, even if you don’t agree with them from the start.”
“You don’t plan to throw away anything, do you?”
“Weeeell, you did have a good point about maybe having a girl in the future, so why go through all the hassle of sending it back and then ordering it again? Think of all the packaging and shipping costs we’re saving. And carbon emissions.”
I burst out laughing, moving my hand in circles around her belly. We both stilled when there was a kick from deep within her. I felt it even through her jacket. It got to me every time. Every single time.
“See, the baby agrees with my hoarding tendencies.”
“We’ll see,” I said vaguely. Skye leaned back on me, dangling her feet in the air.