Charlie laughed. “I'm just saying. And whenever I think about that summer, I think about you.”
“Are you happy?”
He looked over at me. “Happy might be an understatement. I've been happy before, but this is something else. Have you ever had the feeling that you don't want anything anymore? Like you already have everything. You're so satisfied that nothing could make you feel better than you already do.”
“That good?” I asked.
“I have you and our healthy baby. I have a family. I wouldn't trade you guys for the world.”
“Well, this is awkward.”
“Why?”
“You just said that there is nothing that could make you happier. I had a surprise for you.”
“What?“ he asked, slowing down. I looked up at him, wondering if there was any possibility that he truly didn't know. I had been feeling a little off during this trip. It had lasted for longer than that actually. Since it was different from the first time around, I immediately dismissed the possibility of it happening again, but a few days ago, I asked the concierge to get me a pregnancy test. They did, going absolutely out of their way to get a pregnancy test for me from one of the main, bigger islands.
I knew that the whole thing about not being able to get pregnant while you were breastfeeding was a myth. While we had not been actively trying to conceive, we hadn't been taking the best precautions against conception either. So, I guess you could say we were down for whatever happened. And it had happened.
“You know how I was feeling kind of bad the first few days and we thought it was just really bad jet lag?” I asked. His brow furrowed as he looked at me.
“Yeah. I offered to get you a doctor but you said no.” I watched his face as realization hit and his eyes widened. The symptoms were easy to confuse for something else, but a positive pregnancy test was almost impossible to deny.
“Wait. Are you telling me?”
I nodded. “You owe me another million dollars Charles Hampton. I'm pregnant again.”
He laughed hugging me. He scooped me up and spun us around. I laughed, relieved. I wasn't sure how he was going to take it. Our days of being contractually bound on the basis of a baby were over but since having Ashley and getting married, we hadn't really talked about where to go from there with our family. It was all so new. We hadn't even gotten the hang of being the parents to a new-born yet. I was expecting panic, even annoyance from him when I told him the news. I knew that over time he would come to terms with it and be happy, but I didn't think he'd actually be excited about having another baby so soon.
“I thought you were going to be mad about it,” I said.
; “Why the hell would I be upset about growing our family?”
“It is kind of soon.”
“It is, but let's face it, we haven't had the best luck with timing in the past. I'm a patient guy, I waited those seven years, but I don't have to wait anymore. If you are comfortable...”
“I am. I'm excited. I just wanted to make sure you were happy too.”
“I'm more than happy Brenna. I'm ecstatic. You gave me the gift of being a father, and you're giving it to me again.” We kissed. It was full of his restrained excitement. I felt amazing. That went way better than I ever could have imagined it going. We resumed our walk, talking about how I figured out that I was pregnant.
“You know, I didn't actually end up paying you for Ashley,” Charlie said.
“You're right. You know what that means.”
“What?” he asked.
“I have to charge late fees now. And interest.”
He laughed, pulling me in to kiss me. “I’d empty all my accounts tomorrow for you, babe.”
“Good. Do it.” He laughed again, then cupped my face.
“As long as you swear never to stop loving me.”
“I prefer cash, then,” I joked. It would never happen. I had tried and failed once already. We both laughed and he kissed me. The cash would have been nice but this was so much better.