But on the plus side, it does explain that extra pant size.
Kyle says nothing when I groan about gaining weight because I could literally be three times the size I am now and still look tiny next to him.
Another of the many perks of being hitched to a freaking giant.
“Jacinta. C’mon. Are you alright or what?” he calls out again. Louder this time.
“When you’re ready I need to see you in here for a second,” he adds casually, I can hear his voice now coming from his huge office, overlooking the bay.
A view I’ve enjoyed many times when I’ve offered to help Kyle at, on top of, or even under his desk.
“Coming,” I call back, figuring it’s now or never.
He’s waiting for me to tell him something.
May as well be the great news I’m carrying inside me.
I haven’t lost my sense of humor though, so I hitch my sweater up so my belly’s showing. Telling Kyle half the story before I even open my mouth.
His knowing look and laughter when I sheepishly slink into his office is a dead giveaway. He spins around his desk calendar so I can see how many red X’s he’s marked since the day we met.
Each X represented some important day in our relationship.
“You didn’t say anything?” he asks, sounding a teensy bit hurt.
“I was waiting for the right moment, and you’re always so busy,” I protest, but really it’s just me being a little bit scared if I’m honest, and I tell him so.
“I’m just worried something will go wrong… Worried I’ll end up just like my mom,” I confess. Falling into his lap as he grabs a hold of me.
He growls tenderly as he hugs me from behind. Ignoring my self-criticism.
Being extra careful of my belly, which he rests both his hands on.
“How long’s it been official?” he asks, not even trying to hold anything against me for keeping it a secret.
“Only since yesterday, but we both knew, right?” I ask, feeling his laughter long before I can sense his head nodding.
“Oh I felt it that night, and I’ve felt it every day since… I just wondered when you were gonna finally tell me,” he says again. But as quickly as it’s an issue for him, it’s gone.
“We’ll have to move the wedding date up,” he mutters as if it’s an afterthought. No expense will be spared now, and I know it.
“Do you wanna know if it’s a boy or a girl?” I ask, but Kyle is quick to tell me that’s entirely up to me.
“You’re doing the work in there, Mom. I’ll leave it up to you if you want to tell me… Can they even tell yet?” he asks.
I toy with the idea of not telling him it’s a boy.
But I don’t want to keep anything else from him. Not even for a single minute.
I fish out the little blue envelope, which is microscopic in Kyle’s huge hands.
And turning so I can see him better while sitting in his lap. I watch him open it and look at the somewhat grainy images of our unborn son.
“He’s beautiful. So tiny…” Kyle whispers, his voice catching with emotions that I feel running down my cheeks in an instant.
“I love you, Kyle Lundstrom,” I whisper, kissing his ear as I lean over to hug him.
“I love you too, Jacinta… And the little one you’ve given us both.”
We sit there until the sun sets, watching it slowly disappear behind the horizon. Kyle’s hands resting on my belly, my body snuggled deep into his.
Right, where we all belong.
A family.
Us.
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
Kyle
“You don’t look fat.” I hear Jacinta assure Mel, helping her with the suntan oil for her back.
On account of her not being able to reach it herself in her current situation.
“I’m huge!” Mel moans, then laughs to herself, making sure we know she’s not serious.
The Italian sun has Mel looking quite tanned, but neither my wife nor I have had much time for sunbathing until now.
“Jacinta! Mommy!” I call from the upper deck of our chartered yacht, The Poseidon.
I thought it was a terrible name, but Jacinta insisted, telling me she had a gut feeling about her research when I hired it for a month, buying the yacht outright after our first week aboard. After we all fell in love with not only the sea life but the yacht itself.
I thought a ‘yacht’ had sails and maybe not a lot of room.
The Poseidon is like a building that floats, and with my business connections, I teamed Jacinta up with the leading archaeologists from around the world to live out part of her dream.
To one day discover a lost city or new ruins under the waves.
Right now though? I need her to come take little Archie while I go check on something below deck.
“I’m oily,” Jacinta calls up to me, and I lean over the railing, growling as I catch a look at her in her one piece bathing suit.