Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43837 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
“You definitely can’t use our baby kicking as an excuse to kick me more,” Eddie snorts, kissing my hand affectionately. “My little troublemakers. You and the babies both.”
My foot reaches to him again, but Eddie quickly sits up and grabs it to hold onto it, stopping me in my tracks. A laugh bubbles up from my lips as he places my leg back down, moving so that he can rub the tired sole of my sock-covered foot in his expert hands, gripping me gently.
I can’t help but sigh, tipping my head back. He keeps going until I’m nearly asleep, which I’m sure was his plan all along. I can’t stop him from touching my belly if I’m too busy sleeping.
His other hand still continues to trace circles over my belly, desperate for a little something from our babies. I think he already feels connected to them, just like I do.
“No movement as of yet,” Eddie teases me. Then his voice goes soft. “I love you so damn much, Kathleen.”
“I love you,” I tell him, pushing every ounce of affection I can into the words.
“I wonder how many kicks we’ll be able to feel over the next few months,” Eddie whispers to me as if we’re sharing a secret that only we’re aware of. “I wonder too whether they kick for certain things, like do they kick harder when they’re uncomfortable or tired?
“Eddie,” I stop him gently, grabbing his hand to press it to my belly. “There, see?”
The baby kicks at his hand, and Eddie has tears in his eyes when he looks reverently back up at me.
“But what did I do? I don’t get it.” Eddie shakes his head, sounding so happy but so confused.
The babies thump gently against my belly, and I finally understand it perfectly. It’s so beautiful that I can’t seem to control my emotions, letting them flow from me.
“I think, my love,” I whisper, letting the tears slip down my cheeks. Eddie looks up at me in awe. “That our babies just like the sound of your voice.”
EPILOGUE
TWO YEARS LATER
Eddie
My car seems to push its way through the countryside, driving slowly but surely through the valleys of autumn-brown hills and the far-off red and orange of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
I can’t wait to get to the cabin and light up the fireplace, and Kathleen can’t wait to decorate for Halloween as soon as we get inside the cabin’s warm interior.
A fiery sunset burns its way across the sky, flaring golden over the windshield and glaring like flickering flames. Kathleen smiles gently at me from the passenger’s seat, squeezing my hand where our fingers are entangled in a familiar way on the console.
Her pale blonde hair is caught golden in the evening sunlight, and her pale green eyes glow like the bright colors of the autumn sky in the morning. The car’s radio plays softly around us, lulling us into a peaceful silence that neither of us brakes until we reach the tree-lined lane that leads into the mountains.
In the backseat, Poppy and Lily sleep peacefully in their little Halloween pajamas, covered in grinning ghosts and smiling skeletons along with their pumpkin blankets.
Yeah, my wife is definitely a fan of Halloween, I think with a quiet chuckle.
A familiar happiness blooms in my chest at the sight of our new (old) home, waiting for us to go ahead and fill the walls and rooms with our special brand of love.
We’ve stayed at the house every few weeks or so this year, and we have stuffed it full to the brim with beautiful flea market finds, well-used little trinkets, and old furniture for when we plan to move all the way in. It’s so amazing to see it come to life.
The cabin in the mountains is a labor of love, and I can tell that my wife absolutely loves the house and the rest of the property as much as I do. She likes that it feels like something straight out of a Halloween movie, and I like all of the space around us.
I plan on filling the rest of the acres of our land outside with little animals to go with the two little cows in our lower field that one of the neighbors gave us as an odd sort of housewarming gift.
We definitely aren’t in the city now, that’s for sure.
Being this close to our new, beautiful home, I can’t stop thinking about how in love I am with my wife. I like to think that our love lives here in this place, forever golden and living peacefully in the high peaks of the mountains.
“I’m so glad to be back,” I say aloud, keeping my voice very quiet. The car bumps and jolts a little down the road under the shifting trees above us, following the long path to the end until it opens to a small meadow nestled in a thicket of oaks under the roots of the mountains.