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  “Hi, beautiful,” Luke peeked his face into her open driver’s side window and kissed her. “Hi, Beany boo,” he said, as he reached down and patted her belly.

  Lila smiled at her husband. He was so at ease with this little being, growing inside of her. She just hoped her maternal instincts would kick in when this baby was born, if she had any. Elizabeth had been reassuring her that she would be a natural, but Lila still worried.

  “Hi, handsome. How was the ride in the truck?”

  “Great!” Luke was beaming. “How did the baby do? Were you comfortable enough? I hope I stopped enough for you.”

  Luke had driven the moving truck, making Lila follow right behind him, with her hazards on, going five miles under the speed limit. He had also pulled over every hour for a mandatory stop, walking with Lila to “stretch her legs,” and forcing healthy snacks on her. Lila would have much rather driven herself straight there, going fast and stopping only once or twice for the obligatory pregnancy bathroom trip. Luke had quickly put his foot down, though, and Lila conceded.

  “I’m fine, Luke. Really, I feel great.” It was true. Even after the long car ride she felt better than she had in months. Elizabeth attributed it to her being well into her second trimester. Lila thought it might have a lot more to do with Luke regulating her healthcare. Giving up coffee and wine was a no brainer for Lila, but with Luke’s constant care, she was eating healthier and was better rested than she had ever been in her life.

  The biggest change in her life that Luke had his hand in, besides the pregnancy, was Lila’s new work schedule. Because she was so high up in the company, Lila had a lot of say in deciding what her job would look like now that she was working remotely.

  After many hours of discussion, Luke finally told Lila that with her health and the stress of the move, he was only comfortable with her working part-time. Lila was furious with Luke for even making the suggestion, but in the spirit of letting him have the role as the leader of the family, she had tearfully agreed.

  Once the initial pregnancy exhaustion set in, she was so glad that she had trusted Luke’s judgement and let him make the final decision. She could barely make her deadlines, even with Luke doing all the packing and taking care of the moving arrangements. Many afternoons, when she took a break from her computer, she woke up on the couch, surprised that she had even fallen asleep.

  The reduction of income was going to be an adjustment for her clothing and shopping budget, but so far, the extra time with Luke had been worth it. Seeing Cecelia thriving in her role as the “new Lila” was also a reminder that they had made the right decision. Lila felt proud of Cecelia and was happy for her to have the job. She had earned it.

  “Come see the house, I have a surprise for you.”

  Lila awkwardly got out of the car. She was still adjusting to her new shape.

  “I just hope you like this one.” Luke scuffed at the ground next to her car with the toe of his sneaker, looking shy and nervous.

  “What could it be, what could it be?” Lila asked excitedly, as she gently nudged him out of her way and walked up the front steps to the house, opening the door. The house was sparkling clean. Luke had obviously hired a professional company to do a thorough job. The sun shined in through the spotless windows, the floors and woodwork were polished and there was a faint lemon scent in the air.

  “Luke, I love it. It’s so clean.” Lila ran her hand over the gleaming wainscoting on the wall.

  “That’s not the surprise, Lila,” Luke said quietly. He took her hand and gently lead her back to the smaller bedroom at the end of the hallway that they had planned to be the nursery. The white door was shut.

  “Okay, here we go,” Luke opened the door slowly and stepped in.

  Lila gasped. The room was gorgeous. It had been painted a soft dove gray, and the thick trim had gotten a fresh coat of bright white paint. There were beautiful lace curtains hanging in the window, complete with straw privacy shades underneath that were currently rolled up to fill the room with natural light. There were pastel prints of tiny woodland animals, framed in small silver square frames hanging on the walls. In the corner of the room was an antique, white rocking chair, complete with a thick yellow seer sucker cushion, and brightly patterned wool foot stool.

  But the most beautiful thing about the room was the light wood, hand crafted crib. Lila immediately recognized it as Cole’s handicraft. Lila walked over and ran a hand over the smooth, polished wood.

  Luke looked at Lila nervously. “Do you like it? We can change anything you want. I know that this whole pregnancy has been a huge adjustment for you. I just thought if the nursery was ready when you got here, it would make it all the more real for you.”

  Lila started sobbing quietly. “Luke, I just…” Out of nowhere, the memory of losing her parents hit her hard. She didn’t think of them often, but with Grace’s illness, and now a grandchild being born, the memory of their presence was strong. They weren’t around to help her prepare for the arrival of the baby. Somehow, Luke instinctively knew how much she needed this.

  “Is it too much?” Luke wrapped her up in his arms.

  Lila tried to collect herself, accidently wiping her face on his shirt. “No, I love it. You just know me so well. Doing this beautiful nursery, and having Cole make the crib. I just love it.” She reached up and kissed him. “It’s perfect.”

  Luke looked relieved. “I love you, Lila. I just want you to be happy and to take good care of you and our baby.” He hugged her tighter, being careful with her belly. “But I have one more surprise that you might not be so happy about. I’m sorry about this one, sweetheart, but I just couldn’t wait.”

  “Couldn’t wait for what?” Lila had no idea what Luke could be talking about.

  He walked over to the little white closet door and turned the glass knob. He reached in and pulled out something hanging from the clothes bar. He turned around to reveal a tiny, itty bitty, little light pink cotton and lace baby dress.

  Lila put her hands up to her mouth, shocked. “A little girl?” she whispered.

  Luke nodded, his eyes shining. “A beautiful little girl, just like her momma.”

  “How did you find out? How long have you known?”

  Luke looked down at the dress nervously. “Uh, right after the ultrasound, actually.”

  When Lila was eighteen weeks pregnant, they had an ultrasound. They got to see their healthy, active baby squirming around in Lila’s belly. At that time though, Luke and Lila had decided to let the gender be a surprise. The technician had told them to turn their heads and close their eyes when he got near the area that would tell them what they were having. Lila had turned her head away, squeezing her eyes tightly.

  “I went back in when you went to the restroom.” Lila only remembered needing to go immediately following the ultrasound and had rushed out of the room, stopping to hand off a string of freshly printed ultrasound images to Luke.

  Luke looked at her guiltily, “I asked the technician. We went to school together and they did me a favor and told me. I just couldn’t wait. I’m sorry.”

  Lila didn’t care. She thought he looked adorable, standing there, confessing this to her. And a little girl. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was secretly hoping for a baby girl. She was such a girly girl at heart, and she wasn’t sure she had the slightest clue of what to do with a boy.

  “Come here,” she said. Luke walked over to her, embracing her. “You are the best husband, and you are going to be the best daddy a little girl could want.” She leaned up and kissed her man.

  *****

  Lila looked around her new home. Her modern white couch sat in her new, mid-century living room. Instead of her sitting on it with a glass of wine though, it was covered with family members, and friends. Her new, smaller home was full of laughter as everyone gathered for a post-moving dinner. The whole gang had shown up, Heather and David had made the drive, even Grace had come. She was sitting in the corner of the living room in a com
fortable tan leather recliner that Luke had bought especially for her visits. She had a scarf covering her head and looked pale and weak, but was in very good spirits.

  Heather and David were serving food from the kitchen bar, overlooking the living room. David had generously ordered everyone pizza from their favorite local parlor. Lila could hear Cole and Luke laughing with their high school firefighter buddies in the dining room, where Heather had banished them. When the pizza arrived, she had said, “Oh no, fellas. Ya’ll aren’t eating within three feet of Lila’s white couch. Uh-uh,” while ushering them into the other room. Lila appreciated the gesture, as well as Heather’s ability to say what needed to be said without making anyone feel uncomfortable.

  She knew the move wasn’t going to be perfect, and that it was going to be difficult adjusting to a smaller town and slower pace. And the thought of motherhood still scared her to death. So much had changed, in such a short amount of time. Yes, this new life had taken her completely by surprise, but she was so grateful for the fullness of it all.

  Just when she thought the moment couldn’t be more perfect, Lila felt Luke come up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered in her ear, “Lila, I have never been happier. Thank you, beautiful.” She turned to him and kissed him. “I feel the same way, Luke.”

  The End

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