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Epilogue

Annette

I grabbed a bowl of veggies to bring into the living room so we could settle in for a cuddle session and just rest for the evening. I’ve spent less time dog walking and more time just being pregnant. But it was hard to give up on my primary source of income.

Terry was absorbed with his phone, but the moment I sat next to him, he wrapped his arm around me. Looking at me, he smiled and said, “I found our birth plan.”

My eyes bugged out, and I wanted to scoff. While I loved that he wanted to take an active part in everything, I was skeptical about the fact that he found our plan.

We were yin and yang, and I couldn’t imagine us being on the same page for this except for the fact that he would be there next to me.

“Oh really?”

He handed me his phone and said with pride, “Dolphin Assisted Birth.”

I was in complete disbelief over what he was even showing me. It sounded so damn absurd. Sure, I floated the idea of doing a water birth, but this wasn’t even close to what I had in mind.

I frowned and repeated, “Dolphin Assisted Birth?”

Terry pointed to his phone. “See, it says dolphins will give you a nearly pain-free birth experience, and we get to swim with the dolphins. Can you think of anything better?”

Why did he always want the extra option?

“No.”

There were so many things wrong with his idea. Mainly, where would we even find dolphins in January since we didn’t exactly plan things according to the hockey season? I wasn’t going to fly to a tropical island without him.

“But it’s dolphins, and you would give birth nearly pain-free.”

The fact that it would be pain-free was nice, but it was why we were talking about doing a water birth in the first place since it helped with the pain. How could dolphins make it less painful?

I gave his phone back to him and held his hands. “Terry, I love you, but no. Let’s just do the normal water birth.”

He pouted but nodded. “If you say so, that's okay. We can do the normal water birth, but dolphins would have been super awesome.”

I giggled at the last statement. He was so damn predictable, but at least he was going to let me do what I wanted. He didn’t even try to guilt me into trying to do it his way. He just accepted my wishes.

I didn’t want him to feel left out. He had really made our lives so damn special each and every day.

“Thank you for trying to make the birth special, but us doing this together is what makes it all special. Don’t you see that?”

He captured my lips, but instead of trying to deepen the kiss by wrapping his hands around my neck, his hands wandered down to my ever-growing belly. Much like when I was pregnant with Eric, he was the ever-doting father.

Then again, how many guys got excited about birthing plans?

When he withdrew from the kiss, he smiled. “I do. I love you so damn much. But are you sure you don’t want to go with the dolphins?”