Boss of Me

It was absolutely beautiful, and we spent several dreamy days in the hills overlooking the pebble beaches before returning to Nashville and settling into married life. Now we’re partners in life and in the renamed Fletcher-Morgan International.

We were as busy in the bedroom as we were outside it. Patton was happy to finally be off the condoms, and I was happy to lose the interruptions. I faithfully took my pill… Until the weekend I picked up an eye infection and had to take a short round of antibiotics. It’s the only thing we can think happened.

You know how you just know certain things? I’ve never been pregnant, but I could tell something had changed inside me… Six weeks later, I stopped off at the drugstore on the way home and grabbed an early pregnancy test.

That night, when he got back from his jog, I had a small cake and two glasses of sparkling cider waiting. I’ll never forget the way his eyes changed when I told him. They burned with a mixture of love and pride and protective fire.

He had me off my feet and out of my clothes before I finished my announcement. It’s one of my fondest memories—his hands spreading across my bare stomach, his warm lips pressing just below my navel. He looked up at me and smiled, and I knew… we were complete.

For now.

He’s already saying what we’ll do with our next baby, which I pretend I don’t hear.

Tracing my fingers in the dark hair touching his collar, I wonder how I could possibly love anyone more than I love this man. He’s not a devil, but he is fierce…

Patton

“Daddy…” Marley shakes his head, taking a sip of his beer. “That’s some heavy shit right there. Shaping another life…”

We’re hanging out at Doc’s Bar drinking Landsharks while Rocky and Renée—or Ray as my wife likes to call her—catch up on all things baby and birthing.

“You should try it sometime.”

He chuckles, looking better than he has in years. “I’m still getting used to the concept of husband.”

Marley and Renée were married a month ago in the same place Rocky and I tied the knot. Under a canopy on the beach while Monarch butterflies migrated all around us. Renée timed their wedding to coincide with the eastern migration of the insects from Canada to Mexico.

Of course she did.

Truthfully, I’ve gotten to where I appreciate my sister-in-law’s eccentricities. I usually don’t have patience for such things, but a lot has changed.

The day Rocky brought me here to see her for the first time since The Incident, I’d planned my whole apology speech. What I didn’t know is my then-future wife had told her I’d secured her loan. I never wanted anyone to know about that…

I got out of the car and saw her on the porch of her beautifully restored home with tears in her eyes. My stomach sank. Rocky told me I’d hurt her, and while I don’t usually care if people can’t handle my directness, I felt like an ass. She’s the sister of the love of my life.

But before I could speak, Renée walked straight across the front lawn and put her arms around my waist, hugging herself tightly to me. I hugged her back, and she whispered so only I could hear, “Thank you.”

Shit, it almost broke me. I replied with my sincerest “I’m sorry,” and she only looked up at me, light glowing in her hazel eyes. “You helped me more than you know.”

From that day, we’ve been pretty close. Marley was only with me in Nashville two more weeks, long enough to give us notice, before he came here to find her.

Now he works in outside sales for a media company based in Atlanta and the two of them are like two eccentric peas in a pod.

“Ray wants to have a Blessing Ceremony for Rocky while you’re here.”

We’ve paid our tab and now we’re heading out to the car. I don’t like being away from my wife too long now that she’s so close to having the baby.

This experience is a first for both of us, and unlike our in-laws, the Fletcher-Morgans like to have shit planned out and in a hospital with professionals all around.

“Do I want to know what that is?”

“It’s an ancient Navajo tradition that focuses on the spiritual rite of passing. Rocky’s becoming a mother. It’s a magical time.”

My eyebrows rise. “What happens in a Blessing Ceremony?”

He grins, gripping the top of my shoulder. “Woman stuff.”

We’re back at the house pretty quickly, to find the sisters sitting on the front porch swing. Rocky pushes herself up when I appear, and I hustle over to help her. She’s so adorably huge. Around her neck is a necklace made of assorted stones and crystals and what looks like a little hand-made loop.