“Come on Sarah. Babe, you got this. You’re a bad-ass Mountie who saves lives. Bring this one into the world.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
“Damn right. I love you. Bring our daughter into this world,” he says encouragingly. A lot of people say that a man’s job is done once you get pregnant until the baby is born but I don’t believe that for one second. He’s taken care of me this whole time. Went to get me ice cream at three in the morning because the “baby” wanted it, but he knew it was me. He catered to me through mood swings, hot flashes, and bouts of horniness I didn’t think were possible in a woman. I would have given up. He’s a saint really. Even now, he’s motivating me through this.
“I love you too,” I say through clenched teeth as I bear down and push hard. Soon after, I feel the baby slip free and a few seconds later, I hear her crying.
“You did it, babe. You’re a fucking goddess.”
I smile sweetly at him as our daughter, Emma Jade, is placed on my chest.
Everything I have ever wanted in life has finally happened. It wasn’t always easy, and the road was long. I just had to wait for the perfect man to get it. I am here now and nothing and no one can ever take this moment of sheer delight and just a little panic from me. Delight at holding my baby girl and panic that I am fifty percent responsible for how her life turns out. I wouldn’t have it any other way though. I have the best possible partner to help me through life. Every day, I thank God that Jacob Wentworth got a little lost while hunting or I may never have found Daniel. Jacob was fine but wandered a bit too far in the woods. He was found the same day he went missing, but if not for him I would never have had a reason to knock on Daniel’s door. God works in mysterious ways and this way was just one of those ways.
I am blessed and loved and that’s all a woman can ask for really. Daniel makes me a better woman and I’ll love him until the day I die.
Epilogue
Daniel
Ten Years Later
“Sarah?” I call when I enter the house. The TV is on, some cartoon monstrosity, but Emma and Jacob are watching it so there’s that. Luckily, the internet has gotten better out here. I’d hate to think of the meltdowns if it hadn’t. We named Jacob after the man who went missing on the day Sarah and I met. He unwittingly brought the two of us together, so it seemed only right to name our first born son after the man.
“Daddy!” Emma shouts, running over to me for a hug. She’s nine going on ninety. She’s an old soul and I love that about her.
“Hey baby girl,” I say lifting her up and swinging her around. Her giggle is just about the most adorable sound I’ve ever heard.
“Hey son,” I say when I put her down. He’s four and doesn’t like me much yet. He’s all about his mama. Can’t say that I blame him really.
“Daddy,” he says, giving me a quick hug around my legs before going back to his cartoons.
“Sarah?” I call again, starting down the hallway.
“In the bedroom,” she says. I walk back to our room but she’s not there. I try Emma’s room and there she is putting away laundry.
“Hey wife,” I say. After ten years, I still can’t believe that she’s all mine. I’ll never know how I got so lucky. She’s the most beautiful woman in any room. She’s now a chief superintendent and works mostly large cases otherwise she’s on a desk overseeing her unit. I hate to admit that I prefer when she does that because you never know what you’ll walk into out there.
“Hi baby,” she says coming over to kiss me.
“How was work?” I ask when I let her up for air.
“Pretty good. Nothing exciting. You?”
“Finished up two small orders and started the mega order.” A new restaurant in Seattle has ordered fifty tables of varying sizes and two hundred and fifty matching chairs. This will be about $200,000 US dollars and my highest paying order to date. I got a good deal on the reclaimed wood they wanted, and this will be almost entirely profit.
“Very good,” she says. “Dinner is almost ready.”
“Great thanks. I’m starving.” I don’t know how she does it. She works all day then somehow manages to find the time to take care of us. Two years ago, her parents moved out here to be near the kids. At first I didn’t know what to do with them, but they’ve treated me like a son, and I couldn’t ask for better in laws.