“Not sure why I said I wanted to go to Hawaii.”
I give her a look, not understanding.
“Because I don’t plan on leaving our room. Or letting you leave either,” she confirms.
I pull her close. “I fucking love the sound of that.”
Epilogue
Connor
ONE YEAR LATER
“I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate our first wedding anniversary than having our baby girl,” I say, gazing down at my wife.
“I agree.” Elle beams as she holds Elisa Rose to her chest—all seven pounds of her. She has a full head of hair and chubby cheeks. “She looks so much like Olivia.”
“And you. Apparently, all I did was carry her for nine months and push her out for two hours,” she states.
The playful bitterness in her tone makes me snort. “Babies change every day, so don’t stress. Plus, you did incredible. I still can’t believe what I witnessed.”
“Trust me, it happened.” She grunts.
“And I have claw marks on my arms to prove it,” I tease but regardless, watching my wife give birth was an experience. Elle was so strong and adamantly refused meds, but her contractions were too strong. Once she could no longer stand it, they gave her an epidural, which allowed her to finally rest. I felt so helpless as she screamed in pain. So if squeezing my hand helped her push, I was happy to do it.
“Livvi is gonna flip when she sees her.” Elle gazes down.
“She will. Speaking of, my parents should be here any minute.” Just as I look at the time, there’s a knock.
The door opens, and Olivia enters with stars in her eyes. Now that she’s eight and becoming more independent, she can’t wait for all the big sister duties.
“Hey, sweetie.” I kiss the top of her head and greet my folks, who are just as excited. “You ready to meet your baby sister?”
Olivia rushes to Elle’s side and gives her a hug. “Yes! I wanna hold her.”
“Sit in the chair, and I’ll bring her over to you,” I say. Elle re-wraps the swaddle, then I carry her over. “Alright, use the pillow to support her head and be very gentle.”
“I know, Dad,” Olivia retorts. Though I’ve done the newborn stage before, it’s been so long that it feels new.
Carefully, I place Elisa in Olivia’s arms, and her entire face lights up.
“Oh my goodness, she’s so cute.”
My parents walk over and smile at the girls. “Congrats again, darling.” My mom kisses my cheek. “You too, Elle. What a precious baby girl.”
I still can’t believe it, and though we’ve had nine months to prepare, I’ll never forget those emotions that hit me the moment we found out.
Three months after our wedding, Elle started feeling sick and took a pregnancy test. Within thirty seconds, it came up positive, but neither of us believed it, so she took four more.
All positive.
Elle cried happy tears, and we spent the night celebrating.
Three months later, we surprised Olivia with a BIG SISTER T-shirt on Christmas Eve and announced the news to our families at Christmas dinner. As expected, Rose was overjoyed, and Emily teared up. It was a special moment I’ll never forget.
“Well, what do you think, sweetie?” I kneel next to the girls and smile.
“I love her so much already.” Olivia presses a soft kiss to Elisa’s head.
“I felt the same way when I held you,” I tell her.
“You did?”
“Absolutely. Felt it when Elisa was born too. Amazing, huh?”
Olivia flashes a smile but brings her attention back to the baby.
My parents stay for an hour, taking turns holding Elisa though Olivia didn’t want to share. I love how much she already adores her little sister. Before they go, we take our first family photo with the four of us.
Elizabeth and I don’t get much time between as others arrive. We wanted Olivia to see her first, and now that she has, everyone else is visiting in shifts.
“Where’s my angel?” Rose blurts out as soon as she enters the room.
“Hi, Grandma.” Elle smiles. “She’s feeding right now.”
“Oh look at her latch right on.” Rose stands next to the bed, giving no space at all. “Don’t forget to switch, or you’ll end up with one breast bigger than the other.”
“Mom. Please.” Evan groans as he and Emily move closer.
“What? I’m just givin’ her new mom advice. Somethin’ you wouldn’t quite know about.”
“No, because I’m not a doctor or anything,” Evan muses as if he’s used to this.
“It’s okay. I appreciate it, Grandma. Where’s Grandpa?” Elle asks.
“He’s waitin’ on the boys, then will drive up,” Evan answers.
Emily makes her way over with tears in her eyes and kisses Elle. “She’s beautiful. I bet Olivia was in heaven.”
“Oh she was,” I respond. “Pretty sure we’re gonna be fightin’ for holding rights.”
“Well then, I better get my time in now,” Grandma says eagerly, holding out her arms.
“Alright, baby girl, are you done? You have some excited people to meet you,” Elle whispers as she slowly moves Elisa.