When I'm With You

Nate surprised me a few weeks after our wedding with a canvas portrait I didn’t even know was taken. It eerily looks just like the painting in our living room; only it’s a picture of us on our wedding day.

The center being our hands, clasped together at our hips as we both look to the side and into each other’s eyes. You can’t see anything else but half our bodies as we hold hands and look at each other with so much love.

“Honey?” I call from my spot in the corner, having had enough, and I’m ready to knock my handsome husband down a few pegs.

“What?” he snaps.

I turn and look over at where he is petting Chuck with Kaylee hanging on his back.

“I don’t need to cancel that appointment.”

He stands and puts his hands on his hips. Kaylee giggles and I have to fight with my desire to look at the way his muscles always bulge when he does that.

“I don’t need to cancel because I never made one. I picked up an appointment card when I was leaving my gynecologist last week. She shares an office with the urologist.”

“I’m not following.” He looks so damn hot that I struggle not to rush into his arms and kiss him hungrily.

“The way I see it,” I continue as if he hadn’t spoken. “If you get your boy this time, we can make the appointment then. If not, we’ll talk about you giving up on that boy and enjoying a house full of women.”

His eyes widen, and he woodenly starts to walk over to me. Kaylee still laughing and squealing on his back as she continues to act like she’s a monkey. When he’s standing in front of me, he reaches out and I feel his knuckles brush against my belly before reaching up to take my face between his hands.

“My boy is in there?”

“Or girl, but yes.” I smile through my tears. Even though this will be my fourth pregnancy, I’m still overcome with emotion when I think about how far we’ve come together as the proof of our love grows in my belly.

“God, I love you, woman.”

I don’t get a chance to tell him that I love him too because his mouth is instantly on mine. Our girls all start yelling and laughing at their parents as we kiss deeply, my tears mingling with his.

I sink into him and, not for the first time, I realize just how lucky I am to have the love of a man like Nate Reid. True to his word, he’s never stopped making sure that he gave me the world. He thinks I give that to him, but standing there with his mouth on mine while our girls dance around happily, I know that will never be the case.

Eight months later, our world grew with even more love when our son, Elijah, was born and Nate got his boy.

The End