Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 59265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59265 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 296(@200wpm)___ 237(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
And if there was ever a couple that was prepared for a baby, it was us. We had an amazing home. We had experience. Owen had a thriving business. I had a small consulting business with the clients that came with me after I was fired just a few months after I returned from maternity leave. The irony was, even with only a handful of clients, I was making more than I ever did before.
Private schools, first cars, college tuition—that would all be covered. But I was working half as many hours. I no longer had to tolerate the rampant sexism or competitiveness at my old company.
Everything was perfect.
It was the right time for a baby.
Which was good, because one was on its way.
“He said he’s on his way home. He can’t wait to watch you at karate. So bring your plate over so I can put your gi on.”
I was just finishing pulling her hair into a braid when Owen came into the house, pausing to pet Tuna before making a beeline for us.
“Daddy!”
Adelaide launched herself at him, and he snatched her up for a big hug, then set her back down because she said she had to go bring her baby doll to karate too.
“Owen,” I said.
“Yeah?” he asked, coming up to press a quick kiss to my forehead.
“I need to tell you something.”
“Is everything all right?”
“Yes. Perfect, actually.” I sucked in a deep breath. “We’re having a baby.”
The shocked look on his face dissolved into something soft and sweet.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He pulled me against him, his arms tight around me as Adelaide came running back into the room.
I stood there with the man I loved, the little girl who made me a mother, and the baby inside me who would grow our family, and I’d never felt more fulfilled in my life.
Then, crack!
The sound came from right behind me.
We both froze.
Not a second later, water began spraying. On the walls. On the floors. On us.
Owen’s eyes widened.
“No.”
I bit my lip.
“Owen…”
“I installed that sink myself. It’s been fine for years.”
“I know,” I said, laughing as he rushed forward to cut off the water.
He turned to me, water dripping from his hair.
“I swear to God, you somehow brought your bad home luck here with you.”
He wasn’t wrong.
After years of the house giving him not a single cause for alarm before me, since moving in, the powder room toilet stopped working, the electric had to be re-run in the living room, the water line going to the street burst, half the planks on the back porch rotted and needed to be replaced. And now, the sink.
“You knew what you were getting into with me.”
“That I did,” he said, giving me a smile. “I’ll get my toolbox.”
“I’ll get the mop.”
“No need,” Owen said, nodding to the floor.
Glancing down, I saw not only Tuna but our daughter rolling around in the water.
A little whimper escaped me.
I had two baths ahead of me.
Owen caught my eye and gave me a smile.
“Worth it,” he said.
I looked at my wet family, my ruined floor, and the broken sink behind us.
Yeah.
Yeah, it was.
THE END