Grace (BWWM)

Chapter Forty-Three: The Last Chapter

I park the truck in the driveway and head towards my very pregnant Gracie. She already stands in the doorway in a dress with a smile, a hand on her swollen belly. She's gained healthy weight with the pregnancy and looks wonderful. Something about the sight of her pregnant always makes me want to love on her.

"Welcome back home, my dear." she says warmly, stretching out her arms. I pick her up, carrying her back inside and shutting the door behind us before setting her down. I give Grace a passionate kiss before responding.

"Thank you; how was the day for you, love? Is our baby treating you well?" I tease and set her down. She laughs, swatting my arm.

"Of course. She was kicking earlier today, but she's settled down now. And my day was fine; I was able to work on setting up some more things. Come and see."

We haven't gotten the gender of our baby checked, wanting to find out when she's born, but Gracie believes she's a girl. She's believed that since the beginning of the pregnancy. I'm not one hundred percent certain like her, but I've been referring to her as our baby girl as well.

Grace takes me by the hand before waddling up the stairs. It's cute, and with being over eight months pregnant, the waddle is definitely apparent.

She shows me the stuff she got today with her sister, explaining things I didn't think about, like a baby toothbrush and reusable diapers. Grace has been in nesting mode the past few days, with an urge to get things in order before the baby comes. It's amazing how much energy it's given her.

I look around, seeing the effort she's made to make our bedroom more ready for our child. I've been reading books to understand what's going on inside both of their bodies, and also what to expect after the birth.

Grace will be getting some much-needed rest after giving birth; she won't be do much besides rest the first week or so. That's something I had to do a bit of convincing on when we discussed. Right now she has the mentality of being a super mom and getting right back into things two days postpartum, but her body needs to recuperate after such a massive event.

"Did you eat much today?" She wasn't really that hungry yesterday and her appetite has been coming and going.

"I ate, but it was not much. I had apples and peanut butter."

Ah yes, the thing she's craved most recently. There was also a craving for apples and applesauce late in the first trimester. Aside from that, she also just really likes tangerines in yogurt—with more apples of course. Her cravings have been on the healthier side, which surprised both of us. I thought she'd want ice cream and gelato.

"Did you want anything?" I ask as she moves to sit on our bed. I help her down and she lets out a breath after getting situated.

"Maybe some more apples."

"How about toast and eggs with those apples?" She makes a face.

"I'd prefer just apples, but . . . I guess I should eat other things."

"Correct."

"But you can have apples with different kinds of things too." She then launches into apple recipes that she found. Grace moves to stand, and I help. "In fact, let me show you," she says, waddling away to find her phone. I shake my head, amused.

The following hours are spent doing that, eating, and just talking. The kids are graduating in a matter of weeks and they're happily wrapping up this chapter and are more than excited to go off to college. Every year has brought changes along with it, but this might be the year with the most changes so far.

All of the kids have extracurricular activities, so Grace and I have more time for one another. There are days when that's nice, but then there are days when I would like to spend more time together as a family—especially before they leave later this year.