Second Chance (editing)

Epilogue (Oh My My My)

Take me back to the time when we walked down the aisle. Our whole town came and our mommas cried. You said "I do," and I did too. Take me home where we met so many years before. We'll rock our babies on that very front porch. After all this time, you and I. Oh my, my, my, my. I'll be 87, you'll be 89; I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky. Oh my, my, my.

~Exactly one year later~

    "Do we have to eat this?"

    "It's romantic."

    "It's stale."

Bella takes the top tier of our wedding cake out of the freezer and places it on the countertop in our new apartment. Chloe dances around our feet, waiting for us to drop some crumbs.

    "It's been frozen for the past year. It should still taste good."

    "I don't trust it."

It's tradition for married couples to eat the top tier of their wedding cake on their one year anniversary. I'm sure it's better in theory than in practice.

    "I'll thaw it and it'll taste just like it did on our wedding day."

    "I highly doubt that," I mumble as she sticks the cake in the microwave.

She rolls her eyes.

    "Would you get us some plates? I'll be right back."

Bella disappears into the bedroom and I grab some plates out of the cabinet. Chloe paws at my leg.

    "You'll get some cake, calm down. I can't promise that you'll like it, but I promise that you'll get some."

She chases her tail to burn off some of her excitement. Bella returns right when the timer on the microwave goes off. As she takes the cake out, I take a knife out to cut it. I cut myself a small piece, since I'm still skeptical.

    "How big of a piece do you want?"

    "I got it," Bella says, taking the knife from me.

She cuts herself a piece that, I swear, is a good quarter of the cake.

    "Don't look at me like that. I'm eating for two now."

She rubs her ever-growing baby bump. She's seven months into her pregnancy, but she looks like she's going to burst any minute. I never tell her that, of course. I do tease her sometimes, though.

    "When have you not eaten for two?"

She hits me in the arm.

    "Shut up! I just really like food. And so does our daughter."

I wanted the gender to be a surprise, but Bella insisted on knowing. It was less than a day after she found out that she 'accidentally' told me it was a girl. Honestly, I was kind of hoping for a boy. I know that sounds cliché, but it's not like I wanted to teach him football and take him fishing. It's just that I grew up with two brothers, so it's what I'm used to. But I have warmed up to the idea of having a girl. She's going to be a daddy's girl. I'm going to take her to daddy-daughter dances and we're going to play dress up and have tea parties and she's going to want to put makeup on me and I'm going to let her because I'm going to love her too much to tell her no. Just like I love her mother.

    "Are you ready?"

Bella asks as she digs a fork into her cake. I poke at mine, but I'm still apprehensive.

    "Oh, for goodness' sake, just eat it."

Bella says as she takes a bite of her piece. Hesitantly, I pick up a small piece with my fork and touch it to my tongue. Before I have a chance to decide whether or not I want to eat it, Bella shoves it in my mouth. It hardly passes over my taste buds before I swallow it.

    "See? It's good!"

    "I guess you're right."

    "I'm always right," Bella says, bending down to give Chloe a bit of her cake.

If I've learned anything from being married to Bella this past year, it's that she usually is. She's always looking out for me and keeping my best interests at heart. She's going to be a wonderful mother. I don't notice that I'm staring until Bella says something.

    "Why are you looking at me like that?"

    "Because you're so beautiful!"

    "Oh, stop it! I'm carrying a human inside of me, and I swear these maternity pants don't look good on anyone."

    "They look good on you."

I place my hand on top of hers on her belly and we keep our hands there until we feel the baby kicking. On Bella's roughest days, this calms her. Feeling the life inside of her and knowing that I'm here with her every step of the way keeps her sane. I hear Chloe whining at my feet and I lean down to pick her up. I place her paw on top of our hands and think of how perfect this is. This is our family. We may drive each other crazy sometimes, but it's moments like this that remind us that we're going to be just fine.