Marked

Bonus Chapter #2

It was a good thing that Parker was the one driving. My hands were already shaking enough. I didn't need the added stress of driving and not killing us both. 

"It came so soon," I said quietly, looking over at Parker. He was acting calm, but we had both been running around the house yelling a few hours earlier.

It was something that we had wanted for so long. We both wanted this more than anything in the world.

I looked in the backseat at the car seat that was sitting behind the driver's seat. 

"What if she hates us both? Or what if Allie decides that she wants to keep her?" I asked.

"Seb. Allie has made it very clear that she doesn't want kids of her own. She said, and I quote, 'I'm fine with being the cool aunt who goes on vacations all the time,'" 

Allie had agreed to be a surrogate for us. It was surreal. We were having a daughter. With some help from me, we were going to have a baby with features from both of us. I was excited, but also so scared. 

We were both at good places in our careers. I was a therapist for kids. I helped kids who were in worse situations than I was, and I loved doing it. There's really nothing that can compare to knowing that you made a difference in someone's life. Sometimes I get letters from kids I've treated before. Some of them are doing amazing now.

Parker's a science teacher at the same high school he went to. He coaches the swim team, and they're really good. He's even said they're better than his team was. 

We had a nice house. A dog. We were in the perfect place to have a baby, but both of us were still so scared. I for one, was terrified I would make a big mistake that would actually hurt her. 

"We're gonna be parents," I said.

"I'm terrified," Parker said. "We didn't even decide on a name yet!" 

"We can decide after she's born. Speaking of that, you better drive faster! I don't want to exactly miss the birth of our daughter,"

Our daughter. It felt so weird to say. We had been preparing for this moment for months now. There was a painted and decorated nursery in the bedroom down the hall from theirs. We had everything that we were going to need. Everyone told us that we were ready, and I knew that we were ready. But we couldn't really know what to expect. I didn't think any amount of parenting books could prepare us for the real thing.

"I'm already going five miles over the speed limit. Not wanting to get pulled over here,"

I was going crazy the entire time on the way to the hospital. As soon as we parked the car, we were both running inside.

"Allie Adams?" Parker asked the receptionist.

"You guys the dads?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "Because she made it very clear that nobody except you two are allowed in there,"

"Yep. That's us," Parker confirmed with a nod.

"Room 349," The nurse said, pointing in the direction of the room.

I walked right next to Parker, holding his hand tightly.

He knocked on the door lightly. When there wasn't a reply, he just opened the door. Allie was on her bed, and she looked exhausted.

"You idiots are lucky I love you, because this is worse than hell!" She screamed as soon as she saw us walk in.

***

The sound of a baby crying filled the room. Parker smiled at Allie. "I love you so much," He said.

I looked at the doctor at the end of the bed, who was holding the baby. Our baby.