What if? [a Kyle O'Reilly story]

19 A wonderful day

"So my darlings. I think we have a lot of nice shots. You can get dressed again and then I can show you some photos if you want," said Sarah, the photographer we just had a pregnancy photo shoot with.

Kyle pulled his t-shirt over his head while I buttoned my blouse. I was so glad we did this today. Time went by so fast and we were able to capture this precious time for eternity.

"Oh I love those! Absolutely gorgeous." I said to Sarah as me and Kyle looked at the monitor together while he stroked my back.

"Yeah, especially the black and white photos with the white shirts look great." Kyle praised.

"I'm glad you guys like them. How long do you have until the young lady arrives?" she wanted to know.

"Hard to believe, but it's only eight weeks away," Kyle replied.

"I bet you guys are already excited! It's a great time. Do you guys have a name for the little one already?" asked Sarah.

"Yes, but we're keeping it to ourselves. I don't know why, but I don't want it all to be known beforehand. To us, she's the cookie." I said, looking up at Kyle with a smile.

He gave me an loving kiss and put a hand on my by now quite big belly. His thumb drew little circles where he felt our daughter.

"That's understandable. And I love the nickname. It's adorable. Do you want to have pictures taken of the little one after she's born, or do you want to do it yourself?" she then wanted to know.

"I think we'll come back to you when the time comes. What do you think, Kyle?" I replied.

"Absolutely. Say, could you print us out some of the pictures right now?" he said.

"Of course. Tell me which ones you want and I'll take care of it. The rest I will edit then. You have the list of possible products. Once I send you the photos, you just need to let me know in what format you want which pictures and whether you want albums or canvases and so on with the pictures." explained Sarah.

We looked through the seemingly endless photos and picked out a few we wanted to take right away. Sarah then left the room to get to printing the selected photos for us.

"This was such a good idea!" commented Kyle.

"Yes, I think so too. They turned out so beautiful. I think our families and friends will like them too." I replied.

"I'm sure they will. But no one gets to see the topless pictures but me." he said.

"They're just boobs, Jellybean!" I laughed.

"I know, but they're my boobs. Well I mean, they're yours, of course, but I should be the only one to see them. Well, and the cookie if you breastfeed her." He babbled as his face turned red.

"Oh jealous Jellybean." I teased, rubbing his thigh.

"Just a little bit. But I'm serious. These more intimate pictures are just for us." he replied, kissing my temple.

"I feel the same way. Can we go to Target right now to get picture frames? I'd like to hang some of the pictures." I wanted to know.

"Um... sure, no problem." he replied, stuttering.

"Are you all right? We can do it tomorrow if you prefer." I said surprised by his reaction.

"No, no. We can do it right now. I was just expecting you to need a nap or something." he said quickly.

There was something weird about this. But I didn't have time to think about it because Sarah was already returning with our photos. We thanked her and then headed out to do some shopping. I took the opportunity and bought a few more cute outfits for the baby. I just could not resist.

However, I noticed how nervous Kyle was getting with each passing minute and that he kept checking to see what time it was.

"Okay, let's go home. I'm hungry." I said after we paid and headed back to the car.

I watched Kyle closely and somehow he looked relieved. It was probably nothing, but still I couldn't stop thinking about what was going on with him.

"What are all these cars doing here?" I asked as we pulled into our street and I saw all the cars parked there.

"Oh um... I have no idea." replied Kyle as he parked and then got out to help me out of the car.

Together we walked to the front door, which Kyle then opened and let me enter.

"Surprise!" it echoed towards me.

I covered my mouth with my hands in surprise. The living room was full of people and it was decorated in pink and purple.

"Oh my god!" I whispered.

"Welcome to your baby shower, sweetheart." said Kyle to me and gave me a kiss on my hair.

So that was what he was nervous about! He knew we were expected home. But I had not expected it at all. Because apart from the quarrels of the girls about who could make the party, at the beginning of my pregnancy, nobody had said a word about it.

"Did you do that?" I asked Kyle.

"Yep, with a little help." he replied proudly.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close, well as close as I could. Kyle placed his hands around my hips and rested his head in the crook of my neck. Tears of joy ran down my face as we just stood there and hugged.