I'll Be There

38 | champagne poetry

"I can't stop looking at it."

The light reflected off the diamond, creating brilliant sparkles as Olivia tilted her hand back and forth in front of her face.

The morning had been an absolute dream.

After waking up to a handwritten note instructing her to get dressed for breakfast, she made her way downstairs to find the first floor flooded in roses. A narrow path in the sea of red led her outside and down the steps onto the beach, where, dressed in a cream short-sleeved button down and tan slacks, Spencer waited for her with his hands clasped behind his back and a large grin on his face.

There hadn't been a trace of nervousness left on his face. Having gone through the motions more times than anyone would have expected, he kneeled like a seasoned veteran, his eyes never leaving hers as he asked her to marry him one last time.

Everything had been perfect.

"What if I lose it?"

Spencer chuckled at the sudden panic in her voice, but his eyes remained transfixed on the morning's true show stealer. "You won't lose it."

"But what if?"

"I'll buy you another."

Catching another ripple, he brushed his thumb along the base of her stomach. The baby was restless with energy, and he didn't want to miss one movement. The football season had already taken enough from him.

"Do you feel them all?" Spencer's eyes drifted up towards hers.

"Mhm," she hummed. Though they had scared her at first, the nudges had become her greatest source of peace. A clear sign that their baby was alive and moving.

"Daddy loves you," Spencer murmured, his voice taking on a softness developed just for her belly, "more than you'll ever know. I'll do everything to protect you."

Olivia swallowed hard. These tender moments, once horrifically ripped away from her, never failed to make her emotional. Hardly two years ago, she had been consumed by fear and uncertainty. At the time, the thought of getting pregnant again felt like a guaranteed path to more suffering. But now, seeing Spencer so enamored with this little person that they haven't even met, she never felt happier to have been wrong.

"Your mommy and daddy are so excited to meet you," he whispered against her skin. "There are so many people waiting for you to get here."

"I love you." Olivia kept her voice at a whisper, afraid that if she spoke any louder, it would crack. "And thank you."

He glanced at her hand, now resting beside her. "Thank you for giving me a chance to be a husband and a dad."

"No, thank you for not giving up on me. And our baby."

Sensing a shift, he repositioned himself next to her. His fingers gripped onto the back of her neck and his thumb caressed the slight curve—a tried and true method for helping her stay grounded through the past few months. "Liv, you're giving me the greatest gift I could ever ask for."

Her gaze met his. "Do you think about him?"

"Every day."

Her voice came out weak. "Me, too."

Spencer lowered his lips to hers, pressing softly as he dragged out one kiss, then another. But when he went in a third time, she pressed a hand into his chest, keeping him at bay.

"Sometimes it feels like I'm forgetting. Like everything that is going on now is overpowering what I felt the first time. Like... like... this baby is more important," she croaked, "but he's not less important. He's not, Spencer."