Little Hearts

Epilogue | Our Baby

Epilogue

I never imagined that my life would end up like this. I never imagined being so content with things. I never imagined feeling happiness in such a way. I never imagined that the bad days would become so infrequent. I never imagined anything like this.

"Daddy!"

I smiled and bent down to pick up my waddling little toddler. He giggled uncontrollably as I hugged and kissed him per usual of my homecoming greeting. His laughter pierced my ears, but I couldn't find it in me to care. He was my baby; he was always going to be my baby.

I walked through the living room into the kitchen and smiled at the sight of my love waiting by the oven. By the smell of things, he was cooking a frozen pizza. It warmed my heart that he did this. I never had to worry about my baby going hungry if I ever got home later than normal.

"Hi, baby." He smiled at me and approached me, giving me his usual 'welcome home' kiss. I smiled into the kiss when my toddler's chubby hand hit my cheek. With a playful growl, my lips left Kelly's and my teeth gently bit onto my baby's hand. He shrieked with laughter and pulled his hand away.

"What did I tell you about hitting Daddy?"

"No, no!" he wailed, still laughing.

I resisted the urge to smile at the bubbly four-year-old. "What do you say to Daddy?"

"Kay sawwy, Daddy."

I gave him a loud, obnoxious kiss in return for his apology, causing him to squeal in giggles. I set him down and ushered him to the bathroom. "Let's wash our hands before Papa has dinner ready, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy."

I couldn't help but pick him up and kiss his cheek again. He was still laughing and giggling and playing with my face, but I was completely fine with it. In fact, I encouraged it most of the time. Kaleb was a happy-go-lucky kid, and he always has been. From the time we brought him home from the hospital after our surrogate gave birth to him until now, he was always playing and always smiling.It made me happy, and even more glad that he didn't inherit my inclination towards depression.

With advances in science, Kelly and I were able to have a baby that was biologically ours, but the baby still had to be nurtured and developed in a woman's body. Our surrogate was an old friend of Kelly's from college, and she loved the experience. She was even able to convince her partner to have a child with her after the birth of Kaleb.

Kaleb smiled and played with the bubbles as he washed his hands. I helped him clean all of his hands, instead of just the palms like he normally did, before drying our hands together. He ran back to the kitchen when Kelly called out that the pizza was done. I quickly chased after him to make sure he didn't hurt himself along the way.

"Gotchya!"

He screamed again in excitement before laughing as I placed him in his high chair. I left him there for a moment to go help Kelly. I wrapped my hands around him and leaned onto his side. He smelled like soap and laundry softener—lavender, because that's the one I always buy.

"Do need any help?"

"No, but I do need a proper kiss. A little someone interrupted ours earlier."

I smiled and gave him a soft kiss, just like the ones he usually gives me. He smiled and kissed me a little harder before pulling away to finish cutting the pizza. He placed a small slice onto one of Kaleb's Totoro plates. Dani has force fed him all of the possible Miyazaki movies she could. I had to be careful now, because if I wasn't, she would start showing him anime. God forbid my baby becoming addicted to that at such a young age.