Serendipity: A New Generation of Knights

Part 1: Ch. 14. Love Like This

"She's moving loads right now," Marjorie muttered as Reece stepped out of the bathroom and into their bedroom.

"Oh, yeah?" he replied. "Let's see, little miss. What's going on in Carly's world today?"

Reece kicked his feet up and plopped onto the bed next to his wife, snuggling close to her as he moved her shirt up to expose her skin and placed a hand over her belly. He kissed her bump and proceeded to speak in a low tone.

"Helloooo, Caroline," he hummed, his lips pressed against Marjorie's skin. "This is your father speaking."

His head bobbed a bit as Marjorie giggled, causing her bump and his head to bounce in time with her laughter.

"And your mummy is making a lot of turbulence for you in there," Reece added, peppering little kisses across the area where he could feel his daughter moving.

Marjorie reached down and ran her fingers through Reece's hair. She always adored watching him do anything. She could watch him for hours. But there was something extra special about seeing him interact with their daughter even before she made it to the outside world.

Not a day went by without Reece mentioning his deep-seated fear of becoming like his father. It hurt Marjorie so much to see that it was always something on the back of his mind, but now that he had a baby of his own on the way, the fear constantly loomed in the forefront of his thoughts. If you asked him about it, he'd just brush it off. Of course I'm nothing like him. At least I actually care for the families I work with and the woman I love. But every little seemingly inane sarcastic comment...

You never know when I could flip the switch on that sociopath gene

Well there's always a chance I'll be terrible

You know it's all money, money, money... work, work, work...

Yeah, because it's not a man's job to care

It was clear the fear and trauma was burning in his mind to a point of obsession.

But for Marjorie, those ideas were never even a consideration. She'd seen Reece time and time again care for, interact with, invest in the children in both nurseries, go out of his way to show love to her, his sister, his nephew, and his nephew...

Watching Reece with Benny over the last two years was a complete game changer for her. Having kids had always something been Marjorie was on the fence about, and in the last decade she sat more often on the "no" side of said fence due to her line of work. But throughout the last two years, not only watching Reece with Benny, but watching Benny with Reece - the way the two of them explored the world together, Benny, Reece's shadow, clinging to every little word his uncle said even before he could understand them... Marjorie was more and more convinced that that was the life she wanted with Reece. She experienced how amazing of a husband he was every day, and nothing would stop her believing he would be an incredible father.

Even when he was young, living through things no child should ever have to witness or experience, Reece would always tell himself that he would never do such things to his kids. They would never know fear and horror like that. They would never feel the way his father made him feel. But as an adult, Reece had barely even considered having kids. His only relationship since he was a teenager was rocky at best, so the idea of having children with her was never even brought up. Besides, he had his cousin's kids he could take on outings and day trips. He could enjoy spending time with them and return them to their parents at the end of the day.

Now, armed with the security of a devoted relationship with the love of his life, over the last few years Reece began to lean back towards wanting to have children of his own. The fears persisted, but he could do it with Marjorie. She pointed out to him how amazing of a husband he was every day, and assured him nothing would stop her believing he would be an incredible father.

Reece continued to poke at Marjorie's belly, grinning ear to ear every time his daughter reacted to his touch or his voice. He blew a raspberry against his wife's skin and was swiftly met with a kick to the cheek.

"Dramatic little one," Reece huffed as he pulled his face away in surprise, turning to look into his wife's eyes. "Like her mummy."

"Excuse you?" Marjorie laughed in response. She tugged on Reece's shirt, beckoning him to lay down up next to her.

He complied, crawling up his side of the bed and stealing a quick kiss before plopping down on his pillow. His eyes returned to hers as he wrapped an arm underneath her head, his other hand resting over hers, both on her bump.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

It's a million things about you
And I don't know what it is
But I have never known a love like this