When sparks fly... [a Roman Reigns story]

41 This special gift

Roman POV

While I hung up the beautiful new picture in the nursery, Amali sorted through the seemingly endless pile of presents we had received at the baby shower yesterday. She sat in the rocking chair as she held each item in front of her and looked at it with a smile.

Hard to believe, but it was only a few weeks until our little one would be born. Time passed so quickly. Too quickly for my taste. But at least the wedding was getting closer every day as well.

"How's that?" I asked my fiancée as I took a step back to look at it.

"Perfect! I love it! Let me tell you... I didn't know my mom had such a talent for painting. Maybe she missed her calling." Amali said.

She was right, it really was perfect. The picture with all the little lilac blossoms framing our princess's name. Her grandma had outdone herself. And I was sure that Lilac would keep this painting forever.

"I agree with you. Speaking of which. Shouldn't they be back by now?" I asked as I walked over to steal a kiss and caress the baby through her skin.

"You know them... probably one supermarket wasn't enough for them. Or it's very busy. After all, tomorrow is Christmas Eve. People always go crazy before the holidays. For my part, I'm just glad I don't have to go shopping." she replied and put her hand on mine. 

"That's true. All right then. Which pile goes in the wash first?" I wanted to know.

"Oh um... everything on the right. These things here are probably still too big. We can wash the blankets and swaddles afterwards." she explained, pointing to the different piles.

"Will do." I replied and then grabbed the first pile.

I went into the laundry room and sorted the clothes by color. After all, we didn't want the white clothes to end up being pink or purple too. There was a lot. I didn't know if she would ever wear it all. But I knew from experience that it was better to be prepared for anything and that babies could get a surprising amount of clothes dirty.

After I had finished, I went back into the nursery. I was just about to say something when I saw that Amali had dozed off. Her head was leaning against the headrest while she snored softly. Not that I would tell her that. Smiling, I pulled out my phone to take a quick photo or two. I briefly considered making a video, but the thought was interrupted when the doorbell suddenly rang.

It was probably Molly and Frank who had finally returned from shopping. I just hoped it wouldn't wake Amali up. My baby mama was exhausted and needed her beauty sleep to bake our little one.

But it wasn't the two of them. Instead, it was a rather large delivery. After I signed for it, the delivery guy gave me a card. I tipped him before I set about bringing the large package into the house. It wasn't too heavy, just bulky.

"What's going on?" I heard Amali ask, yawning as she came closer.

So much for my hope that she hadn't heard anything.

"Delivery. Here's the card. Who's it from?" I wanted to know as I handed her the card and then brought the box into the living room.

Amali opened the envelope and read.

"Dear Amali, dear Roman, as I promised you, I had something big in store for your baby. I'm sorry it didn't arrive for the party. I hope you like it. All the best, Uncle Pauli. PS. Please don't teach Lilac to call me that too, Amali Mae." Amali read and couldn't help but laugh out loud at the end.

And I couldn't help but chuckle too. I carefully opened the box and immediately heard my fiancée gasp.

"Oh my goodness," she gasped.

"That's beautiful. Here's another card, baby," I said, almost speechless at the sight of this beautiful cradle.

"This right here is an antique swing cradle from the 19th century in Art Nouveau style. I hope you and the baby will appreciate it. I wanted something special for your growing family. x P" she read out the second card.

"This is so great. How did he do that? Look at that! Perfect for the living room, isn't it?" she said, running her hands over the dark wood and the small carved flowers.

She carefully pushed it so that the cradle began to sway gently back and forth. I heard her sniffle softly.

I immediately went to her and pulled her into my arms. I gave her a kiss on the hair as we just stood there and looked at this special gift.