New Year's Ring

Chapter Eleven - Mine

Emma P.O.V. – Four Years Later

Darren and I were getting ready to attend our college graduation. We'd both ended up going to Kansas University. I'd gotten a degree in Nursing, to follow in my mom's footsteps, and Darren got his in Physical Therapy. We had both lived in the dorms our freshman year, wanting to give each other enough space to be able to experience college life. For our sophomore year, we decided to get a place together. We'd spent most of our freshman year in only one of our dorm rooms at a time anyway. With our scholarships we were able to pay rent with the jobs we were lucky enough to get.  Darren had gotten a job in the gym on campus.  I was able to get a job as the personal assistant to one of my teachers. It was awesome because she paid well and worked around my schedule. I was almost sad to be leaving the job behind, but I'd gotten hired at KU Med. The really great part is that Darren also got a job at KU Med in the physical therapy department, so we could carpool together.

Our relationship was going strong and I couldn't be happier. Just a month ago, for my twenty-second birthday, Darren had proposed and I, of course, said yes. My mom was over the moon, as was Darren's mom. Mom and Kevin had ended up getting married a year ago and they still reminded me of two teenagers in love for the first time. It was sweet to see and I was glad mom had found that. Darren's mom had also gotten remarried, to Kevin's brother actually. It was kind of weird to think about it, because technically Darren was now my cousin, but it wasn't like we were blood related. Which was a good thing, because I had some big news that I planned on sharing with Darren tonight.

Yes, you guessed it, I was pregnant. No, we hadn't been trying, but apparently condoms aren't fool proof. I'd tried taking birth control pills on top of it, but they always made me so sick, so I couldn't handle them. Condoms have always been our only mode of protection and apparently one had failed. I was actually really happy about it, but I didn't know how Darren would handle it. We'd talked about waiting a year or two after the wedding to start a family, in order to get our careers established. Life had a way of making plans for you, however.

Kind of like how a kink got thrown into Darcy's plans as well. She and Evan had dated for a year before breaking up. Then she'd met a guy named Trenton and they hit it off immediately. They were truly soul mates. Anyone could see that. Poor Trenton ended up getting into a car accident six months ago and he'd lost his memory. Darcy has been by his side, every step of the way, helping him recover and trying to get him to fall in love with her all over again. My heart broke for them, but seeing the way that Trenton had been looking at Darcy lately, I knew they'd be alright. If they could find love a second time, I knew they were meant to be. The doctor's said there was still a chance his memory would return and I prayed that it did. He and Darcy had a lot of memories that I didn't want Trenton to lose forever.

As for Zach, nobody had heard from him in years. He'd joined the military right out of high school and the last we knew he'd been shipped off overseas together. Rumor had it that he was a badass sniper who nobody wanted to mess with. I hoped that, wherever he was and whatever he was doing, he was happy. Zach had been a good friend to both Darren and I, except that one time he tricked me into kissing him. I smiled at the memory of how possessive Darren had been. He was still that way, but he'd gotten a little less intense about it. Apparently, having been with him for a little over four years, had finally convinced him that he was it for me.

I was currently standing in front of the mirror, in our bedroom, turned to the side with my hand on my stomach, wearing my graduation gown. You couldn't see any sign of the baby inside of me yet, but just knowing that he or she was there had me getting all emotional again. It's a wonder that Darren hadn't guessed that something was going on, because I have never cried so much in my life. Pregnancy hormones were the pits.