We Are Free

Rooms And Reveals Part 2

     "Rebel Taylor! It's a girl!" She starts crying uncontrollably. She hugs Halo's round stomach and says I love you over and over again. Our little baby girl. Our little Rebel Taylor. The cake was pink and it had little converse on top that were pink. There was balloons and a banner that said "It's a girl". Zac hugs me.
     "Congrats man!" Zac says.
     "Thanks!"
     "The baby's name is Rebel?!" Zane looks at me like I am crazy.
     "Yup!"
     "Who came up with that?"
     "I did!"
     "Oh, I like it."
     "Thank you." I set him down and Anna had games ready. Zac and I take the banner with Rebel's name on it down and throw it away. We play a game of what's in the diaper. 
We sit at the coffee table.
    "Okay, this game works by you guess what candy is in the diaper. If you get it right you get a piece of that candy. Get it wrong and you get a handful of whip cream to the face. Just to make it interesting. Who's ready?" Anna asks us. We all agree that we are ready. "Jace first." They laugh at me and she hands me a diaper. I open it and find chocolate inside.
      "How do I figure it out?" I ask.
      "I don't know." She says.
      "You are going to ruin me ever eating chocolate again once Rebel is born." They all laugh at me. I am going to go with a peanut butter cup."
     "Yup!" She hands me a peanut butter cup. I hand it to Zane and he smiles. Anna hands a diaper to Zac. He looks at it.
     "Is this candy cane?" He asks.
     "Jolly Ranchers!"
     "Damn it!"
     "Chloe, would you like to do the honors?" She sprays some whipped cream on her hand and she rubs it in Zac's face. Zac gets some on his hand and puts it on her face before putting some on Blake's nose.
She laughs they go and clean their faces up. Zac wipes Blake's nose with a baby wipe. They sit back down and Chloe goes next. She gets it right and Emily goes.
She gets it wrong and Andrew rubs the whipped cream in her face. We play until we run out of diapers. Halo didn't want any how big is her belly games. She isn't done growing.
When we play like 2 games we eat. We have sandwiches and chips. We drink soda and juice. We talk.
     "So, Halo, How does it feel to be pregnant?" Chloe asks me.
      "I can't see my feet!" We start laughing. "I feel really fat and I want her out."
     "14 more weeks to go."
     "Shut up!" We start laughing again. When we finish eating we open presents. Zac hands them to us. Anna helps him.
      We get blankets, bottles, clothes, baby toys, teething rings, pacifiers, socks, shoes, head bands, and a rocker.
We get a baby medicine kit. Baby hangers, Zac and Chloe gave us more clothes then we know what to do with. Anna got us a crib. Halo started crying. Anna told her not to worry about it.
We got little toys to hang from the handle of the car seat. We got a stroller, and a bunch of other things. We thought we were done but we aren't.
Anna has one more game for the kids. It was a hide and seek game. They go around and look for things. When they find the stuff we will split and leave. Chloe wants to take the kids home except for Zane.
The kids find their prizes. We all get ready. Zac and I put everything in the car. Andrew, Zac, Zane, and I go to the store. Chloe takes Blake and Ryker home. Anna, Halo, and Emily go to the store.
We put Zane on my hip. Andrew holds Zac's hand. We get a crap load of baby stuff.
     "Damn it is early. I can come over today and help you." He offers.
     "You sure?" I ask.
     "Yeah."
     "Pretty dress for Rebel Uncle Jace!" Zane says. I grab the dress he was pointing to and it was really cute and pretty.
     "You like that?" I ask him.
     "Yeah!"
     "Me to."
     "What's the most exciting part of Rebel being born?"
     "That her birthday won't be in June, July, or August."
     "No shit, that crap is for the birds."
     "Exactly."
     "Jace look socks."
     "Put them in the cart."
     "Think we have enough?"
     "Yeah, we have a lot of shit at home. The stuff we got today, then what we have now, plus what Halo got."
     "Okay, I got like half of this." He says.
     "Damn right you do." He starts laughing and we go to check out. He pays for 2/4 the diapers and wipes. He pays for 15 outfits, two things of socks, a pair of shoes, and some toys.
He also pays for two bottles, and a diaper mat. I pay for the rest and we go to my house. We bring everything inside and set it in the living room. I give Zac some clothes to change into so he could move more easily. Halo comes home and they bring all the bags in. She got a lot to.
     "I had an idea." Halo says.
     "Sure." I say.
     "We got little wooden letters. We can paint them and put poka dot stickers on them and put them above the crib to spell her name."
     "I love it. Do you and Emily want to do that while Zac and I start building things? Also it would be helpful if you could put a load of baby clothes in the wash."
      "Yeah, I can manage that."
      "Awesome." I go back to Rebel's room and Zac and I push everything to the corner of the room. We want to set the crib up against the far wall because it is the widest. We unbox the crib and start putting it together. We have a mattress for it.
     "This goes in here." Zac says.
     "No, it goes in here." I say.
     "This bar goes in this hole then you screw it down!" He says.
      "Dumb ass there is no hole to screw it into."
     "Ohhhh, okay." I roll my eyes at him.
     "If this falls with Rebel in it I am coming after your ass."
     "I will test it."
     "You better." We continue building as Halo and Emily make the wall decor. Halo washes Rebel's clothes and Andrew stays with us. We finish the crib in a half and hour. It was 3:00.
We lift it up and set it against the back wall. We lay the mattress in it. Zac gets in and lays down. I take a picture of him. I get in with him and lay on him.
     "Halo!" I yell. She comes to the room.
     "What the hell did you two do?"
     "Well we made the crib then we go in it."
     "Yeah, you can get your self out to. I can't lift nothing heavy."
     "That explains a lot!"  Zac and I look at each other and start laughing. Halo flips me off and rolls her eyes.
     "If you want to carry her in your uterus be my guest."
     "I don't have a uterus." I say.
     "Unfortunately." She rolls her eyes again. I get out of the crib. Zac gets out and falls on the floor. I help him up. We laugh at each other again. "This is why you two were not left left home alone."
      "I am not mature enough to handle fatherhood."
     "Obviously." She rolls her eyes again.
     "Wait where is the dog?" I ask.
     "Why?" I grab a diaper and call Bowser. She comes to me and I hold her as Zac puts a diaper on her. We laugh at her. Halo sits on the ground and takes the diaper off of her.
     "Poor dog, there you go." She pats the dogs head and Bowser leaves. Zac and I work on building the dresser. We build the drawers and the main part. It takes us an hour. We start putting baby clothes in it.
We put onesies, outfits, pjs, socks, head bands, shirts, and pants in it. I look at the small clothes, diapers, and all the baby things. I just want Rebel to get here. I want to hold her and love on her.
I will be a damn good father. I will be better than mine was. She will be my baby girl no matter how old she gets. I'm in love with her and I haven't even met her yet. I look at her small dresses, pink socks, and little footie pajamas.
They were all so small and she will be small to. We set up the rocker and leave it in her room. Zac leaves around 5:00 when Halo starts dinner. I start putting together Rebel's car seat. When I finish with it dinner is ready.
I clip the toys onto the handle of the car seat. I set it in her room and eat dinner. We have to finish putting things away, other than that the nursery is done. We just have to wait for her to come.
Halo wants to stay home when we go to the carnival. She can't go on anything and she will just feel bad if she goes. We send the kids to bed a little later that night. Halo and I go to bed soon after. She lays in bed with her shirt up and I talk to the baby. I feel little tiny movement.
      "She only does that when you are doing that." Halo tells me.
      "Well, I can get use to that." I just lay there and for a moment everything in my life is just perfect. I have a baby on the way. I'm getting married.
Everything I thought would never happen to me because of where I come from is happening. She doesn't care. When every last arrow had pierced my skin, and my world was caving in, she was there.
I always waited for her to run away or hide. She never did she stood by my side even though she could have gotten hurt. She didn't see the danger. She saw me. She wiped my cuts and the blood from my body without questions knowing where they came from.
I always asked her if she was sure she wanted to stay, if she left I would have understood. She never did. She loved me just the way I was and she still does.
She loved me for my commitment and strength to stand up and take responsibility for my family. She loved me for the fact that no matter what I was always there when she needed me and I always smiled.
She loved me for the fact that I would cry when I couldn't take it and ask for help when I needed it. She loved me for the fact that even though everything was going on in my life it didn't change me.
It made me even better. Despite everything that happened to me I was still loving and caring with my siblings and with anyone else I met. There's so many things she loved me for. That's why she stayed. Looking back on everything, I'm glad she did.