black & white

birthday

it was two weeks since trinity had been born.

I woke up feeling off, like I'd forgotten something. I looked up at the calendar that hung on the wall to see what day it was; it was my nineteenth birthday. I'd been so wrapped up in caring for trinity that I'd forgotten my own birthday; not that it mattered, nineteen is relatively insignificant. and I hadn't reminded jack, so I definitely didn't expect anything.

I checked on trinity in her bassinet and saw that she was still sound asleep, and I went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. when I came out, jack was in the bedroom holding trinity, and he smiled at me. "happy birthday, janie."
"aw. I didn't expect you to remember," I said, reaching up and kissing him.
"how could I forget? there's some special surprises waiting for you downstairs."

"you shouldn't have."
"oh but I did. and there's two people downstairs waiting to see you and meet their new baby sister. and they have presents just for you."
henry and scarlett were downstairs; they had just gotten back from month-long trip to europe with their mother.

jack gently laid trinity in my arms and we walked downstairs;  the kids were sitting at the kitchen table.
"jane!" they got up and ran to me, hugging me around my waist.
"I've missed you both so much," I laughed, smiling at them.
"why don't you guys let jane sit down and you can both meet trinity while I make breakfast," jack said, pulling my chair out for me.

they each held her for a minute, trying to pick out which traits she got from who.
"I think she looks more like jane," scarlett said, holding trinity's little hand.
henry shrugged his shoulders. "she just looks like a baby to me."

I laughed and he smiled at me.
the kids had each gotten me a birthday present, a gesture I was totally blown away by; scarlett had gotten me a set of blue earrings and henry gave me a little wooden jewelry box that he'd made with his dad.

"I love them. you guys are wonderful." I hugged each of them and they looked proud of themselves.
we ate our breakfast and later I sat on the couch with the kids; trinity slept in scarlett's arms, and she and henry were cuddled up at my sides, my arms around them.

that night after the kids had been put to bed, jack gave me my birthday presents from him.
"you spoil me too much," I said, laying trinity in her bassinet.
"I love spoiling you. this one was meant to be part of your engagement ring set, but I kept it back and had something added."

I opened the little box and found a plain silver band that matched my ring.
"look at the inside of the ring," he said, having noticed my confused look. he was smiling.

the ring had trinity's name and birth date engraved in it. "trinity jane gillis. 01.03.19." I was at a loss for words.
"jack." I'd started to cry; I couldn't even get my words out. "it's beautiful."
he kissed me on my forehead and slipped the ring onto my finger with my engagement ring.

"I bought the set of three rings, two of them bands, so I figured that would be an appropriate use for one of them. the third will be your wedding band," he said. "that's why I waited until after we had trinity to propose so I could take her birth date and the band to the engraver."

I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him for the longest time.
"I love it jack. and I love you," I cried, running my fingers through his hair.
"I love you too, janie. more than anything," he said, kissing me again. "here, open your other gift."

he'd also gotten me a baby blue sweater since I was cold a lot of the time; and baby blue was my favorite color.
"I love it, jack. you've done way too much."
"I wouldn't have done it if I didn't want to."

I kissed him again. "I'm so happy. with you. with our baby. with everything."
we heard a little knock on the bedroom door, and scarlett and henry stuck their heads in.
"we can't sleep."
jack smiled and shook his head. "come on."

he peeled the blanket back and they got in between us; scarlett cuddled up to me, and jack took henry into his arms. the kids fell asleep almost instantly, trinity included; she slept soundly in her little bassinet beside the bed. jack and I smiled at each other, and we gently leaned in and kissed each other before falling asleep ourselves.

I was feeling nothing but pure bliss.