Broken Lantern

Chapter Fifteen

I wake up and reach over for Kevin but he's not there. The bed beside me is empty, but I know he's here.

We've actually slept in the bed every night for the past few months. I haven't had a single nightmare and I haven't broken down once!

I hear Kevin moving around in the kitchen and the smell of coffee brewing draws me out of the room. I walk into the kitchen and see him wearing my black apron and I can't help but laugh so hard my stomach starts hurting. My apron is black with tiny pink hearts all over it and it's got pink frills running along both sides.

"What? You don't like my fashion statement?" He says, holding the spatula out to the side and looking down at the apron and back up at me. "I'm not getting bacon grease all over me and I am not too good to wear pink hearts and frills." He says turning back to the stove.

"Sit down and breakfast will be right up."

I look around and this guy has scrambled eggs, toast, jelly and butter, cut up pieces of cantaloupe and orange juice already on the table. "You know... you're kind of awesome", I tell him, smiling at him shaking his booty back and forth as he flips the bacon over in the frying pan.

"Yeah, so I've been told", he says, smirking at me over his shoulder.

"Humble too", I quip back.

I pick up a piece of toast and start buttering it and slapping blueberry jelly on it too. "I'm starving! And this all smells so delicious!" I tell him, grabbing two spoonfuls of scrambled eggs. "Ok, I'm ready for the bacon now, can't you hurry it along or something?" I ask, teasing him.

"Coming right up, my dear", he says as he turns to put the bacon on my plate. "Thank you, sir."

He comes around to sit next to me, filling his plate too. We begin eating and he tells me he's been up since 4am, putting together the crib and the changing table, which are both now neatly and safely in the nursery. Which is good because I'm only two weeks away from my due date and have been told by my doctor that she'd be surprised to see me go another week.

I've already started to dilate; I can feel the shift in the baby's position and the pressure that's now on my lower abdomen. I've been using the bathroom a lot because of this change, and I've been having some Braxton Hicks contractions, which scared the holy hallelujah out of us the first few times. We had grabbed the hospital bag and run out of the house, headed to the hospital twice in the middle of the night, only to be checked out and sent back home again. It was embarrassing but also necessary seeing as neither of us have any idea what we're doing or what to expect as far as real actual labor.

"I want to see what you've been doing in there, Kevin. Can I please come in and take a look now?" I whine at him, begging him and giving him my best sad puppy dog eyes.

"Yes, ma'am, I believe it's ready for you now."

He'd said the nursery was off limits for the past few days. Ever since the baby shower, last Saturday, he refused to let me in. He said he wanted to surprise me. I'm so stinkin excited to see what he's been doing; it's been hard not to take a peak while he's working on the farm with my dad.

I finish up my breakfast and start to get up to go check it out when he grabs me by the waist and pulls me down on his lap, moving my hair and kissing the back of my neck, he tells me, "Not so fast! I want to see you when you see it." He gets up, lifting me up with him and we walk into the hallway.

Kevin goes first, opening the door, bringing his hand around to flip the light switch on. He steps in and lets me pass into the room.

I look around at the colors and the cute mint green furry rug on the floor in front of the beautiful crib he bought for her. Then I see the changing table and the little stuffed lamb that Elaine bought her, sitting on the table.

The room is all pale pink and mint green, with a little white here and there. The white rocking chair that my mom and daddy bought me is tucked in the corner, the cushion on the chair is pale pink and so is the cushion on the rocking ottoman that sits in front of it. There's a table in front of the window with a beautiful white lamp that has little baby lambs all over it, the lamp shade is mint green with little white polka dots all over it.

It's all so gorgeous and I love everything he's done in this room. But when I turn to look at the crib and see the white edges of a frame peaking from behind the curtain, my breath catches, and my eyes go wide. I look from the frame to Kevin and back again, walking over to push the curtain back all the way, there on the wall is the framed photo collage that Mr. Williams had left on my front porch. In the center is a sonogram photo of Dallas, that I can only guess Kevin gave to him. It's the one that says, "It's a girl!!" To the top left of that is a baby picture of Darry and to the top right, a baby picture of me.

Underneath the sonogram photo is a picture of me and Darry, dancing our first dance at our wedding, but it was a special one because it was taken up close, right when he had leaned in to kiss me. I remember Bobby taking the photo because of the flash shocking us out of the kiss and the way Darry had laughed at the look on my face. It was a very sweet memory of our special night. I was grateful that Bobby had taken the photo and even more grateful that he had done this for me and Dallas... and Darry. The photos were all placed just so, when you look at them standing back, they form a heart. At the top of the frame the words, "I'll love you, forever" are boldly displayed in soft pink letters that really stand out against the white background.

"Thank you, Kevin. Thank you so much for hanging this here. I think you picked the perfect place for it." I tell him, hugging his neck, fighting back the tears. "You made this room beautiful. Dallas will love it just as much as I do, I'm sure of it. We're both so lucky to have you."

He kisses me and walks over to open her closet door, showing me all of her pretty dresses and sweaters hanging neatly, just waiting to be worn. He has her tiny little shoes lined up straight and in a row on the shelf above the dresses. And on the floor of the closet are bags and bags of diapers and baby wipes that people had brought to the shower. There are bags in every size from newborn and up. "We won't have to buy diapers, like ever!" I tell him and he nods in agreement.

When we're finished looking at the room we turn to leave and walk into the hall. I've almost reached the foyer and ready to go into the livingroom when I feel something wet run down my leg. I don't understand what's happening at first, and then it hits me. "Kevin! I've either just peed myself or my water just broke!" I scream out in a full-on panic. I'm standing in the hallway, my legs bent open, looking down at the puddle of water below me, not knowing what to do and not wanting to move in case the baby falls out.

Kevin grabs the bag and then he grabs me and carries me out the door, not phased one bit by my wet clothing touching him. He starts the car and takes off down the driveway, honking the horn over and over as we pass my parents' house. My dad sticks his head out of the barn and sees us flying down the gravel path, dirt flying up all around us. Daddy throws down the towel he's holding and runs for his truck calling my mom to come on. My dad puts it in drive just as Robby jumps into the back seat of the truck and they are soon right behind us.

"We have to call Darry's parents and your parents and Matt, and Brittany, and Jessica and Joel..." I start listing off names, anxiety overtaking me. Kevin pats my knee and says, "It's ok, babe, I've got it under control. We have a system, remember? Your mom is calling Darry's parents right now, and Elaine will notify my parents who will then call everyone else. It's ok, you just breathe and try to relax... we're about to meet our girl!" He says, grinning from ear to ear like a proud daddy.

My heart aches for a minute at the thought of Darry missing this. The tears come but I refuse to let Kevin see me cry over this right now. He's just as much her daddy, he's been here the whole pregnancy. He's done everything that Darry would have gladly done for his daughter and me but couldn't be here to do. Kevin is her daddy too. He deserves to have this moment.