Chapter 11

CHAPTER

ELEVEN

Lena

Stanley has been working crazy hours for the last couple of weeks. He's been making sure he's home for dinner and to help put Royce to bed, but he's right back at it after that. So I've officially declared Sundays as family days, and he tries his hardest not to work at all.

The business has grown into more than we ever could have imagined. I'm so proud of him. That's why I took a half day of vacation and picked Royce up from day care early. We're going to stop by and take him lunch. I know he's busy, but I also know that this will be a welcome surprise. Not just for Stanley, but for all of us. We miss him.

"All right, baby boy, are you ready to go see Daddy?" I ask Royce as I lift him out of his car seat.

"Da Da," he yammers.

"That's right." I kiss the top of his head, settling him in the stroller. I make sure to grab my purse, the diaper bag, and the bag filled with our lunch and lock up the car.

"Lena! Hi," Kathy, our receptionist, greets me. "It's so good to see you. And you." She walks around her desk and kneels down to talk to Royce. "You're getting so big." She wiggles his foot, and he giggles.

"I know that sound."

I smile at my husband as he stalks toward us. "Hi, husband."

His eyes heat, which is exactly what I expected with that greeting.

He wraps his arms around me and hugs me tightly before dropping a kiss on my lips. He bends over to kiss Royce on the top of his head. "Not that I'm not happy to see my family, but what are you two doing here?"

"I took some time off. Royce and I decided today was the perfect day to come and have lunch with Daddy."

"This is a wonderful surprise."

"Do you have time to eat with us?"

"I'll make time. Kathy, hold all of my calls."

"You got it, Mr. Riggins."

Stanley slides an arm around my waist and pushes the stroller with the other, leading us down the hall to his office. His desk is covered with pounds of paperwork, and there are three coffee cups on his desk.

"Looks like I came just in time," I tease.

"Yeah." He releases a heavy sigh. "It's more than I ever thought it would be, Lena. I knew I would bust my ass to make this profitable for us, but this—it's so much more. We need to add to the fleet. We're booked and turning down clients. It's… crazy, right?" He laughs, running his hands through his hair.

"So, what are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's time to level up, right? What can I do to help?"

"I love you, wife. I couldn't do this without you."

"Flattery will get you everywhere," I joke. "But seriously, what do you need?"

"I talked to a business attorney earlier today. I think I'm going to rebrand and go bigger. We have the capital to do both. Now is the time to expand with us having to turn away work, and our waiting list is growing by the day."

"Okay, so what does that entail?"

"Well, I'm thinking of a new name. Something more than Riggins Trucking. That was small time, and this is going to be huge, baby. I can feel it. We got into the business at the right time."

"I won't disagree with that, but it's also you. You're good to the staff, and you work tirelessly to make this place what it is. Your grit and determination are what's making this business a success."

His eyes soften. "Help me think of a new name."

After digging into the bag with his lunch, I pass his over to him before handing Royce a french fry. I take a bite of my own burger, tearing off a small bite for Royce, while I think about options.

"We're thinking big, right? How big? Tell me what you're thinking."

"I want to eventually expand. I want hubs all over the US, maybe even go global at some point."

"Right, so an enterprise of sorts."

He stops eating, his burger halfway to his mouth. "That's it."

"What? What did I say?" I ask, taking another bite of my burger. I'm starving.

"Riggins Enterprises. That's the new name."

I swallow and wipe my mouth. "Riggins Enterprises," I repeat, trying the words on my tongue. "It's got a nice ring to it."

"You're a genius, wife."

"Oh, go on," I say, making him laugh.

"It's perfect. I'll email the graphic designer I use and have him work up a new logo. Hell, I think I'm just going to offer him a full-time job. I know he's been working in marketing for a while now. I could use someone like that on the team."

"I'm proud of you." I finish off my burger, giving the last little bite to Royce with another fry. Tossing my wrapper into the bag, I bend over and dig around in the diaper bag for the small box I shoved in there before leaving the house. Once I have it, I place it on the desk between us.

"What's this?"

"A gift."

"Baby, you're my gift. You and our son. This was exactly what I needed."

"I know, but I think you'll like what I got you too."

"Whatever it is, I'll love it. I love you."

"I love you too, Stanley Riggins. Now open the box." I keep my hands fisted in my lap, but my eyes are on him as he grabs the box. He shakes it, as I knew he would, which is why I stuffed it with tissue paper.

"What is it, Royce? What did Mommy get me?" he asks our son.

"Da Da," Royce says happily as he munches on his fry.

"Daddy loves you, little man."

Tears well in my eyes, but I quickly blink them away. I watch as Stanley opens the lid on the small box and digs around in the tissue paper. When he finds it, his eyes pop up to mine. I nod, feeling the tears threaten to fall.

"We're pregnant?"

I nod again. I can't seem to find my words. Part of that is the excitement of expanding our family. The other part is the wonder I see on my husband's face as he learns he's going to be a daddy for a second time.

Stanley stares down at the pregnancy test in his hands before standing and rounding the desk. He walks to where I'm sitting and kneels. He slides his hand behind my neck while the other wraps around my waist. He doesn't say a word as he rests his forehead against mine.

"Mom, Mom," Royce says. I know it's only a matter of time until he lets his displeasure of being left out of this embrace be known.

Stanley lifts his head and presses a soft kiss to my lips. He then does the same thing to my belly over my clothes. "I'm your daddy, and I love you so much."

"Da Da." This time, I can hear the cry in his voice. He's getting mad. Stanley must hear it too. He jumps to his feet and lifts Royce from the stroller. He rains kisses all over his face.

"You're going to be a big brother, Royce. A big brother," Stanley says, tossing our son in the air and catching him. Royce giggles. His earlier anger at being left out is completely gone. "Give Mommy a kiss." He suspends Royce in the air near my cheek, and he gives me a sloppy kiss.

"Oh, you give such good kisses."

"Thank you, Lena. Just… thank you. For this life, for loving me, for being my biggest supporter, for giving me a partner. I love you more than words can describe."

"I love you too, baby daddy." I stand and hug my boys. "I guess it's a good thing that the business is doing so well since we're going to need more diapers."

Stanley tosses his head back in laughter. I was stressed about how to tell him. I took the test this morning and couldn't hold the information from him for long. I'm glad I did it today, like this. It's the perfect moment. Another we will both always remember.

Standing from my desk, I grab my water bottle for a refill after yet another bathroom break. I'm due any day now, and this little man is sleeping right on his mommy's bladder.

We're having a boy.

Royce just turned two, and I still have everything that was his, and we moved him to a big boy room. It's saved us a lot of money, that's for sure. I read somewhere when I was pregnant with Royce not to give away any baby items until you were certain you were done having kids. I listened and packed away everything he outgrew into totes in the basement. Sure, some of the seasons for clothes might not line up, but that's okay. We have a baby boy nursery ready to go, and Royce got his new big boy race car bed. I wasn't sure if he would sleep there, but to my surprise, he loves it and sleeps all night long. I still have a gate in front of his bedroom door, just as we did with the nursery. The little bugger took a liking to crawling out of his crib at night. We also have one at the stairs, because I worry he might fall down them. If we ever move out of this house, I want a sprawling ranch. Stairs are too big of a worry for this momma.

I take two steps when I feel the wetness between my thighs. At first, I think I've waited too long to get to the bathroom, but the accompanying pain in my lower back and abdomen tells me this isn't me peeing myself.

"Lena?" My coworker, Sandra, stands and comes to where I'm hunched over. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. My water just broke." I laugh.

"What?" Panic flashes in her eyes. Sandra is in her late forties and never had kids. "Oh shit," she mutters. "What do I do?"

"I need a ride to the hospital."

"I'll call an ambulance."

"No." I reach out and place my hand on her arm to stop her. "I don't need an ambulance. We're five minutes from the hospital. You can drive my car, and I'll call Stanley to have him meet us there. You can bring my car back here, and we'll get it later."

"Okay. Right. I can do this. What do you need?"

"Hand me the phone." She moves the phone from my desk to the edge, and I pick it up to call my husband.

"Riggins Enterprises, this is Kathy."

"Hi, Kathy, it's Lena. Can I talk to Stanley?"

"Sure, Lena. Please hold." I wait a few seconds before I hear his voice.

"Lena?"

"It's time," I tell him.

"Are you okay? Dammit, I knew you should have gone on maternity leave."

"I'm fine. I'm closer to the hospital here than I am if I were at home. Sandra is driving me in my car. I'll meet you there."

"Tell her to drive safely. She has my life in that car."

"We'll be fine. I'll see you soon."

"I love you, Lena Riggins."

"I love you too." I end the call and place the phone down. "Okay, let's do this."

"He's perfect," I say, smiling down at my son.

"You're both perfect." Stanley kisses my temple. He's sitting next to me from where I'm lying in the hospital bed. "What are you thinking for names?"

"We're terrible at this." I laugh. "Most parents have names picked out before the baby gets here."

"Yeah, we have a list. I like that we meet them before giving them their names. It needs to fit, you know?"

"I agree. It's our thing."

"Yeah, and it will be for the next one too."

"How many are we having, Mr. Riggins?" My heart feels too big for my chest as I think about our growing family. This life we're building together, it's more than I ever could have imagined that it would be. I don't know how many kids we'll have, but I know in my heart we're not done yet. Our family doesn't feel complete, but we're getting there.

"We'll keep going until our family feels complete. We both hated being only children."

"I like that plan." I stare down at our sleeping baby as I mentally go through our list of names. "Owen. Owen Riggins." He's quiet and calm, almost serene. Owen is a strong name for my strong little man. He's got dark hair like his daddy, and his older brother.

"Welcome to the family, Owen Riggins." Stanley bends to kiss his forehead before doing the same to mine. "Breath by breath, my love for you grows," he whispers. His gaze lifts to mine. "Piece by piece, you manage to steal more of my heart and soul when I thought you already owned it all."

"Breath by breath and piece by piece," I repeat, my voice cracking. My heart is so full it could burst with love and happiness. Our family is growing. We have two beautiful baby boys, who I'm sure are going to be the best of friends. I can't wait to watch them grow up together.