21. Becoming Wilsons

21

BECOMING WILSONS

LIVVIE

Christmas

W aking up on Christmas morning before Blake, I carefully slid out of his bed. I tiptoed across the floor to the bathroom, where I had everything ready for his surprise in my drawer.

A few minutes later, I headed back, only this time, I climbed over his warm body. By the time I straddled his waist and sat upright, his eyes were open in slits.

“What are you up to, sweet pea?”

“Mm. Merry Christmas, Blake. Here’s your first present of the day.” Just for fun, I’d had a local shop print t-shirts for me. In bold letters on my chest it read I got rescued by the Playboy of Nelson County.

An instant, sleepy smile grew on his face. “Nice. Good start.”

“That’s not all.” I tore that shirt off, revealing another underneath. This one read: Yep, Blake Wilson is off the market. “And on the back it says: Because he’s mine.”

“Another good one.” His cocky smile grew, along with his steel rod under me.

“I think they’ll be great to send a message around town. Don’t you? But wait because there’s more.”

“Oh, yeah?” With a chortle, he adjusted and crossed his arms under his head.

I bit my bottom lip and teased a glimpse of pretty green satin lingerie underneath, lifting one corner of the hemline up, then the other.

“I like what I see. Show me the rest.”

No longer shy about my body in front of him, I gladly ripped the shirt clear over my head, revealing the sexy green bra and panty set. Before, I hid my scar embarrassed of all it represented, but now I have two scars, one on each shoulder blade. Over the weeks following my surgery, Blake took meticulous care of my wound.

One night, he got to looking at the scars closer, and he told me he thought my old scar looked like the shape of a capital B for Blake. While the new scar, more like a capital R for River. He tried taking photos of them to prove it to me, but like watching clouds in the sky and assigning shapes to them, the exercise seemed rather subjective because I just saw blobs.

Since then, I think about my scars from his viewpoint. When it pleases him to see my body naked, he didn’t see the past but rather the letters B and R, for Blake and River, like a sign or a tattoo or a brand on me. The two men in my life bonded to me forever in that way.

His hands caressed up my thighs. “Very creative, sweet pea. But I hope you’re not disappointed because I only got you one present today.”

“It’s not a numbers game. There’s more to enjoy about this day than the presents under the tree. The greatest present is that we’re all together.”

“Just kidding. I have plenty of presents to give you and River throughout the day. You’ll both be spoiled rotten brats.” He pulled me to him, for kisses through his smile. “Merry first Christmas together, baby. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, are you ready for your next present—Uh oh. Incoming.” The pitter patter of little feet ran down the hall to our room. I hopped off Blake, pulled on one of the t-shirts, and covered his naked lap with the comforter just in time before River burst through our bedroom door.

“Merry Christmas,” he shouted. “Can I let Lucky out now?”

We’d had new routines to get used to after moving in with Blake almost immediately after I was discharged from the hospital. One favorite routine River loved was being able to let Lucky out of his crate each morning.

“Yep, go ahead.” Once he was gone, Blake quickly pulled on a pair of boxers and sweats I tossed to him. “What were you saying about gift number two?”

Lucky and River reappeared then, jumping on our bed.

Blake contained their enthusiasm. “Okay guys, Merry Christmas. We love you so much. But Mama was about to tell me about my second present.”

With the three of them staring at me, including the dog, I hadn’t planned things to go this way. But living in the moment, I pulled a small rectangular box out of the side drawer table. “Here. Open it.”

“Want to help, River?” Together they ripped off the green bows and red paper.

“Hm. Mama. A pregnancy test box…unopened.” His eyebrows slowly raised until they couldn’t go any further. “Does this mean…?”

“What does it mean?” River yanked the box from his hands and turned it over and over.

I sat beside them. “When mommies and daddies love each other so much, they have huge hearts and more than enough love to go around. So this is a test that will tell me if there’s a baby growing inside of me. And if there is, we will have plenty of love for you and a baby—your little brother or sister.”

He gasped. “I want a brother. I love Lucky, and he loves me, so we have enough love to give to a brother, too.”

“But you haven’t taken the test yet,” Blake pointed out the obvious.

“That’s because you weren’t around for the first time. So this time around, I want to experience it all with you. I didn’t think you’d want to miss a single moment.”

Wow. I did not expect this simple act to choke him up, but the grown man I loved blinked back tears, held his fist in front of his mouth, tried to breathe, and fought for control. He brought all of us into a group hug.

“I love you so much. You’re right. I refuse to miss a second of this. River and I?—”

“And Lucky,” River pointed.

“Yep. We’ll be right beside you every step of the way, sweet pea.”

“Okay then.” I took the test and headed for the bathroom. They all got off the bed and followed. When I realized they literally meant every step, I stopped them. “Actually, this is the part where I pee on a stick. Don’t need you for this. You can wait here.”

I went in and did my business. I pretty much knew I was pregnant. All the signs were there between tender nipples, a little morning sickness that I’d managed to hide from Blake so far, tiredness, and a skipped period. Once the test confirmed it, I couldn’t wait to see the look on his face and enjoy this moment together.

I exited the bathroom and found them all waiting for me on the bed. Blake sat upright, his feet on the floor, one knee bouncing up and down. When he saw me, he brought me onto his lap. I set the timer on my phone for three minutes.

“Now we wait.”

He scrubbed his chin, lost in thought, as if coming up with a plan. “Exactly how fertile are you?”

“My mom told me each of the women in her family had six children, and never found a birth control method that worked.”

“I might need to contact an architect and add on to this house if we’re going to fill it with so much love.”

“You probably should.” I chuckled. “River would make an awesome big brother.”

“Yahoo. I will. But when do I get to open presents today?”

“I know you’re very excited. As soon as three minutes are up, we’ll head downstairs.” I told him. This Christmas, especially, he knew things were different. He could see some presents under the tree, more than we’d ever had in the past, and those weren’t even all of them, because I’d stumbled upon Blake’s stash of extra presents he had for his son out in the garage.

“Oh, hold on. I’m getting a call.” Blake reached for his phone from the bedside table.

I prayed it wasn’t an emergency calling him away. Those tended to have impeccable timing, interrupting our family often. Thankfully, Blake’s mom had lived as a first responder wife for many years and helped me come to terms with it.

“It’s Dillon—Hello?” He put it on speaker phone.

“Merry Christmas. I’m just a happy dad over here holding a very special tiny delivery from Santa. Meadow says hi.”

“Aw. A Christmas baby. Boy or girl?” I was so excited for her. She really wanted to have a baby on the holiday. Practically everyone in town had a bet on the baby’s sex.

“Boy. Finally a boy,” he announced. Blake and I shared a glance as losers; we’d both bet it’d be another girl for them.

“Congrats, dude. And the name?” Blake asked, standing, and setting me down on the bed.

“In keeping with our girls’ names of Opal, Crystal, and Amber, we named him Jasper. Meadow had a hard time convincing me there was a precious stone name befitting a boy, but turns out there is. Jasper Montgomery kind of grew on me. Hey, I have about six more calls to make to finish all the announcements. Talk soon.”

“Couldn’t be happier for them.” He clicked off the call then reached into a drawer in his dresser. My heart jumped into my throat when he produced a little velvet box and knelt before us.

“But right now, I’m more concerned with our happiness. River, son. I want to ask you two things. The first is, now that you’re my son, will you take my last name Wilson and become River Wilson, instead of River Carlson?”

“River Wilson? Okay. I like it.” He shrugged. My little guy had been through so many changes this year, and each one he accepted like a trooper.

“Great, buddy. Now, this second question, you’ll need to think long and hard about. Ready? Will you give me your blessing to ask your mother’s hand in marriage?”

I clutched my heart.

“Hm. What does that mean?” River asked.

I loved watching Blake squirm and figure out how to explain difficult concepts to an almost six-year-old. “Well, it means I love your mother, and I love you, and I would like to make her my wife so we can all be a family.”

“But we are a family.” He cocked his head.

“Right. We are. But we’ll be…family-er, more family, the Wilson family. River Wilson, Olivia Wilson, and Blake Wilson.”

“And Lucky Wilson. Don’t forget him.”

“Absolutely. Can never forget the family dog. So what do you say?”

The timer chimed on my phone. “Hold that thought.” I stopped their progress.

I took both of their hands and we approached the stick that’d been sitting on the dresser. One glance confirmed my suspicions. I squeezed their hands. “There’s a plus sign.”

“And that means…” Blake brought the stick closer to his eyes, staring at it.

“It means there’s another Wilson to add to the family.”

“Oh baby, yes,” he burst out, laughing, picking me up and swinging me around. River ran circles around us, and the dog barked, too. All of us celebrating the moment. “I love you, Olivia.”

“I love you, Blake. And I love our Good Life Era.”

“Hey, Daddy? I made a decision.”

Blake knelt beside him. “Oh yeah? And?”

“Yep, you can marry my mom.” They hugged sweetly. My heart flooded with love. Would it be strong enough to survive this good life era?

“Thank you, bud. You have no idea how much this means to me to receive your blessing.” Turning back to me, he said, “Now, Olivia?—”

“Yes!” I practically choked his neck, throwing my arms around him so tight. “My answer is yes. Good Life Era, here we come.”

I thought the river of time would chase away the past, but it took my move to Kissing Springs to start over, to heal my heart and old scars, and to start the clock ticking on forever with a new family and the man I love.