Chapter 18 - THE NEW CHAPTER
On a warm afternoon in July, James and I stood in the backyard watching Caleb run through the lawn sprinklers with Barnaby, the golden retriever.
The garden was in full bloom—vibrant red tomatoes, sweet basil, and tall sunflowers swaying gently in the summer breeze.
James walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, his hands resting gently over my stomach.
I turned my head, smiling up at him, placing my hands over his.
“Do you think we have room in the new house for another bedroom?” I whispered softly.
James froze. He looked down at me, his slate-gray eyes widening in rare, stunned surprise.
“Clara?” he whispered, his voice trembling slightly. “Are you…?”
I nodded, tears of pure joy glistening in my eyes. “Four months. The doctor confirmed it yesterday. It’s a girl.”
James let out a breathless, joyful laugh that echoed across the sunny yard. He lifted me completely off my feet, spinning me around in a circle while the warm summer wind rushed around us.
Caleb stopped running through the sprinkler, wiping water from his eyes, staring at us in confusion. “Dad! What’s happening? Why are you spinning Mom?”
James set me down gently, keeping his arm firmly around my waist, and motioned for Caleb to come over.
Caleb ran up, dripping wet, grinning.
James knelt down in the green grass, looking straight into our son’s eyes. “Caleb, how would you feel about being a big brother?”
Caleb’s jaw dropped. He looked at me, then at James, and then his face erupted into the biggest, brightest smile I had ever seen.
May you like
“A big brother?” Caleb gasped. “I can teach her how to build birdhouses! And how to play soccer!”
“You’re going to be the best big brother in the world, buddy,” James said, pulling both of us into a tight, warm family embrace right there in the middle of the sunny lawn.
