Sleep depravity has never felt so good. I should barely be able to function, but right now I am high on happiness and joy. I woke up this morning with Wendell snoring softly next to me and Shayne’s sweet grunts.
Wendell seems to be feeling just as good as I am. “Good morning beautiful,” is the first thing he says to me.
“I just called a baby sitter,” he says with his hands behind his back.
I find this odd. “What? Why? I can’t leave Shayne with a babysitter already,” I say feeling panicked at Wendell’s suggestion.
“We have something that we need to take care of,” he says pulling a beautiful bouquet of white roses from behind his back.
I’m too surprised to continue expressing my reservations about the babysitter.
He takes advantage of my shock. “Baby, I said that I wanted to marry you and I meant it. I want you to be my wife…today.”
“Oh Wendell…I want to marry you too, but do we have to leave the baby?” I ask, finding it hard to resist the yearning within his eyes.
“We’ll make it quick. He’ll probably sleep the whole time we’re gone. Please Athena. Let’s make this official.”
In the end, Wendell convinces me that the time is now and we leave to make our new lives together official like he said. First, we head to city hall for our marriage license. Once all the legal requirements are completed, we purchase rings and head somewhere else to make our vows to each other.
It’s funny how we think we know what we want in our lives. And sometimes we do, but we don’t have the details right. We head to the spot where I used to daydream about love. At the time, I thought it was Desmond that I wanted…
…but now I know that I was not yet ready to understand true love…until now.
But the right time has arrived and here I am, next to a man who not too long ago was a stranger. “This spot is perfect,” Wendell says. “Are you ready?”
I pull out his ring and begin speaking from the heart, “Wendell Harding our paths crossed at the perfect moment, like a fairy tale, but even I couldn’t have dreamed up this perfect moment. I look forward to building a future, a now…a forever with you.”
I pause to gain control of my emotions. “I pledge myself to you now and forever,” I say completing my vows.
Wendell’s voice is shaky with emotion when he places the ring on my finger. “I believe that God himself guided my steps the day I met you. You literally jumped off the page of a book into my life.”
Wendell looks up into my eyes, “I knew the impossible the first moment I saw you there on that bench in the park. I knew that I wanted to be here, right where we are, vowing our lives to each other. I promise to love you and Shayne for the rest of my life. I dedicate my whole existence to you and you alone as my wife.”
“I love you now and forever,” he finishes.
“I love you now and forever,” I repeat.
We kiss as man and wife.
“I still find it hard to believe that this is real. I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” I whisper to him.
“Yeah, me too,” he agrees.
“Can we go home to Shayne now?” I ask, hoping that I haven’t ruined the moment.
He laughs. “I was just thinking the same thing,” he admits.
We arrive home and just as Wendell promised, Shayne slept the whole time we were away.
Wendell and I are all over each other before Lisette and Renee can get out the door good. The affection we share is immeasurable.
“I can’t believe that we’ll be married tomorrow. Are you having any second thoughts?” I ask after pulling back from his embrace.
“Well, most people would think we were crazy…getting married so soon. Like you said, we really just met…”Wendell begins.
“…but some things are just divine and can’t be explained or quantified. I love you with all of my heart and I have the rest of my life to learn everything else that I need to know about you.”
I’m so touched by his words. And I feel that he is right…our love is divine.
Because I’m so far along in my pregnancy, Wendell wants to avoid us being intimate, just in case it hurts the baby. I’m so tired that I don’t argue.
Wendell awakens in the middle of the night when he hears me groaning.
It’s not long before my womb begins to contract tight enough to wake me up from my deep sleep. “Oh no!” Is the first thing I say. “But we’re not married yet!”
Wendell stands by helpless as I try to breathe my way through the pain. “Athena! What do you want me to do?” He asks; his voice panicked.
I ignore him and concentrate as I feel a burning sensation and the baby moving downward. I was hoping to give birth in the hospital, but I can feel the baby coming now.
Between contractions, I dress and make my way to the living room in an attempt to get to the hospital, but we don’t make it out the door before the baby arrives.
I deliver a healthy baby boy.
We name him Shayne Harding and he is absolutely beautiful.
Wendell is totally enamored with his son. “Athena! He’s so beautiful,” he says over and over again.
In the meantime, our other newest family addition, Deebo makes himself at home in his doghouse that Wendell brought from home.
Cupid curiously walks around Deebo’s doghouse.
Back inside, Wendell agrees to the duty of calling Lisette for me, to let her know that the baby has arrived. I’m too tired to listen to her endless rambling. I practically fall into bed; exhausted.
I manage to get a few hours sleep before Shayne wakes up with a soft whine.
I don’t mind the lack of sleep. His sweet face looking up to me is all that matters to me right now.
Wendell arrives a lot sooner than I expected. “Did you finish grading papers?” I ask, hoping that I haven’t kept him from doing his job.
“I rushed through them. I couldn’t wait to get over here,” he answers.
“I have to warn you…my friend Lisette insisted on throwing me a bachelorette party.”
I lead Wendell into the house. “So no male strippers?” He asks, amused.
“I’m sure Lisette wanted to hire one. Thank God she didn’t,” I answer.
Wendell chuckles, “So how are you feeling?”
Lisette hears Wendell’s voice and walks over. “So is this Wendell?” She asks.
“I thought I said no fiancés,” Lisette says in her joking tone.
Wendell appears to be tickled over Lisette’s bold sassiness.
“By the way, I’m Lisette,” she says introducing herself to Wendell quickly before turning back to me. “You’re not supposed to invite your fiancé to your bachelorette party,” she repeats.
“I didn’t…I invited him to my baby shower,” I say using my unique predicament to my advantage. Wendell smiles and for once Lisette doesn’t have a funny – smart reply to that.
Wendell, appearing to be thoroughly entertained, looks at her as if I’d won the battle. “Well…I guess that’s OK then,” she says.
Although I know the whole conversation is all in fun, my pregnancy hormones are making me feel a little irritated. “It’s not like it matters anyway. He’s here now and he’s staying.”
I’m grateful that Lisette is so understanding. She doesn’t even get offended by my little outburst, but both she and Wendell look at me surprised.
“Uh, I’ll stay as long as you all don’t try to make me strip,” Wendell says attempting to smooth over this awkward moment.
Lisette is amused at Wendell’s remark, but I’m slightly turned on.
“I won’t ask now…but maybe later…you know, in the bedroom,” I say, ignoring the fact that Lisette is still standing there.
They both appear to be shocked and tickled by my erotic suggestion.
“Well, in that case…”Wendell begins, but stops to allow us to imply the rest.
“You two really are made for each other,” Lisette says watching us stare into each other’s eyes.
She watches us flirt for a little while longer. “Awww…”She says seeing the love in my eyes.
“To be in love,” Lisette says before she walks away to give us a moment of privacy.
I catch Wendell staring down at my full belly. “You can feel it,” I say sensing that he’s waiting for permission.
“Oh wow!” He says at a loss for words.
“You know, I never thought that I’d get to experience having a child. I know we didn’t plan this, but thank you,” I say, knowing that it may sound a bit awkward.
“I wouldn’t have done this any other way,” he says softly fascinated by the baby’s kicks and stretches.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t either,” I say.
Lisette and Renee continue to entertain themselves and Wendell sits down at my computer to check on his blog.
He doesn’t stay away for long. Within minutes he’s back by my side. “Hello there! It’s daddy,” he says leaning down to speak to my belly.
He places his ear to my tummy as if he could hear the baby respond. There is no denying the excitement in his eyes.
Wendell finally gets around to telling me that he brought his dog, Deebo over. I head outside to meet him.
Since Deebo will soon become a part of our household, I decide to let him in so that he can get a feel for his new home.
Deebo seems to be a lot friendlier than my cat Cupid. He happily wags his tail as I toss him a treat.
Just as I reach down to pat his fluffy fur, Cupid walks in and stares at me as if she’s jealous.
Cupid and Deebo sniff each other and get acquainted as if they know that they’ll soon be living together.
It’s getting late and I’m getting tired. I walk over to Renee to thank her for coming to my party. “I had a great time. Congrats again,” she says.
“Thanks, see you around,” I say.
“I can’t thank you enough for being such a good friend,” I tell Lisette.
“You don’t have to thank me. It’s my pleasure. Let me know when the baby gets here. Congrats!” She says before leaving.
