Read Page 32

I pull out my chair and sit down, waiting for Darryl to bring over the steaks. That’s the only thing that’s going to stop my stomach from cramping its hunger cramp. I glance sideways at Olivia, who’s still standing by her chair. She’s staring at me, wide eyed.Advertisement

“Come,” I tap her seat. “Take a load off your feet.”

She shakes her head. “No… I can’t sit.”

I frown up at her and she glances down at her legs. Sure enough, her light blue shorts turn a darker blue right between the thighs. She starts to cry, a worried kind of cry, and I push up out of my seat and rush to her. She holds on to me tightly, like she’s afraid she’ll float away if I let go.

“Uh, Mom!” I shout. “Something’s happening.”

Dammit! I stayed up late reading pregnancy books for months, but now that it’s actually happening, I have no idea what I’m doing. Mom screeches, making both Olivia and I cringe.

“We’re having a baby!” she shouts.

One minute it’s just me holding Olivia and the next we’re surrounded by everyone. Words, orders, and information is being forced into my skull and I can barely think straight.

“Are you feeling any pain?” Sandra asks her and Olivia nods.

“It’s tightening,” she winces. “But nothing too bad.”

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“We need to time the contractions,” Darryl says.

From his back pocket he pulls out his stopwatch—the stopwatch that he used my entire fighting career. I quirk an eyebrow. “You just carry that thing around?”

He shrugs. “You never know.”

I lower Olivia into her seat and Darryl hands me his stopwatch. Once Olivia is sitting, I’m timing her contractions and our moms are brushing Olivia’s hair out of her face. Everyone else goes back to normal. They dish out their meals and fill their cups. They make toasts and stuff their faces all while we’re trying to have a baby. They’re all drunk anyway, it’s not like they could come to the hospital, so I leave them be. They’re happy with their lives and they’re happy for us. A new Marc is about to enter the world. I was able to commit to one girl and create another life. Let’s be honest, that in itself is a miracle.

With one last painful groan and hard push, my baby slides into my world silently.

“It’s a girl,” the doctor tells me and tears well in my eyes. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful. I’m so in love and I don’t care if she’s not a boy. I rush to the head of the bed and plant kisses all over Olivia’s face. She smiles tiredly up at me.

“How’d I do?” she murmurs, her eyes half closing.

I kiss her again and again. “Perfect. She’s perfect.”

Olivia’s eyes widen and her smile widens as tears roll out of her eyes. “She?”

I nod. It took Olivia and I months and months to decide on a name for a boy and a name for a girl. The arguments were endless, all ending the same way until we found the one that rolled off of our tongues.

“Chloe Marc,” she whispers and I nod again.

The doctors place our baby on Olivia’s chest. Quietly, the baby watches, her eyes not really focusing on anything. Her hands press against her cheeks as her face begins to screw up. Her eyes have no color yet, but her hair is jet black and sticks awkwardly to her scalp.

“I want more,” I tell Olivia, tapping Chloe’s little pink nose. I can feel Olivia’s stare on the side of my face and then I look at her and take in her skin, as white as a ghost.

“One child is good, too. Selena and Jackson are both only childr—” She pauses and thinks about her words. “Or two. Two’s a good number.”

Or three or four, I think silently. Instead of voicing it, I kiss Olivia on the forehead again, and finally baby Chloe begins to cry. I smile as Olivia lowers the baby to her breast, using all of her natural motherly instincts. As I watch them bond, I feel my heart tear in two—two pieces that belong solely between my wife and my daughter. I know then that every decision I’ve ever made in my life has lead me to this. This is why I’m here. This is my purpose in life.

Chloe cries again, pulling me from my thoughts. I smile and touch her hand with my pinkie finger. She grips it and squeezes it with all her might

And just like that, Chloe, my sweet, innocent baby girl, becomes the second girl to ever render me speechless and completely steal my heart.

The End pqdm.com