About an hour later, the couple sauntered toward the back door again, heading for the backyard. They had both changed, deciding to adorn similarly hued outfits; Emerald looking dazzling in a taffy colored maxi dress made out of tulle material and Jordan looking not a day over twenty in a fitted taffy polo shirt (one he couldn’t say no to since Emerald had bought it for him during one of her gestational shopping sprees) with black slacks and feet clad in a matching pair of socks, comfortable in slides. Emerald had said that the bed hair suited his whole appearance, therefore deciding to keep it.
They were the ideal couple with radiant smiles splitting both their faces as Jordan held his pregnant wife tucked snugly into his side. They had just stepped across the threshold when a unified shout of “Surprise!” and sounds of confetti blowers going off filled the air, jolting Emerald, who quickly snapped her head to the scene to see everyone she loved gathered together.
Luca, Maggie, little Emmett, Oriana and Keelan, who had been here since, were now joined by Carol, Leonardo and their ten-month old son, Stephano with Armani and her boyfriend, Kyle, plus Logan with his fiancé, Abel and finally, Levi, Alora and Sebastian with his wife, Paula. The whole cavalry was here-and more.
A familiar dark-eyed, swarthy, buff man stood off to the side with one of his burly arms resting on the shoulders of a similarly dark-skinned young woman standing by his side. When Emerald met Owen’s gaze with a smile, the man’s lips curved a smidgen and he bowed his head subtly, acknowledging her.
A face-splitting grin was set on Emerald’s lips as she swept her gaze across the smiling faces of everyone present.
“Meme!” She heard a small voice call out and cooed, spreading her arms when she saw her little brother, Emmett, waddling over to her after being set down on his feet by Luca. He made grabby hands with one of his hands while the other held a little confetti blower and carefully, Emerald scooped him up, brushing off her parents’ and Jordan’s protests about her pregnancy.
Emmett bent in his Emerald’s hold, leaning down to place a kiss on her clothed big belly (he had been doing that since he saw Jordan do it one day) before straightening to kiss his sister on her cheek as well. Emerald reciprocated the gesture and the siblings shared a giggle, making everyone (including Jordan who was silently turning green from jealousy) awwn.
“Hey, don’t leave me out of it!” Armani hollered, quickly making her way to the two.
“Baby Steph also wants in on the fun, guys.” Carol laughed, having no choice but to approach the three when the little boy in her arms began to wail, shouting the word, “Meme” repeatedly while gesturing for his mother to take him to Emerald.
He quickly lurched forward when they reached, wanting to be carried by her, uncaring that she already had Emmett in her hold. Jordan stepped forward, already stifling a headache from having his gravid wife carry a child, but two? That was a recipe for a heart attack. He reached for Stephano to assist his wife in carrying him, but the infant didn’t appear to like the idea because suddenly, he swung his arm, his little hand making contact with Jordan’s stubbled cheek.
The man froze; everyone did. Little Stephano blinked innocently up at Jordan, confused and seemingly surprised by what he had done, but the trance everyone appeared to be stuck in was broken when Emmett suddenly blew on the confetti blower, causing everyone to erupt in laughter.
Chuckling heartily, Emerald maneuvered her brother so he was on one hand so she could carry Stephano on the other hand. Finally satisfied, the infant wrapped his little arms around Emerald’s neck (not quite going around), smiling and peeking beneath his lashes to look at Jordan whose eyes were slightly narrowed at the boy’s seemingly smug expression.
Those two were going to be the death of him.
“What are you guys doing here?” Emerald finally asked in a light tone, the happiness etched on her features. “I know it’s a get-together but I wasn’t expecting to see everyone like this. Cal and I didn’t even hear you come in.”
At her question, everyone gave each other side glances before parting in the middle like the red sea to reveal what was hidden behind them to Emerald. The gazebo lights came on right on cue and she gasped, gaping wide-eyed at their now decorated gazebo. She hadn’t noticed it over their shoulders.
The embellished structure shone like a beacon against the backdrop of the slowly darkening skies and setting sun. Tears welled up Emerald’s eyes as she took in the white and gold background. She took in the words ‘Oh Baby’ in balloon form, floating at the centre of arrays of other pink balloons forming a circle around a large golden ring and similarly hued transparent balloon boxes spelling the word, ‘BABY’. She took in the seemingly endless gifts on the table.
Then slowly, everyone started to file into a line before her, making her confused as they each pulled off their shirts (she noticed now that everyone was indeed wearing shirt outfits), revealing matching white cotton undershirts beneath. Kyle, Abel, Paula and Owen stood off to the side, not involved in the weird scenario taking place while Logan stood at an angle, ready with a camera in his hand.
One by one, the eleven people left (the young woman standing beside Owen, aka Mikaela his daughter, also included) began to turn around, displaying a letter each on their backs. The tears in Emerald’s eyes overflowed and fell over the brink of her eyelid, streaming down her cheeks when the words started to make sense.
‘IT’S A GIRL.’
The shirts spelled, with two hearts flanking the letter ‘A’. Everyone remained like that for a few minutes, wanting to make sure Emerald read the words, but when the pregnant woman continued to remain frozen, tears still trailing down her face, her mother, Maggie craned her neck with a fond smile on her face as she muttered,
“Look at little Emmy’s back, baby.”
Stiffly, Emerald looked at her brother, who was busy with the task of wiping the tears from her cheeks with a concentrated frown on his face. He was also wearing a white shirt. When she craned her neck to look at his back and saw the sonogram of her baby, she burst into loud sobs.
▬▬▬▬▬
Emerald stood, leaning on the high railing of the gazebo as she looked out at the people milling about their backyard. She occupied herself with watching them act, immersed in respective tasks. Occasionally, someone would come to chitchat with her or just look at her and wave with a smile or blow kisses (Logan, especially) or make hilarious faces at her to make her laugh.
These were the people who had been with her through thick and thin, and she couldn’t be more grateful for them. When the destructive waves of life had threatened to sweep her under, these people had made every day worth living, reminding her that the tides weren’t going to be destructive forever; reminding her that the day of immense joy and gratification was certainly imminent.
In other words, this day, and many more to come.
Emerald laughed when little Stephano, once again, snuck away from his parents, thinking they hadn’t seen him. He giggled as he neared the swimming pool, probably celebrating his victory only to be picked up by his father who shook his head at his mischievous son with a sigh. Stephano Levine was surely going to be a handful.
Looking away from the scene, Emerald’s eyes soon latched on to her husband; he was approaching the gazebo with a tray of dishes and drinks in his hold. Jordan met her gaze as he climbed the little flight of stairs, shooting her a bright smile-one that never stopped making her swoon.
“Hi, baby.” He greeted, making space on the filled table for the tray. “Why are you here, alone?”
Emerald shrugged. “No reason. Just wanted to rest my feet.”
Jordan turned to her with a raised eyebrow. “Rest your feet while standing?” Walking over to her, he held his hand out, bringing her to sit between his legs on the soft, cushioned couch. He reached forward to pass her a bottle of sparkling water and she thanked him, loving how he knew what she wanted without her even asking.
Seconds later, she felt his soft touch on her shoulders, his fingers massaging the tense area gently yet skillfully. Emerald let out a breath, allowing herself to bask in her husband’s comfort while half sighing, half moaning every now and then. When she felt him place a kiss on the spot between her neck and shoulder, she finally spoke,
“Did you know about this?”
Jordan’s movements stilled momentarily before he continued again. “No, I actually didn’t,” he answered, knowing she was referring to the surprise baby shower.
She gave him a look over her shoulder. “You were the one who told me to wear a pink dress.” Truthfully, he had been the one to, prompting Emerald to pull out a matching polo shirt for him as well. But someone else had also instigated that idea in him.
“Earlier when we were in the room, Oriana had texted me to get you to wear something pink. I didn’t think it was for this reason.”
“Ori?”
“Hmm.” Jordan hummed, placing one last kiss on her other shoulder before leaning forward again to grab a plate with skewered fruits lining it. He gave her one, took one himself and the couple settled in silence, entertaining themselves with watching the others. Moments of comfortable quietude drifted by before Emerald dropped the empty skewer on the plate and turned to her side, draping both of her legs over one of Jordan’s so she could look at him.
Quickly dropping his skewer as well, he wrapped his arms firmly yet loosely around her to keep her in place. They stared into each other’s eyes and Emerald couldn’t help but drown in the chocolate pools of his mesmerizing orbs, feeling her heart swell with immense love and gratitude for the man before her eyes.
These past years had been everything but easy; the journey to recovery was definitely not painless, it was stressful, mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting. There were instances of relapse, but everyone had been there to help, especially this man seated in front of her, holding her within the cocoon of his warm embrace.
Jordan Kale.
Her man.
Her better half.
The father of her unborn children.
She couldn’t believe she was actually building a new life with him. A whole new life without the cobwebs of their pasts tackling them at every turn. A whole new life without that suffocating darkness constantly lurking in their minds. A whole new life with their first child on her way.
It all felt so surreal to Emerald and her smaragd eyes began to fill with tears again, causing Jordan to begin panicking mildly.
“What is it, baby? Does it hurt somewhere? Are you comfortable? Am I making you uncomfortable?”
She shook her head, sniffling. “We’re having a baby girl, Cal. Our baby girl,” she whispered, a smile peeking through her tears.
Jordan nodded, chuckling but Emerald could see his eyes shining with unshed tears as well. He cupped her cheek. “Yes, we are, Gem. Our baby girl is on her way and we’re gonna be right here to welcome her together. We’re gonna be such amazing parents, right baby?”
Emerald nodded. “Yes, we are.” She whispered into her husband’s chest as he moved closer to kiss her forehead fondly.
“Have a name in mind yet, Gem?” he looked down at her and Emerald met his eyes, nodding resolutely. He tilted his head and slowly arched an eyebrow, silently asking what it was.
“I want to name her after your mother, Cal.
Yvonne Kale.”