I look over at Eva who is still sleeping soundly on her side. Then my eyes move to the little person between us. Addie is in her baby lounger in the middle of us.
She’s sleeping peacefully in her pink swaddle. I reach for her green pacifier that she spit out and move it down to her feet.
She’s on a good two hour stretch right now. That’s the most she’s given us since we brought her home from the hospital a month ago.
I had no idea how hard it was to survive off of little cat naps for weeks at a time. I even pushed brew on my coffee machine with no coffee cup underneath, coffee spilling all over the counter.
Despite all of that, it’s been the best month of my life.
Eva is a natural. Watching her become a mother has been nothing short of amazing. She doesn’t panic when she cries likeI do, or I did in the first couple of weeks. She is calm and patient as she works to find out what Addie needs.
We’ve been in our own little bubble since Addie was born. I put Penelope in charge for the next three months. It was a rough go there between us for awhile. I wanted to let her go because I didn’t like the idea of making Eva uncomfortable, even if nothing ever did happen with Penelope. She was still my go-to “date” for my events.
But Eva, being the amazing person that she is, sat down with Penelope and worked everything out. Maybe there was some underlying feelings Penelope had for me, but they are definitely no longer there. If Eva feels safe with it, I am not going to fire a hardworking employee.
I thought taking three months off would feel like torture but it’s flying by.
There’s been one thing that has been bothering me since Addie has come along. I look over at Eva’s hand as it rests on her pillow. No ring.
I want to marry Eva. I want to call her my wife as well as the mother of my child.
I keep waiting for this perfect moment thinking I shouldn’t do it while she’s pregnant, she wouldn’t want that. Then I thought I can’t possibly do it while the baby is so young, we have enough on our plates.
But it finally dawned on me last night, it will be perfect no matter what because it’s us agreeing to spend the rest of or lives together. There’s nothing more perfect than that no matter where we are.
I roll onto my side as slowly as possible and reach for the knob on the top drawer of my nightstand. As quietly as possible, I open it up and pull out the blue velvet box.
Lying back down, I open the box. The ring is a two carat, oval cut diamond that sits on an 18k gold band. It took me hours to find the right diamond. I wanted something as breathtakingly beautiful as Eva.
Eventually, I realized that’s not possible. It is still a stunning ring though.
I turn over onto my other side and face my girls. Addie begins to fuss slightly as her shoulders and butt wiggle. Eva places her hand on Addie’s stomach which instantly soothes her. I wait to see if Eva is awake but she seems to have almost immediately fallen back asleep, if she ever really woke.
Her left hand remains on our daughter’s belly. I take this as my opportunity, pulling the ring out of the box. I place it around the edge of her ring finger and gently move it up until it’s mostly on, give or take a couple of centimeters.
She doesn’t budge at all which makes me smile. Poor thing is exhausted. I try to help, but I don’t have tits that produce milk. Even if we do a bottle so I can step in and do a feeding, Eva still has to get up to pump.
The diamond ring I slipped onto her finger catches a faint glint of light through the curtain. I can’t stop looking at it. The sight of it there, where it belongs, undoes something inside of me. It’s more than a promise. It’s a declaration. A quiet claim of who she belongs to.
My chest tightens, but not with nerves–this is something deeper. Gratitude. Awe. A love so deep it can sometimes feel overwhelming.
The ring, resting so naturally like it has always been meant to be there, makes everything real. Our baby. This woman. This life we are sharing. Looking at both of them sleeping peacefully, tousled hair and all, I know one thing for sure. I will spend the rest of my life loving them with everything that I have.
Eva’s eyelids begin to flutter. When they open, I’m hit with my favorite color of green. A smile stretches across her face and my heart thunders against my chest. These are my favorite moments where her beauty shines through the most.
“Morning,” she whispers softly.
“Morning,” I reply.
She looks over at Addie who tries to wiggle. Eva rubs her hand soothingly over her belly.
A soft gasp slips past her lips. She pulls her hand away from Addie’s and holds it up in the air.
“Roman.” Her voice breaks, etched with emotion as her eyes take in the diamond that now rests on her ring finger.
I swallow back the nerves that have suddenly taken over. “I love you, Eva,” I start hoping I can get through this. “From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were different. Someone special. Someone that was far too good for me.”
Tears begin to fill her eyes. Addie starts to whimper again in her sleep. We both look down at our sleeping daughter for a moment. “I know we didn’t go about everything the traditional way, but I wouldn’t change our story for anything. You wereexactly what I needed. Before you, I thought the idea of love, one person for the rest of your life, was a joke. I was an unhappy, cynical man. But you changed all of that the second our eyes met.”