Booby Trapped and Baby Proofed (15 page)

Both Angel’s sister Daria and Olivia’s sister Trudy attended to Angel, helping her get ready. Angel insisted that they tell Trudy and Jeb because she really wanted their friendship and considered them a part of the family. The only person missing was Ethan, and only because Harrison thought he’d be too much to handle during the ceremony.

“Yes, I can’t believe it either,” Harrison answered. “I remembered what you told me about you and Carrie, and I figured I wanted a happy life like yours too.”

“Did you ever think in a million years that you’d be a father again?”

Harrison shook his head. “No, but I love the idea.”

“So how do you think Ethan will take the news?”

“He’ll be three soon, but I doubt if any of this will mean anything to him until we bring the baby home from the hospital. I’m hoping there won’t be any sibling rivalry.”

Everett chuckled. “Don’t hold your breath.”

Angel and the ladies entered the waiting room and Harrison’s heart skipped a beat. She looked quite lovely in a short off-white dress and white accessories. In her hand she held a bouquet of white and yellow flowers. She had somehow managed to pull all her hair up into a chignon and covered it with a short off-white veil that matched her dress. She walked over to him.

“You look so beautiful,” he said.

“Thank you. You look quite handsome.”

He’d thought about wearing his dress blue uniform, but decided at the last minute to buy a new navy suit instead.

An older woman appeared in the waiting area and called them to the back. Harrison held Angel’s hand. She seemed a bit nervous, so he chocked it up to pre-marital jitters. He had several hundred butterflies dancing in his stomach too.

The Justice of the Peace arrived in his office several minutes after they stepped through the door.

Ten minutes later, they left his office as Mr. and Mrs. Harrison Calloway. Everyone celebrated the new couple’s marriage at the local Cantonese restaurant, and made plans to join them for the barbeque on Sunday. Daria, Trudy, and Angel got along splendidly, much to Harrison’s delight, and couldn’t wait to fill her in on what she would be facing as a mother in the upcoming months. After lunch, Harrison and Angel got into Harrison’s car and went to the day care to pick up their son.

****

“What are you doing in the kitchen?” Harrison asked Angel after they got home and changed out of their clothes into something more comfortable.

“Fixing dinner,” Angel answered.

“But this is our wedding night,” Harrison protested.

“Technically, it’s our wedding evening. We’ll have plenty of time to get our sex on before midnight.”

Ethan was in the den glued to a new SpongeBob movie Angel had purchased for him when they’d snuck into town the other day to pick out their wedding rings.

“What’s for dinner?” Harrison asked when he couldn’t talk his pretty new bride into joining him in the bedroom.

“Spaghetti and meatballs, garlic toast, and steamed vegetables.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so many vegetables in my life,” Harrison said. “Do you think he’s going to be a vegetarian?”

“I doubt it,” Angel said. “He does eat meat, just not much of it. And vegetables are good for you.”

“I’m forty. I don’t think I’ll get any taller.”

She shook her head. “If it makes you feel any better, I have the fixings for a banana split.”

Harrison raised an eyebrow, remembering the disappearing banana act the last time they’d had ice cream. “Will you be doing a repeat performance?”

Angel chuckled. “Only if you’re a good boy and eat your vegetables.”

Harrison nodded. “I’ll eat every bit, vegetables and fruit.”

“The ladies at the day care center were so excited when I told them we got married today.”

“Does that mean I’ll be getting a family discount?”

“No, but they can all stop drooling over you now.”

Harrison looked at her oddly. “They do not drool over me.”

“Uh huh. You just haven’t noticed it because you only have eyes for me.”

“You are so silly,” Harrison said. “Have you told them about the baby yet?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t keep it from them anymore. So I think we’d  better add some more burgers and steaks to Sunday’s grocery list. They’re coming over to celebrate.”

“The more the merrier,” Harrison said, mentally adding more food to the list. “But after this is over, we have to start planning Ethan’s birthday party.”

“I’m way ahead of you,” Angel said.

****

Both she and Harrison spent a lovely Friday and Saturday together as man and wife, shopping and moving some of her personal things over to his house. They attended church together as a family on Sunday, and the pastor blessed their union, and then teased her about going to a Justice of the Peace to get married instead of through church. Later that evening, friends and family gathered to help celebrate their wedding and to wish them well on the upcoming birth of their child.

Ethan wasn’t left out of the celebration. They had invited Roy, Tony, and their parents too, and the kids had fun playing with Ethan’s toys, his sand box, and on the toddler gym set she and Harrison had purchased for him as a wedding gift. They didn’t want him to feel left out, and thought to ease him into their new living arrangement. Next week, the newlywed couple planned to start clearing out Angel’s house to get it ready to be sold. Everett didn’t think he’d have much of a problem finding a buyer since Angel took such good care of the home, and it was in a nice neighborhood. He also encouraged them to think about moving into a larger home as their family grew.

Angel had invited all her siblings, and most of them had showed up, except her younger brother Sidney who was in the Navy and out of the country. Harrison relaxed a little after meeting them. He had some asinine idea they wouldn’t like him because he was white. Their mother had brought then up better than that, and two of her older brothers had also been in the Marine Corps and had plenty in common with Harrison.

Most of the women had brought along side dishes to go with the steaks and burgers, and Angel had prepared a special vegetable dish for Ethan. The bride and groom cut their wedding cake and tried to feed Ethan a tiny piece, but he refused and reached for a piece of cheese from a cheese and vegetable tray. Thankfully, he wasn’t lactose intolerant.

Jeb took videos during the happy event, and one of Angel’s brothers acted as D. J. The newlyweds got a chance to dance in each other’s arms. Harrison also got a chance to see her and her sisters perform some dances from the seventies and eighties, and Angel even dragged him down a dance line. Everyone got a kick out seeing him discoing.

They kept the liquor to a minimum because a lot of them had to drive and there were kids present. Harrison drank one beer and stuck to soda the rest of the evening. By ten, everyone had gone and Harrison locked the patio door after cleaning the grill and bagging all the trash. He gave Ethan a bath while Angel refrigerated the remaining food. By eleven-thirty, they were both in bed enjoying the rest of their night together. When she woke up the next morning, Harrison had his arm draped over her waist protectively. But she had to move it because she had to empty her bladder in the worst way.

She’d gotten up a bit early to prepare breakfast and to make lunch for Harrison.

“What’s this?” Harrison asked, arriving in the kitchen dressed in only an over-sized bath towel. His damp hair curled gently around his face.

“Breakfast,” Angel answered.

“Shouldn’t you be resting?” Harrison asked. He kissed her on the cheek.

“I’m not an invalid,” she told him.

“And I can make my man breakfast if I want to.”

Harrison chuckled. “You’re sassy in the morning. I think I like that.”

“No better than I like having a naked man in the kitchen.” She pinched him on the butt.

“I smelled the food and got curious. I thought Ethan had learned to cook.”

“Ooh, speaking of which, I’d better get him ready for school.”

“I can do that,” Harrison said. “We have a little time. Please sit and have breakfast with me.”

The idea tickled her pink, but she wondered if she could keep the food down. Her system was adjusting a little better, but she still had those moments. “Just toast and coffee,” she said.

“I’ll be right back,” he told her. “I need to put on some clothes.”

“Don’t do so on my account,” Angel said, checking out his butt when he turned. “I like looking at your fine butt.”

Harrison chuckled all the way out the kitchen.

Angel heard a sound behind her several minutes later. She turned and found Ethan trying to climb into his high chair. “What are you doing up, Tiger?” Angel removed the tray from the chair and helped him up. She checked him to see if he was wet. “Dry. Good.” He was turning into a big boy.

“Eat, my Angel,” he said.

Normally, he would be fed at the day care, but she couldn’t deny her young man food. “Sure, honey.” She fixed him some cereal and fruit.

“No wonder I couldn’t find you in your room,” Harrison said to Ethan when he re-entered the kitchen. “You’re down here making time with my wife.”

“My Angel,” Ethan corrected him with a giggle and displaying twin dimples.

Harrison ruffled his hair. “You’re real comical in the morning.” He winked at Angel. “He used the pot all by himself.”

Angel kissed Ethan on the cheek to reward him. “I’m so proud of you.”

Ethan kept chuckling and enjoying his cereal.

In less than a month, he would be turning three. Angel had already sent out the invitations, and most of the parents had already said they would come. By eight, all of them were dressed and out of the house to start their day.

Harrison called her around ten to tell her that he loved her. She just happened to be in the dining area with most of the kids and teachers and she couldn’t help but smile. A few of the teachers teased her.

The day went by quickly, except she couldn’t keep her lunch down. By six, she packed up her things and ushered her almost three-year-old son out of the day care and they walked down the street to the dojo to see Daddy work. To her knowledge, it was the first time Ethan had ever been to the dojo. Harrison was right in the middle of teaching one of his beginner’s classes. Ethan recognized Tyrone and called out to him. The other students laughed at him and Harrison fussed at them and made them get back in line. Ethan decided to join the other kids midway through the class.

Angel just shrugged when she and Harrison noticed he did a fairly good job of keeping up with the other students.

“I think you better order him a costume,” Angel told Harrison after the class ended.

“But he’s only three,” Harrison protested.

“He has better form than most of the older kids,” Angel told him.

“He does, doesn’t he?” he said proudly. “Okay, I’ll put him in this class temporarily until I can open up registration for kids his age.

“He’s going to look so cute in a karate costume and a black belt,” she said.

“He’s far off from being a black belt,” he said with a smile.

“We’re talking about Ethan,” Angel said. “Knowing him, he’ll be teaching the class by the time he is five.”

Harrison handed her Ethan while he changed out of his costume and then they drove home. They reheated some of the leftovers from the celebratory dinner. She put some white beans in the slow cooker for their dinner tomorrow night. And she spent most of the rest of the evening draped over the toilet seat with her first bout of evening sickness.

“I feel so sorry for you, darling,” Harrison said as she lay in bed with a cold compress on her forehead.

“Sure you do,” Angel said. “You don’t have to go through this. Nor will your breasts and ass grow bigger.”

“I will love you even more when your breasts and ass grow bigger,” he assured her. He lay down beside her on the bed. “Have you mentioned the morning sickness to your doctor? You’re in the second trimester.”

“Yes, and he told me to just eat crackers and that everything I’m experiencing is perfectly normal. He also said it might end soon.”

“Your breasts are already changing,” Harrison told her. “Do you plan to breastfeed?”

“Yes,” Angel said. “For the first few weeks, but I might have to use a breast pump and fill bottles when I return to work.”

Harrison turned over on his side to face her. “You plan to return to work?”

She turned on her side to face him. “Yes. I like working.”

“So you plan to put the baby in the nursery at six weeks?” He didn’t sound pleased.

“Yes,” Angel said. “We have a six week old baby coming to the nursery next week. Some parents have to work.”

“But you don’t have to. You want to.”

It was their first real argument. She didn’t plan to lose this one. “Yes, I want to, and I’ll be at the day care too. Think of it as having a nanny.”

“Um hmm,” he said. “A child needs a mother during the first year of his life.”

Olivia died and someone had to raise Ethan for the first year of his life, and now old wounds were starting to surface for Harrison. “I will be there to see to my child. But I also have a responsibility to my business, the teachers, and to the students. I could stay home on my ass and let someone run the place while I rake in the money. But that never ends well. The only person you can trust to run your business is yourself, and if things go bad, you can only blame yourself.”

Harrison wrapped his arm over her waist and tugged her close to him. “I understand, but just remember, you can stay home if it all gets too tiresome. In a couple of years, I plan to open another dojo and we really aren’t hurting for money.”

He had this macho husband thing worked out in his head. Apparently, he’d never had to stay home and raise a baby. She loved kids, but she loved her independence. Angel closed her eyes. The honeymoon felt like it had ended before it began.

Chapter Twelve

“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday, dear Ethan. Happy Birthday to you.”

Ethan had finally turned three and Angel had started to show signs of pregnancy.