To Honor (11 page)

“You almost squished the kitten,” Evelyn said with a laugh. She leaned over and placed the kitten on the floor. The orange ball of fluff stared at her a moment before his attention was caught by nearby toy that needed a good pouncing.

“There, that riff-raff is taken care of. Now what about you?” Derek brought his wife close to him once more as he stroked her cheek with his thumb.

“I dunno.” She brought a hand up, placing her fingertips to her swollen lips. “What was that all about?”

“You.” He placed another, gentler kiss on her forehead. “I was happy to see you.”

She chuckled as she nuzzled into his throat. “So I see.”

“Eva?” Derek hesitated. Was now the time, the place, the right atmosphere? “I need to talk to you.”

The change in her was almost instant. He watched her gaze flatten, felt her grip around his waist loosen. The lights are on but there’s no one home. He needed to say what was on his mind, and quick, before his inability with wording things right set them back.

“I want a baby.” He paused, gauging her reaction, before adding, “With you.”

Disappointment replaced the distance in her eyes. “You know I can’t give you that.”

“Maybe not physically, but we could still have a baby.” As she opened her mouth to speak, he pressed a finger to her lips. “What about adopting?”

Silence.

He searched her face as he tried to figure out if she was angry or surprised. A tear caught his attention as it rolled down her cheek. “Are you serious?” Her voice was so soft, so full of tears, that he was still lost as to her true feelings.

“Well, uh…I…” Derek took a deep breath.

Always be honest with your emotions when it comes to your wife. Be honest with her over things that you can’t even be honest with yourself about. Dr. Sherman’s words echoed in his head, giving him strength.

“I hurt, Evelyn. Sniper is great, and I like him, but I miss holding Astridea. I know adopting a baby won’t take away that hurt, we’ll never be able to replace her, but I still want to try to be a parent. I was hoping you feel the same way too. Our nursery is just sitting there, aching to be filled.”

Evelyn burst into tears.

Chapter Fifteen

Evelyn stumbled through the darkness as she attempted to find the light switch. Blasted thing. She swore it magically relocated itself just above or below its daytime position in an effort to screw with her. The hectic cries that pulled her from her dreams continued to echo through the room.

As her groping fingers landed on the light switch, she heard Derek groan from the other side of the bedroom. With a smile, she squeezed eyes shut and flipped it on. The wail that already filled the air was accompanied by a deeper, male bellow of pain.

“Big baby,” Evelyn said with a snicker. “It’s just light. Some tough military man you are.”

She walked over to the basinet that dominated one side of their room and lifted the bundle that writhed and squalled. She pulled the blankets back to get a clear view of the angry, red face. “Someone needs to teach that kid to either sleep all night or learn to make his own food.”

“He’ll learn to do both eventually,” Evelyn murmured. “And when he does, we’ll wonder where all the time went.”

Derek tried to pull himself out of bed, but a blob of orange kept him immobile. Evelyn suppressed a laugh as she watched her husband lift the huge cat off of his legs.

“And this one,” he said, “needs to eat less and is big enough for his own room.”

She pat Anthony’s back in a steady rhythm as she made her way to the door. “Oh, yeah. You remember how well it went over last time you tried to lock Sniper out of the bedroom.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Derek shuddered as he glared at the cat. “It took me weeks to find just the right shade of carpet to patch that bald spot in the floor.”

The traveled downstairs in silence and, once in the kitchen, fell into their normal nighttime routine. Evelyn changed Anthony while Derek fixed him a bottle. The silence between them was comfortable, and she liked that he helped her, unlike some husbands she’d heard about.

As they sat at the table, watching their son suck away on his bottle, Evelyn stroked his dark, downy hair. “He looks so much like you, it’s amazing.”

Derek beamed at her. “It’s because I’m so good, my genes permeated him after he was born.”

Their laughter startled the baby into opening his eyes. He glanced between the two of them, his brow furrowing as he thought about whatever babies think about. Moments later it smoothed back out and, once more, his eyes began drooping.

“He’s so perfect.” Evelyn placed a gentle kiss on one of his tiny hands.

“In a couple of days, he’ll be three months old. It may have taken us over a year to get him, but he was worth every minute.” Derek leaned over and stroked a thumb across Anthony’s cheek.

She smiled at her husband before returning her gaze to her baby. Her baby. “Don’t worry, little guy. We promise to always love and cherish you, just like we still love and cherish your big sister who’s watching from above.”

“And to honor,” Derek suddenly added. “That was one vow I’ll never break again. I promise to love, cherish, and honor all of you, forever.”

“Always and forever,” Evelyn agreed.

THE END

When D. F. Krieger was banned from writing contests at her school, she immediately set it in her head that she would become a professional writer. Since then, she has thrown away her plans of world domination through books, but she still enjoys writing. Her tastes run from classy urban witches to dragons, space pirates to shape shifters. By the time she pens her final book with a hand ravaged by age, she hopes to introduce her readers to many alternate worlds, lines of thinking, and captivating characters.

You can find D. F. on the East Coast, hiding away from the real world with a gleam in her eye and a plot in her head. She resides with her husband, kids, and pets; who all kindly put up with her random bouts of laughter (over things she can't explain) and journal collecting fetish.

www.secretcravingspublishing.com