Skipping Stones - COMPLETE

Epilogue

SEVEN YEARS LATER

SITTING IN OUR special spot in the field, Stone and I are watching our little girl trying to skip stones. I reach down and pick a flower. They aren't wild flowers anymore. That's because a few months after I found out I was pregnant with Helena, I came in from work and Stone handed me a set of keys. I thought he'd bought me a car or something, but that wasn't the case. The next thing he gave to me was a shovel. I admit I was completely perplexed at this point. I don't know what it is with him and little scavenger hunts, but I do love them and so far they have always led to the most incredible things.

Before I could ask what any of these things meant, he took a silk scarf from his pockets and blindfolded my eyes. Then he grabbed my hand and led me on a walk. He led the way, telling me where to step and where to avoid. I had a feeling we were headed to the creek, but I had no idea why I needed a shovel and keys. I spent the entire way there trying to figure it out, different scenarios playing in my mind. I could have never been prepared for what he was about to tell me, that he'd purchased the field and the creek. It was, is, now ours.

The shovel was for me to break ground on our new home, the place we'd raise our children, grow old together. Tears on an ordinary day would have had any problems freely flowing, but I prefer to blame my exaggerated expression on the walking ticking hormonal time bomb I had become, only needing the smallest of triggers to release enough tears to quickly fill buckets.

Months later we brought our first baby home to our new house. There would be no doubt that our children would know about our spot, about how we fell in love. In fact, we made sure to preserve our place in the field. It has an abundance of flowers to be picked at all times. So, I reach down and pluck one and bring it to my nose. These aren't wild flowers, they're hand planted by Stone. He loves working outside to preserve and maintain our yard as a beautiful, calming oasis.

Helena is throwing rocks into the water. I recognize her stance, the way she positions her fingers before hurling it haphazardly into the creek. How she can be his child and still not be able to skip stones blows my mind, but only for a moment. I can't help but grin as I glance over and the look on his face. She's her mother's daughter. Stone is watching her every move, studying her. He pops up, and I have a pretty good feeling that it's paining him because she's yet to be able to do this, to skip stones.

I laugh as he walks towards her, "She's only four, ya know?"

He turns on his heel and comes back to me, leaning down and planting a kiss on my lips, silencing me. "Have I mentioned today that I love you...for giving me a little girl to teach how to do this all over again?"

I shake my head. "Not today."

His hand rests on my round belly. "And this one needs to be a boy."

"And if it isn't?"

He scrunches his nose and then bobs his head from left to right, as if weighing the options. "I'll be happy with a healthy baby boy or girl. I just prefer a boy."

I smile because I already know it's a boy, but he doesn't. I had thought about telling him by doing one of the cute crafts I'd seen on Pinterest. Maybe having Helena wearing a shirt that says, I'm HIS Big Sister or something like that, but the waiting and anticipation have been eating at me. We've never been good at keeping secrets with each other, not even the good ones. The only secret I think Stone has ever kept from me was the one about his past, but that ultimately wasn't really a choice. It was a necessity. Wanting to not think about that anymore, I ask, "Why a boy?"

He shrugs. "One of each. A mini-you and a mini-me."

I see Helena getting a little too close to the water. "Baby, you know you aren't supposed to be that close. Come back some."