Everything

L - EPILOGUE

Undoubtedly, I was biassed, but I thought he was the most amazing, beautiful, funny, talented child in the world. And he was all mine.

I tried to temper my excitement for a moment. Our baby boy had just taken his first steps, on his first birthday no less, and my husband wasn't here to experience them - not in the apartment at the moment.

Watching Spencer become a father was undoubtedly one of the best things I'd ever experienced. From the moment I knew I was pregnant, I was filled with hopes and dreams of what his relationship with our baby would be like. And he totally exceeded them.

He was playful and fun, but set solid boundaries for our son even at such a young age. But he loved Teddy endlessly, doted on him in fact, and always wanted to spend time with him, even taking him in to the newsroom once he was old enough to show him off to The Global staff - training him in the family business, Spencer joked. Of course, they were all enamoured the boss' son.

And my favourite thing was coming home from work, seeing the pair of them bundled up in bed, playing with some toy or Spencer reading a book and doing all the different voices. And the same expression would be on their practically identical faces.

My son put his palm on my chest, grabbing my attention, and I smiled at him.

"What do you say, baby boy?" I asked, "Should we put some music on for your party? Daddy will be back soon."

Teddy responded with one of his insanely adorable baby noises, and I took that as a yes.

But before I could reach for the speaker remote, the elevator doors pinged open, signalling Spencer's arrival. Just like his mother with his father, I could almost sense when my husband was about to come home. It felt natural.

Spencer was carrying Teddy's cake, whistling a familiar tune as he placed it on the kitchen counter and then turned to me with a smile.

It was still relieving seeing him like this. Walking. Although that was one of the most normal, mundane things in the world, for a moment we'd nearly lost that.

Spencer had needed intense physical therapy, which we'd pushed him through for a good three to four months before he was back to walking as he had previously. But I was there, my stomach rounding with every week he progressed. He was determined to do it and he had.

We'd pushed him from using the wheelchair, to an ivory walking stick I teased made him look like a gangster, and finally to just his legs.

It was hard sometimes, watching him struggle, watching the sweat bead on his brow as he pushed himself through physiotherapy, watching the frustration when he couldn't get his legs to do what he wanted. But once my husband put his mind to something, he was damn well sure to achieve it.

If there was one thing the accident had done, though, it was to help us reassess.

Spencer had decided to step back from the editorial responsibilities of the paper, while keeping his CEO hat on. At first I was sad. I knew he loved the nitty gritty of journalism and getting his teeth into a story. But he assured me that was no longer where his priorities lay.

Instead, he wanted to take more time to focus on Teddy and I. It had never made sense to juggle both editor and CEO, and he had a great team around him to help fulfil those responsibilities.

It meant he was at home a lot more, and with me taking leave from BWR in those first few months, we'd really spent the last year growing together as a family.

But with that being said, it wasn't the same after the accident. Sure, most of the time everything was normal. But sometimes Spencer would get lethargic, or his lower back would play up and that frustrated look would go back on his face.