King of the Don's

forty three

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On the drive way home, Briar and I were both silent. I'd known for a few days now that I was going to be a father, but know? It was settling in.

I had a running neck list in my brain of all the things that we needed to do, the nursery, the car seats, the clothes, diapers... when Briar's soft voice pulled me out of my thoughts, "How are you feeling about all this?"

"Honestly?" I asked, and she nodded, "Please."

"I'm happy. I've wanted this for so long, and I've swore I'd be a better parent than my father and mother ever were, but that was easy to say when it was an issue for the future." I admitted, and she pulled my hand into her lap, "It's just a lot of pressure with it being so new."

"Do you feel any better?" I asked her, and she turned toward me.

"I think so, yeah." She smiled at me, and my heart warmed at her growing excitement. "I just feel like I'm waiting to be more excited, y'know?" She confided in me, as I fiddled with the ring on her left hand. "Now that I know she's healthy, I feel better. But like you said, it's lots of pressure."

I turned back toward my little wife, "We'll figure it out." I reassured her, then furrowed my brows, "And you can't just assume we're having girl."

"Call it mothers intuition." She laughed, and I turned into the driveway for the estate.

As soon as we were inside, Briar was yelling for Gia, who was cat sitting for our hundreds of cats. She darted around the corner at the noise, and made a beeline straight toward Briar. "I heard you guys were coming home early. What happened? Is everything okay?" She asked, and Briar shot her a large smile, as she reached into my pocket to grab the ultrasound photos.

She held up the black and white photos up in the air like they were the baby lion from that one disney movie she made me watch, and Gia gasped so hard I thought she might've hurt her lungs.

"What?!" She screeched, "You are not!"

"I am!"

"You whore!"

"I know!"

They began rambling on in excited girl talk that I didn't understand, but I found endearing of my sweet girl. As they both began to settle down, I reached around to hold onto her throat from behind. "I'm going to head upstairs and check my emails," I told Briar, as I pulled my wallet out and gave her an Amex credit card to our shared account, "Go ahead and look online for stuff we will need for you and the baby." I told her, rubbing my hand over her lower abdomen where our child was just barely beginning to swell.

It was a fascinating, yet incredulous feeling to think that in just a few short months Briar and I would have a miniature version of ourselves. "It's your funeral." She teased, flipping the card around in her grasp, and I chuckled, bringing my mouth down toward her good ear, "Do your worst, Mrs Beaumont."

"Don't you worry Mr Beaumont," She whispered back in a breathy voice, "I will."

I went upstairs and checked my emails, and listened to my voicemails. I kept pretty updated with work over our time away, so nothing needed my immediate attention. Then, after about an hour, Miles knocked on the door.

I told him to come in, and as soon as he saw me, he grinned. "I hear a congratulations are in order, Don." Miles nodded respectfully toward me, and I couldn't help but form a shit eating grin.

Miles sat down in the chair in front of me, and I stood up and went to the bar cart across the room, pouring two drinks into the small glass cups.

"Gia told you?" I questioned.

"Kind of. I heard the squeaking between Gia and your wife, and after a minute I came to the conclusion when I saw those photos. I almost thought it was Gia at first, and my heart about fell through my asshole."

I let out a chuckle. "You've been married longer than Briar and I." I nodded toward him, "Not wanting kids?" I asked, taking a drink of my drink.

"Probably not, man." He shook his head, not looking like he wanted to get into it.

As I was polishing off my drink, Briar came into the office with Gia right behind her. Gia planted herself onto Miles' lap, and Briar laid her arms over my neck in a faux chokehold.

"Ready to go, big guy?" Gia asked Miles, who stood immediately. As they left I couldn't help but take Briars hand in mine, planting a kiss on her wedding ring. "Thank you for giving me a family." I whispered, and she relaxed further against me, "Thank you for giving me you."

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Thoughts?!