Second Time Around

Chapter Fifty-Seven

The room was dark and quiet, and although he was tired, Tony was still wide awake. Kelly was asleep, her head on his chest, her hair soft as it spilled across his skin, and he smiled down at her, his fingers moving lightly along the golden waves.

His wife.

His pregnant wife.

He smiled, his hand going still on her hair. So much change in such a short amount of time, but at the same time, he couldn't remember the last time he was so sure of each change as it came. And as he gazed down at Kelly, he knew everything was as it should be.

His wife.

His pregnant wife.

He wondered how the kids would take the news. Hopefully, none of them would be upset. He expected shock. After all, this was the last thing he expected Kelly to tell him. He thought she'd fight him on the idea of trying for a baby and if she'd been dead set against the idea, he'd have let it go.

Kelly telling him she was pregnant was not what he thought she'd say.

His mind already whirled with what their son or daughter would look like. Truth be told, he hoped for a boy, but since he seemed to be good at producing girls... Either way, as long as the baby and Kelly came through it healthy and in one piece, it wouldn't matter to him.

She sighed softly in her sleep, snuggling closer, and he smiled, letting his hand skim down over her hair, along her soft skin to slip about her shoulders. After she told him, he eased himself over her and for the first time, they made love without any barriers between them and for Tony, he didn't think he'd ever felt closer to another person than he did to Kelly as he cradled her in his arms afterwards. In fact, he was certain of it. He never gave much thought to the notion of a soulmate, but thought love was just something that came from attraction.

But now he wondered. From his very first teaching job to this past September, he'd seen pretty girls come and go. And that was it. He noticed them, but then they were forgotten by the next class. It'd been like that for nearly thirty years.

But there was something different about Kelly. He knew it from that warm September day back in 1988. Something about her touched something in him. At first, he wrote it off as him being a kid himself, but as that year progressed, he had to admit, there was more to it. Even when she was taking a sports unit he wasn't teaching, he found some reason to say hi to her, or ask her how her weekend was. Found some reason to spend even the smallest fraction of time with her. And each time he did, and she smiled as she answered, it stayed with him and made that day a little brighter. No other student had that effect on him. Not before and not since.

He thought he'd loved Christina. But now he wondered, since he never felt for her what he felt for Kelly. But the moment he turned to offer up his usual back to school speech and his eyes met hers, he felt something. A spark? A connection? He didn't know. All he knew was something about the pretty woman in the pink tank top and jeans did something to him with only a look. That look made his heart beat faster, made his mouth go dry, made his palms clammy.

Made him feel like a boy again.

He gazed down at her now and smiled. His soulmate. The love of his life. He was so damn thankful he'd found her. She was his now. He was hers.

Everything was as it should be.

"Tony?" Sleep thickened her voice and when she lifted her head, she peered up at him through mole eyes. "Why are you still awake?"

"I don't know," he murmured, smoothing her hair away from her face. "I should be snoring away, like you."

"I don't snore."