"This is our last house?" I asked, surprised.
"Would that be a bad thing?" Logan replied.
"No, but how....?" I responded, still a bit confused. "Why would you consider this house, Logan?"
"What do you mean?"
"You'd spend most of your day at work or commuting. I mean, you work in the city, not Hartford. I know you'll be traveling more in the future, but I'd like for us to spend time together when you are home-"
"Ace, don't worry about my work. I can work from just about anywhere I want. I will need to travel, but that doesn't mean I'll leave you and Little Ace behind all of the time!" Logan interrupted. "I talked to my dad about this around the same time as the wedding. I also spoke to Emily about possibly buying this house. It means so much to you, and you need a place to continue your writing. I don't think the city is the right place for us. I knew this would be a big leap, but here we are.....what do you think?"
"Logan.....I love it! It's perfect!" I replied, hugging him. I threw open the car door and went to the front door. This house holds so many memories, both good and bad, but I treasure them all. I felt a wave of calm and rode it. I could even feel Grandpa. His spirit would always be with me, and I think this would be a wonderful way to honor his memory. I wonder if Grandma would let us have Grandpa's stuff from the study. The house deserved more happy family memories. I think, with time and redecorating, Mom would come around to it too.
Logan came up behind me and we opened the door. It was eerily quiet and dark. The lights flipped on and to my surprise, friends and family popped out of the woodwork as if this were a surprise birthday party. That was months ago. Seems unlikely it's a surprise part for Logan based on the guest list. There was a single cake in the middle of the table with pink and blue balloons on either side. I hope they didn't expect me to be able to tell them what we were expecting because the tech couldn't see the parts she needed to.....or did she?
"Logan?"
"Yeah, Ace?"
"What's going on here?"
"I got you a cake!" he said with an impish smile.
"Oh, really?" I replied, arching my brow.
I looked around at everyone staring at me, anticipating my next move. My mom looked like she was about to explode with excitement. Luke even looked a little excited. Grandma was even here. A few others were here as well and all eyes were still on me. Lane came over to me and handed me a knife to cut the cake.
"You can't be serious, Logan....the tech said she couldn't get a good look at the baby yesterday," I paused. "Do you know?"
"I called ahead of time to make sure the tech didn't reveal it to us during the appointment. I had her write it down and fax it to a bakery, here, in Hartford. Emily came early to be here for the delivery of the cake. No one knows, not even me. I wanted it to be a big surprise for all of us," he confessed. "Are you mad?"
"No....no....I'm not mad at all! I can't believe you'd do all of this just for me!"
"Cake.....knife.....cut!" Mom said, pointing furiously.
"You just wait a minute, missy!" I reply, laughing and turning back to Logan. "Let's do this together. After all, we are partners in crime!"
We walk to the table. The knife is poised in the middle of the cake. The room is silent and everyone is leaning in, hoping to get the first peek at the color of the cake.
"Ready?"
Logan took a deep breath and squeezed my hand. "Let's do this!"
We pressed the knife down into the center, pulling the knife outward. We put the knife back in and pulled outward a little further over. The suspense filled the air. I slid the knife under the slice and pulled it out. There was a collective gasp...