“Hey! A little Ledger!” Jack says, pulling me out of the universe where only my wife, my unborn son, and I exist.
“OhLord,let’s hope not, for everyone’s sake,” my mom responds, making her way over to Sloane and wrapping her upin a hug. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You are going to be the best mother.” My mom looks at me with tears in her eyes as well.Tears all around it seems.“Bothof you will make fantastic parents.” Removing an arm from my wife, she cups my face, wiping a tear as we lock eyes. “I’m so proud of you, son.”
Margot and Henry congratulate us, leaving Sloane’s parents for last. I’m already on the defensive in case one of them,her mom in particular,decides to say something to ruin this beautiful moment.
Her dad approaches first with his arms open for a hug that she reluctantly accepts. “Congratulations,” he says before stepping back to shake my hand. “To both of you.”
“Um, thank you.”
“Thank you, sir.”
Sloane and I say at the same time, respectively.
“I’ve been keeping up with your travels. You seem happy. I’m glad.”
His words allow us both to relax a bit in preparation for her mom’s greeting. “Congratulations to you both. You were correct about one thing, babies are a blessing…” She pauses, and I see her hand hesitate to touch her daughter’s baby bump, but she just holds her hand out for a shake instead. Sloane wraps her arms around her mom for a hug, catching her off guard. I can see her mom sink into the hug only for a moment before pulling back and telling us all they have to get going.
My mom is by my wife’s side the minute they walk out the door. “They will come around, sweetheart.”
“I know.” My strong girl smiles, then surprises us all. “Um… Blanche… Please tell me there’s cake.”
“Cake, then games!” my mom announces as the rest of us celebrate our little guy.
“Soooo do you have any names picked out?” Margot asks.
Sloane looks up at me. “Well, I think Ledger Jr. would be perfect.”
I shake my head in disapproval as Henry interjects. “You know Henry the fourth is always an option.”
“Ew, you weirdo, it’s notyourson,” Jack says, making a gagging motion.
Henry uses his hands to massage his eyes. “It doesn’thaveto be a direct father-son succession, you buffoon. But I doubt I will have any children of my own, and it would be a waste of a fourth.”
Mom hits the back of Henry’s head. “Oh hush, you will absolutely have some of your own. All three of you will,” she says, pointing at Margot and Jack in the process.
Margot turns a deep shade of red as Jack chokes, bringing our attention away from our little argument. “You alright, man?” I ask, hitting him harder than necessary on the back.
“Yeah, yup…just all this talk of babies. I think I’m going to go get some air,” he says, drawing laughter from all of us.
Jack wanders off, and I sense my opportunity to steal Sloane away and give her a gift I’ve been keeping in the back of my sock drawer for over two years now. Handing her a tiny white gift bag, I give her a sheepish grin as she raises an eyebrow.
“Ledger, I think you’ve bought the baby at least a hundred outfits at this point, not to mention all my gestation presents, pre-push presents, mommy-to-be presents.”
“And don’t think for a second I’m anywhere close to being finished, Angel. But this one is probably the most special one yet.”
I’m not even pretending to hold back the tears as Sloane pulls out the motorcycle onesie from early on in our love story.
She gasps and her own tears begin to fall, although it doesn’t take much for her to cry these days.
“Ledger…is this for our baby?” she sobs, echoing my words to her from so long ago.
I laugh out a sob, thrilled that she remembers that night as clearly as I do, and so fucking excited to see our tiny little guy finally wearing this in a few months.
“Yeah, Sloane. This is for our baby. I promise not to let him on a dirt bike until he’s at least four, though,” I joke, as she slaps my arm and wipes her tears.
“Don’t even tease about that! He’s not getting on anything motorized until he’s a teenager at least!”
Laughing at Sloane’s momma-bear attitude, we head back inside to the party, which is still in full swing.
