Chapter 32

The months quickly flew by, and Rosalee was now in her ninth month of pregnancy. She was super happy to hear that her father wanted to come and be here for the birth of their baby. He also said he had a surprise for her. She couldn’t imagine what the surprise was and thought maybe it was something for the baby. The baby’s room was ready, and they had decided on a name for their son but were keeping it a secret until everyone was together.

Ace came up behind her and put his arms around her and placed his hands on her belly. “Wow, he’s quite active today.”

She tilted her head back and smiled at him. “He kept me up most of the night. As much as I love being pregnant, I can’t wait for him to get here.”

“The books say that when it gets close to the delivery date, you won’t feel much activity. So I guess since he’s very active still, it might be a while.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You and those damn books.”

“It has a lot of useful information and is going to help me when you’re in the delivery room. Now I’ll know what to do and what to expect.”

She turned around to face him. “I do love how much involved you are with this pregnancy. Some men don’t bother. Now I want you to do something for me.”

“I will do anything, just name it.”

“I’m out of strawberry ice cream, so would you mind running to the store and getting some for me?”

“It’ll be my pleasure,” he said, kissing her and then kissing her belly. “I’ll be back soon little guy, so give your mommy a break and cut down on the kicking.”

When he was gone, Brett and Eve showed up. They wanted to be there when her father arrived as they were curious as to what the surprise was.

“Where’s Ace?” Eve asked, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

“I sent him to the store for some ice cream. I didn’t need any as I’ve got two cartons in the freezer, but he was driving me crazy, and I wanted him out of the house for a while.”

Brett chuckled. “I never met a man as excited about having a baby as he is.”

They chatted for a while, and before they knew it, Ace had returned with two cartons of the strawberry ice cream that she had a craving for. He went over and opened the freezer and, frowning, he glanced back at her.

“Rosalee, you already have some in here.”

She tried to hide the smile that was threatening to appear. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I guess I forgot. Come sit down with us and keep Brett entertained while I talk to Eve.”

A couple of hours later, a taxi pulled into their driveway. Knowing it was her father, they all went out to greet him, and he wasn’t alone. Mary Johnson was with him, and they held hands when they got out of the taxi.

She hurried over to her father and throwing her arms around him gave him a big hug. “I’m so glad you’re here, dad. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, baby girl, and just look at you,” he said as he let go of her and looked at her belly. “It looks like we got here just in time.”

She rubbed her belly and smiled at him. “Yes, any day now. I see you brought Mary with you.” Going over, she gave the older woman a hug. “I’m really happy to see you, but Dad didn’t tell us you were coming.”

“I hope you don’t mind me being here?”

“Oh my goodness, of course not, I guess this was the surprise he was telling me about.”

Mary and John glanced at each other and smiled.

“Actually, bringing Mary here with me was not the surprise. The surprise is that we eloped, we’re married.”

Everyone was shocked at the unexpected news.

“Dad, you got married, and you didn’t even tell me.”

The others came over and congratulated them, and Ace suggested that they go inside and talk. This news came as quite the surprise, but more so for Rosalee.

Once they were all seated and having coffee, that was when her father told them how he and Mary had been seeing each other for quite some time. It was a love that grew slowly over the last few months.

“But why elope? Ace and I would have been happy to be there with you. We could even have given you a proper wedding.”

“Your father and I thought about that, but we didn’t want a big fuss, so we just went ahead and eloped a month ago.”

Well, of course, she was happy that her father had found love. It was time for him to move on and enjoy the rest of his life with someone who could make him happy. She always knew that he had a thing for Mary, but he would never act on it because he was afraid that it would betray his late wife.

“Well, I’m so happy for the two of you,” Rosalee said, giving them both another hug.

“Congratulations,” Ace said as he shook the older man’s hand.

“Thank you, son, and I see that Eve has found a wonderful man and got married. Marriage is very important between two people that love each other,” he said, looking over at Ace.

“Dad, don’t start.”

John just shrugged his shoulders and smirked. He could tell that Ace was a little bit uncomfortable with the comment, and that was his plan. He still hoped that Ace would marry Rosalee, especially since she was soon going to have his child.

After Brett and Eve left for the night, Ace showed John and Mary to the room that they would be staying in during their stay.

“I want the two of you to make yourself at home while you’re here. If you get hungry or thirsty through the night, help yourself to anything in the kitchen.” He then went to his bedroom where Rosalee was waiting for him in bed.

“Did you get them settled in okay?” she asked, putting down the book she was reading.

“Yes. Boy, that was quite a surprise finding out that they got married,” he said as he removed his clothes and got into bed next to her.

“My dad deserves to be happy and have someone in his life, so I’m very happy for them.”

“Me too,” he said as he rolled over onto his side and placed his hand over her belly. “I don’t feel him moving, so that must mean he’s going to be coming into this world very soon.”

“Oh, is that right?”

“That’s what all the books say.”