Afterward, we celebrated in the park outside. Our friends have never fessed up as to who did what, but there were mismatched tables and chairs, flowers and decorations, and more alcohol and food than necessary. Every restaurant in the town had donated something so in the end we didn’t have one meal, we had half a dozen: barbecue, hamburgers, pasta, sandwiches, and salad. We had three different wedding cakes from three different bakeries and Meredith enjoyed smashing a bit of every single one in my face while our guests applauded a little too loudly.
Edith tells me Meredith has softened my image, says because she believed I was good and decent, everyone else started coming around to the idea too. Maybe it’s true; I don’t know. We’ve been married seven months and my ranch hands are still pretty scared of me.
“Can you believe this crowd?” Edith asks as I loop my truck onto Main Street and the Blue Stone Yoga sign comes into view.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to find parking.”
“Check around back, see if there’s a spot behind the studio.”
I end up having to block Meredith in, but it shouldn’t matter. She won’t be leaving the yoga studio any time soon anyway. It’s packed when we walk in. Everyone we know is here, even the guys who’ve never attempted yoga a day in their life. Sheriff Pete, Chris, Daniel—they’re all here to support Meredith. She’s turned the grand opening into an all-day event. There’re yoga classes in the back studio, free smoothies and snacks circulate around the lobby, and a bounce-house is set up outside for the kids and kids at heart. Edith bee-lines straight for it.
“Tell Meredith I’ll be inside later!”
It takes me too long to make my way back to Meredith. I get pulled in a million different directions, greeting everyone I pass. Finally, finally, I see her chatting with Helen, Dotty, and Leanna behind the front desk.
They’re all oohing and aahing over her baby bump. I think I was happier than she was when it really became noticeable. Every morning for the last six months, she would turn sideways and ask me point blank, “If you didn’t know me, would you think I look pregnant?” and every day until recently, I would lie and exaggerate. “Oh yeah, definitely—watch where you point that big ol’ belly.”
She spots me approaching and her face lights up. She excuses herself from the group and meets me halfway, where I press my hand to her stomach and lean down to kiss her.
“How’s he doing?”
She beams. “Good. Moving like crazy! If you leave your hand there for a little while, you’ll feel him. I think he’s as excited about today as I am.”
I smile, and sure enough, a second later, I feel a little thump against my palm.
“There! He just did it again,” she says, eyes alight with wonder.
“He was giving his pop a high five.”
She laughs and tips up on her toes to kiss my cheek. “Are you staying for a while?”
I had some things I needed to do on the ranch earlier, which is why I’m arriving a little late. “Until you leave.”
She eyes my workout clothes. “Does that mean you’re going to take a class?”
I nod. Admittedly, yoga wasn’t my thing when Meredith and I first started dating, but she’s convinced me to come around. I still get my down dogs confused with my up dogs, but I’m a hell of a lot closer to touching my toes than I was a year ago.
“Are you teaching soon?”
She’s my favorite teacher, and not just because she’s my wife.
She checks the clock mounted on the wall behind the desk. “I have a pre-natal class in forty-five minutes.”
“All right, I’ll man the desk for that one.”
She grins. “Don’t worry, I’m teaching a flow class right after.”
We’re interrupted soon after that. Everyone wants to say hello and feel her bump and congratulate her on the grand opening. Cedar Creek has really shown up to support her. Every class is full and Meredith is shocked by the turnout, though she shouldn’t be.
The next few months are going to be tough for us. She’ll have to take time off when Noah is born, but Edith and Helen have already volunteered to take shifts at the studio helping out as much as possible. On top of that, Meredith has trained a manager and four additional yoga instructors. She’ll be able to tackle a lot of the day-to-day operations from home, and I’m not worried. I’ll be taking time off too, and I can handle baby duty when she needs to come into the studio—I don’t expect her to put her dreams on hold to raise our son. I fully expect that he’ll end up growing up inside this studio. His first steps will probably take place on a mat somewhere in this lobby, and I’m okay with that. In fact, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
It feels like we’re right in the middle of the good part of life, the part you usually don’t realize you’re in until it’s over. We have so much to look forward to that I keep wanting to jump ahead. I can’t wait to be a father. I can’t wait to raise Noah with Meredith. I can’t wait to take him down to the creek and teach him how to do a backflip off the rope swing. I can’t wait to see Meredith pregnant with our second child, and possibly a third if I can convince her it’s a good idea. If I brought it up to her now while she’s still pregnant with this first one, she’d probably sock me square in the jaw.
I’m not worried though. Wherever our path takes us, I know we’ll always have each other. After all, I made that promise to her way back when she first came to the ranch. I told her if she wanted us, if she wanted to make a deal, Edith and I could be her people.
Even though I’ve been described as a devil by more than a few people, the name does have one redeeming quality: when you make a deal with me, you know I’ll keep my word, forever.
THE END