November.

Friday was finally coming to an end. I had a terrible week, not to mention an extra shitty day, and the only thing I wanted was to go home where nobody would annoy me. Patients had been particularly unpleasant all week and I spent most of my days bickering with Lauren. She told me a few times that I was being insufferable. I blamed the temperature. Autumn always did its trick on me and darkness at 3:30 p.m. wasn't helping. To be honest, I think I just needed a break from the difficult year.

When I arrived home, Rose was still at the vet clinic with Ginger for a checkup. I jumped into the shower then browsed plane tickets on my tablet. We needed to get away, I needed to get away.

Italy.

It took ten minutes and the tickets were bought. I would plan the rest of the trip later but I would surprise Rose with it. I heard her car pull in the driveway and she walked in a few minutes later. Ginger waited impatiently for Rose to take off the leash then ran towards me so I could pet her.

"How was your day?" Rose asked me.

"I've seen better. I'm not gonna lie, it was an awful week. You?"

"Good. I've been busy," she said, putting her coat away in the wardrobe.

She came over to me and I wrapped my arms around her before we kissed.

"I have something for you," she said at the exact same time as me and we laughed. "Go ahead."

"No, you go."

"Oh no, you go first," she insisted.

I ran to the kitchen to retrieve my tablet then gave it to her with the tab still opened. She scrolled down the screen, then up, before looking up at me and questioning me with her eyes.

"Italy. For Christmas."

"Wait, what? Are you serious?" she asked, unsure if she was dreaming or not.

I knew Italy was the place she wanted us to go to for our honeymoon but since we couldn't get away from home long enough, we had settled on California. I promised that I would bring her there one day, no matter what.

"I am. Unless you don't want to go…" I said, taking the iPad from her hands.

"I don't know what you mean," she said, giggling as she took the tablet back to look at it again.

I could see she was as happy as a child discovering Santa had dropped presents on Christmas morning. It made me happy as well and the sight of her smile made me forget the awful week I'd just went through. She kissed me softly then asked me to stay put while she retrieved what she had for me. She walked back into the kitchen a moment later, holding a gift bag. I looked at her questioningly because it wasn't my birthday nor did I remember today being special. I took the bag from her hands and peeked inside while she stared at me. I didn't see anything.

"What is this?" I asked with a smile. "Babe, it's empty," I told her with a chuckle.

"It's not."

"It is," I said, laughing as I looked again.

I pulled on something at the bottom and took it out. A note. I unfolded it and saw three numbers followed by a little heart, leaving me extremely confused. I didn't know if I was in the middle of a treasure hunt or if it was only a foolish joke.

06. 14. 22.

I chuckled as I felt my own stupidity taking over. I stared at the note for what seemed very much longer than what I should have before it hit me. I looked up at her with tears in my eyes. My beautiful wife, the love of my life.

"Are you?" I began and she nodded with a smile, which opened the water gates. "You're pregnant?"

She nodded again. I took her against me, tears falling down my face, and we stood in that embrace for a long time.

"So this is the due date, in case you were still wondering," she said with a small laugh, wiping the corner of her eyes.

"Yeah, I got that," I replied with a laugh. "This is it, it's happening," I said, unable to stop smiling. Rose nodded. "When did you find out?"

"A week ago. Keeping it from you was the hardest thing I've ever done… But I wanted to see a doctor and be sure before telling you."

"I'm so ridiculously happy right now," I told her. "This is the best day ever."

I put my hand on Rose's stomach, still amazed by the fact that our baby was in there. Finally. After almost fifteen months of trying and hoping. I kissed Rose deeply and she kissed me back. I picked her up in my arms and the pressure of her body against mine was the comfort I didn't know I needed. She stroked the hair at my nape for a while, soothing me.

"You're so tense," she whispered.

"I'm drained," I admitted.

From the past months altogether. Worry ate me up for most of the past year and today's announcement slowly released all the tension in my head, my neck and my lower back. After everything we went through, she was still here in my arms. That, in itself, was a miracle. And the baby, too.

We kept the news for ourselves for a while, even if we were dying to tell everybody. We spent our evenings looking at furniture and decoration for the nursery online. We already settled on white and classic silver grey for the room and chose an elephant theme to stay in neutral tones. Amazon packages were delivered almost every day while I was at work and Rose was already on a first name basis with the lady delivering them.

Rose wasn't showing yet so it was easy to hide, even if the glow on her skin could be an obvious sign. She came over at the clinic twice since she told me the news, bringing coffee and muffins for the whole staff. She was being the sweet Rose everyone fell in love with, the first one being me.

On a Friday afternoon, three weeks later, Lauren entered my office without knocking and closed the door behind her. I looked at her in surprise and she stared back.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"Rose's pregnant, isn't she?" she demanded, taking me off guard.

"Did she tell you that?!" I exclaimed.

"No but you just did!" she exclaimed back and I realized I just messed up. "Oh, I knew it," she continued, a huge grin appearing on her face. "She was glowing when I saw her on Wednesday and I just needed confirmation. Oh my God, I am so happy for you guys," she said, walking around the desk to hug me. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," I replied, hugging her back. "Don't tell, okay?"

"I won't, I promise. How far along is she?"

"Eight weeks," I answered, smiling like an idiot. "We went for the first ultrasound last week and we heard its heartbeat. It was beautiful, Lauren. The most beautiful sound I've ever heard."

"I bet it was. I remember when I heard Oliver's for the first time, too. I couldn't stop crying."

That night, we went to the store to get the paint we needed for the nursery. It had been almost two months since we went back to sleep in the master bedroom upstairs and we settled the nursery in the next room, which had been empty until two weeks ago. Now it was filled with various boxes of different sizes. Everything we ordered for the baby so far.

I was installing some tarps around the room to prepare it for the painting job I would do the next day when I saw Rose peek in.

"Do you need help with that?" she asked me.

"No, I'm fine. You can go to bed. I'll be there in a few minutes," I replied.

"Okay," she said, walking over to me to kiss me goodnight. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

When I walked in our bedroom, my bedside lamp was still on and I could see that Rose was naked under the covers. I smiled at her and she smirked at me. I undressed quickly and joined her. I took her against me and she draw patterns on my chest with the tip of her finger. I climbed on top of her and she slid down to align to me perfectly. After five years, our bodies just knew. I took her lips with mine before going down to her breasts, taking one nipple into my mouth. She breathed out, arching her back. I kissed her again, put my hand on her left hip and slipped into her. We both sighed loudly and started moving in sync. My hand reached between our bodies to find her bundle of nerves and it didn't take long before I felt her walls tightening around me, soft moans coming out of her mouth. She dug her nails into my back as I continued moving into her and I grazed my teeth against her neck at the surprisingly pleasant pain. I came undone a few seconds later, a small groan escaping my throat. She held me tightly as I shook in her arms, feeling the intense pleasure into my entire body.

And then I rolled over with a sigh, my body drained. She nuzzled my neck then went to the en-suite bathroom to clean up. It took a minute or two for my heartbeat to calm down but when I saw Rose coming out of the bathroom in her birthday suit, I was definitely ready for second round.

We made love again before falling asleep, her back firmly pressed into my chest.