Mixed Topics

Bella starred at the two baby carrots and three cucumber slices on the plate in front of her. Daddy said she couldn't have her two brontosaur chicken nuggets and McCain Smile till she ate the food in front of her. She couldn't believe he wasn't giving in to her "peases." Normally mommy didn't give in but she got her way with daddy.

Ryan could compare this to waiting out the silence of a suspect. A full seventeen minutes later Bella gave up.

"See?" Ryan said. "That wasn't so bad. Here's your yummy stuff."

"Dada, wed," Bella said, pointing to the corner to the colorful plate with her name on it. Vanessa had given her a whole set with different designs on them.

"You want some ketchup? That sounds like a good idea," Ryan said, putting some on the spot

Emily was in the living room on the phone with her brother James who was now living in San Diego. Ryan was lifting Bella out of her chair when she entered the kitchen twenty minutes later. She had just finished eating a cookie for dessert.

"Now, you can go play while mommy and daddy eat," Ryan was saying to her.

When Emily's phone call was much longer she told Ryan to go ahead and fed Bella her dinner.

"She only now finishing?" Emily asked. It had been over a half hour it never took Bella long to eat.

"We had a record stand-off over the veggies. Seventeen minutes," Ryan replied."you two had a nice chat."

"Yeah. I got a story to tell you when I sit down," she said, getting her plate of food off of the counter.

In junior high and high school a guy named Tommy Larsersky, who later became a California congressman, relentlessly had pursued Emily and bullied Ryan. James had run into Tommy that day and asked about Emily. He said he wanted to ask her out. Hearing she were in Florida, he said they could have some fun "in the heat of Miami" now that she had that "wimp Wolfe out her of system." James replied he thought not only would Emily decline because she thought Tommy was a creep but his brother-in-law would have an issue with that.

"She got married? Lucky guy. What's his name?" Tommy had asked.

"Ryan," James replied. "Ryan Wolfe."

The look on Tommy's face was as if he had been given the ultimate kick to the balls. And James thought it looked good on him.

Tommy then thought James were joking.

"You're shittin' me, right? She didn't go and marry him!"

"You bet she did. And they have an adorable daughter and are expecting a second baby."

"I can't believe this," Tommy mumbled.

"'Can't believe he 'won' the girl over you? Shows you never did try to see what my sister wanted in someone," James replied. "And you lacked it."

Ryan smiled. He never thought of "winning" Emily because that made her seem like she were some trophy. She wasn't. She was a woman. An amazing one at that.

But he felt privileged every second of his life to be the one she choose to love.

All of Emily's more form-fitting and favorite clothes had become too tight to wear in the last few days though she was only showing slightly. By the time she went to her sixteen-week ultrasound in two weeks she guessed she would look pregnant without question. She either wanted to be able to wear her favorite clothes or look pregnant. Emily was cute when she was annoyed in Ryan's eyes. Ryan laughed when she told him this, he laughed even harder when she gave him a dirty look.

"Stop laughing at me! You're lucky I don't feel like making up a story of why your dead body is laying on the floor, otherwise I'd kill you."

Ryan laughed even more, earning himself a cushion to the head.