TWENTY-SIX

                                    

                                          
Then - Carmella
                          
"I feel like a bloody whale," I whine as I waddle through Walmart with Mike's mother. She is helping with last-minute baby clothes and other things that we need for Baby Tyler. 
                          
She chuckles. "I remember when I was pregnant with Mike. I was double the size of you. He was a huge baby - eleven pounds, two ounces." She says, her eyes going glassy at the memory. 
                          
"Jesus Christ," I mumble, looking down at my stomach. "You aren't allowed to do that." 
                          
"I doubt you will be that big, darling." She says as she picks up an outfit with a little dress shirt. "This is adorable, I'm getting it."
                          
I nod my head and smile. Since she found out about the pregnancy, Linda has been fantastic. Her drinking has pretty much stopped - I can't even remember the last time she was full blown drunk. She has been there for every doctor's appointment and every ultrasound that Mike can't make it too. And she even planned me a baby shower. 
                          
I don't think I could have gotten past these last three months without her. 
                          
"I can't believe there are only three months left," I say as I run my fingers along a blue, fur blanket. It's soft and comforting, but ridiculously expensive and I resist the urge to buy it. 
                          
"It goes by quickly." She says. "But it suits you. You're glowing." 
                          
I blush and smile. "Thanks. It's been really easy. No morning sickness or anything. My only complaint is how fat I'm getting." I joke.
                          
"It's not fat, it's my grandson." She scolds gently. "I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother."
                          
"You will be a fantastic grandmother," I tell her. "Absolutely fantastic."
                          
She sighs. "I don't know. Lord knows how awful of a mom I've been." She mumbles, more so to herself. 
                          
I shake my head. "All you can do is work hard at making things right. Mike loves you and he wants you around. Keep sober and everything will work out. You will see." I tell her. 
                          
She looks at me unsure but nods her head. "How's Mike with everything?" She asks. "You think he's ready for all this?" She gestures towards my belly. 
                          
I sigh. "I don't know. He's been pretty secretive lately. I'm worried he's drinking again." I tell her honestly. 
                          
She shakes her head. "I doubt that. You made it pretty clear that you were gone if he did that."
                          
"I know, but you know as well as I do how hard it is to quit."
                          
She bites her lip. 
                          
"I just worry that he isn't as sober as he makes me believe. He's been working long hours lately and sometimes he doesn't come home until I've long gone asleep."
                          
"He's probably just getting as much money as possible together for when the baby comes." She tells me, placing a reassuring hand on my arm.
                          
"Yeah, I hope so."
                          
*****
                          
"Babe?" I yell as I step into our apartment. "I'm home!" 
                          
"I'm in our room!" I hear Mike call out. 
                          
"I'll be in there in a sec," I say. I bring the bags over to the closet in our living room and stuff them inside, quickly closing the door before anything can fall out on top of me. Walking to the kitchen, I grab a water bottle from the fridge and take a long drink. It's cool and refreshing, exactly what I need after a long day of shopping. 
                          
My eyes land on a brown Budweiser bottle sitting on the counter and my heart jump into my throat. "Mike?" I call out, my voice panicky and I can hear him run to me. 
                          
"Ella? What is it? What's wrong? Is it the baby?" He asks frantically as he runs into the room, his eyes wild until the land on me. 
                          
"No, I'm fine. The baby is fine." I say, my eyes still on the bottle. "What's that?" I point to it.
                          
His eyes flicker over to the bottle on the counter and then return to me. "Oh, I had Randy over and he had a beer. Don't worry, I didn't drink." He says quickly. 
                          
"Oh. Okay." I say, nodding my head slowly. 
                          
An awkward silence fills the room for just a moment, but Mike is quick to break it. "Come with me." He says, offering me his hand. "I want to show you something." 
                          
I nod my head and take his hand, allowing him to guide me to our bedroom. He looks back for a moment, before swinging the door open and pulling me inside. 
                          
On our bed is a large suitcase with a small, purple bag on top. There is sparkly, white tissue paper sticking out of it. 
                          
"What's this?" I ask, turning to him. 
                          
He looks at me and smirks. "You will just have to open it and find out."
                          
I roll my eyes but walk over to the bed. My hands are shaky with excitement and my heart is pounding. It's not my birthday and Christmas was over a month ago, so what could he possibly be giving me?
                          
Slowly, I pull the tissue paper out of the bag. Inside there is a small, purple box. I pull it out and look at it closely. It's plain and leather and I have no idea what it is. 
                          
"Open it," Mike says behind me and I do what he says. 
                          
The box opens with a click, revealing a white gold ring with a small diamond inside. 
                          
I gasp. "Mike? It's beautiful.  Is this for me?" I ask, but he doesn't answer. I turn around slowly, unable to take my eyes off of the sparkling ring. 
                          
My eyes flicker up to Mike, but he's not there. No, he's on his knee in front of me, a smile painted on his face. A sob escapes my lips and I almost drop the ring on the floor. "Mike?" I whisper. 
                          
"Carmella," He starts, his voice cracking a little. "I don't even know where to start."
                          
I giggle, a tear falling down my cheek.
                          
"Carmella. Seven...Eight years ago, if someone would have told me that I was going to have a baby with a girl like you, I would have laughed in their face. I never thought it would be possible for me to find someone like you, let alone have a child with someone like you." He says, before shaking his head. "Wait, that sucked."
                          
I laugh. "It's okay, Mike."
                          
"No, I got this." He says firmly, furrowing his brows a little. "Carmella. I love you. I've loved you since that first day I laid eyes on you in that tree, I just didn't know it right away. You were just this cute little girl then, but you were so full of kindness and life. You were an amazing friend then and an even more amazing friend now. But you are more than that.
                          
"When I wake up to you every morning, I feel complete. I feel like I can take on the world with you by my side. Your smile lights up my day and all I want to do is see you smile for the rest of my life. And let's not forget about your laugh." As if on cue, I laugh. "See? It's like angels singing, I swear.
                          
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Ella. I want to hold you, love you, make love to you - for the rest of my life. I want you to be mine and I to be yours. I want no one else but you," He pauses and places a hand on my growing tummy. "And baby Tyler for the rest of my life. It's you. It's always been you. You are all I want.
                          
"So Carmella Matthews? Will you do me the honour and become my wife?" He asks, his eyes beginning to gloss over. "Marry me, love?"
                          
"Yes." I nod my head. "Yes, I thousand fucking times yes."
                          
A full blown grin forms on his face as he pushes himself to his feet and wraps his arms around me. "I love you." He murmurs into my hair.
                          
"I love you too," I tell him honestly. 
                          
He places a lingering kiss to my lips and then pulls away, another smile on his lips. "Okay, we gotta go or we will miss the plane." He says.
                          
"Plane?"
                          
"To Vegas."
                          
"Vegas?"
                          
"Yep." He says popping the 'p' as he picks up the suitcase. "We are going to Vegas."
                          
"What for?" I ask.
                          
"To get married, of course."