Feel That Fire

“So, he pulled out this gift bag and handed it to me without saying a word. Then I opened it and inside was this little blue box!” Blair squealed as she retold her story of Zacky’s proposal. Liz, Emmalyn, Dani, and Blair were gathered around the kitchen in Brian’s house while Johnny, Jimmy, Zacky, and Brian were outside by the pool. Matt and Jasmine were still on their honeymoon in the Bahamas.

“Oh, that’s so sweet! I’m happy for you both!” Liz gushed admiring the ring again.

“Girl, we have to start planning a shower and your bachelorette party!” Dani said while clapping her hands together excitedly.

“Well, first we have to set a date. We’re thinking sometime next summer,” Blair responded.

“Awesome idea! A summer wedding would be nice. We’ve all had a February wedding, now we can have a summer one too!” Liz said. “Oh, I think the burgers are done,” she said when she noticed Johnny motioning for them to come outside. Each girl grabbed a plate of buns, veggies, chips, etc. to carry outside. Blair and Emmalyn brought up the rear of the group.

“Blair, I’m so happy for you! You and Zacky are perfect together.”

“Thanks, darling! For the record, he told me you helped with the ring. Thank you for “guiding” him in the right direction.”

“Well it didn’t take much guiding. He knew what he wanted. I think he just wanted me there for moral support since I know you so well,” Emmalyn laughed as they sat the plates down on the table outside. Brian walked over casually to the women.

“Hey ladies! Ready to eat?” he asked while pecking Emmalyn’s lips. A chorus of “yes” rang through the backyard.

Later that night

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Zacky asked again as he watched Emmalyn settle Reagan, his niece, on her hip.

“It’s fine! No problem at all,” Emmalyn assured him. Zacky’s sister desperately needed a babysitter at the last minute so she could attend a meeting, but Zacky and Blair had already made plans. Emmalyn eagerly volunteered at that chance to spend time with Reagan.

“We’ll be fine, Zack. Just go before you guys are late,” she laughed as he shot her another upset face.

“Alright, just call me if you need anything!” he yelled as Blair dragged him out of the house.

“You would think he had left his own child here,” Brian chuckled coming into the living room.

“Yes, it would appear that way,” Emmalyn agreed spinning Reagan around in a circle. The baby giggled sweetly and pressed herself closer to Emmalyn’s body. “I love that sound.”

“What sound?” Brian asked coming closer to tickle the grinning baby.

“Her laugh. It’s so sweet and innocent. I could never get tired of hearing her laugh,” Emmalyn sighed. Brian stopped tickling Reagan to look at his girlfriend. She had this wistful look on her face as she gazed at the baby. Instantly, Brian knew that one day it would be their child she was holding in her arms. A vision of a little boy with his mother’s eyes and dad’s hair flashed in his mind.

“Where did you go?” Emmalyn asked.

“Oh, just thinking about babies.”

“Babies?” she asked raising her eyebrow at him. They both walked into the kitchen to warm up leftovers for dinner. Sitting Reagan in her carrier, she turned to face Brian while she waited for him to answer.

“Yeah, I was just thinking about what our kids are going to look like,” he said.

“Our kids?” Emmalyn smirked at him.

“Yep. Our kids. It’s going to happen someday, you know. I can tell you want kids just by the way you look at that one,” he said pointing to the sweet baby in the carrier, who was watching their exchange with fascinated eyes.

“I know it’s going to happen, Bri. I just have never heard you mention kids before. It kind of threw me for a loop there,” she admitted as he pulled her into his arms.

“How many do you want?” he grinned.

“Oh at least two, but I’ll be happy with whatever God blesses us with,” she smiled back.

“I like that answer. Sounds good to me. What do you think, Reagan?” he asked the baby as he bent down to stroke her soft cheek. Reagan responded with a smile as she grabbed his finger in her tiny fist. They were interrupted by the ringing of Brian’s phone.

“Hello?” he answered. A minute went by before Brian made a choked noise. Emmalyn turned around quickly to see a look of shock on his face. “No way!” he yelled.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Dani’s pregnant!”