Gwen and I are renting a small cottage on Manitoulin Island. We could be living in the communal housing owned by Doctors International, but after the first few months of me joining the Northern Canada project, it didn't seem right to be there as a couple. Gwen enjoyed it when it was just her, but with the two of us, it started to feel like we were always on the clock. Before Gwen, that wouldn't have bothered me. Now, despite the fact we both work on the same project, I like to be able to switch off from work. With her, I like to be fully present. There's never a dull moment.

Today, I was done earlier than her, and since it's the three-year anniversary of when we boarded the tourist bus together, I've made the house look as much like an amusement park as I can. There are lights and decorations everywhere, and I've set up mini game stations in every room of the house.

We celebrated this day the first year, or rather, Gwen did, and then I realized it was a day we were going to celebrate. Last year, we planned the day together. But this year, she hasn't said a word about it. I have my suspicions about why, but I'm not pushing her.

The front door opens when I'm in the kitchen making fish tacos from the walleye I caught at the lake yesterday on my day off.

"Happy three years!" Gwen yells from the front entrance before practically bouncing into the kitchen. "I love everything about this day."

"Me too," I say as I lean toward her for a greeting kiss. She wraps her arms around my neck and drags me away from the stove to deepen the kiss.

"Fish tacos," Gwen murmurs against my lips. "If you weren't already my favorite human on the planet, you'd be closing in on first place with this meal alone."

"I am the hunter-gatherer of your dreams."

She leans back to make eye contact. "You really are."

"Want to know what else I gathered?"

She raises her eyebrows and waits for me to continue.

"I bought one of Philomena's strawberry rhubarb custards for dessert."

Gwen moans and then kisses me again, pressing herself flush against me. "You've got my heart."

"And I plan on keeping it." I place a quick kiss on her lips and follow it up with another on her temple and the top of her head before returning to the stove. Burning the fish would waste the meat and ruin the tacos.

Behind me, I can sense Gwen going very still, and then she turns on her heel and walks quickly to the two-piece bathroom in the hallway. The fan flicks on, and I'm not sure if she thinks it disguises what she's doing or not, but I can still hear her throwing up. A few minutes later, she's back in the kitchen, but she's still pale.

"You okay?" I ask, which is the closest I've come since the first time she flew to the bathroom a few weeks ago, to asking if she's all right.

"Yeah." She nods. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

Instead of listing off all the things I've noticed, I just turn back to the stove. She'll tell me when she's ready.

Despite her obvious queasiness before dinner, Gwen eats two tacos and a generous portion of the custard. If she didn't seem to rebound from her bouts of sickness, I'd be more concerned. But her unreliable stomach seems to blow in and then sweep out just as quickly.

Once we finish eating, Gwen goes to a drawer we rarely use and pulls out a long, wrapped package.

"We're doing presents?" I ask, surprised. Last year, she did what I've done—decorated and planned an outing. A celebration, but not with anything material.

"It's not really a present," she says sliding the package across the table to me before taking a seat.

"Let me grab the champagne," I say.

She bites her lip but doesn't say anything. I pour us both a glass, and I set the bottle on the table between us.

Once I sit back down, I unwrap the present carefully, trying not to get my hopes up. I know what I want there to be inside, but I don't want to be obviously disappointed if it's not.

When I lift off the top of the box, a grin spreads across my face, wider than I can ever remember before. "You're pregnant?"

"I'm pregnant," she says, and then she leaps out of her chair to come around and sit on my lap.

I cup her face, and I kiss her, pouring all my love and excitement into the gesture. The baby isn't planned, but it's not unplanned either. We decided a few months ago that we were okay with seeing what happened. 

"I cannot think of anything better than having a baby with you," I say, showering her with kisses. "I have a present for you too," I say, lifting her off my lap and going to the hall closet.

On the top shelf is a running shoe box. It's not wrapped, but I think she'll like what she finds inside.

She gives me a quizzical look and takes the box from me, placing it on the kitchen table before flipping open the top. "Blake," she breathes out, her voice thick with tears. "Did you know?"

"I was pretty sure a few weeks ago," I say. "But I didn't want to rush you into that realization or force you to feel a certain way about it."

Of the two of us, I was the one becoming concerned about being an old dad, and when we agreed to let nature take its course, I told Gwen it could take months, even a year, for us to have a baby on the way. Instead, two months later, she's pregnant.

"I'm happy," she says, tears glistening in her eyes when she meets mine. "And this," she holds up the first onesie with Gorgeous, like my mom emblazoned on the front, "is so sweet." Underneath that one is another proclaiming the baby is New Here, and a third says there's a party in the crib and you need to bring your own bottle. Gwen laughs through tears and then hugs me tight. "You're going to be such a good dad."

When she lets me go, she picks up the champagne bottle and peers at the label. "Alcohol free. What gave me away?"

"Where do you want me to start?" I chuckle. "As a doctor, all signs pointed to baby on the way."

"I should have just told you sooner," she says with a little laugh.

"Why didn't you?" I ask, keeping my voice gentle.

"I wanted to do it today. Today felt like the right day to tell you. Like we've come full circle. Together and happy and we know what we want."

After Diana died, I never thought I'd get anywhere close to this, but here I am, getting everything I've ever dared to want.

Gwen and I balance each other out, and I'm already curious about who our baby will be. Quieter and more focused like me or bright, scattered, and outgoing like Gwen?

"I can't wait to see what the rest of our life together will be like."

"It's funny, isn't it?" Gwen asks, her hand straying to her lower abdomen. "To wish your life away in the best possible way. I just can't wait to meet this person and to figure out who they are."

"We're going to make all those days count," I say. "And I'm sure they'll all feel worth it, the easy or the hard."

"They already do," she says, rising on her tip toes to plant a quick kiss on my lips. "Getting on the bus that day was the best decision of my life."

"Oh?" I say, with a hint of smile. "It wasn't hitchhiking?"

"I cannot possibly respond to that without you teasing me or re-enacting how I looked in the back of the pickup when I couldn't sit up."

"The look on your face will live at the front of my mind forever."

"Yeah, well, the look on your face when the second cop showed up will live in mine. You were clearly unsure how bad I was going to make things for you."

"Very bad, it turns out. Practically handcuffed us together for the next six months."

"That was your suggestion—that we travel together—if I remember correctly."

"You were clearly a damsel in distress. It was the gentlemanly thing to do."

"Who knew being a gentleman would lead to such life changing consequences?"

"I should really be more careful," I say with a playful smile. "You tipped my life upside down."

"It's what I do," she agrees before picking up one of the onesies again and examining it. "For what it's worth, you gave my life a good shake up too."

And we both managed to land right where we belonged.

Most people voted for Blake and Gwen pregnant in some form or another, so that's this chapter. If you've got more you want, drop it here. I'll write chapters here and there for this book when I have time.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed Blake and Gwen's journey. ♥

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