Rock-A-Bye Bride. Tracy Madison

topped with cheddar cheese. Oh! And sour cream.”

      “I have that and more.” He started unpacking the various containers from the bags onto the chipped Formica counter. “After we eat, if you’re up for it, we should probably hit the grocery store and...well, I wouldn’t mind making another stop. Somewhere we can look at baby stuff together. Maybe buy something for him or her. What do you think?”

      Oh. As of yet, Anna hadn’t purchased so much as a pair of bootees for the baby. She hadn’t allowed herself to celebrate her pregnancy in any way at all. Between the shock of seeing a positive pink line, the realization of her changed future, her anxiety over telling Logan, his unexpected proposal and her acceptance, and then the wedding itself...she hadn’t thought about celebration. She just hadn’t got that far, she guessed.

      But now, with these few words from Logan, her heart opened and the full realization that she was going to be a mother...a mother!...swept in with unadulterated joy. She was ready, finally, to prepare for and celebrate this new life growing inside her, and she couldn’t think of a sweeter, simpler, lovelier way to do so than what Logan had suggested.

      “Yes,” she said, excited and warmed by the prospect. Decorating the living room could wait a day or two or three. “Let’s buy our first something for this baby. Maybe a little outfit, or a toy, or a soft blanket, or—I know! Maybe a teddy bear.” She stopped and inhaled a breath. “I love this idea, Logan. I...didn’t realize how much I needed to celebrate this baby’s existence.”

      “Then that’s what we’ll do,” Logan said. “I think it will be good for both of us.”

      He was right, on so many levels. Focusing on the baby today, the day after their wedding, was the perfect way to start this in-name-only, temporary marriage. And shopping for the baby would entail the first decision of many they would make as lifelong, platonic partners.