Page 202 - It Ends with Us

del ivered —b ut there were no sound s at all. Not ev en the cries of a

new born. My ha nd s go up to my mouth and seei ng the look on
Marsha ll’s face ha s me fea ring the worst.
His sho ulders just start sha king and tea rs pour out of hi s ey es . “I’m
a dad.” And then he punc hes the air. “I’m a DAD!”
He hu gs R yle and then me and says, “Give us fif teen minu tes and
you can come ins ide to meet her.”

When he closes the door, R yle and I both rel ea se hu ge sighs of
rel ief . We look at ea ch other and smile. “You were thi nk ing the worst,
too?” he asks.
I no d and then hu g hi m. “You’re an unc le, ” I say, smiling .
He kisses my hea d and says, “You too.”
Half an ho ur later, R yle and I are both stand ing nex t to the bed ,
watchi ng Allysa ho ld her new baby. She’s absolutel y per fect. A little

too new to tel l who she looks like yet , but she’s bea utiful, reg ardles s.
“You want to ho ld your ni ec e?” Allysa says to R yle.
He kind of stiffens up like he’s ner vous, but then he no ds. She
lea ns over and puts the baby in R yle’s arms, sho wing hi m ho w to ho ld
her. He stares down at her ne r vously and then walks over to the couch
and takes a sea t. “Have you guys dec ided on a na me yet ?” he asks.

“Yes ,” Allysa says.
R yle and I both look at Allysa and she smiles , tea ry ey ed . “We
want ed to na me her after someo ne Marsha ll and I both thi nk the
world of. So we added an E to your na me. We’re calling her R ylee. ”
I ins tant ly look back over at R yle and he blows out a quick brea th
like he’s a little in sho ck. He looks back down at R ylee and just starts
smiling . “Wow,” he whi spers . “I don’t kno w wha t to say.”

I squeez e Allysa’s ha nd and then walk over and take a sea t nex t to
R yle. I’ve ha d a lot of moment s when I tho ught I couldn’t love hi m
more than I alrea dy do, but onc e again I’m proven wrong . Seei ng the
way he looks at hi s new baby ni ec e makes my hea rt ex pand .
Marsha ll sits down on the bed nex t to Allysa. “Did you guys hea r
ho w quiet Issa was thro ugh the who le thi ng ? Not a sing le peep . She

didn’t even take drugs.” He puts hi s arm around her and lies down
nex t to her on the bed . “I feel like I’m in tha t movie Han cock with Wi ll
Smith and I’m about to find out I’m marri ed to a superhero .”