Too Late for Regret (Annalise and Roger) novel Chapter 147

Charlie’s POV

Three Months Later:

My wife looks gorgeous. She is looking down at her pregnant stomach with love, and I feel like my heart will burst. I’m amazed by how much my life has truly changed in such a short amount of time. If you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would be married with a baby on the way, I wouldn’t have believed it was possible. I’ve never really believed in instant love, so I would have laughed whoever asked me right out of my office. But I believed in it now, and Ana was worth the wait.

Ana has bloomed with the pregnancy. She already loves our son to the moon. Her hands now splayed on her baby bump as evidence of our love. The dress she designed was beautiful. Fitted on the top, with a slit that ran to the seam under her breasts. Her full breasts swelled a little over the neckline. The was something she hadn’t anticipated. She had designed the dress with her previous measurements, just allowing extra fabric for the skirt. Her breasts looked ready to spill out of the dress.

The material flowed around her as she walked to take her position. It was February, and too cold for her to be outside for the photo shoot. So we brought flowers in, and a lot of them. We designed the studio to look like she was in a garden. The trellis that had been brought in was beautiful. She looked like a garden nymph come to life. She had a beautiful flower crown sitting on her head. Her hair, longer now, was in loose curls that hung past her shoulders.

The shoot was being done in two segments. The first focused on just Ana and the baby. The second, I would join. As much as I was looking forward to that, I could watch her follow the photographer’s instructions all day. My wife was absolutely glowing with happiness. She looked gorgeous in that dress. I made a mental note to have her put this dress back on after we get home tonight.

I was happy to see Ana so happy. She had some nightmares after Tiffany broke into our home. I knew how much she loved our home, and I didn’t want her to move. Her therapist suggested making major changes to the living room. So it didn’t look the same when she entered our home, as it would be a trigger. We ended up changing out everything, from the flooring to the paint on the walls. She had a hand in each step of it, and the work had been done quickly. The hardwood had been damaged by the acid anyway and needed to be replaced.

The living room now looks completely different. It was brighter and more cheerful than it had been. Ana had let her mother help choose the living room furniture. The old room had been modern and nice, but we had a baby on the way. We wanted the room to be safe for him. The new furniture was overfilled and soft. The table was wooden and oval, with no corners. We would still need to watch out for him, but the room was much more child–friendly and colorful.

The walls were now a soothing light blue. The medium blue couch had the same light blue pillows, completing the comfy look. I loved the choices she made for the room and the darker hardwoods she had chosen. Her mother told Ana that the darker wood would help hide dirt, which neither of us had considered. We hadn’t thought that far ahead. Ana rarely had nightmares anymore; it had been over a month since the last one.

“Excellent, Ana, now expose your stomach, bend your knee forward. Yes, just like that. Turn just slightly, and look over your shoulder at me. Great, that’s perfect. Now turn back towards me a little bit. Place your hands on the baby. Wonderful, I love it,” the photographer said as he took several pictures of Ana.

Five minutes later, he turned towards me and said, “You ready to join her, Charlie?”

I didn’t have to be asked twice, and I immediately stepped forward to head to Ana. He was her professional photographer. The one who usually did their ad work. When she asked him to do this for her, he immediately agreed. He researched pregnancy photoshoots and spoke to his friends who did them to get tips. He was excited about doing this for us. He always appreciated her giving him a chance when he was just starting out. He cleared time to help her out when she needed him. They had trust between them, and that helped her be more natural around him.

“Charlie, now place your hands on either side of her stomach. Good, that’s good. Ana, now place your hands over his. Perfect. I love it. You two are full of great ideas, so just do what comes naturally, and we’ll see what magic we find,” he said.

I drowned his voice out as I looked down at my hands cradling her stomach. Our baby would soon be here, and I couldn’t wait to hold him in my arms. I leaned down, and Ana naturally tilted her head up to look at me. I kissed her temple, and she gave a happy sigh. I wish I could freeze this moment in time. She turned her head to give me a kiss, and I got swept up in the moment. This was just as memorable as the kiss we had when we were declared husband and wife.

“Let me go change clothes, and we can head home,” Ana announced.

“Oh, you don’t have to change love. I’d like you to wear it home,” I replied.

Her eyes snapped to mine, and she saw the desire in my eyes. “Okay,” she replied. Her voice was huskier than it was before, as she was already on the same page I was. I couldn’t wait to get her home and out of that dress.

I held her hand in mine as we headed home. Rubbing small circles on the back of her hand. I’m riding high on the emotions I was feeling during the shoot. Imminence pride of my wife. She was the love of my life, and I was happy to tell anyone who would listen that she was. She was the same way with me. She never held back how much she loved me. She was proud of me, and she bragged on me all the time. I knew she did, because Rita would tease me about it.

Rita had come out of her shell and was much less formal, unless she was on duty. She took protecting Ana very seriously, and I knew that she would do the same for the baby. I plan on sticking with the schedule that we had in place now for the next year. I don’t want to miss the important moments in my child’s life. His first steps, his first words, that was something I couldn’t get back. Even if they were recorded, it wasn’t the same.

My father had missed a lot of my milestones. My grandfather had missed the same milestones with my own father, as they both worked tirelessly for the company. I missed my father a great deal over the years at birthdays, holidays, and my sporting events. I knew he was driven. He was the top in his field, but some things are more important than profits.