"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, dear Melody, happy birthday to you."
   
A chocolate cupcake was placed in front of me. On my lap, Arabella reached out and stuck her finger into the icing. She then licks her finger and promptly sticks it up her nose. Mom takes her from my lap and I close my eyes and make a wish. I open my eyes and blow out the candle. Josh leans in and kisses my cheek.
   
"I love you." he whispers into my ear.
   
"And I you." I take the paper off the cupcake and take a bite.
   
"Mmm. Thanks Mom. This is awesome." Mom was letting 15-month-old Arabella smash hers with her fingers. Just then the baby decides to kick.
   
"Uuh. I can't wait for this one to be out. She's so active." With one month left to go, I was huge, my feet were swollen, my back hurt and I wanted to feel normal again.
   
"Next time remind me to get pregnant in the summer. That way I won't be fat and ugly for my birthday."
   
Josh put down his cupcake.
   
"You are not fat and ugly. You're pregnant. It's a beautiful thing. You're beautiful." We've had this conversation before.
   
"You're only saying that because you married me."
   
"I married you because I love you, and I say all this because it's true." Josh looked at Mom and shook his head. The phone rang and Josh answered it and talked for a few moments before handing the phone to me.
   
"Hello?"
   
"How are you doing, dear? Happy birthday." Karen Chasez's voice answers.
   
"I'm doing fine, thanks."
   
"I just called to tell you that Roy and I will be in town for a few days next month. Would it be alright with you if we stopped in to say hello while we were there?"
   
"Karen, you're staying here. You can always stay here."
   
"Well, we don't want to cause you stress. I know you're due in a month."
   
"Don't be silly. You're staying here." Karen and I talked a few more minutes before hanging up.
   
That night in bed, Josh rolled over to face me.
   
"Mel?"
   
"What?" I asked, turning my head to look at him. He moved his head so that it was next to mine on the pillow.
   
"Something's bothering you. I don't know what it is, maybe it's just hormonal, but something's bothering you. What is it?"
   
"What would we do if something happens? Like if we went bankrupt and ended up on the street?" Josh put his arms around me.
   
"I've worked hard to live like this. So have you. We won't go bankrupt. We will never have to live on the street. I promise. Everything will be fine. I love you, my sweet Melody." He kisses my cheek and holds me until I fall asleep.

"Morning Melody. Happy anniversary. I love you." Josh whispers into my ear. My eyes flutter open.
   
"Happy anniversary, baby, I love you too." We lie there for a while longer before getting up. We went downstairs to get breakfast. Karen and Roy were already up. They told us good morning. I sat down with my bowl of total and chocolate chips. Karen looked at me.
   
"I crave chocolate with this one. I must be a girl." Karen smiled at me.
   
"I love that you don't want to know what it is."
   
Josh rubbed my shoulder as he sat down.
   
"We loved being surprised with Bella."
   
"Love you." I said as I leaned over to him and kissed his lips.
   
"Mmm. Bran-y chocolate." he said. I laughed.
   
"Must be better than morning breath and pop tart." Josh pretended to be wounded as he went back to his breakfast. Karen and Roy were exchanging looks with each other. Arabella wandered in holding her blankie. Karen picked her up and hugged her.
   
"Good morning, sweetie." She went ahead and got her breakfast and Roy finished his and left the room for a few moments. When he returned, he handed Josh a card. Josh opened it and read it.
   
"Thanks Dad." he said as he handed me the card. I looked down at it.
   
'On Your Anniversary' was written on the front in a fancy font. The inside told us to have a happy one, and in Karen's handwriting, it said how proud of us they were.
   
When Bella had finished breakfast, Karen asked her if she wanted to go to the zoo. Josh and I exchanged glances.
   
"Mom, you don't have to take her to the zoo. Really." Josh said.
   
"But Joshua, I want to take her. Really. I want to enjoy some time with her at this age, and before she gets a sibling and everything changes for her." Josh was going to protest, but I put my hand on his arm.
   
When Karen, Roy and Bella left, Josh looked at me.
   
"Why'd you let them take Bella?"
   
"Why were you so against the idea of her going to the zoo? Couldn't you see that your mother wanted to give us the day off from being parents, so that we could enjoy our first anniversary?" Josh took a deep breath.
   
"I don't want to fight, and I guess I didn't see that point. Forgive me?"
   
"Of course." I said as I took my bowl to the sink. Josh came up behind me.
   
"I love you." he said softly into my ear. I felt something move near my neck. Josh had put a beautiful diamond necklace around my neck. It had three diamonds, one for the past, one for the present and one for the future. I turned around and kissed him. I gave him the present I got him. We spent the rest of the day cuddling on the couch watching movies, and we even tried to eat the piece of wedding cake that had been in the freezer. It was gross. It was all dry and crumbly. It tasted much better last year.

I open my eyes and place my hands on my expanded abdomen. I roll over to face Josh. It's hard to believe that today he turns 28. I've known him since a few months before he turned 26, and here we were two years later, and we've been married for a year, have a fifteen month old and another baby on the way in a few weeks.
Josh is sleeping with his mouth slightly open and softly snoring, his hair splayed across the pillow, as much as it could for the length it was.

I lean over and kiss him on the cheek. I get out of bed as quietly as I can and go downstairs and start breakfast. When I finish it, I head upstairs with it on a tray. I place the tray down. I quietly bend over and kiss the top of his head.
   
"Wake up honey." I softly say to him. His eyes flutter open and he looks up at me. He smiles. I give him the breakfast tray. He takes a bite and says it's delicious.
   
About halfway through, Arabella comes toddling in. We give her breakfast and she hands Josh the present we made of her "singing" on a CD. Josh puts the disk into the player and we sat there listening to her "singing".
   
Soon though, his cell was ringing. It was Justin and Chris three-waying to wish him a happy birthday. Then Joey, then Lance, and then his mother. TJ called, Heather called. My mother and Jack had even called to wish him a happy birthday. I sat there and thought how amazing it is that everyone calls and gathers on such days.
   
I had ordered a cake at the local Dairy Queen, and we enjoyed it after lunch since it was such a hot day. It was too hot to cook, so we ordered some Chinese food and enjoyed it in the backyard. Then the three of us went for a drive, ending up at the beach.
   
Josh and I walked together in the lapping waves while Arabella toddled in front of us. When we reached one end of the beach, we turned around and walked the other way, watching the sunset. Josh and I held hands as the surf washed up over our bare feet. Arabella was playing in the sand so we stood in one place for a while, slowly being buried in the sand as the waves washed it over our feet. It wasn't too long before she got bored with the sand and pebbles she was playing with and walked over to us. Josh picked her up and we walked a little while with her before she saw a seashell and Josh put her down, where she walked with us.
   
As the sunset, I felt a pang in my abdomen and a sensation that I had felt once before in my life. I turned and looked at Josh.

"My water just broke."

Josh looked at me.
   
"No way."
   
I nod my head. Josh squeezes my hand.
   
"I love you."
   
"I love you too." I answer back. Arabella starts to wander away from us.
   
"Bella! Come here honey!" Josh calls after her. Bella looks at us and keeps walking away. Josh sighs and crouches down and opens his arms.
   
"Arabel-la, Daddy needs a hug!" Bella looks at him and comes running back. Josh scoops her up and turns back to me.
   
"Need any help?" I shake my head no, and we start back to the car. Josh opens the door for me and I get in. He straps Arabella into her car seat and then gets in and starts the car. We start heading to the hospital.
   
At a red light, Josh calls my mother and asks her to meet us at the hospital. The light turns green and he hangs up. All of a sudden, I feel a really concentrated contraction and some movement going on.
"Josh, we won't make it. The baby's coming NOW." Josh takes one glance at my face and pulls over to the side of the road. He gets out and un straps Bella and tells me to get into the back seat. As I get out of my seat and open the back door, Josh takes Bella and puts her into the front seat, with the car seat in the driver's seat. He helps me into the back seat and calls 911. They help him prepare to deliver the baby. A few short minutes later, he's got his shirt off in his hands, and the towel he keeps in his car was underneath me. He gently pulls our second born's head and shoulders out, and the rest slide right out. He cleans out its mouth and it lets out a cry. He wraps it in his shirt and places the bundle on my stomach. He thanks the operator and hangs up as the ambulance arrives.
   
"Melody, we have a second daughter." he manages to say before he backs out and the EMT ducks in. They let Josh cut the umbilical cord and load me and our new daughter into the ambulance. Josh grabs Arabella and climbs into the back of the ambulance with me. It drove me to the hospital where I was fully checked over by my doctor. Mom and Jack came into see us as Josh called his mother with the news.

"Yes Karen....No, it's a girl....What did we name her?..Harmony Angel....yes...Thanks...Me? I'm doing better. Did Josh tell you how she was born?..Only that he delivered her?...I didn't even have to push that much, she just kind of came out on her own....Yes, I'm serious...Ok. I'll talk to you later then. Bye." I placed the phone in its cradle on the bedside table.
   
"She doesn't believe it." I said. Jack laughs at this.
   
"I must say, of all the babies I've delivered, I've never heard of one coming into the world like my new niece." He said. I laugh at this too.
   
"And this including you delivering the baby boy of a teen, then adopting it a year later?" Jack sobered a bit.
   
"That's different. Ethan was born like every other vaginal birth. Little miss Harmony here is a unique story." Josh came back in the room, returning from getting his car with Mom.
   
"There's the most beautiful woman I know. How's my Melody doing?" he asked as he kissed my forehead and sitting on the bed." I smiled at him.
   
"The same as I was doing twenty minutes ago when you left." I handed Harmony over to him. He looked down at her and smiled the same smile I see on his face every time he looks down at a sleeping Arabella in his arms.
   
"She's some birthday present, isn't she?" I ask him quietly enough that Jack didn't hear me. Josh looked up at me.
   
"I couldn't ask for a better one. I love you and our two beautiful daughters." Just then, Harmony started to fuss, so I had everyone leave the room as I started to feed her. Once she was started, Josh came back in and sat in the chair the Jack had occupied. He just sat there and watched us while he smiled. I looked up at him at one point.
   
"Whatchya thinking?" I ask.
   
"Just how beautiful life is. That there's nothing more beautiful then to watch a mother feed her child, giving it the essentials it needs to survive. It makes me realize just how precious and beautiful you really are. I love you." he said. I smiled back at him.
   
"Well, the guy that delivered this one was pretty good looking too. Josh laughs as Harmony finishes her meal and I tuck myself back into the hospital gown. I hand her to Josh and head to the bathroom. By the time I come back out, she's asleep in her daddy's arms. I sit back down on the bed and just watch Josh and Harmony. Josh sensed me watching him and looked up at me.
   
"Penny for your thoughts."
   
"Just thinking how much I love you, and how natural you are with the girls." I said. Josh stood up and took our newest daughter and put her in the plastic mobile hospital crib. He turned back to me.
   
"And I love you, Melody Elissa Chasez." and he gave me a tender kiss on the lips.
   
It seemed like no time before I was taking Harmony home, ready for the start of her life.