(CHRIS)

I smell her before I see her. She's a beguiling mix of citrus and baby powder and something that's entirely her. Then I feel her, hands coming to rest on my shoulders then sliding downwards over my chest as she leans in close. Her hair brushes my cheek and I close my eyes, just breathing in. Letting her scent surround me.

"She still asleep?" I whisper as her fingers touch the stack of photos in my own hand.

"Yes she is and probably going to stay that way for awhile. What are you looking at?"

"Some pictures that Candy gave me." I say. "Come around and look at them with me."

The photos are ones Candace took of us when Morgan was pregnant with Isabella. Her beautiful belly features prominently in all of them. Of course I mostly look like the ugly frog but they were taken at a moment in time I won't soon forget.

"Can you believe our baby's a year old already," Morgan whispers.

"Time has just flown by; before we know it she'll be the one in college."And asking questions about relationships and marriage. What in the world got into Tristan with all those questions?

But tonight isn't the time to worry about that. He's back at school and the rest of my family is home again. And Isabella Gaines is one years old today.

"She was so funny with her cake." I let Morgan take hold of the pics and press a hand against her arm until she finally takes the hint and slides onto my lap."I thought she was very artistic in the way she flung it down on the newspaper."

"Takes after you for sure," Morgan replies.

"The pictures wouldn't have been half as interesting if she had been dainty with the cake."

"True but the clean up would have been easier." Morgan laughs.

"True," I agree then tilt my face toward my wife until she finally gets the hint and kisses me. "Thank you," I whisper.

"For what? For a kiss? Plenty more where that came from," she promises.

"That too, but not what I was really thinking of right now. I don’t say it enough to you."

"That deserves another kiss," she says softly and leans in close. This one lasts a little longer than the last one.

When it's over I whisper. "Thank you for taking another chance on me, thank you for Bella.""I could thank you for the same things.

"I guess that means we feel the same way about the precious little girl sleeping in the next room and about one another. And it seems as though that daughter of ours realizes she's not the center of attention right now and what's something done about it. The baby monitor comes to life and we can hear her chattering to herself.

"Oops, looks like someone wasn't asleep after all," Morgan slips from my lap. "Be right back, let me go check on her.

"I'm expecting her to tuck Bella back in and reappear but when she does, she's holding a bright eyed little one. "Someone wanted up, huh?""Someone wants to see Daddy, I think." Morgan hands over the blanket wrapped bundle and Bella snuggles against me.

And right away I think of the song I wrote for her. I don't know if it will ever be recorded but I'll sing it for her once in a while and when she's old enough to understand, I'll explain I wrote it for her when she was merely twelve months old.

I'll tell her it was the first of many presents I'll give her through the years. nd I'll also tell her just how important she is to me and to her mother.

6lbs and 9oz.
lookin' up at me
Like I have all the answers
I hope I have the ones you need
I've never really done this,
now I know what scared is

Sometimes I'll protect you
from everything that's wrong
Other times I'll let you just find out on your own
But that's when you'll be growin',
And the whole time I'll be knowin

CHORUS:
You're gonna fly
with every dream you chase
You're gonna cry,
but know that that's okay
Sometimes life's not fair,
but if you hang in there
You're gonna see that sometimes bad is good
We just have to believe things work out like they should
Life has no guarantees, but always loved by me
You're gonna be

I'm afraid you'll have to suffer through
some of my mistakes
Lord knows I'll be trying to give you what it takes
What it takes to know the difference
Between getting by and livin'
‘Cause anything worth doing is worth doing all the way
Just know you'll have to live with all
the choices that you make
So make sure you're always givin' way
more than you're takin'

REPEAT CHORUS