Nantucket Threads (Nantucket Beach Plum Cove Book 6)

by Pamela M. Kelley

  “It sounds like a lot. But you’re handling it exactly how I knew you would. You’re going to be a great mom, Izzy.”

  “Thank you.” Her eyes watered, and she laughed. “Silly hormones. I’m still crying at everything.”

  Will stood and pulled her into a hug, holding her tight for a moment before letting her go.

  “What was that for?”

  He smiled. “You just looked like you really needed a hug. And I wanted to hug you. I should probably head back to work. I have to be at a client site in Siasconset in twenty minutes.”

  “You’d better hurry then. Thanks, Will. For everything.”

  “It was my pleasure. If you need anything, give me a holler.”

  Emily woke as Will stood to leave, and both she and Izzy watched as he walked out the door.

  “That’s a good man, Emily. Someday, I hope you meet someone like him.”

  Chapter 23

  Kate felt monstrously huge. She hadn’t actually gained that much weight, a total of forty-five pounds. But, for someone that was always slim, it felt uncomfortable, especially as one of the babies seemed to have the hiccups all the time. The doctor said it might have something to do with their positions. One was wedged straight across the top and when she had hiccups, Kate’s stomach moved in rhythm.

  The doctor had told her the baby on top was the girl. Kate was still debating which name to go with. Emily had been high at the top of her list, but Izzy named her baby Emily so she didn’t want to be a copycat or cause confusion as they were friends, and Kate hoped that her babies would eventually have playdates with Emily. She’d grown closer to Izzy too, in recent months. She’d always been friends with Mia, but now she and Izzy had a lot in common and it was nice to have someone to talk to that was going through the same thing she was.

  Kate had made it past the danger point. Her doctor wanted her to at least get to thirty-six weeks, so the babies would be big enough that they shouldn’t have the complications that premature babies often did. And since her last scare, she’d been very careful to not push herself too much and to make sure she was getting plenty of rest. She’d been mostly living in her bed for the past few months, lounging there most of the day, and writing in bed. She propped herself up with a pile of pillows and was surprised by how productive she could be there. And when she felt like napping, she just shut her eyes and drifted away for a while.

  Today was her week thirty-seven check-up and she was heading to her doctor’s office in a few minutes. She used the bathroom before she left and noticed a tiny spot of blood on the tissue. And on the short drive to the doctor’s office she felt a cramp, stronger than the ones she’d felt before, and she picked up her speed, feeling suddenly nervous and anxious.

  Her doctor smiled when she entered the exam room and when Kate filled her in on the spotting and cramp, she checked Kate out quickly, examining her cervix and doing an ultrasound.

  “It’s not clear if you are going into early labor or if this is another placenta previa episode. Usually that resolves by this point, but where you had some spotting, it could be that and at this point, we don’t want that to go any further. I think it’s time to get you into the hospital and do a c-section immediately to get those babies out before there’s any distress. Can you call your husband to come and get you? I’ll call ahead to the hospital and I’ll meet you there shortly.”

  Kate called Jack, and he said he’d leave immediately.

  “My car is here.”

  “We’ll worry about that later.”

  Less than ten minutes later Jack arrived, and Kate left with him for the hospital. It was right around the corner from the doctor’s office, and they were expecting her so she was admitted right away. She was brought to a delivery room and prepped for surgery. Jack called her mother, who said she’d call the rest of the family and they’d all be there shortly.

  Everything went quickly after that. Because they were going right into surgery, Kate didn’t get to see anyone before they went in. Jack was with her, after scrubbing up and donning a protective paper covering over his clothes. She was given anesthesia in her spinal area and soon after, felt pretty much numb from the waist down. She was reassured when her doctor walked into the room and smiled.

  “Okay, Kate. Are we ready to do this? Let’s meet your babies.”

  It went so quickly—more quickly than Kate expected. She was used to the stories of long labors, hours of contractions and pushing. This was nothing like that. The doctor made an incision in her abdomen and it just felt like pressure, no pain. And soon after, she reached in and lifted out the first baby, and let Jack cut the umbilical cord. The first one was the girl, and the doctor handed her to a nurse who cleaned her and wrapped her in a blanket. Less than a minute later, the doctor held up the second baby, their boy, and Jack proudly cut the umbilical cord again.

  While the doctor finished with Kate, making sure everything was as it should be and then sewing her incision, the nurses placed the two babies in Kate’s arms. They were laying across her chest and both Kate and Jack stared at them in amazement. It was crazy to think just moments ago these two little people had been inside of her. As she looked at their tiny faces, all pink and wrinkly and perfect, she turned her eyes to Jack.

  “We did this,” she said proudly. Jack was wearing a permanent grin as he looked at his family.

  “We did.” They’d been torn between a few names, but as Kate looked at her children, the names they were meant to have seemed clear.

  “I’m thinking Annabella and Tobias. What do you think?”

  Jack nodded. “He looks like a Toby to me, and that’s the prettiest Annabella I’ve ever seen.”

  Kate was wheeled back to her room and soon after, the doctor went to the waiting room and let Kate’s anxious family know that Kate was resting, the babies were healthy and everyone was fine. She said they could take their turns going in to see her, but that everyone should keep their visits short so Kate could get some rest.

  Kate’s mom and Rhett were the first to visit. Happy tears streamed down her mother’s face when she saw Kate propped up in bed, holding the babies, with Jack by her side.

  “Oh, Kate, they’re beautiful.”

  “Congratulations to both of you,” Rhett added.

  “How are you feeling?” her mother asked.

  Kate smiled. “I’m just tired. I’m still numbed up so I’m not sore, yet.”

  “The doctor said you’ll be going home day after tomorrow. I’ll stop by later that afternoon—I’ll call first, of course. But I’ll drop off some food for you and Jack. Maybe a lasagna or something easy you can just heat up. You’re not going to feel like cooking for a while.”

  “Thanks, Mom. I appreciate that.” And she was right. Kate knew she was going to have her hands full and there would be little time to cook, or even eat.

  Her sisters and then her brother and his wife came in next and everyone offered their congratulations. Kristen and Abby also said they’d bring some food by in the next few days and would coordinate with their mother on what she needed.

  When everyone except Jack left, Kate suddenly felt exhausted and ready for a nap. A nurse came and took the babies away, and Kate closed her eyes. Jack still sat beside her, holding her hand until she fell asleep. When she woke, hours later, he was still there in the chair next to her bed, sound asleep. She sighed with contentment and drifted back to sleep.

  Two days later, Jack went back to the hospital mid-morning with two baby carriers. They kept Kate until late that afternoon, wanting to make sure she didn’t have any complications before sending her home. She was sore now that the anesthesia had worn off, and even though the incision wasn’t big, it was straight across her abdomen and cut through all the muscles used daily for almost every movement. It hurt every time she got up or moved around at all. They gave her something for the pain, but it made her groggy, so she just switched to Advil, which took the edge off. And a day later, it felt more like a stiff muscle than actual shar
p pains.

  “I feel like a little old lady, moving around so slow,” Kate made fun of herself as she got up from the sofa the next day and made her way into the kitchen. She was very grateful that her mother and sisters had all dropped off food, pasta she could heat up and rotisserie chicken she could slice and eat and as a special treat, a lobster quiche.

  And Jack had been wonderful. He helped so much the first few days when Kate felt like her legs were stuck in molasses and everything she did was in slow motion. She started to feel more like herself by day four and that’s when Jack went back to work and she had the babies all to herself. It was wonderful and overwhelming at the same time. She’d been warned it would be like that, though. She’d read all the books on having twins and how challenging the first year would be.

  The hardest thing was that they were two entirely different people and didn’t always follow the same schedule. One would fall asleep as the other was waking up and started screaming. They screamed a lot, and at first it alarmed Kate until she began to recognize the different sounds of their cries. The hungry cry versus the diaper needs changing cry and the ‘I’m a baby and bored’ cry.

  As the first few weeks turned into a month, it got a little easier in some ways and harder in others. The hardest thing was the sleep deprivation. Kate wondered if she’d ever be able to get a good night’s sleep again. She was a much lighter sleeper than Jack. And since he was the one with a set schedule, who had to get up and go to work every morning at a certain time, she tended to be the one that flew out of bed when one of the babies cried in the middle of the night.

  “You need to let me get up with them sometimes. You look exhausted,” Jack said one morning as Kate sipped her coffee and almost wished she could inject it into her veins to wake up faster. She was exhausted, and she knew she looked awful. A month of horrible sleep found her with dry, pale skin and dark hollows under her eyes.

  “I might let you get up with them tonight. But you might be sorry you offered,” she said with a laugh.

  True to his word, Jack did get up. Kate heard one of them cry a little after one and resisted the urge to jump out of bed. She rolled over instead and snuggled into her pillow, trying to block out the sound. But it was pulling at her and just as she was about to give up and go to the baby, Jack spoke. “Stay in bed. I’ve got it.” And he did. He went and gave the baby a bottle and was back in bed twenty minutes later, as Kate was almost asleep and falling fast. For the first time in weeks, she fell fully asleep and woke hours later feeling refreshed.

  Chapter 24

  “I have my first official client,” Marley said at breakfast one morning. Lisa looked at her in surprise. “That’s wonderful. Who is it? Someone from your California network?”

  “No, though a few people have reached out to set up calls, which is encouraging. They saw my updated LinkedIn profile and checked out my website. She grinned. “You and Izzy are both case studies on my site, and I think that is how this new client found me. He’s a friend of Eloise’s from the knitting shop and when he told her what he was looking to do, she mentioned me. He looked up my website and I think you and Izzy closed the sale.”

  “Oh, good! So, who is it?”

  “Mark Andrews. He’s a local photographer, and he’s looking to update his website and see if he can sell more of his photos, for commercial use.”

  “You mean like for book covers, things like that?” Lisa knew that Kate often bought photos to use for her book covers and her designers worked their magic, adding other elements like text.

  “Yes, and anything, really. I met him for coffee yesterday to chat about what he’s looking to do, and I think it might be a fun project. Do you know him?”

  “I don’t know him, but I think I’ve seen him out and about at local art events, like at some of the galleries Kristen works with. He’s about our age, right? Year-round Nantucket resident?”

  “Yes. He’s a native Nantucketer. Born and raised here. He left for college and lived in the Boston area for years, but when his wife died, he moved home to Nantucket. He has two adult boys about the age of your children.”

  “I didn’t know that about his wife. That’s sad.”

  “It is. I think it’s been hard for him, but it’s been almost ten years now.”

  Lisa was quiet for a moment, then asked, “Is he good-looking?” She thought she knew the answer based on how much Marley was chatting about him.

  “He is actually, and very nice too. Not that I’m looking for anything romantic. I’m not. Not yet. I just really enjoyed his company. It’s going to be fun working with him.”

  “Well, that’s how the best relationships start I’ve always found. Friends first. That’s how it was with Rhett.”

  “It seems like the two of you are so well suited,” Marley agreed. “Like you’ve been together for ever.”

  “When you get to be our age, it doesn’t take as long to figure out how you feel about someone. In some ways, it’s easier.”

  “I suppose. I never was a fan of dating. I always thought it as stressful. First dates, that is. It’s almost like a job interview when you’re so careful to say the right thing.” Marley shuddered. “I’m in no rush for that.”

  Lisa laughed. “I don’t blame you. I’m happy about your new client. If nothing else, you’ll make a new friend.”

  “That’s what I figured. I have more news too. I think I found a house that I’m going to make an offer on.”

  “You did? That’s great. Tell me about it.”

  “It’s about a mile and a half from here, on the water, but it’s not one of those showy mansions. It’s an older, renovated cottage. Just three bedrooms, so not too big. My favorite feature is a big farmer’s porch overlooking the ocean. I can already see myself sitting there reading a book or knitting as I watch the sun set.”

  “That sounds lovely.”

  “I fell in love with it immediately. I didn’t want to be too impulsive, though. I’ve been poking around online checking out the street and property history and there’s no red flags. So, I’m going to call my realtor shortly and put an offer in.”

  “Good luck!”

  “Marley bought a house today,” Lisa told Rhett at dinner that night. They were sitting in the kitchen in their usual spots at the island, enjoying a glass of red wine and snacking on some cheese and crackers. Lisa had a roast chicken in the oven with some baked potatoes and a tossed salad. They were back to trying to eat better.

  “She did? On Nantucket?”

  Lisa nodded. “Yes. It sounds adorable. An older cottage on the ocean. She’s paying cash, so they will be able to close in a few weeks as soon as they do a title search. I’ll miss having her here.”

  Rhett smiled. “You miss everyone when they go away.”

  It was true. They’d had several guests that Lisa had grown close to and missed when they checked out and moved on with their lives. But some of them, Angela and Mia, didn’t go far, and Lisa still saw them, as both girls were friends with her children.

  “Fortunately, Nantucket is a small place, so I’m sure I will still see Marley too. I told her I wanted to introduce her to Sue and Paige. Maybe I’ll set a dinner up this week. We’ve been trying to get together for a while.”

  “What are you up to tomorrow?” Rhett asked.

  “Baking in the morning and then later in the afternoon, around four or so, I thought I’d bring some food over to Kate’s.”

  “You just want to see those grandbabies.”

  “I do. I might offer to babysit for them this weekend too, either Friday or Saturday night. I think Kate could use a break and a date night would be fun for them.”

  “I’m sure she’d love it.”

  Lisa made a big pot of chicken soup with the leftover roasted chicken and brought it to Kate’s the next afternoon. Kate seemed happy but exhausted, and Lisa noticed that she was looking awfully thin. Kate was naturally slim, but she’d lost all her baby weight plus an extra ten or so pounds and had a gaunt look t
o her.

  “Honey, I’m worried about you. You need to make sure that you eat right.”

  “I am eating. But I’m just so busy. These two keep me running. Look at my arms, though. They’ve never looked so good. Look at the definition.”

  She pushed her long sleeves back and her arms did look good, toned and her muscles were well defined.

  “Have you been working out?”

  “Nope. It’s just from carrying these two around, one on each hip. They are my free weights.”

  Lisa smiled at the image. “How’s it going at night? Are you getting enough sleep?”

  “What is sleep?” Kate laughed. “No, I’m not. Jack wants me to wake him up more, but I always wake up first and it’s just easier for me to get up.”

  “You really should let him do it more. I did it most of the time with your father, but it was just too much and we ended up working out a schedule where he did it one or two nights a week and that at least gave me a break. It really does get better after the first year. I promise.”

  “Maybe I’ll talk to Jack and see if something like that could work. Thanks for the suggestion.”

  “Of course. Now, where are those babies? Grammy needs a snuggle.”

  Chapter 25

  “Are you sure you’re ready for this? You don’t have to stay all weekend. Why not start with one night? Or you could even give him Emily for the night and see how he does by himself. That would give you a break.” Mia and Penny were both in Izzy’s room watching her pack for her weekend at Rick’s.

  “We’ve been talking about this for a while. We both think it’s a good idea. He wants me to move back in. This is a good compromise, a way to dip my toes in the water first before diving in. It will be good for both of us, to see if this will work.”