by Mj Fields
I smirk. “I did.”
“Wait, what?” Lucas gasps.
“Oh, yeah, I’m pregnant, Daddy.”
Jade and Tessa make a big deal out of our announcement. So do my sisters and everyone around us.
“I guess you’re married,” Logan announces, rolling his eyes, and Chance takes the opportunity to bite him on the shoulder. “You are so lucky you’re my nephew. Now sign this thing,” he then says to us, handing the marriage license to me.
Lucas glares at me, and I tell him what Ava said I should.
“I’m excited she’ll experience a calm pregnancy. Maybe have a shower and all those girly things she missed out on the first time.”
“Yeah, let’s hope so. I was excited about my princess’s wedding.” He lifts Hope up. “Don’t let me down, Hope, please.”
They all walk away, and then Ava and I stand there, looking at each other.
“I look ridiculous.”
“I think you’re beautiful,” I tell her, and that’s no lie.
“Well, thanks, but I think you look ridiculous, too.”
I look down and laugh. “It was your idea.”
“I know, and thank you for agreeing to it.”
“Of course. But I need one more promise from you, Mrs. Lane.”
She grins at me, and I know she’s loving her fairy tale happily ever after. Hell, she had it planned all her life.
“You wear just the tutu and crown later,” I finish.
She laughs and nods. “Just as long as you wear just the knight’s helmet.”
“Anything you want, my ballerina, queen...woman-child.”
She jumps up, wrapping her arms and legs around me. “No hurry; we have a ballerina and knights of the round table party to attend.”
“But now I’m hard.”
She laughs. “God, I love you.”
“I know you do, Ava, I know you do.”
***
AVA
Three Months Later…
I am standing inside the cabin that Luke built with his own two hands. It is beautiful, perfect actually. And the view...spectacular. He told me he bought the land because of the view. His family spent a lot of time on Cayuga Lake. It was like a mini-vacation every weekend when the weather was nice. He said of all the places he had been in the world, it was his favorite.
He bought his grandfather Jack Ross’s land and is determined to finish the five-bedroom house he is building for our family. As of now, when we are not here, we are at my family home.
Luke Lane, the boy I loved, the man I daydreamed about, was nothing compared to the man he is now.
“Mommy.”
I look down at Chance who is standing on a chair that is facing backward, playing in the dishwater I just used to finish washing the pans Luke used to cook dinner in the outdoor kitchen he designed, he’s a dreamer too.
“Chance?” I smile down at him.
“Apple?”
“Okay. Would you like it cut up or whole?”
“Up,” he says, meaning cut up.
I pick him up and place him on my hip, and he holds on as I walk him to his booster seat next to the ten-foot-long wood slated table made from an old barn that was torn down by the owners of the neighboring property. Then I grab an apple, peel the skin, and slice it into thin slices.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, and ten. Ten apple slices for Chance.”
He holds his fingertips of his left hand to his mouth and signs, “thank you.”
Chance Thomas has some delays in his speech. Luke was a little bit perturbed with me when I wanted to call a specialist about it. He told me the only reason he doesn’t talk that much is because Hope does enough for both of them, and he isn’t wrong.
Hope is a little chatter box. She is inquisitive and a little...stubborn, whereas Chance is a thinker. He sits back and watches everything that goes on around him.
Hope will set something down and be onto the next thing, come back and look for a toy, and she can’t find it. Chance watches her and waits until she is almost ready to pitch a fit before he gets it for her.
I love that they have each other. And no matter what happens, they always will.
I have been working online at home for a few months now for a law firm in Ithaca. Luke doesn’t think it’s necessary. He would prefer I bake or cook while they are napping and he is at work, but he understands that I need to work for me.
I hear the screen door open and Hope bounds in, wearing red rain boots on up to her knees, her pink tutu, a SU sweatshirt, and her surly caramel hair a mess, topped with a crown. In one hand, she has a sparkly dollar store magic wand, and in the other, a butterfly net.
“Got one, Mommy,” she exclaims.
Luke follows in after her, gives me a peck on the cheek, and then walks to the sink to throw the vegetables he picked from our garden in it.
“It’s a monarch,” I tell her, squatting down. “Orange, and black, and brown.”
“Isn’t he pretty, Mommy?”
“Sure is. But maybe this one’s a girl.”
She laughs like it’s the funniest thing she’s ever heard. “Butterflies are boys, Mommy.”
“Yeah?” I ask.
She nods. “And he comed from up high in the sky.”
I nod as she points up in the air.
“You gonna stay with Piper and Reed tomorrow night?” Luke asks, walking over and scooping her up to take her to the sink to wash her hands and face.
“Sleepover?”
“Yep, I hear girls like those things. Sorry, Chance. I’d save you from all that, but your grandfather needs my help up north for a day, maybe two.” He looks at me. “You still okay with that?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I ask as I take Hope from him.
He walks over and sits next to Chance, opens his mouth, and Chance feeds him an apple slice.
Why does that make Luke even hotter?
He looks up and smirks.
“What?” I know I have been caught.
“What?” he asks me back as Hope climbs up on his lap and mimics his actions, opening her mouth so Chance gives her a slice of his apple, too.
He raises an eyebrow. “You.”
“You,” I say back to him, and he laughs.
“Bedtime soon?” he asks Hope.
“No bedtime, Daddy.”
“But Daddy thinks Mommy and her belly are tired, and they can’t go to sleep unless you two are asleep.”
Hope looks at him curiously then looks at me. “Belly tired, Mommy?”
I laugh. “I think maybe.”
***
LUKE
Two Months Later…
“I expect this to be a Fifty Shades moment,” Ava says as I lead her into our house blindfolded to show her the babies’ room.
“Does that mean I get to stick things in your ass?” I laugh, and she elbows me in the side.
“So you’re asking permission this time?”
“Permission, no. Never. I’ll put it in your ass if I want, and you’ll love it.”
“Such a romantic, Mr. Lane.”
I turn her to face me and untie the blindfold. “Keep your eyes closed until I say so, okay?”
“Yep,” she says as I pull the blindfold away.
Her eyes are scrunched tight, and she has a grin spread across her face.
I can’t help kissing her. That smile is...everything.
“Okay, Ava, open up those eyes.” I step to the side so she can look at the wall.
As expected, she is immediately emotional, covering her mouth as she gasps, “How...? When...? How...? Oh, my God, Luke, how?”
“It wasn’t that difficult. Dad helped. So did yours. Got a second moving truck and crossed our fingers it held up.”
“How, though? How do you move an entire wall?” She is stunned, and her eyes glisten with tears.
I shrug. “Wall was framed up and screwed to the brick. Just had to trim and unscrew. No big deal.”
Yes, I’m lying. It was a big damn deal, and I wasn’t sure we would get it back here in one peace, but apparently, that Brit was up there watching out for us. Well, probably not me, but Ava and the kids that day to make sure it happened without issue.
Ava was okay with selling the Brooklyn house. She knew it had to be done, but it hurt, and I know why. This wall. There was no choice but to bring it home to her.
Tears are now falling as she looks over at me. “Thank you? Is that even enough?”
“It’s plenty, Ava.”
She fists my shirt in her hands and pulls me close to her before resting her head against my chest as she stands and stares at the wall.
“I love you,” she whispers.
“I love you,” I tell her back, wrapping my arms around her.
“No, Luke, like, I really love you,” she says, and I can’t help laughing. “It’s not funny.”
“Blue eyes, it’s funny. Like you really weren’t sure until just now.”
“That’s not true.”
“I know, Ava,” I tell her, pulling her hair so she looks up at me. Then I lean down and give her a kiss, both of our eyes wide open. “You wanna see our room?”
“Yeah.” She wipes her eyes.
“You sure?”
She nods.
Our room is blue, dark blue, and it has a nautical theme. Why? Because every year, as far back as I can remember, our families vacationed together at the Cape. As kids, she was always by my side, and most boys at that age wouldn’t have liked it, but I did. I always liked having Ava around. Not because I thought we would end up here, but because I genuinely liked her.
I still do.
I watch her walk around and smile. “The Cape?”
I nod.
She grins. “You had a crush on me then, just like I did you. Admit it.”
God, I love her smile.
So what do I do? I lie.
“Sure did, blue eyes, sure did.”
***
AVA
One Month Later…
This cannot be happening, I think when I wake up for the thousandth time to use the bathroom.
I don’t want to get out of bed. Luke is sleeping, as he should be, and I wake the poor man every time I get out of bed. He should have bought a king, but insisted on the queen, saying he would have bought a princess if they made one.
If it wasn’t so sweet when he said that, I may have laughed. I mean, Luke Lane was not a romantic guy, or so I thought. Now, I know different.
I slide off the bed very slowly, hoping not to wake him. Then I tiptoe into the bathroom where I sit on the toilet and all hell breaks loose.
“Fuck. Son-of-a-bitch,” I groan as I feel like...“Luke!”
I hear him jump out of bed. “Fuck! Son-of-a-bitch!” He hops into the room, holding his toe, hair sticking up all over, and in his boxers. “You okay? What’s wrong? Is it the kids?”
“It’s one of them,” I answer, crouching over and holding my belly.
“You mean, you’re in labor?”
I nod when I realize that’s exactly what I am, and I start to panic.
“I can’t do this!”
He squats down in front of me and whispers, “Shh...you can. You have no other choice. Besides, I am here with you.”
“We need to go to the hospital now!”
“Okay.”
The calmness in his voice is almost annoying, and the way he looks at me, he can tell I feel that way.
“Blue eyes, we got this. Let me go call Mom.”
Tessa’s mother, Caroline, and Maddox’s sister, London, show up to watch the kids. I pull out the notebook of their daily schedule and thank them through the contractions.
While en route to the hospital, I tell Luke, “I can’t do this.”
“You’ve done it before, Ava; you’ll be fine.”
“No! I didn’t!”
He nods, takes my hand, and drives a little faster.
I close my eyes and think of the last time. Death and life.
Tears fall as I think about what followed.
“Ava,” Luke whispers, squeezing my hand.
Guilt washes over me when I think of Thomas.
“This is you and me, and we’re both okay. We will be okay.”
I nod and wipe my tears. “Sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t needed.”
I know it’s not. I know that this is a journey, that love and people and circumstances change. I know that we all deserve to be happy, and I know that both men I have loved know how much I love them.
“I love you.” I squeeze his hand. “I’m scared.”
“I know both those things are true. I promise I’ll be right there, feeling every bit of it with you.”
I can’t help laughing.
“It’s true, Ava. Your pain is mine. Your joys are mine.”
Tears of joy are followed by a painful yet beautiful experience.
Luke is without words as he holds her. She is eight pounds, pink-skinned, blue eyes, and beautiful. She is healthy and adored, and his and mine. There is no question, or doubt, or worry.
She is ours.
“Your sister and brother are going to love you so much,” he tells her then kisses her cheek.
It dawns on me that every fear I have, when I allow it—the babies paternity, what may happen in the future, what struggles they will go through—he has been through most of it, and he will help them...and me figure it out.
“What name do you want on her birth certificate?” the delivery nurse asks.
Luke looks at me and smiles. “We were told it was a boy.”
“So you want some time to think about it?” she asks.
He shakes his head, and I am shocked because we haven’t discussed it at all.
“Her name is Faith.”
I smile. It’s perfect.
“Faith.” I smile as I say her name.
“We have Hope, Chance, and Faith.” He smiles at her. “Nothing else we need.”
One last thing…
It is rare, but it is true that twins can have different fathers.
Don’t believe it?
Click on the link below.
CHANCE IS POSSIBLE...hehe
Want more from the Legacy crew?
Look what’s coming in June 2017:
Her First Kiss: Logan and London’s Story
Here’s a little peek to prepare you
Christmas, two years ago…
I can’t seem to remember a time when she wasn’t looking at me every time I glanced in her direction. A scowl was given in exchange for the one I gave her. Normally, it was followed by her sticking her tongue out at me, which pissed me off because, even then there was something about her that made me wish she never stopped looking at me. It wasn’t okay.
The first time I saw London, she was eight, and I was fucking twelve. She stuck her tongue out at me, and I winked at her, and then she blushed like crazy. I didn’t know she was four years younger until the next time I saw her. Didn’t matter, though. Younger is younger, and she was damn close to being family.
Because she was so close to being family, she was always around. Always. Every time I brought a girl to a function, she made smartass little comments, and then she would blush. It was like her mouth ran ahead of her brain, which isn’t a good thing. Absolutely adorable about half the time. The other half is downright embarrassing for her and me both.
She would somehow relay a message about the girl’s flaws. It was never blatant or in front of the girl. Often times, it was mumbled under her breath. And had the chick not been my date, it would have been pretty damn funny, but they were, so it wasn’t.
One dinner, when our families were all celebrating something, I made some smartass remark about London being a child. It was kind of a reminder to myself that she could and would never be as close to me as I would like. Couldn’t be.
Her little sister, Lexington, announced once at dinner that London had gotten her period years ago. I felt bad f
or her, like really damn bad, until she walked around the table and whispered to me, “I am all woman now.”
I about died. Since then, wanting her to like me came second to wanting to make her even more of a woman.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Luke and Ava have been with me from the very beginning of this storytelling journey.
Parts of the Legacy series and its characters were adapted from my own family and hometown, so I need to thank the ‘Fields’ family for always being there through thick and thin...even when some of us push away at times because our families’ love knows no bounds, or boundaries. Lol.
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
To C&D Editing:
Your love of books and truths in editing teach me so much.
Kris, the fact that 27 Truths is still your profile picture makes me believe in my ability and trust in your dedication even more.
To Kim:
You’re a rock star and there in a moment’s notice. I adore you and your eagle eye.
To Jules:
Just know that you are loved, adored, and talented beyond words. No matter what you may feel or think (and that shit needs to change), I see you and you are beautiful.
To Heather:
You have been a part of this series and a champion for me. I appreciate you so much and love you to pieces.
To Lisa (TRSoR):
You being here humbles me. Your honesty excites me.
To My Readers, my friends:
You are inspiring and beautiful, and if I had a magic wand to gift you all the joys you have gifted me through the years, I would so wave it over all of you. For now, I will keep writing for me, for you, and because of you.
To Quinn:
Your eyes tell a story, and I thank you for allowing me to share them with this community. I can’t wait to see where this journey brings you
To C:
No matter the hurt, the pain, what tomorrow holds for you and I separately, please know that I have always wanted nothing but the best for you, and I want it for me, too.