Chapter 23
So Happy Together
Two Years And Nine Months Later
“Here is your lemonade, fresh squeezed, just like you like it,” Luke said, handing me a glass.
I took a long sip, and let out a moan. “Ahh, that’s good. Thanks, babe,” I said.
He leaned in and kissed me. “You’re welcome, beautiful.” He sat down on the lounge chair next to me and placed his hand on my belly, which was now huge. “You like the lemonade too, tiny dancer?” At that moment, our baby kicked where Luke’s hand was resting, causing us both to smile.
“I think she does,” I said. Luke and I had been married for two years, and just celebrated our anniversary. After I decided to replant my roots in Glenbrook, we got right to work on wedding plans, and decided to get married on September first. Our wedding was absolutely beautiful. We did get married in the park under the gazebo, just like I imagined. Daisy and Violet were of course, my bridesmaids, and Jack and Evan were the groomsmen. Luke brought the most special surprise of all though…he had flown Alejandro out and paid handsomely for him to be here and plan every step of the wedding. He also designed all the dresses, and mine was just gorgeous. The bridesmaid dresses were a pale, summery pink made of billowy chiffon, and my dress was a strapless, fitted gown that flared out at the hips, almost like a lily. Alejandro made a dress that he felt reflected me, and he got it right. He knocked it out of the park, because when Luke saw me walking toward him, he had tears in his eyes.
Daisy and Jack, however, beat us down the aisle. Daisy really wanted to be married before their baby was born, and Jack had absolutely no objections to that. They were married on June thirtieth, and their son, Jackson Calvin Riley, or JC for short, was born three weeks later on July twentieth. He had just had his second birthday two months ago, and spent the whole party kissing mine and Violet’s tummies instead of opening his presents. He was such a sweet, adorable little boy, and spoiled rotten by his family. Violet and Evan recently became parents as well. They found out they were having their baby about a month before Luke and I found out about ours, and it turned out we were both having girls. Their little girl was born on August sixteenth, and they named her Sarah Rosalind Sanderson, after Evan’s mother and Mama. She was a beautiful baby girl, and she had lots of blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She had just turned one month old, and was just now starting to smile.
Now, I was the last pregnant lady left in the family. Our baby girl was due to arrive on September twenty third, and that day could not get here fast enough. I was hot and miserable. I was so happy to be having this baby and starting my family with Luke, but being pregnant during the summer in Georgia was a lot like torture. Against Evan’s professional medical advice, for our two year anniversary, Luke took me on a romantic “babymoon” to celebrate before the two of us became the three of us. At that point I was thirty seven weeks pregnant, but it was important to us to have a little time that was just about us. We didn’t go far, but it was only for a weekend and it was still fun. We had been back for two weeks, and I was one week from my due date. Today was the date of my baby shower, and Mama, Violet, and Daisy were due any time to help set it up. Daddy, Jack, Evan, Luke were taking JC to a ball game so we would have the house to ourselves.
We were sitting outside enjoying a breezy Georgia afternoon on the wraparound deck porch that overlooked the lake. He leaned his head down and kissed my belly. “I love you, little miss. Your mommy and I can’t wait to meet you.” I placed my hand on his head.
“You are so sweet, Luke. She’s just going to love you.”
“I hope so, because I love her already. You okay with me loving two women at the same time?” he laughed.
I giggled, which made the baby kick even more. “See? She’s already laughing at you.” Just then, the door bell rang.
“That’ll be the girls. I’ll go let them in,” he said, and with one more kiss to my swollen belly, he stood up and walked to the door. I sighed and swung my feet off the chair, preparing to stand up. I heard little feet running through the house and before I could stand, JC was running toward me, his arms out.
“Aunt Wiwwy!” he shouted and I pulled him into a hug.
“There’s the most handsome guy in the room! How’s my little nephew today?”
“Daddy’s takin’ me to a baw game wif Uncle Wuke and Uncle Evan and Gwampa,” he said, in his little two year old voice.
“Well, I bet that will be fun! Make sure they buy you a hot dog, little man. Ooh, and some nachos!”
“Okay,” he said, and before he ran off, he gave my belly a kiss. “Hi, baby,” he said, and my heart melted.
Daisy came out on the deck and said, “Come on, JC, Daddy’s waitin’ on you.”
“Okay, Mommy. Bye, Aunt Wiwwy!” he yelled, and Daisy playfully swatted his head as he ran back in the house.
“Bye, buddy!” I called, and I started to stand. This belly was making it hard to stand up on my own.
She smiled and walked over to me. “Oh, Lilly, let me help you,” she said, and offered me a hand. As I stood, she pulled me up with both arms. “See? Team effort,” she laughed. “So, how you feelin?”
“Like a planet,” I joked. “Health wise, I feel great. She’s just running outta room in there.”
“Well, she’ll be here soon enough. One week, are you getting nervous?” she asked as we walked back in the house. The breeze felt great on my legs as my pink maxi dress flowed in the wind.
“Excited is more like it. It feels like she’s been in there forever, and I can’t wait to finally meet her.”
“Well, she’ll be in your arms before you know it, and when you hold her for the first time, nothing else will matter.” Daisy said.
I squeezed her hand. “I can’t wait,” I said. When I walked in, I saw Mama going through bags of decorations and placing everything on the kitchen island to get it set up. Violet was placing containers of food on the kitchen counter in one hand while holding Sarah in the other.
Daisy walked over to her, and said, “Here, I’ll take her so you have both hands. Let me hold my little niece.”
Violet handed Sarah off to Daisy, and looked over to wink at me. “Lilly, there you are. You look beautiful. How are you feeling?”
“I feel good. I think I might just make the duck waddle my new walk. What do you think, babe?” I asked Luke.
“I think you could carry it,” she he walked over and kissed me. “You gonna be okay with me being gone this afternoon?” Since we were in the home stretch of the pregnancy, Luke didn’t want to leave my side.
“Luke, I’ll be fine. I’ll have a houseful of people here. Plus, most of them are mothers themselves, and my sister happens to be a labor and delivery nurse. I’m covered.”
Luke smiled. “I guess you’re right. So, it’s just gonna be you girls today, huh?”
I smiled and yep my head. “Yep.”
“Well, I need you to clarify something for me then. If there’s no boys allowed…” he trailed off, and pointed toward the door.
“Then what the hell am I doing here?” I turned my head and saw Alejandro at the door.
I screamed and burst into tears. “Alejandro! Oh my God, what are you doing here? I thought you had a huge wedding in Los Angeles this week! Get over here!”
He ran to me and pulled me into a hug. “All a ruse, my friend. Like I would miss your baby shower!”
I hugged him tightly and finally let him go. “This day just officially got perfect.” I looked at Luke. “Did you do this?”
“I might have had something to do with it. As happy as you are right now, I know you’d be happier to have everyone you loved here when you have the baby.”
I looked at Alejandro. “Does that mean you are staying?”
“Until that gorgeous little princess is born.” He kissed me on the cheek. “I’m gonna go help your Mama set everything up.” He walked over to Mama and kissed her on the cheek in a greeting.
I walked over to Luke and hu
gged him tight, shedding a few last tears. “You are the most perfect husband a girl could have. Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome, babe.” I waved to Jack, Daddy, and Evan who were standing at the door. JC started wiggling and pulling on Jack’s hand.
“Daddy, I want to go see basebaw,” he whined.
“All right son, but you go kiss Mommy goodbye before we go,” Jack said, and JC took off running over to Daisy and hugged her around her leg.
I walked over to the guys and Luke followed. “You better get that boy to the game before he steals your keys,” I said to Jack.
“Yes, ma’am. Listen, Lilly, if you need anything, or anything happens, just call one of us and we’ll be back before you know it.” Jack was so sweet, and was just as doting on me and Violet before she had Sarah as he was with Daisy when she was pregnant with JC. Daisy was still holding Sarah when she walked over to the group, JC running behind her. Jack smiled at her, and said, “You look good with a baby in your arms.”
She grinned and said, “Well, don’t get any ideas, mister. Sarah and the new baby are the only ones you’ll see in my arms for a while,” she joked. Jack was ready for them to have another baby, but Daisy was content with JC and her nieces for now. They would have more children, but she wanted JC to be a little bit older before he became a big brother.
Evan leaned in and kissed Sarah on her forehead. “You keep these ladies in line for me, okay Sarah?” he whispered. She softly cooed in Daisy’s arms and made sight spit bubbles in her mouth.
“I think that means yes,” I laughed. The guys all waved and walked out the door with JC in tow.
Luke stopped to kiss me one last time, and said, “I’ve got my phone on me. If anything happens, or you have any aches or pains, you call me right away, okay?”
“I will, babe, I promise,” I said.
He smiled. “We’ll be at the park in town if you need us, so we won’t be far. Goodbye, ladies,” he called out. He leaned down and kissed my belly one more time. “Goodbye, tiny dancer,” he said, and walked out the door.
The shower was so much fun. Alejandro and Mama had decorated the place with pink balloons and streamers and banners, and made me wear a tiara that read “Mommy To Be”. I also got some pretty good gifts. Violet bought me a beautiful pram to take the new baby for walks, and filled it with the cutest and most stylish baby clothes I’d ever seen. My favorite was a pink onesie that said, “Look What My Daddy Did”. Daisy bought us a car seat and stroller duo with a ballerina theme. Our theme for the nursery was ballerinas because of Luke’s nickname for her, Tiny Dancer. Mama bought a beautiful cherry wood glider for the nursery so I could sit and rock her while I was feeding her or trying to put her to sleep. I really liked Brooke’s gift though. It was a gift card to buy clothes for the baby as she grew. Alejandro gave me a preloaded debit card for after I lost the baby weight to go shopping for new clothes, and had made a huge donation to the baby’s college fund. It had been a perfect day.
Most of the guests had gone home, and Mama was helping Daisy clean up. Alejandro was sitting on the couch holding Sarah, and Violet was sitting next to him, playing with one the baby’s feet. Alejandro was stroking Sarah’s face. “Gosh, Vi, your little girl is just beautiful. She looks so much like you.”
“Thank you. I’m kind of crazy about her,” she said.
I smiled, and decided I wanted another piece of cake. Mr. Grady had made the cake especially for me. His wife had fallen ill about a year ago, and decided to retire from the food industry. He decided to leave me the keys to the diner to run for him, and had the deed transferred to my name. He said he didn’t mind if I made changes to it so I could make the place my own. The only request was that I keep his original recipes on the menu, and I had no problem with that since they were amazing. I incorporated mine into them, and officially changed the name to Lilly’s. But, for my baby shower, he decided to come out of retirement for one afternoon and make the cake, or should I say cakes. There were four little cakes all in the shape of toy blocks. Two of them were white and two were pink, and when stacked together they spelled “BABY”. One cake was raspberry chocolate, one was French vanilla, one was carrot cake, and one was strawberry. It was so precious that I hated to cut into it. As I was getting ready to stand, I felt a pinching pain in my back. “Mmm,” I mumbled.
“What’s the matter, Lilly? You okay?” Violet said.
“Oh yeah, I’m fine. I just had a little pinch in my back, that’s all. Poor girl is running out of space to dance.” I sat back in the chair for a few minutes and just as I started to try and stand up again, I had another pain in my back, this time it was sharp and radiated across my stomach. “Okay, ouch. That one kind of hurt.”
Before I knew it, Daisy was at my side. She grabbed my hand and was looking at her watch. “Lilly, are you all right?”
“Oh yeah, I’m okay. I just had a little squeezing pain in my stomach. She’s probably just cramped. What are you doing looking at your watch?”
“I’m just checking something. If you have another pain like that, squeeze my hand, okay?”
I half laughed. “You don’t think I’m in labor, do you?
“I’m just checking to make sure everything’s okay. I want to make sure it’s not false labor. Don’t want Luke freaking out over nothing, right?” she said.
“Yeah, I guess not.” A few tense minutes went by, and I felt all eyes on me. “Will y’all stop staring at me like that? It’s probably noth-oh, wow…ouch!” I cried out, and squeezed Daisy’s hand.
“It’s okay, Lilly, just breathe,” she said calmly. She looked at Violet. “Can you call the guys and tell them to meet us at the hospital please? Mama, can you get Lilly’s hospital bag? I think I saw it by the door.”
I started to panic. “Hospital? You’re kidding right? I still have a week until my due date!”
“Well, Lil, it looks like your little girl doesn’t want to wait that long. You’re not having little pains from her being cramped up. Those are contractions, and they are coming about every four minutes, which means that we need to get you there now.”
“But, my water didn’t break!”
“Honey, that doesn’t always happen. My water didn’t break with JC until I was already six centimeters dilated, and it had to be broken.”
“But…Luke’s not here,” I cried.
She patted my hand soothingly. “He’s gonna meet us there. It’s okay, he’ll be there. It’s going to be fine.” She stopped, and smiling, she said, “You’re gonna have a baby tonight, Lilly.”
Chapter 24
…And Baby Makes Three
Adrenaline shot through me, and I went into full on labor mode. I was ready. Daisy helped me up off the sofa, and by the time I looked around, Violet already had Sarah snuggled safely in her car seat and Alejandro was in the car waiting to drive us to the hospital. “Mama,” Daisy said, “You ride with Violet and Sarah, okay? I’m gonna go with Alejandro and Lilly. We’ll meet you there.” Mama nodded and with a quick kiss on my cheek, she wished me luck and said she’d see me soon. I waddled out to the car and Alejandro and Daisy helped me into the back seat. He drove as a quick steady pace as Daisy gave him directions to Glenbrook General. I was gritting my teeth through the contractions, which Daisy was timing. During a particular nasty one, my cell phone rang. “Luke?” I said, wincing in pain.
“Baby, we’re on our way there. How you doin’?” he said, slight panic in his voice.
“I’m okay. I never thought I’d say this, but I am looking forward to an epidural,” I joked.
He half laughed. “I’m sure you are. Just keep talking to me, okay?” he said. He kept me on the phone until we pulled up outside the hospital. Thank goodness Luke’s reserved parking spot was near the entrance, and Alejandro pulled into the space and turned off the engine. Luke was already running toward me as I opened the car door. “Thanks for getting her here, man,” he said, patting Alejandro on the back.
“No problem, Luke,” he s
aid.
Jack came running toward me with a wheelchair and I quickly sat down. I felt another contraction coming on. Luke took over steering and he wheeled me quickly into the hospital. We were taken immediately to the fourth floor to Daisy’s unit. As we came in the doors, several nurses looked up. Daisy ran behind the desk and grabbed a gown for me to change into. “Hey, Daisy, I thought you were off duty today,” one of the nurses who hadn’t seen me said.
“I am, but my sister just went into labor.” All heads snapped to me, and several came running. One took the gown from Daisy and helped me into a waiting labor room. Everything happened so fast that I felt like my head was spinning. Before I knew it, I was gowned up, had an IV started, and I was hooked to a fetal monitor. Evan was already suited up in his scrubs. He never left the room, which made my heart melt. I’m glad I had chosen him to deliver our daughter, although there was never really any other choice in my mind. Jack had called JC’s babysitter and she came to pick him up, so he and Daisy were able to stay. Violet insisted on waiting there for our little girl to arrive as well, and had a diaper bag packed with all the essentials Sarah would need for a long night. Mama, Daddy, and Alejandro were all set up in the waiting room. All that was left was our baby girl’s arrival.
I was now at hour eight of labor, and had gotten an epidural three hours before. Finally, I was able to relax and enjoy my labor experience. Luke fed me some ice chips. “How you doin’, baby?”
“I’m doin’ okay. I’m just getting anxious. I can’t wait to meet our little girl.”
“About that…what are we gonna call her? We didn’t settle on a name yet.”
Luke was right…in all the hustle and bustle I had forgotten that we hadn’t decided on her name. There were several names we liked, but we hadn’t settled on one in particular. If I had made it to my due date, I was going to decide sometime before then. But, my little girl was impatient. I laced my fingers through his. “How about this? Let’s meet her first and then we can decide, okay?”
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