Life's Next Chapter

by Sarah Goodman

  He takes his pinky finger and swipes her plump pink cheek. “She is beautiful.”

  “Luke, I’ve never wanted anything more than to hold our baby like this. I can’t wait! You were right, this time it’s different because we are real and forever.”

  Sliding closer to me, he bends down and kisses my cheek. “I can’t wait, either. I hope our baby is just as beautiful as you.” Maddie starts to squirm in my arms as Jacob walks in with a cup of coffee. Luke stands up to congratulate him while I stand up and pass his daughter to him. “She’s getting restless, maybe it’s a feeding time,” I say as I look to Beth who’s passed out. “Give her a kiss from me and tell her I love her. I’ll call you guys tomorrow. Congrats, Jacob!” I kiss his cheek and walk to Beth and kiss her head. Luke and I walk out, hand in hand, thinking the next time we walk these halls it will be for our baby.

  Danika was a huge help and pulled everything together for us on Christmas Eve. She and Luke stayed the night to celebrate Christmas morning with the girls and me. The girls woke up at the crack of dawn running into our room, jumping on the bed like a bunch of monkeys. Luke told them to wake Danika, and then come back.

  We both laugh in unison when we hear Danika scream in annoyance. Minutes later, she is at our bedroom door. “Thanks, guys…truly I love being up before the chickens. This is going to be the longest Christmas ever.”

  I pass by her in the doorway. “Just think of how long it will be next year with your baby brother or sister.” I smirk at her on the way down the stairs.

  She rambles as she walks down the stairs. “Next year I’ll come over in the morning, the slumber party days with little ones are over. I didn’t get any sleep.”

  I stop at the bottomed of the stairs, turn to her and say, “You’re witnessing why not to have kids till you’re forty. I’m giving you many birth control experiences.”

  She swats my shoulder and laughs. We walk together to the living room where the girls have already made piles of their presents. Luke walks into the kitchen and gets the coffee brewing. I grab my camera. When we are all finally sitting, we let the girls go at it. Watching my girls open presents has Danika laughing at them, while Luke watches intently, and I just smile; this is the life I’ve dreamed of. Laughter and joy are what make these holidays memorable, and I can only hope Luke and I have fifty more of these.

  Danika is sitting next to Luke on the couch, and I start snapping away at the two of them. She’s the spitting image of her father. They are both so beautiful and care free. Their green eyes sparkle with amusement as the girls attack each other with bows.

  The camera is passed around the room and we capture many pictures. Pictures I can’t wait to see and have displayed around our home. Luke opens his present from the girls. They made him a shirt with their handprints all over it with the saying, ‘Hands down you’re the best.’ He then opens one of his presents from me. I blew up the picture of him and the girls from our Sea World trip. I changed the background to black and white, but kept the three of them in color. I wanted them and the moment to stand out. He just stares at the picture, and when he finally looks at me, he gives me the most sincere smile. “I love it, Kate. You’re so talented. This is beautiful.”

  I blow him a kiss and say, “Thank you for accepting and loving my girls.”

  He comes over to me and picks me up, so I’m sitting on his lap. “How could I not love those girls?”

  I lean into his chest and watch the girls continue with the destruction of wrapping paper and boxes everywhere. It was a magical moment and as much as I keep pushing off marriage with Luke, I do look forward to when we’re all one big happy family.

  HAPPY NEW YEAR! For the first time in a while, I can actually say I’m excited for what this year will bring me. I’m really anxious to find out what we’re having. I’m thirteen weeks along and hopefully by Valentine’s Day we’ll know if we’re expecting a boy or a girl. Going from two babies to one is an odd feeling. I have no clue what gender my baby is. With the girls I knew instinctively, but with this little love, I have no clue. My biggest anticipation is feeling him or her kick and move. I regret many things with my pregnancy with the girls, so with this one, I’m absorbing everything.

  Christmas was amazing. Luke’s present to me was a diamond horseshoe necklace. I was shocked when he pulled out the bright blue Tiffany’s box; he had a small card on it with the words—Thank you for making me the luckiest man ever. Opening the box left me stunned by the shiny small studded diamonds in the horseshoe charm. I asked him to put it on me and it’s been on my neck ever since. It is beautiful and has so much more meaning than just luck.

  Today is my doctor’s appointment. Luke’s really excited to see the baby. He told me last night while we were lying in bed he never got to do this with Danielle. He never saw an ultrasound picture of Danika, never got to experience the build up to the arrival of Danika, so this is all new to him.

  We are getting an ultrasound because my pregnancy with the twins was considered high risk. We’re confirming it’s still one baby. Luke has learned from his weekly website that the baby finally looks like a tiny baby. Compared to our last ultrasound picture, which was just a black dot. Lying on the exam table waiting for the doctor to come in is nerve wracking, especially with Luke’s pacing.

  “Babe, have a seat, everything is okay.” I try to assuage his fears or whatever the hell he’s feeling. He turns and looks at me, and dropping to my side, he embraces my face in the palm of his hands. “Have I told you how much I love you? How amazing you are, and how lucky I am to have you…” as he chokes up, he places his hand on my belly, “…and you.” Then he leans down to kiss my little bump. “Kate, I can’t wait to see our baby.” Just as those words come out, Dr. Walker, who delivered the twins, walks in.

  “Good morning Kate and…” She shakes my hand, and then puts her hand out to Luke.

  “Luke Ashton, ma’am. I’m the baby’s father,” He says proudly to Dr. Walker.

  “Nice to meet you, Luke. Kate, how have you been?” she asks as she looks through my chart.

  “The nausea is gone, the cravings have come, and the constant sensation to pee has arrived, but other than that, I’ve been good.”

  “That’s great to hear. Well, let’s get a look at baby Ashton, and then we will go from there.” Luke has the biggest, goofiest grin on his face. He’s so proud and seeing him this happy makes me so happy. Who would have thought this little unplanned miracle would bring us so much joy, and we just found out about her. Her? I don’t know where that came from, thinking the baby is a girl; it just popped in my head. We’re looking at the monitor and our baby looks like she’s doing a cartwheel. Remembering Beth’s food description of the baby’s sex parts, I look for the hamburger bun, but there’s nothing, not even a turtle head. Maybe this is a girl? Just then, looking at Luke with his smile and intense concentration on the screen, I know what I want to name her.

  “Doc, can we tell if it’s a boy or girl?” Luke asks with his eyes glued to the screen.

  “Not yet, it’s still too early to know.”

  “But, there’s no turtle head in between her legs. Look she is spread eagle and there’s no turtle head.” I point out and Luke looks at me as if the cold blue jelly on my stomach has gone to my head. The doctor just laughs.

  “Kate, no turtle head, but no hamburger bun either. Patience, I’m sure this time next month you’ll know if you should buy pink or blue.” I just gape at her… the hamburger bun and turtle analogy is so true and I’m sticking to it. God Bless Beth and her wisdom.

  We finish up and I’m good to go until our appointment for next month. As we wait for the elevator to arrive, I wrap my arms around Luke. “I think our baby is a girl. What do you think?”

  He pulls me closer to him and kisses me. “Sunshine, I really don’t know, but either way I’m happy, so damn happy.”

  Stepping out of his embrace, I look up at him as the elevator arrives. “Luke, if our baby is a girl, I know what I wan
t to name her.”

  Alone in the elevator, he corners me, “Oh yeah, what’s this name we might give our daughter?”

  Just hearing him say ‘our daughter’ makes my knees go weak. “I want to name her after her father, and hope she is strong and beautiful just like her daddy. Luke, I want to name her Luka. What do you think?” He has a mixed look of pain and joy.

  He takes my face in his hands and rubs his thumbs along my jaw. “Are you for real?”

  The doors open and he steps away, exiting out into the hallway. I stand there frozen; I’m not sure how to take his reaction. He grabs my hand, when he notices I didn’t follow him out of the elevator and we walk towards the parking garage. Before he opens the door to walk into the garage, I place my hand on his forearm and plant my feet to stop him from going any further. “Did I say something to upset you? Do you not like the name? It was just a suggestion, we don’t have to use it.”

  Luke swiftly turns his big body and pulls me to him. “When I asked if you were for real, it was a question to me. Kate, do you know how many nights I prayed for this? How many nights I begged God to please give me a normal life with a wife, a home, and children. Do you know in my darkest nights, where I never thought the sun would shine on my face again, I pleaded for my life, for my soul, and for my sanity? I would have done anything to have what you just gave me in that elevator. You’re selfless, loving, considerate, and fucking amazing, and sometimes I look at you and question if you’re even real because you seem like a dream to me; a dream I have dreamt every night for so many damn years. I would be so fucking honored for us to name our daughter or son after me. For you to even consider it, it blows me away…you blow me away. Damn, I love you, girl!”

  He pulls me into a hug and kisses me. I wonder what he means when he tells me he was in such a black hole. I’m sure, coping after he was wounded was hard, but what’s he hiding? He opens the garage door, and we walk to his truck.

  “Luke, can I ask you something? When you tell me stories of how bad it was, how you lived in such darkness…why? What happened?”

  He seems about to tell me when I hear him yell, “What the fuck?” I look at his truck and my hand flies over my mouth as I gasp the thick air into my lungs. Someone has slashed every tire and keyed his truck. They even wrote ‘Stupid Whore’ on the passenger’s side and ‘Dumb Fucker’ on the driver’s side. I turned red with fury; I know who did this. Our court date is coming up, and I swear to God that man is on something. What the hell is Keith thinking? He’s only digging his own grave. I don’t understand what his infatuation is with me now, ever since the damn night at the club. I don’t fucking get it. He never put this much energy into our marriage, why is he doing this now?

  Coming around to Luke, I curl my body into his side. “I have to call the police and then a tow truck. Why don’t you go back into the office? I don’t want you breathing in the fumes around here.”

  “Luke, I’m so sorry. I know Keith did this, who else would?”

  “Well, then we’re going to the police station after this and talk with his ex-supervisor because I’m over this shit. He’s messed with the wrong person.”

  “You’re going to go red neck crazy on him?”

  He just looks at me and laughs in confusion. “Damn, my country girl is one feisty thing. Yes, if you want, I’ll go all red neck crazy on him, you’ll just have to lead the way, baby.”

  “Damn straight I will, and he’s going to be sorry when I kick his scrawny ass into the Atlantic Ocean. I hope he drowns!”

  We met with an officer and file a report. The tow truck guy comes, and it was a complete mess. Since we were in a parking garage and the ceilings were only so tall, they had to drag Luke’s truck all the way out then load it on a flatbed truck. Let’s just say Luke was very distraught over seeing his pride and joy being dragged down the garage, sparks flying. The sound of metal rim scraping the concrete had him looking a little green. Brody came by and picked us up. We made a quick stop at the station and talked to Keith’s former supervisor and wrote out another report. He said he would bring him in, but since Keith has been terminated, there isn’t much they can do until we have evidence he did this. UGH! This is such a mess.

  I HAVE NEVER dreaded court more than I do at this moment. Three days ago Luke’s truck was vandalized, and it’s still in the shop. Today, he’s coming with me to court.

  Because of all the stress from what I’ve been going through, my amazing granddaddy recruited another doctor to help me out. He has just graduated college and is working out perfectly. Plus, once the baby comes, I will need more help. So I’m helping Erik with the paperwork and showing him today’s schedule when Luke walks into the clinic. I finish up my lecture to Erik so we can leave for court. Luke grabs my hand and we walk to my truck.

  Beth calls me on the way and we briefly go over what we’re going to present. My best friend is a saint. This woman gave birth mere weeks ago, and here she is helping me fight my battles. I tell her how adamant I am about supervised visits. Keith thinks this hearing is going to be a walk in the park, but I have news for him. He is going to shit gold bricks, when he sees what I have to show the judge.

  Luke, with the help of my wonderful lawyer, got a warrant to access the video cameras in the garage and low and behold, guess who is on the video. Yep, my douche ex-husband, slashing Luke’s tires and keying profanity into the side of his truck. Beth thinks he will get probation for what he did.

  Once court is in session, Keith glares at me. I swear he is on drugs, I’ve never seen eyes so evil looking. The look he gives me is so full of vengeance and hate, and I would love to know why. I didn’t do anything to him. Yes, I made him become a father, but I gave him every opportunity to run. I know Beth is going to work her magic, so I just smile brightly back at him.

  Beth shows the judge the parking garage video of Keith. She explains to him how traumatic this experience could have been if our daughters were present. The judge wasn’t thrilled to see this evidence.

  The judge reads his verdict to Keith. He’s allowed Keith supervised visitation, but it has to be done at the social worker’s office and on scheduled days.

  I left the courthouse filled with glee, happy knowing Keith got what he deserved. Maybe with some restrictions he’ll straighten up, if only for our daughters’ sakes.

  THE LAST WEEK our lives have been peaceful. Kate seems a lot less stressed, which is good for her and the baby. The new guy at the clinic, Erik, seems to be helping her out tremendously, and I couldn’t be more satisfied. I keep meaning to ask him to hang out and have a drink to thank him properly for helping my girl out. I hope and pray Erik becomes a permanent doctor in her practice. I know she wanted to do this all on her own, but it’s too hard. Why put yourself through the added stress for no reason?

  It’s Friday night. The twins are staying at Kate’s grandparents’ house for the weekend. Nana and Granddaddy haven’t seen the girls in a while, so they’re thrilled. I, on the other hand, am happy to finally get some one on one time with my beautiful girl. Tonight, I’m making her dinner. I have a movie for us to watch, but I’m really hoping to snuggle with my girl by the fire and end up making love to her all night. I crave the feeling of her skin against my skin. She’s my new therapy and I need her desperately. I’m busy in the kitchen making shrimp scampi when I hear her walk in.

  “Hi, babe,” she says as she walks through the kitchen’s side door. “Mmmm, it smells good, what are you cooking?”

  She walks over to the stove and wraps her warm arms around me. The electric feeling I get every time she touches me sends volts of energy through my body, but it isn’t enough. I need more of her.

  “I’m making shrimp scampi. You hungry?”

  “I’m starving.” She says as she walks to the counter and pulls a banana from the basket. She peels the banana and throws the skin away. Watching her eat the banana is already making my dick twitch. She looks over at me. “Sorry, I had to eat something. I’m really hungry, so is
the baby.” She explains as she rubs her little bump. I can’t wait to see her get bigger and to feel the baby kick. She leans against the counter next to the stove. Switching the spatula in my hands, I use my left hand to rub her belly while she munches away on the banana. I quickly finish making dinner before I end up taking her on the counter and end up burning it.

  We eat by candle light and talk about our day. Our conversations run so smoothly. Kate has become my best friend, and I can tell her anything. She tells me she really wants to name the baby either Luka or Lucas after me. When I tell her that my name isn’t short for Lucas, she laughs. “I thought all Luke’s were short for Lucas.”

  “No, sunshine, just like Kate isn’t always short for Katherine.”

  “Well, I know that. I just assumed your full name was Lucas. My legal name is Katherine Mary. I don’t think I’ve ever gone by my legal name. As long as I can remember, I’ve always been Kate. My mom’s name is Mary Katherine, and so is my great grandmother, so my mom switched our names around. Then, they shortened it to Kate or Katie, depending on who uses it. To be honest, I think you are the only one besides family and Beth that knows my legal name. Now don’t tell anyone, or I might have to kill ya,” she says with a wink

  “Alright, my ‘Katherine the great’.

  “I love you, just Luke Ashton.”

  Grabbing her hand. “I like those names for the baby,” I mumble to her as I bring her hand to my mouth to kiss.

  We have dessert in the living room on the floor by the fire. Our dessert consists of passionate kissing, us getting naked, me devouring her body, and slow love making. We lay on the floor under a throw for what seems like hours, listening to the rain come down in buckets. Our winter has been pretty mild, but the weather that’s coming in is going to bring us some harsh rain and even colder temperatures.

  Round two of dessert takes place upstairs in bed. She comes out of the bathroom and slides under the blankets. I pull them back because I want to look at her. She’s beyond beautiful. I’m so fortunate to have this amazing, talented, beautiful woman in my life. It took the good Lord a while to answer my prayers, but when he did, he gave me a perfect angel. I just look at her in the candlelight, with her long blond hair splayed across the pillows. She’s still flushed from the two orgasms I gave her downstairs, and her body is golden in the light. Her nipples are hard, and I see goose bumps appearing on her skin. I gently skim my fingertips across her breast, down her abdomen, across her baby bump. I lean down a pepper kisses to our unborn child. To know a part of each of us is growing inside of her makes my dick turn to granite. It’s the sexiest thing to see her pregnant.