“That’s great to hear,” Dr. Price responds. “As I said, this is going to be a rather tricky pregnancy, so starting now, I don’t want you lifting anything heavier than twenty pounds. No strenuous workouts,” he raises his head, “sexual activity is fine at this stage, I just wouldn’t suggest anything crazy.”
Lanie blushes as red as I have ever seen her.
“I would also like to see you every two weeks to start, but know that it will become weekly in a month or two. Do you have any questions for me?” Lanie shakes her head, still in shock.
“Ah, how far along is she? When are the babies due?” I ask, Lanie whipping her head up, realizing she wanted those answers too.
“I would say, judging from the ultrasound, you are about ten weeks along, Lanie. Making your due date around September 17th, however, we will not let you go past 38 weeks. You will likely go into labor much earlier than that, though. Also, something to be aware of, with all the internal scarring, you will not be able to deliver naturally, you will need to have a C-section. The good news with that is, if you wish, our plastic surgeon may be able to lessen some of the scarring around your lower abdomen. That is nothing that needs to be decided any time soon, I just wanted to make you aware. Do you have any other questions?” He asks us.
“Dr.,” I begin, “I know you said this is a high-risk pregnancy, but will these complications put Lanie’s life in danger?”
Placing a hand on my shoulder, he says, “Lanie is a fortunate woman, I can honestly say I don’t anticipate her risk to be much higher than a comparable pregnancy of multiples. With her scarring, I would just like to err on the side of caution. I know this is scary, but I do have confidence in a positive outcome for you all.” After shaking his hand, then Dr. Bailey’s, they leave the room.
“Lanie? Sweetheart, how do you feel about all this?” I ask her, unmuting Julia at the same time.
“How the fuck do you think she feels, Dex? Jesus, that was a stupid question.” Without even hesitating, I hang up on Julia and turn my phone off. I warned her.
Looking at me, I see Lanie’s confusion, I feel her excitement, I sense her hesitation.
“Baby, everything is going to be okay, I promise you. I want you to know, I am so in love with those little peanuts growing inside of you already. I believe this is a good thing, Lanie. Our family is going to grow from a family of five to a family of seven in just a few short months! Tate is going to be over the moon.”
“Holy shit,” is all Lanie says with a smile I’ve never seen before.
Smiling back at her, I decide this smile of all her different ones, is my new favorite. This smile tells me she is whole, she is happy, and we are going to be just fine.
Lanie
Chapter 38
I wake up on Christmas morning and run to the bathroom. Whoever decided to call this morning sickness needs a swift kick to the throat. My morning sickness has no sense of time and happens at all hours of the day. Hovering over the toilet bowl, Dex comes up behind as he does every day, placing my hair in a ponytail and rubbing my back until it subsides.
“Why are you up so early, Lanie?” He asks, knowing the sickness never hits until I wake up.
“I was hoping to get the vomiting out of the way before the kids wake up and run to see if Santa came, I don’t want to miss that.”
Setting the cookies and carrots out last night with Tate was the beginning of many new memories I’m making with him. I will cherish this first Christmas forever, though.
“We could have held them off, you know?” He tells me, handing me a glass of water and adding toothpaste to my toothbrush for when I am ready.
“No way, this is my first Christmas with my own family, I am not going to let a little morning sickness ruin it for me,” I don’t get to finish because I fling my head back to the toilet bowl. Ten minutes later, I’m finally ready to brush my teeth, just in time, too, because Tate comes bouncing into our room right as I finish.
“It’s Christmas, Lanie. It’s Christmas,” he screams.
You can’t feel anything but excitement when a child has such an innocent look of happiness on his face. I never understood the excitement people always spoke of when describing the feeling of Christmas morning. Right now, I do, I finally feel the magic of Christmas morning. Today, I’m living it, and I don’t plan to ever let this feeling go.
The day goes by in a flash. We facetime with Mimi and Pawpaw, then with Julia and Charlie. Trevor and Loki stop by in the afternoon with gifts for the kids and we facetime with the Westbrook’s after dinner.
I learned Dexter usually has Christmas with the Westbrooks, but after talking, he decided he wanted to have our first Christmas together, just us, our family. I melted a little at the sentiment of it, and the Westbrook’s agreed as long as they got a redo with us next week.
Around eight, the presents have all been opened and the kids are in bed. “I think we can clean up this mess tomorrow, right? I’m too tired to even think about it right now.”
Dexter laughs but agrees. He starts a fire in the fireplace and we snuggle in on the new sofa I got him for Christmas. This one is massive and a soft fabric material you can’t help but get lost in. All seven of us will be able to cozy up on this one for years to come.
Sitting next to me, Dex pulls me closer into his side. Since learning I was pregnant, with twins no less, he has been overly protective. So much so that we had to have a conversation yesterday about his hovering. Thankfully, he took it in stride.
“I've got one last present for you, sweetheart. Do you want it?”
Feeling guilty because he has already given me so much today, the smile breaks through anyway. “I do,” I say, clapping my hands together like a child.
Dex gets up and goes behind the fourteen-foot Christmas tree I insisted we had to have. Coming to sit back next to me, he places a hefty package in my hands. It's shaped like a book and I can’t imagine what it could be. To say he spoiled me this Christmas is an understatement. I don’t think I have had this many gifts in all my birthdays and Christmas’ combined.
“Go ahead, open it,” he says, leaning back into the couch with a satisfied smile.
I do as he asks, and I gasp as I run my fingers over the leather I find inside. Taking it out of the box gently, I turn it over in my hands. Embossed on the luxurious leather front is MLM, the story of us. Looking at him, I see all the love he is directing at me. Carefully, I open the cover and laugh as I see the very first entry:
Dexter: Day 1 of MLM: Mission in process. LED floodlights are being installed in her room as we speak. She never has to worry about the lights again.
Preston: It is early in the day for word games. What is MLM?
Julia: Obviously, it's Make Lanie Mine. Should I expect these updates daily?
Trevor: Who has the 802 number?
Trevor: Also, little bit creeper-ish here, man. What happened to chocolate and flowers?
Julia: A guy gives me flowers and chocolate, I’ll kick him in the taint all the way back to his car.
Trevor: Noted. Again, who is 802?
Dexter: 802 is Lanie’s best friend, Julia. Julia, meet the guys, Trevor, Preston, and Loki.
Preston: Is she hot? The friend?
Julia: Another douche-canoe? Come on, Dex, I thought you were better than this.
Trevor: I think I’m in love.
Loki: I’ll be MIA for a couple of months. I’ll be on the lookout for my invite to the wedding.
Dexter: Be safe, man.
Trevor: Check-in if you can.
Preston: If Julia is shooting me down, Loki, will you be my date to Dexter’s wedding? Be safe, bud. We’ll be thinking of you.
Julia: Definitely missing something, but hey? Be safe!
Loki: Take care of the girl. Guys, take care of Dex. Julia? Hell, good luck!
Trevor: Will do. Dex, keep us updated.
Preston: What’s step two, lover boy?
Dexter: Making dinner tonight.
Trevor: Jes
us, don’t burn the place down.
Dexter: Your confidence in me is overwhelming.
Preston: Dinner, got it. What else? Doll, you have any suggestions? I think it’s going to take more than dinner and some floodlights to win over your girl.
Julia: I’m going to assume you are calling one of the guys doll and not me. If you’re talking to me, watch your balls when we meet in person.
Preston: Noted.
Preston: So, any suggestions?
Trevor: Dex, lead with your heart, the rest will follow.
Julia: Get Maria to stay!
Dexter: Will do.
Preston: Who the fuck is Maria?
In Dexter’s neat, sprawling handwriting underneath this entry, it says:
This is the day I decided to make you mine. Not because I had the need to own you, but because I knew my life would never be complete again without you in it. This is the story of how I eventually won you over. This is also a promise to never take you for granted. Thank you for choosing us as your family, Lanie. I love you.
“Day one?” I ask, “just how long did you harass our friends for?” Without letting him answer, I flip to the back and see Day 252. “Dexter, you did not?” I ask.
“I did, and I’m not ashamed of it either,” he replies.
Knowing I will not be able to sleep until I’ve read it, I lean into Dexter and read through two-hundred and fifty-two days of our love story. Sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, all of it having an effect on my heart. Reaching the end, I realize it has a false back.
“What is this, Dex?” I ask, noticing a tiny little ribbon sticking out of a small square cut into the back flap of the book.
“Open it,” he tells me.
Pulling on the ribbon, all the air in my lungs comes out in a whoosh. Attached to the silky red fabric that says ‘Lanie, will you marry me?’ is the most elegantly beautiful oval solitaire diamond ring I have ever seen. Looking up from the book, I notice Dex has dropped to his knee in front of me.
“Before you, Lanie, I was sure true love didn’t exist. I thought I was content living my life for my kids, never opening my heart to anyone again. Then you waltzed in here with a sass I hadn’t known I was missing in my life. Slowly, you healed my broken little family, and nothing would make me happier than to officially make you a part of the family you saved.” He pauses.
“Before you answer, you should know, this was a group effort. The day after your little t-shirt stunt, Mimi, Pete, Julia, and all the guys went with me by facetime and helped me pick out this ring. There was a lot of negotiating that went into it. In the end, we all decided this was the one for you. So, tell me, Lanie, will marry me and be our forever?”
Sniffling, I drop to my knees in front of Dex. “You have something backwards, Dex. I didn’t heal your family, you were never broken, just bent a little. You guys saved me when I didn’t know I could be saved. You gave me courage when I felt weak. You gave me confidence when I thought that part of me was lost forever. You gave me love when I didn’t know I could be loved. You, Dex, made me whole, and there is nothing I want more than to become your wife.”
Dexter doesn’t wait a minute more to place the ring on my slightly swollen finger and kisses me, hard. All of a sudden, I hear cheering and screaming and possibly crying.
“What the heck is that?” I ask.
Dex looks sheepishly at the coffee table, where I see tiny faces all in a grid on his phone. Everyone we love is on a group facetime and just witnessed the best moment of my life. “She said yes, guys,” he tells them in confirmation. He looks back at me and shrugs, “it was only fair, I made them all a part of our story from day one, it wouldn’t have been very kind for them to miss the best part.”
“Dex, I think the best is yet to come,” I tell him.
“I do believe you’re right, fiancée,” he replies.
Fiancée. Never in a million years did I think taking a nanny job in North Carolina would lead me here. Now that I am, though, I don’t ever plan to leave.
Epilogue
Dexter
A week after I proposed to Lanie, she informed me that Julia was coming to visit. Then she told me Julia was moving here permanently with her son. Lanie was hoping it would be okay for Julia and Charlie to stay in the guest house while she looked for a place of her own. Of course, I said yes. Having Lanie’s family close by was going to be an answer to our prayers once these babies arrived, I knew from experience.
“Honey, we’re home,” I hear Julia sing out as they walk through the door. Walking towards the foyer, I greet them both with a hug.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” I tell her, “where’s Charlie?”
“I decided to leave him with Mom and Dad for the week,” Julia tells me.
“Now that she has official permission from work, she can make the move at any time,” Lanie tells me, happiness filling her voice.
“We told you, the guest house is yours for as long as you want it. It just sits empty otherwise, and it is the perfect size for both of you.” I remind Julia.
“Thanks, Dex, I really appreciate that.” The more time I spend with Julia, the more I appreciate all her quirks and insecurities.
“Come on, let's show you around, Lanie said you wanted to start baby-proofing before Charlie gets here, so I left a box of supplies on the kitchen counter for you. It’s a long story, but I had a lot of extras,” I tell Julia, and Lanie laughs.
Four days into Julia prepping the guest house for her and Charlie, she comes bursting through the kitchen door. She has a way of entering a room that could rival Kramer from Seinfeld.
“Lanie,” she screams at full volume before realizing we are both sitting at the island.
Shaking my head, I try not to let the groan escape, that is apparently how Julia always enters a room.
“Oh, I didn’t see you there,” she says.
“You didn’t look,” I mumble, resulting in a shot to the ribs from Lanie’s elbow.
“Lanes, I just remembered what you need! Can I borrow your car?” she asks.
“Of course you can borrow the car, Jules, but I don’t really need anything right now,” Lanie tells her.
“Maybe not today, but soon you will, just wait and see.” Julia sings across the kitchen.
I toss her the keys, “I just put gas in it, you’re all set,” I tell her.
“Great, be back soon,” she says.
“What do you think she is up to?” I ask Lanie.
“I have no idea, with Julia, it’s better not to try and even guess,” she laughs.
An hour later, I am sitting in my office when Trevor comes busting through the front door, Julia-style. What is it with these two?
“She’s here? Julia. She’s here?” He asks hysterically.
Raising my eyebrow, I look at him quizzically. “With as much as you guys text, I figured you knew.”
“No, no, I didn’t know. I’ve been in the lab day and night finishing something. What the hell is she doing here?”
Not understanding his agitated state, I tell him, “Yes, Julia is here, just not right at this moment, she went out to run some errands. Come on, let's grab a beer,” I suggest, hoping the alcohol will calm whatever storm is brewing. In the kitchen, I ask, “What is the big deal? You knew she was Lanie’s best friend, you knew you would run into her at some point. Are you telling me you are still only texting? No phone calls? No, Facetime?”
“No, strictly texting, it’s the best for everyone,” he says.
“What’s best?” Lanie asks, walking into the kitchen.
I look to Trevor, who replies quickly. “Nothing, Lanes. How are you feeling?” he asks, changing the subject.
“So far so good,” Lanie tells him, coming to sit next to me at the island.
“La-aine, I’ve got just what you need, babes,” comes Julia’s voice walking down the hall.
Glancing up, I notice Trevor has gone completely pale and is tilting his head like he recognizes the voice. Julia enter
s the kitchen, her tiny body entirely covered by a grocery bag and a five-gallon pail of ice cream in one hand and what has to be a three-gallon glass jar of the biggest pickles I have ever seen in my life in her other hand.
“Can you believe I had to go to five different stores for these pickles, Lanes? But trust me, they are so…” she breaks off as she lowers the bag to look at Lanie.
I quickly realize her eyes are not on Lanie but on Trevor, who has turned completely green. “Angel?” He questions.
Julia can only get out, “Charlie?”
Completely confused, I turn to Lanie, who has also become pale. “Holy shit,” is all Lanie gets out before a loud crash catches my attention.
Looking up again, I realize Julia has dropped the jar of pickles and everything else in her hands. She is backing up when I realize there has to be glass all over the floor.
“Julia, don’t move, you’re barefoot, and there has to be glass everywhere,” I warn her, jumping up to get a broom.
“N-no, I have, the groceries, they, but, you, not, Charlie?” she says, making no sense but visibly shaking. Before I can reach her, she turns and runs down the hallway with keys in hand.
Trevor moves to follow her, but Lanie holds him back. “Hold on there, Boston, this is my fault, let me explain while Julia gets her thoughts together. She won’t be able to talk to you until she has cleared her head.”
“What do you mean, this is your fault? What the hell is going on, Lanie?” Trevor yells.
“Hey,” I say to Trevor, “calm down, yelling at Lanie isn’t going to solve anything,” I say, getting angry at his raised voice.
Sighing, Lanie says, “Come on, let's sit in the family room, this is going to take a while.”
Lanie
Is this real life? How is it possible that Julia’s Boston is Dexter’s Trevor? Holy fuck here goes nothing. Sitting down across from Trevor, I try to find the words but they come out in a rush.
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