Alex's Destiny (Racing To Love)

by Amy Gregory

  Alex glanced at her dad as he started rolling up his shirt sleeve. Eli and Jesse started laughing uncontrollably and acting like two twenty-somethings instead of the grown men they were supposed to be. Right then, she knew a lot more of the stories she’d heard from them growing up were actually true, as opposed to being the ‘tall tales’ her mother claimed.

  Sitting back in her chair, Dallas’s arm rested on the back. Sliding it across her shoulders, he grinned.

  “Alex, honey, I’m only doing this for you. Just so you’re not the only one who will still be a tad embarrassed come tomorrow morning. All right, Carter, may I borrow your arm?”

  Molly smiled at him differently, unlike any other look she’d seen from her mom. It was a playful look of a girl Alex’s age. As her mother seductively licked her father’s wrist, Alex covered her eyes, but found she had to peek to continue watching. “Mom!” Her eyebrows went up in shock.

  “Happy birthday, Lex. I love you,” Dallas said laughing as he pulled her tighter to his side. “Promise me, please, we’ll still be this much fun when we’re their age.”

  His words made her smile. This was her family. Loud, fun, strong, crazy and there. Everything she was, there was a piece of each of them within her, and she couldn’t be more proud. Alex nodded.

  “Yeah. I promise.”

  “I’ve told you for years, this is where Alex gets her spunky side from, Mol,” Eli shouted just as her mother picked up the lime with her mouth from the palm her father’s hand. Removing it with her fingertips, she finished the show off by running the tip of her tongue over her top lip. Her mother winked at her father, but it was Alex’s face that heated.

  “And I love it, Lex,” Dallas said as he kissed her and held nothing back for the first time in front of their family.

  Heat spread from her already pink cheeks through her blood. She forgot the crowd around them and forgot her family’s eyes on her. Alex surrendered to the man holding her, sinking into his hold, and let herself be swept away.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  “Come on. Come on, come on, come on,” he gritted out at the red light as he squeezed the steering wheel tight enough to become white-knuckled.

  His mind raced as he hit the gas, weaving in and out of traffic, enough to make any Nascar driver proud. The brick campus was in sight, though he wasn’t sure if that helped to relax him or amped up his anxiety. A horn blared as he switched lanes one last time. “Bite me, jackass.”

  The same large red letters came into view and his stomach turned. Swallowing hard, he slowed down for the speed bump. Parking as close as he could, Dallas rushed toward the Emergency Room sliding doors. Pushing his way through, the lights, smells, and the noises all came back to him. He hated this place.

  Growing up, hospitals had never bothered him. They weren’t exactly where he would opt to spend his free time, but he hadn’t been afraid. After the attack on his wife last year though, Dallas almost couldn’t force himself into the building. Necessity was the only thing pulling him through the doors and pushing him down the brightly lit hallways now.

  It was all his fault.

  He still felt remnants of guilt that flooded him once in a while when a memory triggered, and he’d think back to the attack. He still blamed himself. He didn’t physically hurt Alex, but he hadn’t been with her, and that was always going to make his heart hurt. Tonight though, was one hundred percent his fault.

  Well, maybe not totally. It was Alex’s fault she was beautiful. It was her fault he adored her, and worshipped the ground she walked on. It was her fault she was so sweet and perfect. It was her fault he wanted to spend his days by her side, and his nights inside her.

  Seeing the pain flash across her face and deepen the lines in her forehead had him dropping her bag and rushing to her side. “God, baby. I’m so sorry.” Without an answer back, she grabbed for his hand and squeezed. “Breathe. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Blow out. Alex, blow out, honey.”

  “Here sweetie, here’s a gown. When she’s ready, have her put it on, and then we’ll get her into the bed and get the monitors hooked up. By the looks of things, things are going pretty fast.”

  “We were always told it takes forever with the first?”

  “Everybody’s different, Dad. It’ll be okay. I can tell just by looking at her she’s in great shape. That helps things along sometimes,” the nurse reassured him with a pat to the arm.

  Dad.

  Alex dropped the thin cotton gown and grabbed her stomach, wiping the realization away for the moment.

  They’d joked she would get pregnant on their wedding night. Then he teased her about working his magic on her during their honeymoon. Dallas wasn’t that far off. Here they were, ten months, three weeks and one day after their wedding.

  Once he had her tucked in the bed and the beeping filled the small room, Dallas pulled out his cell. “Carter.”

  “Hey, son. How’s it going? Are you two headed this way soon? Dinner will be ready in a little while.”

  “No. It’s time.” Alex doubled over again, blindly reaching for him. “Call my folks.” He disconnected the call, and tossed the phone on the bed. “Shh. Okay almost there. Damn, this one is a big one.”

  “No fucking shit?” she spit out. “What was your first clue?”

  If she wasn’t in pain, he’d find her spunky attitude amusing. But with the vice grip she had on his fingers, he was afraid she’d go ahead and break them for laughing at her. “Okay, it’s going down, Lex. Here we go.”

  “There’s no we here, babe.”

  Dallas couldn’t help it, the snicker slipped out with no warning. Pulling up a chair beside her, he took her hand again, and started speaking softly to her as the nurse worked on the IV in her other hand. “I remember the first day we met like it was yesterday.” A smile tipped her lips, but the cringe of pain wiped it away almost immediately. “You had these big white bows tied up in your hair and long golden curls, but it was those big blue eyes I will never forget. And as soon as I got out of dad’s car, you dragged me up the stone pathway to Grandma and Grandpa’s front door.”

  “I didn’t drag,” she panted, “you.”

  “There you go. It’s over, Lex.”

  “I don’t know honey. We’ve got a call into your doctor, but at the rate you’re going, I’m not sure he’s going to make it.” The nurse read the strip of paper the monitor was spitting out as another contraction hit Alex right on top of the one she just endured. “I’m going to check you, but—”

  “I need to push!”

  “Oh, no. Wait just a second, hon.”

  “Now!”

  Dallas’s heart sped up as the nurse hit the call button, and told the desk to get the on-call doctor headed their way.

  “When did the contractions start, sweetie?”

  Alex’s eyes were screwed shut, and Dallas didn’t think she intended answering. “She woke up this morning with a pain in her lower back. She said she was just uncomfortable. We still worked this morning, but after lunch I took her home and had her rest. She was just so exhausted. She tossed and turned, but couldn’t really find a spot she could get comfy in. We were going to go to her parents for dinner in a little while, but she just started having intense pains all of the sudden. And as we were headed to the car, her water broke.”

  “Sounds like she’s been in labor all day.”

  “But, we thought it was supposed to be like this. The bad pain, I mean, for hours?”

  Pulling her gown back down and rolling the blankets to the foot of the bed, the nurse shook her head.

  “For the majority, yes. But, Dad, she’s ready. It’s time.”

  Alex laid her head against the pillow, already her hair was starting to stick to the sweat beading along her forehead. “But when will the epidural be here?”

  “Sweetie, I’m afraid we’ve missed that window.”

  “What!” Her eyes flew open and panic had her panting. Then another contraction had her gritting her teeth and whimperin
g. She reached for the strings of her gown and started to pull. “Dallas. Take. Me. Home,” she hissed and held her breath for a long moment. “I’ll come back when we can get the—”

  She doubled-over, unable to finish her sentence, and Dallas’s pulse jumped to double-time. “No drugs? She gets nothing?” Dallas asked, pleading for help for his wife. “But, she needs something. You have to do something, she’s in pain!”

  “It will be okay, Dad. I promise. I have done this for eighteen years. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen a woman come in here not knowing she was ready to deliver because her pain tolerance was that high. If anyone can do this, she can. I can tell, she’s a strong one.” The nurse wiped Alex’s forehead with a cool wet cloth. “I’ll be right here, sweetie. I’m not going anywhere. And just think, before you know it you’re going to be holding a brand new baby in your arms.”

  “Hi Alex. I’m Dr. Morris. Sounds like you didn’t want to wait for Dr. Ketting. So let’s do this and show him what he missed, shall we?”

  In a moment of clarity, the look that washed over Alex’s face relaxed Dallas. She went from panicked to determined in one breath. He had never been so mixed up in his life. Extreme joy and excitement on one hand, and pure unadulterated fear on the other. He was ecstatic to become a father, and had been from the day they took turns pacing the bathroom waiting on the test to change. He couldn’t wait to see Alex holding their baby in the nursery they’d spent months lovingly creating for their precious little one. It was time, and when he didn’t think he could love her anymore, she squeezed his hand and looked to him to help her.

  In those ice-blue eyes was a love so honest and pure, he couldn’t help but tear up.

  “I love you, baby.”

  ~~~

  Scrubbing his hands over his face, he wiped his palms over his eyes a second time. The tears still wouldn’t stop. Rounding the corner, the voices ceased immediately. Looking at the large group of people that had commandeered the waiting room, every one of them was hanging by a thread. Pure love coursed through him. “Well, he’s here!”

  Joy and laughter erupted. Dallas was hugged, patted, and tugged twenty different directions as the congratulations continued.

  “So?” Molly bounced from foot-to-foot. “Tell us everything. Is he all right? How’s Alex?”

  “Mama and baby are both perfect. She worked so hard—nine pounds, four ounces.”

  “Oh my God. What a little chunk!” Jesse shouted.

  “Tell me about it. His little face is just as round as it can be.”

  “What’s his name?”

  Dallas shook his head grinning, “Nope.”

  “But, you’ve made us wait all this time. Dallas, you two are killing me here.” Molly hugged him.

  “Come on back. I’ll let his mom introduce you. She did all the hard work.”

  When only Molly and Honor started to follow him, Dallas paused and waved the rest to come with them. “She’s doing great and she is so excited to show him off. Come on.”

  With a soft knock to the door, he peeked his head in to make sure she wasn’t feeding him. “Lex, you ready for a few visitors?”

  With a thousand watt smile, she nodded.

  The ohhs and ahhs lasted for several long minutes, then Alex removed his tiny little hat to show the head full of light brown curls he was born with. Shifting in the bed, she handed their baby to him.

  Nuzzling his sweet smelling face, Dallas kissed his silk soft cheek, then glanced at his wife. “I told them you did all the work. You get to introduce him,” he whispered.

  With a fresh wave of tears pooling in her eyes, she scanned the room. Dallas could have sworn his heart would burst seeing her happily taking in each one of their family members as the sleeping angel in his arms made a faint squeak. Finally, with a tilt to her head, she looked at her uncle, then her grandfather, “James. His name is James Michael.”

  Mike’s eyes teared instantly and James sifted through the crowd, pulling Dallas’s head to his mouth and kissing his temple, then laying a soft kiss on his namesake’s forehead before he moved and folded Alex into his arms. In that moment, in a small room full of tears and smiles, laughter and a soft bundle of joy in his arms, Dallas’s life was perfect. Alex’s destiny, intertwined with his own, and with the child asleep in his arms, their legacy would carry on.

  Epilogue

  As the leaves fluttered in the warm fall air, James couldn’t help but smile. He had worked so hard all his life to give everything he could to his family. He had painstakingly drawn out every detail in the house where they gathered, and had enlarged it twice during the years he spent designing it, all with the intentions of giving his precious wife, Karen, the children she so badly wanted.

  Voices and laughter floated out the French doors from the kitchen to the patio. Their one son had been the only miracle they thought they’d ever be blessed with. By fate’s design…the house was now filled. It had taken years and the road was often curved. Their path to a large family had been a rough one. However, James had finally been able to give Karen the one thing she wanted in life, and that was children. Only two in the whole crowd carried their blood, but that meant nothing to him and Karen. Brody and his son, Chance were loved dearly, but every one of the people milling around, chatting, joking, and helping put together their weekly Sunday dinner was family to them. Each one was special. Each one was needed to complete the family puzzle.

  Each one—chosen.

  Maybe not by blood, but by choice—they were family.

  In his book, that bound them together much tighter.

  From the outside looking in, one might assume the Noland’s had the perfect life. In many ways he supposed they did if it the tally was based on material items. But James and Karen had walked through the gates of hell more than once, trying to rescue their loved-ones from the other side. Hurt at the hands of others, they had picked up the pieces and put their children back together. All they wanted to do was trade places with them and keep the pain for themselves, not sharing the agony with anyone.

  The nightmare they’d pulled Molly through as a child, had nearly taken her life once again as an adult. Then it was Emery’s health, Eli’s wreck, and Carter’s brother, Mike, the very man who saved their daughter. Added to the list was Dallas’s education, and then there was something more intense about his precious granddaughter, Alex that just tore him up. Maybe it was age, but it was more. Knowing he was just yards away from her, listening to her scream his name when he answered her phone call, pleading for him to help her. It would haunt him for the rest of his life.

  People on the outside wouldn’t guess he’d spent too many nights in a hospital hoping to hell one of his own would pull through. And when they did, those people weren’t around for the months afterward he’d spent on his knees praying they’d come back to him, and return to the person they were before they were struck by tragedy. It was in those moments though his family seemed to expand. A blessing in disguise and he grasped that silver lining with both hands.

  Karen sat on the oversized soft leather couch, listening to their granddaughter, Tasia tell her all about her recent trip to New York and the dance company she’d been accepted by.

  His wife’s hair would be gray, but she made a regular trip to the salon to keep that from happening. He leaned against the counter watching her. There were a few more lines across her face and hands, but she was still the beautiful girl he’d finally gotten enough courage up to sit next to in a college class decades before. Her eyes still twinkled and sparkled with happiness and joy despite all the hurt they’d seen.

  Dallas caught his eye as he helped Alex down the hallway with one arm, holding his great-grandson in the other. Alex moved slowly, but he knew their three-day-old baby made all the pain worth it. She sat on the couch next to her grandmother, and Dallas deposited the bundle of blue blankets in Karen’s arms. Pushing off the counter, he headed their way.

  “Here, Grandpa. You sit next to grandma,�
� Tasia said, standing up to make room for him.

  “Thank you, sweet girl.”

  With a kiss to his cheek, she drifted toward a young man watching her with a matching smile. And so it would carry on. Just as it had with Carter and Molly, then Dallas and Alex, and now James Michael Hunter.

  “It’s never too early for your first Sunday dinner is it, buddy?” James cooed.

  Ruby lay down in front of Karen. Alex grinned at Dallas then ran her finger over James’s baby cheek. They’d all watch Ruby’s job shift months ago, even before James was born. The watch dog was very protective of Alex already, but it was as if the dog could sense there was more. Now wherever the baby was, Ruby wasn’t but a step away.

  Dallas sat on Alex’s other side, and placed a kiss to her temple. James couldn’t be prouder of the man he’d become, or the angel he’d chosen to marry. The joy they’d given his wife, he’d be grateful for through eternity.

  “Isn’t he just the most beautiful baby you’ve ever seen, James?” Karen whispered.

  “He’s perfect. Yes, you are, little man. Just perfect.”

  “Hey you guys, stay just like that. Let me get a picture.” Jesse grinned.

  James looked across the couch. The three smiles looking back at him were priceless. His life hadn’t turned out the way he had tried to make it. But his destiny was just like his great-grandson—perfect.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Amy Gregory leads an incredibly active lifestyle in Kansas City with her husband and their three fantastic kids who keep them running in three very different directions. Amy is known for her snarky, off the cuff sense of humor, which you’ll find shining through in the characters she’s created.

  I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up, and now I’ve finally found it. – Amy Gregory