Infinite Love (47 page)

‘Lex …’ I stalled as I shook my head not quite able to take it in.

‘I’ll head back down, give you some space to talk,’ she nodded. ‘I don’t need an answer in a hurry, I just wanted it out there.’ I looked at Gabe and he kissed my forehead.

‘Lexi,’ he said as she reached the door. She looked back over her shoulder. ‘I don’t have to ask Mia how she feels, because I already know that she’d be happy with this.’

‘But you’re not,’ she sighed.

‘Actually, I can’t think of anyone else, other than Mia, who I’d rather carry our child,’ Gabe replied.

‘You mean it?’ she replied as her face lit up. I looked at Gabe in amazement and he nodded at me, letting me know he that he was serious too.

‘We mean it, Lexi,’ I confirmed. ‘You’re crazy, you know that?’ I ran to her and squashed her tightly as I started crying. ‘I can’t believe you.’

‘Don’t get too excited. I know that I have to pass all kinds of sexual and sanity tests first,’ she laughed. ‘I may fall at the first hurdle. And before the question even comes up, because I know what you’re like, I’m not accepting any money. Besides it’s illegal here, I checked.’

‘Lexi,’ sighed Gabe as he stood and came to rub my back as I clung to her, astonished.

‘No,’ she replied firmly. ‘Mia’s family took me under their wing and treated me like their own. Mia’s let me live with her rent free while she paid for all of my food and spending too, she reunited me with my dad and gave me my family back, and she’s been the best sister I could ever have wished for. You were amazing after my miscarriage Gabe and you both gave me a great opportunity and salary with my job. It’s my way of saying thank you and helping out my best friends. If you’re happy to give me board and lodgings and pay for any maternity clothes, if I’m lucky enough to get pregnant, then that’s all cool.’

‘I’m thinking this may not be such a good deal,’ I replied as I straightened up and wiped my eyes. Lexi looked at me wide eyed. ‘You eat like a bloody horse as it is, we may not be able to afford to feed a pregnant Lexi.’

‘Sod off,’ she laughed and smacked my arm.

‘Seriously Lexi, I just don’t know what to say,’ uttered Gabe as he put his arm around me and squeezed me tightly. ‘You have no idea what this means to us.’

‘Trust me, I do,’ she smiled as she patted his shoulder. ‘Anyway, actions speak louder than words, so go and crack open some more alcohol, because I may not be able to drink for much longer. And when
are
we eating again? I’m bloody peckish,’ she moaned and we burst out laughing.

We were back again, sitting outside Dr. Walker’s office, Gabe had his arm around me, reassuringly rubbing my upper arm. He knew this wasn’t easy for me, as I knew it wasn’t for him. We’d been here four times, each of which had ended in disaster. Lexi was holding my hand and kept sighing as we waited. She’d had her blood tests and it was just a waiting game now.

‘I don’t know why we’re here,’ she moaned. ‘I told you that it hasn’t worked. I’ve not been sick at all and you remember how sick I was last time.’

‘That doesn’t mean anything, Lex. Some women don’t get sick at all.’

‘I just don’t want you getting your hopes up.’

‘Trust me, I’ve learned the hard way not to do that,’ I replied and felt both of them squeeze me at the same time.

‘Mr. and Mrs. Austin and Miss Clarke,’ called Dr. Walker.

‘Are you sure you want us in there with you, Lex?’ Gabe asked as we all stood up.

‘Shut up,’ she teased and pushed us ahead of her.

We all sat down and I tried to read Dr. Walkers face, but she was a professional, she gave nothing away.

‘How have you been feeling, Lexi?’ she asked.

‘Great, so I’m not pregnant. I was sick as a dog last time. When can we try again?’

‘We don’t need to, because you
are
pregnant, two and a bit weeks,’ Dr. Walker advised with a smile.

‘I am?’ gasped Lexi at the same take as Gabe gasped ‘She is?’ while I just stared at her not sure if I had heard right again.

‘You are. We’ll have you back for more blood tests in a few days to make sure your hCG levels are rising and book you in for a scan in a few weeks. Congratulations.’

‘Lexi, I don’t know what to say,’ uttered Gabe as he shook his head.

‘How about thanks Lex, you rock and here’s a large pepperoni pizza to celebrate?’

‘Pizza?’ he looked at her aghast. ‘It’s not on …’

‘The list, yeah I remember the list,’ she laughed.

‘Baby?’ Gabe squeezed my hand and I looked up at him. ‘Are you ok?’ I nodded.

‘Give her a minute to process it, Gabe,’ Lexi advised as she rubbed my back. I nodded as I took a few deep breathes while Dr. Walker continued to talk. I really wasn’t listening. Lexi was pregnant? On first attempt? I was fighting the excitement, I so wanted to believe it but we weren’t that lucky. We’d never been that lucky. It was suddenly like one of those moments where you’re in a car, driving a familiar route, when you suddenly look up and think how did I get here? I don’t remember that part of the journey. I was standing in the car park with Gabe clasping my face, concern all over his face.

‘Mia?’

‘Sorry, I just … we’re really pregnant?’ I whispered as I looked at him. He nodded with a happy smile and I looked over at Lexi who did the same. ‘We’re pregnant?’

‘Gabe, can I just have a minute with her?’ Lexi asked.

‘Sure.’ He kissed me and went and got in the car.

‘Mia? Are you really ok with this?’

‘Lexi, honestly I’m overjoyed, I promise. It’s a shock thing, not a resentment or jealousy thing. I’m fucked up it can never be me. I’m just so grateful …’ I choked back some tears and she gave me a big hug.

‘Just remember that it’s
your
baby. You had it at the hospital and I’m just bringing it home for you, on a very,
very
slow bus.’

‘Lex,’ I giggled and squeezed her tightly. ‘You’re really pregnant.’

‘I am. Please tell me that he’s not resurrected that bloody list?’

‘No,’ I chuckled. ‘He’s created a whole new one based on up to date statistics.’

‘O fuck. Is it too late to change my mind?’ she teased and let me go, holding my hands as she smiled at me.

‘We’re pregnant,’ I screamed at the top of my lungs and broke into a huge smile making her laugh. Gabe leapt out of the car, concern all over his face and broke into a grin as he saw me crying happy tears.

I stood in the hospital room with Gabe’s arm around me as I held Lexi’s hand, about to have her first scan. I felt so sick as memories of my last one were so vivid in my mind. I’d gone from jubilation one minute, to the depths of hell the next. Gabe kept kissing my temple, and rubbing his cheek up and down mine, to try and keep me calm.

‘God damn it, I need to pee,’ Lexi moaned.

‘She hasn’t even started yet Lex, you need to really clench and hold it in,’ I advised her as she squeezed my hand tightly.

‘I have pathetic wee control.’

‘Like your bottom then,’ I retorted and got a gasp and a glare out of her.

‘I’m pregnant, it produces lots of flatulence,’ she protested.

‘
You
produce lots of flatulence Litmus, don’t be blaming the baby.’

‘Litmus?’ queried Gabe with a puzzled look.

‘You tell him and I’ll give this baby to another couple,’ warned Lexi. ‘What’s for dinner?’

‘Grilled chicken, new potatoes and steamed vegetables,’ replied Gabe and Lexi rolled her eyes at me.

‘O God,’ she suddenly exclaimed.

‘What?’ I asked in a panic.

‘I’m getting
cravings
all of a sudden.
Seriously
strong cravings for … pepperoni
pizza
.’

‘Nice try,’ chuckled Gabe.

‘You’d deprive the carrier of your unborn child a basic maternal need?’ she pouted.

‘If you behave I may let you have some grapes as well as a banana for pudding,’ teased Gabe.

‘I knew it, I’m carrying the spawn of Satan.’

‘You two, behave,’ I chastised as Maggie, our sonographer, started moving the tracker across Lexi’s tummy. We all went silent and suddenly the room was filled with the noise of the baby’s heartbeat. I stiffened up immediately.

‘What’s wrong?’ I asked as I looked at Maggie. ‘That doesn’t sound right.’

‘Mia,’ reassured Gabe as he kissed me again.

‘It doesn’t Gabe, that doesn’t sound right.’ I shot him a look as I felt my stomach twist in nervous knots.

‘It’s nothing to worry about,’ Maggie replied as she smiled at me. ‘You are right, it sounds odd because you’re not just hearing one heartbeat, you’re hearing two.’

‘What?’ exclaimed Lexi and Gabe at the same time, as I looked at her stunned.

‘Congratulations, you’re having twins.’

‘Twins?! As in
two
babies?’ uttered Lexi as her grip nearly broke my fingers.

‘Yes, it’s more common with IVF surrogacy, but everything’s looking good.’

‘O shit,’ groaned Lexi. ‘My vagina’s going to be ruined for life. Can I elect to have a caesarean now? Or some kind of vagina rebuilding plastic surgery?’ she asked as she looked up at me. ‘You could give me a decent pair of tits and some arse padding, give me a rump like a Kardashian while you’re at it.’ I just stared down at her in some kind of shocked daze.
Twins?

‘Mia? Are you ok?’ Gabe asked as he clasped my face and looked into my eyes.

‘Twins?’ I whispered, still trying to take it in.

‘Twins,’ he grinned and kissed me, then grabbed Lexi’s face and kissed her too.

‘Austin, no! I told you that a threesome was what got us in this mess in the first place, I’m
not
doing it again, no matter how hard you beg,’ Lexi chuckled. Maggie just shook her head and rolled her eyes, while Gabe grabbed me, lifted me into the air and jigged me up and down as he laughed happily.

‘We’re having twins, Mia.
Two
babies.’

‘We’re also going to have a wet floor if I can’t have a pee soon,’ moaned Lexi. ‘And I’m not joking now, I’m hungry again. Can we stop at McDonalds on the way home?’ I clasped Gabe’s face as he smiled up at me and kissed him. I was half excited and half terrified. Lexi was only six weeks pregnant and I was well aware that so much could still go wrong, but there was a faint glimmer of hope now and I was determined to cling to it, no matter how scared I was. We deserved our happy ever after, no one deserved it more.

‘We’re going to need more food in the house,’ I announced with a big smile.

‘Tell me about it,’ he laughed and spun me around.

I was curled tightly around Gabe, fast asleep when I heard Lexi screech. I’d barely opened my eyes when she came charging into our room, without even knocking.

‘What? What’s wrong?’ I asked in panic as I sat up and Gabe groaned.

‘Someone kicked properly for the first time,’ she announced as she plonked herself down on the bed and lifted her top to expose her big tummy. ‘Quick, feel.’ She grabbed my hand and placed it on her rounded stomach, as I tried to clutch the duvet over my bare chest with the other.

‘Are you sure? Maybe it’s trapped wind again,’ I suggested, as Gabe sat up and put his arm around me and kissed my cheek.

‘Please, if there’s one thing I’m an expert in, especially now, it’s flatulence. This was no trapped wind.’

‘Is your stomach supposed to be that big?’ asked Gabe, as he looked at it amazed.

‘If I was having one baby for you no, but there are
two
of your little devils in here. I’m going to have serious stretch marks you know and …
there
,’ she yelled at the same time as I screamed and giggled.

‘I felt it. Gabe, I felt it.’

‘Come on Gabe, you try,’ smiled Lexi.

‘Isn’t that kind of weird?’ he frowned.

‘No weirder than you making me wear headphones with loud music every evening, so you can talk to my stomach to say goodnight, or whatever it is that you’re whispering to them,’ she retorted. I giggled again as Gabe went red. He loved his routines, and talking to the twins in Lexi’s tummy every night before she went to bed was one of his favourites.

‘Come on Gabe, you don’t want to miss this. Lexi wouldn’t offer if she didn’t want you too.’

‘Here, look,’ she said as she pulled her vest down over her bump. ‘See, no flesh on flesh. Try now.’

‘Ok,’ he sighed. We sat watching him, waiting for his reaction for ages. As Lexi shouted again, his face broke into a huge smile.

‘You felt it?’ I asked.

‘I did, that was so powerful. Doesn’t it hurt you, Lex?’ he asked.

‘No, it just feels really weird. Right, I’m going back to bed, it’s way too early to be up.’

‘Thanks for coming in, Lex,’ I smiled. ‘I really enjoyed that.’

‘O, there we go,’ she laughed. ‘Someone’s very active this morning.’

‘It happened
again
?’

‘Yes,’ she nodded, then frowned as she looked at my excited face. ‘Shift over.’

‘What?’

‘Shift your arse over. I can sleep here for a while and you can stay toasty in your own bed and feel them kicking.’

‘You don’t mind?’ I grinned.

‘I could sleep on a clothes line I’m that tired, it won’t bother me if either of you are touching my stomach while I do,’ she advised with a yawn. I quickly lay down and nestled back into Gabe who put his arm around my waist. Lexi lay on her back and I put my hand on her stomach and Gabe covered it with his. Lexi was snoring by the time we felt her stomach move again. I looked around at Gabe and kissed him.

‘Isn’t it amazing?’ I whispered.

‘It is,’ he agreed. ‘You seem a lot happier lately, it’s nice to see.’

‘I’m sorry, I’ve just been so stressed. I mean, things can still go wrong and I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up too much, but she’s five months now. That’s good, right?’

‘That’s really good. She’s doing amazingly, the twins are perfectly on track, you need to relax a little bit.’ He kissed me again and I giggled.

‘
I
need to relax? I’m not the one who wanted to hire someone to follow her around when she’s out of our sight.’

‘In case she needed help if there was an emergency situation, or if there were bags that needed carrying. Not to spy on her,’ he objected. I saw the worry in his face, worry that he was trying so hard to conceal.

‘I’m sorry, this must be even harder for you after your mum’s accident. I was being insensitive. Are you doing ok?’

‘I guess,’ he nodded. ‘I just
hate it
when she’s on the stairs. It really freaks me out.’

‘Gabe,’ I sighed as I looked at him frowning. ‘Why didn’t you say before?’ I asked and he shrugged. ‘Ok, well we have the downstairs wet room as part of the Utility now, so why don’t we move Lexi’s bed into the old Games room, it’s sitting empty since you moved your stuff into the basement. She’ll have everything on one level and you can stop worrying. That way we can also get into her room and start preparing it for the nursery.’

‘Is moving her downstairs really a good idea? It just gives her easier access to the fridge and food cupboards,’ he grinned and I laughed.

‘She
has
got a crazier than normal appetite,’ I agreed. He cupped my chin and kissed me tenderly, making me all malleable in his arms.

‘It’s a brilliant idea, Mia. I’d feel a lot better knowing she isn’t going up and down all the time.’

‘Then we can see if Doug can come and help move the bed and wardrobe later. O God, they just kicked again,’ I exclaimed.

‘Probably telling us to go to sleep. It’s still only six a.m.’

‘I can’t sleep now, I just want to feel them moving. I feel better now knowing that they’re ok in there.’

‘You’re going to be a great Mum, Mia Austin,’ he sighed as he snuggled closer to me.

‘I hope so.’

‘I know so,’ he yawned.

‘Well, you’ll be one amazing Dad.’ I smiled, as I lay sandwiched between my snoring best friend and my concerned husband, and waited impatiently for our babies to let me know that they were ok again.

I was practicing in the dance studio, while Gabe was preparing lunch and Lexi was splashing about in the pool next door. It was a beautiful day in late August, all the doors on the orangery were wide open, as were the bi-fold doors on the house and I could hear birds tweeting over my music. I was so much more relaxed. Lexi was seven months pregnant now and doing really well, as were the twins. Every week that passed had me believing that everything was going to be ok, that we were finally going to have our family. I smiled as I looked over at the house. Gabe was standing at the island, facing us and I knew he was keeping an eagle eye on us both. He wasn’t keen on Lexi swimming, but I’d assured him that it was good for her. I finished up and wiped myself down with a towel and took the outside route to the pool.