Life's Next Chapter (24 page)

“She’s beautiful. Beth you got your blond hair, blue-eyed beauty. Watch out, she is going to be a knock out when she is a teenager,” I say.

“Hey, that’s my daughter you’re talking about,” proud papa says to me.

“She’s beautiful, and she looks just like her daddy,” Beth softly says as she kisses her daughter’s head.

Ella swipes the baby from her arms. “I just want a quick hold before we leave, got to get ready for Santa.”

Beth looks all frazzled. She quietly yelps out an ‘oh my god’. “Bethy, don’t worry. Ethan came by, grabbed the boys, and took them home. Your parents have already flown in and should be here soon.” Ella reassures softly while rocking Maddie.

“Okay, times up. I get to hold her now.” I say as I take Maddie from Ella. Ella kisses her white hat and walks over to give hugs to Jacob, who is chatting with Chris. She grabs Chris’s hand and pulls him to give hugs to Beth.

“Merry Christmas, guys, we love you and we’ll call tomorrow. Call us if you need anything,” Ella says as she leaves.

“Elizabeth, I’m going to go grab a coffee. You want anything, love?” Jacob asks, kissing Beth on the forehead

She shakes her head no before launching into a huge make out session. “Ugh, hello guys you are doing this in front of brand new innocent eyes.” I scold, acting like I’m shielding Maddie’s eyes from her parents PDA.

After Jacob leaves, I hold their beautiful baby in my arms and just stare at her. The thought that I will have one of these tiny miracles in my arms in a matter of months fills my heart with so much love and anticipation. I look at the door when I hear a knock. I look over to Beth, who has nodded off sleeping. I turn back and Luke is in the doorway.

“Hi, babe,” I whisper, waving him in. He sits next to me on the small sofa. “This is Madeleine Rose Alexander, isn’t she beautiful, Luke?”

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 want 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?