Underestimated (77 page)

blue with pictures of Caroline, my mom, Jason, Drew,

Celeste, Alicia and Vincent all framed in white. Justin’s

framed picture hung in the center of them all.

Alicia and I had a blast. We stayed up too late

talking, fed our pregnant bellies too much ice cream and

shopped until we literally dropped.

I didn’t want to leave when Celeste and Drew

came back to retrieve us. They loved the house and what

we had done in such a short time. I was happy. I was so

happy. I loved my new house close to my mom and

Caroline. I loved Vincent. I loved Celeste and Alicia, and

I loved Drew. My cup runneth over.

***

“Hmm,” he moaned, rolling over.

“My water broke.”

He jumped out of bed wide eyed and nervous as

hell. “Are you sure?”

I gave him a look and then looked down at the

soaked bed.

“I’ll call Dr. Long,” he stated.

“Drew,” I called before he got out of our room.

“What?”

“Where are you going? Your phone is right there.”

“Oh,” he said, realizing the obvious. He called

Doctor Long, my mother and the one dreaded call to

Dawson. That one caused an argument more than once, but

I had promised I would call before I ever left. I hoped that

he didn’t come, but I was still going to hold true to my

word.

I was only two centimeters dilated when we

arrived. It was going to be a while. I wasn’t even allowed

to have an epidural yet because they said that it was too

early. The contractions weren’t too bad, and I was

tolerating them okay.

By ten in the morning, my visitors started to arrive.

Celeste and Alicia were there first, and then my mom. I

couldn’t believe she had gotten there so quick. I wasn’t

looking for her until early evening, of course my husband

had a hand in on that and got her a private flight out right

away.

I had been in labor for nine hours and the

contractions were starting to come stronger and more

frequent. Drew was great. He held my hand and talked me

through every one of them. I finally got the epidural around

three in the afternoon. It helped, a lot, but the pain was

still there, and I was feeling a lot of pressure. My visitors

except for my mom and Drew stepped out to wait for the

news.

At exactly five pm, after many bouts of nausea,

sweats, and downright demon behavior, I finally felt like I

needed to push.

Drew stepped out for just a second to tell our

waiting party that it was time. I knew as soon as he came

back that Dawson was there. I could tell by the look on his

face. Damnit. I didn’t want him there. Why couldn’t he just

wait and see if Drew was the father before he flew all the

way there.

“Is Lauren with him?” I asked, Drew.

“With who?” he asked, trying to feign ignorance. I

gave him a look.

“Yes, she and Star both are here,” he answered.

“Star’s here?” I was so excited that Star was there.

Dawson, not so much, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about

Lauren being there. I mean, I forgave her, and I was glad

that she was with Dawson, but I still felt a little betrayed. I

wasn’t about to let it ruin my day. I was finally going to

meet this baby that I had been waiting months for. I

couldn’t wait.

I pushed for forty five minutes, and it just wasn’t

happening. The baby would crown and that was it. He

wasn’t coming out. I would have said at that moment he

was no doubt Drew’s baby, being was stubborn as his

daddy. Doctor Long explained that he wasn’t going to let

me go much longer. He was going to have the operating

room setup for a C-section. I didn’t want that. I wanted

him to be born natural, and although I didn’t think I had

one more push in me. I tried. I tried like hell, over and

over until his head was finally out. Drew never left my

side and my mother was the best birthing coach ever. Had

it not been for her I’m sure I would have passed out at

least ten times from hyperventilating.

Finally, at seven twelve in the evening, baby

Nicholas was born. He came out screaming, and I couldn’t

have been happier. It was no wonder he had such a hard

time coming into the world. He weighed in at nine pounds,

seven ounces and was twenty two inches long. He was a

big boy.

Drew was the proudest papa ever, although after

they laid him on my stomach I was scared. I swear he

looked just like Dawson. Drew wasn’t seeing it. He was

seeing his son, and that was it. His hands were as bloody

as the baby. He couldn’t keep his hands off of him. He

kissed me and told me that he loved me at least ten times

before they took baby Nick to clean him up. Drew washed

his hands and went out to give the good news.

“Drew,” I called for him before he got out.

He was by my side, kissing me again in a split

second. I couldn’t help but laugh at him.

“I want to see Star,” I said.

“You’ve got it, baby,” he said with another kiss.

My mom went out, just as proud, with him. Star

came in alone with a big smile about ten minutes later.

“I can’t believe you’re here, Star,” I said as she

wrapped her arms around me and hugged me.

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” she

said, walking over to the baby. The nurse held him up so

that she could see him. She looked straight back to me.

Damnit, she saw it too.

“He’s just lucky I was going to be here in a couple

of days anyway for the swap meet,” she teased, coming

back to me.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Me? How are you? You’re the one that just gave

birth to a football player.”

“He is a little football player,” I said, smiling

down at him as the nurse placed him swaddled in a

blanket back in my arms. I loved him already.

“How’s Dawson been?” I asked not taking my eyes

from my bundle of joy.

“He’s been good. I have told you before. Things

tend to work themselves out.”

“Yes, you have. I still can’t believe him and

Lauren though. It’s so hard to picture the two of them

together.”

Star didn’t know what to say. They were both her

friends as much as I was. I respected her for that, and

knew that she would stay loyal to both sides. That’s just

how Starlight was.

Drew came in, still smiling, of course. He kissed

me, and then took the baby from my arms. He held him like

he had done it a million times before. Celeste and Alicia

came in next. They made as big of a fuss over him as my

mom and Drew.

Everyone had been in except for Dawson and

Lauren, and once Drew, and I were alone again, I brought

it up.

“Drew, you have to let him see him,” I said

“I know. I was just hoping to wait until we got the

test results back.”

“That could be two or three days.”

“Not when you just donated a quarter of a million

dollars to the hospital,” he grinned.

“Drew, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything, just wrote a check and let

them swab the inside of my jaw.”

“There’re doing it now?”

“Yup, four hours, tops,” he said, staring down at

sleeping Nicholas. “There is no way I was going to wait

for two or three days. I want this behind us, today.”

“Drew,” I started to say. He stopped me.

“Don’t, Morgan. We’re not even going to discuss

it.”

I could tell that he was scared shitless that baby

Nick was going to be Dawson’s and not his.

“Okay, Mom and Dad. What are we putting on the

birth certificate for this little guy’s middle name?” the

nurse interrupted.

Drew and I looked at each other. Why the hell

didn’t we talk about any of this before now? We couldn’t

give him Drew’s name yet. Dawson would never let him

have Drew’s last name.

“We’re waiting on a paternity test for that,” I was

the one to say. There was no easier way to say it. I was

glad that she didn’t ask any more questions.

“I’m going to take him to the nursery for his

newborn screening, and then I will bring him back. Do you

want to carry him to the nursery?” she asked Drew, no

longer calling him dad.

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Drew,” I called.

He turned and smiled a warm, scared, smile. “I’ll

send him in,” he said, knowing what I wanted.

Dawson walked in without Lauren. I was glad. I

wasn’t sure if I wanted to see her. He was wearing the

same sacred smile. I wondered if he was now hoping that

the baby wasn’t his.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” he said, kissing my cheek. “I think this has

been the longest day of my life. How are you?”

I snickered a little. “I’m good. Happy. Scared.”

“I bet. You look good,” he smiled.

“Thank you. How are you?” I wanted to know if he

was happy. It meant a lot to me that he was.

“I have been good, nervously waiting for you to

have this baby.”

He didn’t call him my baby. That was the first time

I had ever heard him not say his baby.

“Did you see him?”

“No, but Star said he looks just like me.”

I looked down. I didn’t want him to look like

Dawson. I wanted him to look like Drew. I wasn’t sure

what to say. “Drew put a rush on the test. We’ll know

before the night’s out.”

He nodded. He already knew that.

We shared an awkward silence. Neither of us

knew what to say.

“Lauren wants to see you,” he said, kind of in a

question.

I smiled and nodded. He left. I never thought that I

would see the day when Dawson and I couldn’t talk. It

was sad.

Lauren on the other hand acted like we were still

best friends. She hugged me with a big smile.

“Congratulations,” she said. “I just saw him

through the window. He is beautiful, Ry.”

“Thanks, how are you?”

She held up her left hand.

“Engaged!?” I said, shocked. Wow. That didn’t

take long. “Are you pregnant, Lauren?” I just spit it out.

Why else would he be jumping into that again already?

“Dawson proposed on Christmas Eve, and yes, Ry.

I’m pregnant.”

“Oh, my God.” I squealed, grabbing her and

hugging her. I was ecstatic for her. It was weird. I felt no

bitterness toward her whatsoever. “I’m so happy for you,

and I’m sorry I am making things so difficult for you guys.”

“You stop that. This is a happy day for you. It will

all work out, besides if the baby is Dawson’s, we’ll have

to stay friends forever,” she stated.

I smiled. I really was happy that she was there. I

could see me back in my little house in Maine while my

son was next door with her and Dawson. Maybe it

wouldn’t be so bad. It would take Drew some time, but I

knew he would love him like he was his own. Maybe I

was just trying to place a little sunshine on a bad situation,

but in the meantime, it seemed to be working.

Drew came in carrying our baby with a happier

smile than he had left with.

“Do you want to hold him?” I asked Lauren.

“Yes, of course.”

She held him, playing with his little fingers. “Ry,

he is beautiful.”

I was trying to read her face. Was she seeing

Dawson in him too? If she was, she hid it well.

She talked about the shop, the radio station, Star

dating John, my beach friend. I was glad she was talking

like nothing had ever happened between. I laughed when

she said she had to take up cooking and how the first time

she tried to make Dawson a nice meal, it all had turned out

to be a nightmare. They ended up going to Millie’s for

supper.

She handed me my baby when he started to fuss.

The nurse came in with a bottle and Lauren hugged me.

“I’ll see you later,” she said.

“Geesh, I didn’t think she was ever going to

leave,” Drew stated, kissing me.

“I’m glad she came,” I said, watching my little man

take his bottle.

“Yeah, but I have been dying to tell you something,

and she wouldn’t shut up,” he exclaimed.

I laughed. “What?”

“Let me see my baby,” he said, taking him and

laying him over my legs.

“What are you doing?” I asked. Nicholas was mad.

He was enjoying that bottle, and he didn’t want to be

unwrapped.