Winter Love (Seasons in Montana: Winter)

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Emmanuelle

Lukas has spent the last few months by my side. Stuck to me like we’re glued together. And I’m not complaining one bit. If it wasn’t for him, I don’t think I would’ve gotten through these last months as well as I did. Being kidnapped will always be something I went through, but it’ll never define any part of who I am. I would never give William or Richard that power over me. I know that Lukas knows what happened to them, but I’m not sure if I want to know. So for now I haven’t asked.

Today we’re headed to Lake Renegade. I’m so excited to meet the rest of the families. I’ve talked to Schuyler, Giovanna and all the others on the phone and they’re just the best. I can’t wait to hug all of them.

Schuyler gave birth to their daughter, Kaia two months ago. The pictures that Schuyler sent me were precious and the smile on Sebastiano’s face was priceless. Schuyler said he’s already talking about the next baby. Giovanna told me she found out that she and Declan are expecting their second baby too. Their son, Rowan, will be two when the new one comes.

I have a doctor’s appointment this morning before we head out. I realized a week ago that I’m two months late. I thought it was because of all the stress. But now I don’t know and I’ve been feeling a little off this past week. Smells are making me nauseous and I want to cry all the time. All I told Lukas is that I have a checkup. I don’t want to get his hopes up if it’s just stress.

We were asked to bring more popcorn. Lukas is over the moon that they loved all the flavors they took home. He’s surprising them with something new and different. He calls it popcorn clouds. It’s buttered popcorn mixed with chopped up salted pretzels coated with white chocolate. It’s frickin delicious and it sold out in half a day at the store.

“Are you ready to go? I was thinking, after your appointment we can get on the road. As long as you get the okay from the doctor,” Lukas says as he kisses me.

“Sounds good to me. I’m sure everything’s fine, it’s just a checkup.”

Paxton, Rhett and Felicity come into the kitchen as we’re packing up.

“I’m so jealous you get to go to Lake Renegade.” Felicity pouts.

“You just want to see Levi,” Emma teases her.

“Wait, what? Levi?” Paxton frowns. “You’re still talking to him?”

Felicity rolls her eyes at her brothers.

“I told you we were talking. He’s back in Japan but we talk or text everyday.”

“Why didn’t I know about this?” Lukas frowns at her.

“Because you don’t listen when I talk. I told you that I was talking to him. And because he’s stationed in Japan, we didn’t want to start something just yet. But I do like him a lot. So please be nice to him. Don’t mess it up for me.” Felicity squints at each of them.

All three of the guys squint back at her. But none of them say anything about being nice to Levi. Poor Levi.

“We better get going,” Lukas says.

Paxton and Rhett help Lukas get everything in the SUV.

“Text me about your appointment. I really hope it’s what we think it is,” Lissy whispers to me.

I had to tell her what I suspected because she noticed I was acting weird.

“Me too.” I smile at her.

I give them each a hug and get into the car.

“Text along the way!” Rhett says as he waves.

It takes us twenty minutes to get to the doctor’s office. We head inside and check in.

“Are you going to come in with me?” I ask Lukas.

“Do you want me to?”

“If you want. Or I can have them come get you if there’s something going on.”

“Sure. Whichever way you want,” he says as he kisses me.

The nurse calls me back and I follow her. She takes my vitals and has me collect a urine sample.

“Doctor will be in to see you in a few minutes.” She smiles as she leaves.

“Thank you.”

After what feels like forever, my doctor comes in.

“Hi Emmanuelle, how are you doing?” Doctor Hughes asks.

“I’m okay. I don’t know how I didn’t realize I was so late.”

“Well congratulations, you are pregnant and from your levels, I’d say you’re about three months along. I’d like to do an ultrasound if you don’t mind. Just to make sure baby is growing and happy.”

“Can I have Lukas come in? Also, can you not tell him till you do it? I want to see his face when we see the baby.”

She smiles at me. “We can do that. I’ll have Nancy set you up then go and get him. Then we’ll see your baby.”

“Thank you so much!”

Nancy comes in and gets me prepared for the ultrasound, then goes out to get Lukas.

Lukas

“Lukas Vandenberg?” I hear a nurse call out.

I stand up and walk towards her.

“I’m Lukas. Is Emmanuelle okay? What’s wrong?” I’m starting to panic.

“Please follow me. The doctor will explain things to you both.”

What the fuck? Why isn’t she telling me what’s wrong with my Emma? She opens a door and Emma’s laying on the table and there’s a machine in the room. I go over to Emma and take her hand.

“Is everything okay?” I ask just as the doctor comes in.

“Lukas, it’s good to see you. Okay, let’s get this going.”

“What’s wrong? Is something wrong with my Emma?” I blurt out.

“Just give me a minute and I’ll explain everything,” she says.

I’m gonna loose my shit soon. All of a sudden I hear a fast whooshing sound.

“What the hell is—” I start to say as I focus on the screen.

Holy shit.

“Is that what I think it is?” I whisper.

Doctor Hughes smiles at us.

“Lukas, Emmanuelle, that’s your baby. And baby looks good. Strong heartbeat, measures right at about three months like I thought. I’ll print you out some pictures.”

Doctor Hughes prints them out and hands them to me.

“I’ll give you two a few minutes. Come out when you’re done and we’ll get your next appointment set up. Congratulations to you both.”

“Thank you,” I say to her.

“Are you okay, baby?” Emma asks me as she sits up and hops off the table.

I drop to my knees and kiss her belly.

“We’re having a baby.” I sniffle and wrap my arms around her waist. “I’m perfect. How are you? Are you okay?”

Emma hugs my head.

“I’m perfect, we’re perfect. Now you know we need to hurry and plan our wedding. I need to be a Vandenberg before baby comes.”

“We’ll plan as soon as we get home. I love you so damn much, Emmanuelle Rousseau.”

We head out and make her next appointment. Then we get on the road to Lake Renegade. The drive will take us two days. We stop and stay at a hotel for the night.

Driving into Lake Renegade, it reminds me of Wintervale. It’s beautiful, we take our time and drive through the town. We finally get to the property and drive to the main house. The property that they live on its impressive.

Sebastiano is waiting outside as we park.

“You’re here!” he smiles as he comes over.

“Holy shit! Your town is gorgeous.” I smile as he hugs me then Emma.

Suddenly there’s so many people around that I can’t keep names straight. The only ones my brain will let me focus on is Domenico, Declan and Cillian. Chicago Redhawks. Holy. Crap.

“Let me show you to your room and then we need to get ready for the game. Dom, Declan and Cillian have to head to the arena now. But the rest of us are watching from here, so no rush,” Lorenzo tells us.

I’m really excited to watch the game with everyone. We agreed next visit we’ll go to a live game.

I see everyone wearing Redhawks jerseys, even the kids and babies.

“We got both of you a jersey. You have the choice of players, Dom, Declan or Cillian,” Sebastiano tells us.

I take Dom’s jersey and Emma wears Declan’s. She gets a high-five from Giovanna for that. I start to see everyone getting into cars.

“I thought we were watching here at the house?” I ask as I get the popcorn out. “I made a new popcorn for game night.”

Lorenzo snatches three of the bags and runs away from Sebastiano.

“Little brothers suck,” Sebastiano yells as he chases him.

Salvatore comes over laughing and takes the other bags, putting them into one of the cars.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

Salvatore smiles. “It’s a surprise.”

I chuckle as Emma and I get into the car. No one will tell us where we’re going. But the signs say ‘Chicago’ and I can see that we’re making our way into the city.

“I haven’t been to Chicago since we lost Mom and Dad. We came here the month before and saw a Hawks game. That’s the last time I was here.”

“I hope we can help you make more memories here,” Enea says.

“You already are.”

I start to get excited when I see the United Center coming into view.

“Are we—” I start to say.

“Domenico made arrangements so that you can go to the locker room and meet the team. Plus, we have a suite to watch the game and seats on the glass. So you can decide where you want to sit.”

I look at Enea and struggle to contain my excitement.

“Thank you. So much.”

We all get out and head into the center. There’s people lined up outside, waiting to get in. But the gates won’t open for another hour. I can hear some of the fans making comments about Sebastiano and it makes me chuckle.

“We hear it all the time.” Schuyler laughs. “Lots of fans will come up to Sebastiano and ask for his autograph. When he tells them he’s not Domenico, they say they don’t care.”

“That’s too funny. I mean, they are identical, though,” Emma laughs.

“They are, and the fans are awesome. They’re usually really nice because they know that they’re twins. And they still fawn all over Sebastiano. You should see when they’re together.”

“We should go to the mall with them.” Emma chuckles.

“Oh that’s an adventure all on it’s own.” Schuyler laughs.

The suite is unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it. They have my popcorn out for us to snack on, and other finger foods too. I love seeing something I created out for people to try.

“Who made the popcorns? It’s fucking delicious,” someone says.

Sebastiano introduces me to Mark, the father of another player.

“This is the best popcorn I’ve ever had. I own a movie theater here in Chicago. We’re like those old-time theaters. Would you be interested in selling some to us? I’d love to sit down and talk with you.”

I’m pretty sure the grin on my face is huge.

“I would love to. I’ll be here visiting for a week.”

“That’s great. Here’s my card. You call me and we’ll set up a time to talk.”

I shake his hand and go to find my girl.

“Did you see that? Holy crap. My popcorn at a movie theater? That’s crazy,” I say to Emma.

“I knew you’d be famous for it. I told you everyone’s going to love it.” She smiles and kisses me.

Today has been the best day. First I found out we’re having a baby, and now I’ve met the entire Redhawks team. We got to tour the Redhawks locker room, then we sat against the glass at center ice. This is now my life and I still can’t believe it.