Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Lachlan
It’s a little before five, and I’ve just wrapped up for the day. I’m cleaning up before heading home. I haven’t heard from Maggie all day, and I’m worried about her. I don’t know how to reach her. My heart breaks from the pain she’s in, and I’m afraid I’m going to lose her to it. I’m worried the grief is going to suffocate her.
“He’s in the back.” I hear Lyra say.
I don’t know which one of the ladies is visiting, but it could only be one of them for Lyra to tell them to come on back. I keep doing what I’m doing so I can get out of here when there’s a knock at my door. Turning my head, my mouth drops open.
“Hey, is everything okay?” I ask, moving toward Maggie. She’s showered and dressed and looks more alive than she has since the morning we got the call about Doris.
“I’m fine. I was hoping you could give me a ride home?” She bites down on her bottom lip.
“How did you get here?” I look her over. “Did you break down? Where is your car?” I rattle off as I check for injuries with my eyes.
“Your mom brought me.”
“My mom?”
She nods. “She showed up at the house. We talked, I cried, and then she demanded I shower and go to lunch with her.” She points to the bags at her feet that I missed in my exploration of her for injuries. “We did some shopping, and then I asked her to bring me to you.”
I smile down at her and open my arms. This time, I wait for her to come to me, and she does. I wrap my arms around her and breathe her in. Relief washes over me.
“I’m so sorry, Lachlan. I know I’ve been hard to live with. I’m sorry I yelled at you this morning.”
Her words pierce my heart. She’s been struggling. I don’t know what it feels like to lose your only blood relative, but she has me. We’ll make it through this. As I pull away, I grab her bags and motion for her to step inside. I close the door, drop the bags on my desk, and take her hand in mine, leading her to the table. I lift her and settle between her legs. My hands rest on her cheeks as I stare into her blue eyes.
“I missed you, but you don’t owe me an apology. I know what she meant to you. I know how much you loved her, and it’s okay to be sad.”
“I lost myself for a little while. I got in my head that I have no one, but your mom, she helped me realize what I was doing. In my grief, under the pain, I was pushing everyone who loved me away. My family.”
“We are a family,” I tell her, brushing my lips lightly with hers. “You scared me. I didn’t know how to reach you.”
“I think it had to be her, your mom,” she clarifies. “I’m not sure I would have listened to anyone else. Your mom, she’s incredible, Lachlan. I’m honored that you chose me to be a part of your family.”
“Baby, my heart chose you, and there was no contest. It’s only ever been you.” I kiss her again, and she melts into me. This woman is my home and watching her struggle the last couple of weeks has been unbearable.
She pulls out of the kiss and smiles up at me. “Want to see what I got?”
“Most definitely.” I pick up the bags and hand them to her.
“This.” She holds up a small blue outfit with footballs all over it. “Is this not the cutest?” she asks.
“Very cute. Tiny,” I tell her. She shows me a few more outfits, a few blankets, and some books she bought today while shopping with my mom. “Did you buy out the store?” I joke.
“Hey!” She playfully smacks at my chest, and some of the heavy weight on my chest from the past two weeks lifts a little more. She’s coming back to me. “You’ve been buying, too, mister.”
“Did you see how awesome that swing was? He had to have it.”
“You know our friends are throwing us a shower.”
“I know, but I couldn’t help myself. How about we don’t buy anything else until after the shower? We’ll see what we still need, and then we can both go crazy.”
“I don’t know about going crazy. We might need a bigger house,” she teases.
There’s still sadness in her eyes, but her light is coming back, and I have my mother to thank for that. “Are you hungry?”
“Not yet. We ate so much at lunch. I’m stuffed.”
“Well, let’s get out of here. We can unpack this stuff in Sean’s room, then a movie and ice cream are calling our names.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s what we do.” I shrug, kiss her softly, then lift her from the table, placing her feet on the floor. I shove everything back in the bags, grab my phone and keys from my desk, and we head home.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I ask Maggie. “There’s no rush.”
“I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, but I know that I can do it with you by my side. Keeping the house is just costing money, and it’s time to go through her things and put it on the market. It’s time for another family to make memories there.”
“Okay. We’ll head over there after we leave the hospital.”
“I can’t believe she’s here.” She smiles. “I feel like both Briar and I have been pregnant for five thousand years.” She laughs.
“Maybe four thousand,” I tease.
“Brogan texted me and said River and Rayne are already in love with their baby sister.”
“I bet. They have a real-life Barbie doll.”
“Forrest and Briar are definitely going to have their hands full.”
“They wouldn’t want it any other way.”
“Yeah,” she agrees. “How soon until you think we’ll have another one?” she asks, turning to face me in the passenger seat.
“You tell me when. It’s your body that does all the work.”
“What if I said I want them to be Irish twins?”
“What’s an Irish twin?” I ask.
“Two kids born within a year of each other. Twelve months,” she adds.
“That seems like that would be hard on you. Not that I don’t love you pregnant.” To prove my point, I reach over and rest my hand on her belly. “But don’t you need time to heal?”
“I do, and I don’t want them that close.”
“Then why did you ask?”
I glance over before turning my eyes back to the road to see her shrug. “I still struggle sometimes that I have choices. That you’re not dictating my every move. I know you’re not my ex, but after years of living that way, sometimes, well, I like to hear you tell me that you’re going to love me no matter what.”
“I’m going to love you no matter what. Irish twins, twenty babies, or just Sean… I’ll love you no matter what.”
I pull into the parking lot of the hospital, and she’s so excited to meet baby Willow that she’s pushing open her door and trying to climb out of my truck on her own. “Hold up, Momma,” I tease. “Let me help you.” I rush to her side and help her down, making sure she’s steady on her feet.
“Thanks!” She smiles up at me, takes my hand and pulls me toward the hospital doors.
She’s come back to herself since her talk with my mother. I texted Mom and thanked her, but she’s got a big-ass hug coming from me the next time I see her.
After taking the elevator up to the fifth floor, we don’t stop at the nurses' desk. Maggie seems to know exactly where she’s going. We stop outside a room, and she knocks softly, but it’s Forrest’s gruff, “Come in,” that has us pushing inside.
“Oh my goodness,” Maggie says, smiling at Briar, who is sitting up in bed, holding Willow. “How are you feeling?” She leans down and gives Briar a hug as best as she can with her belly in the way.
“Perfect.” Briar smiles down at her newborn baby girl. “Want to hold her?”
“Can I?” Maggie asks.
“Of course you can,” Forrest answers. “You’re her aunt Maggie.” He meets my eyes, and I give him a subtle nod to thank him. The guys know the struggle she’s been having since Doris passed.
Maggie glances at me with tears in her eyes. “You better take her before I do,” I warn her. Maggie’s mouth drops open, and she hurries to bend down and take Willow into her arms.
“Hey, sweet girl, I’m your Aunt Maggie.” She looks up again, and she’s lost her battle with her tears. “She’s perfect,” she says, wiping at her eyes with her free hand.
Briar and Forrest tell us how the twins had to sit in a chair and hold her at the same time because they are both the best big sisters, according to the twins, but we all happen to agree with them.
I get my turn at holding baby Willow, and my excitement for our son to be here is off the charts. I can’t wait to meet our little man. I snuggle the sweet baby while catching up with our friends. My eyes glance at the clock a little while later, and I know our time is up. “We should get going,” I tell Maggie. “We’re heading over to Grandma Doris’s place to start packing up,” I explain.
“I wish I could be there to help you,” Briar tells Maggie.
Maggie’s smile is soft. “Thank you, but you are exactly where you are supposed to be. Get some rest and enjoy that new baby girl.” Maggie leans over and hugs her.
“We’ll stop by to see you when you get home,” I tell them. With a wave, we are out the door and headed to start packing up the life of a woman who will forever live in our hearts.
“I don’t know where to even start,” Maggie says as we step into the house.
“We start slow. Take your time going through it all and keep anything you want. We’re not going to get this done in a day. We’ll do this a little at a time.” I don’t know if she’s truly ready for this, and I worry about her and the baby, especially if she gets really upset again. However, I also know she needs to do this, and I’ll be damn sure I’m here for her through it all.
“Maybe let’s start in the living room? That should be the easiest, and I want to donate all of her furniture.”
“That sounds good. I’ll grab some boxes out of the truck.”
“You have boxes?” she asks.
“Yeah, I’ve been keeping them from the supply deliveries at the shop. I knew we would need them eventually.”
“You’re one of a kind, Lachlan Noble.”
“Right back at ya, fiancée.” I wink, and head outside to my truck to grab the boxes. As I’m unloading them out of the bed of my truck, I hear a car pull in. Looking over, I see Roman, Legend, and Maddox climbing out of Roman’s truck.
“What are you all doing here?”
“We all had a slow day, so we decided to let the guest artists handle things.” I know they’re lying. I saw the schedule last night before I left.
“How did you know?”
“I talked to Forrest,” Roman answers. “We’re here for you, for both of you, but we want Maggie to know she’s not alone.”
Not going to lie, my best friends get me choked up. “Thanks,” I say, nodding.
“Forrest wanted to be here, but he’s with Briar.”
“He’s where he should be. Really, you all didn’t have to cancel clients.”
“It was nothing,” Legend tells me. “We each had someone cancel, so we just moved our afternoons to our next day off. We told them we had a family emergency.”
“Appreciate it,” I tell them. They each grab an armful of boxes as we make our way inside the house. “Mags, we’ve got company,” I call out.
“Who?” she asks. Her mouth drops open when the four of us walk into the living room, arms loaded with boxes. “What are you guys doing here?” She places the picture frame she was holding down and moves to pass out hugs.
“We thought we could lend our muscles.”
“Thank you.” Maggie smiles at each of them. “It means so much to me that you’re all here.”
“Forrest and Briar would be here if they could,” Maddox tells her. “Emerson is working, and so are Monroe and Brogan. Perks of owning your own business.”
“Right. Where do you want us?” Legend asks.
“Let’s start making boxes, and Maggie can tell us what needs to be packed and what gets donated.”
“On it,” all three of my best friends say as we get to work.
We work for a solid hour, making good progress, when I hear Maggie gasp. I drop the roll of tape and turn to her to see she’s not in pain, not physically. She’s holding a blue gift bag in her hands.
She reads the outside of the card, “It says, Maggie, Lachlan, and baby Sean .”
“Hey, we’re going to run and grab some lunch. We’ll bring you all something back,” Roman tells us before leaving quietly out the front door, no doubt sensing this might be something my girl wants privacy for.
“Are you going to open it?” I ask her.
“It’s not the baby shower yet.”
“I think this is a special circumstance. Go on, open it.”
We both navigate to the couch. First, she runs her thumb over the writing on the card, then she turns it over and carefully opens it. She reads the outside, then opens and quickly closes it. “I don’t think I can read it. Will you read it to me?”
She hands me the card and moves to settle against my chest while I read.
Maggie & Lachlan,
I am so proud of the two of you. You’ve handled a surprise situation with so much grace. I think maybe your mom and dad had a little something to do with it. They knew you needed someone in your life who would stand beside you and support you. Lachlan is that man for you. I’m so excited to see you both become parents. A great-grandchild, heavens, that’s something. I bet your mom and dad are smiling down at you. They’re proud of you, Maggie. Both of you. Lachlan, my son would have given you a hard time at first, but he would have been proud to call you his son with the way that you love Maggie. That’s how he loved her momma, and my Tom loved me. You were meant to be a part of this family. Thank you for bringing yours into our lives.
Congratulations to both of you.
I can’t wait to meet baby Sean.
Love,
Grandma Doris
I drop the card on my lap, my own emotions feeling haggard. I don’t know what I expect from Maggie, but it’s not for her to sit up and give me a watery smile. “She’s here with us,” she says.
“Always,” I assure her. “See what’s in the bag?”
She reaches into the bag and pulls out what looks like a knitted blanket in a variety of shades of blue. “There’s more,” she says, and she pulls out another one of the exact same. “There’s another card.” This time she opens it and starts to read.
My dearest Maggie,
I know life doesn’t always work out the way we want it to, so I thought this second card for an explanation would be nice, just in case. I know my time here on earth is growing smaller every day, and I want you to understand why there are two blankets.
I know you, my granddaughter, and if my time on earth has passed, I know what you’re thinking. You’re already thinking you can’t use this blanket because it’s the last gift to you and the only one from me to your son. You want to preserve it, and me, I want both. So, you have one for you to preserve and one for you to use every day for that beautiful baby boy.
If you’re reading this, that means that I’ve gone to be with Grandpa Tom and your parents, so I want you to know I have another gift for you. There are two pink blankets just like this one in the hall closet. In case you have a little girl in the future. I want both of your children to be wrapped in my love.
You’re going to be the best mommy, and with Lachlan at your side, I know your kids are going to be something special.
I love you, my sweet granddaughter.
Grandma Doris
I’m holding my breath for her reaction, but again, she surprises me with a watery smile as she wipes the tears from her cheeks. “She knew I would need this.”
“Yeah,” I agree.
“I miss her so much.”
“I know, baby. I do too.” I give her a side hug, and then she stands.
“Okay.” She blows out a breath, even as her smile wobbles. “We’ve got work to do.”’
“Maggie, we can stop for the day.”
“No. I want to do this. I need to do this. This is what she would want. I know that she would want me to keep on living for her. For all of them. I know that I’m not alone, that I have you and our friends, and your parents, and this little one.” She rubs at her belly. “I’m okay, Lachlan.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”