Chapter 19 #2
Life had never been better for either of them.
What did it say about how much he loved his wife that one afternoon and evening without her had left him craving her company?
He brushed his teeth and changed into lightweight pajama pants, checked the baby one more time and then slid into bed next to his sleeping wife.
Adam gently rested a hand on her forehead, which was thankfully cool. At least she didn’t have a fever. He hoped Liam wouldn’t get whatever had felled her.
Abby stirred with a moan.
“Are you okay?” Adam whispered.
“Feel sick again.”
Adam turned on the light, jumped out of bed, got the bowl he’d put on the bedside table and held it for her with one hand while containing her hair with the other hand while she suffered through more dry heaves. “If you still feel shitty in the morning, I want to take you to the clinic.”
She groaned. “Can’t go anywhere like this.”
“Then I’ll call David and ask him to come here. You’re scaring me, sweetheart.”
“Sorry.”
He kissed her forehead. “Don’t be sorry.”
“I think it passed. For now.”
Adam settled her back into bed, smoothing the dark hair back from her pale face. He would text David first thing and ask him to stop by on the way to the clinic.
She was up twice during the night with dry heaves, and Adam was up another time with Liam. Exhausted after a rough night, he texted David at ten after six, asking him if he could possibly swing by to check on Abby on his way to work.
David wrote right back. Happy to. The annual stomach bug arrived with Race Week. Will be by around seven thirty.
Thanks so much.
The man who would’ve been his brother-in-law once upon a time had redeemed himself for cheating on Janey by saving Mac’s daughter Hailey and then, later, saving Janey and her son, PJ, who would’ve died without David performing an emergency C-section.
The McCarthy family owed David a debt of gratitude that could never be repaid.
Adam brewed a smaller than usual pot of coffee and sat by himself in the kitchen, waiting for the telltale squeak from the nursery that began every new day.
He’d never been a morning person until he became a dad.
Now the early mornings, sleepless nights and shorter workdays were a small price to pay for the boundless joy that Liam had brought them.
He yawned and ran his fingers through his hair, anticipating a long day on baby duty since Abby was sick.
Right on schedule, Liam began his morning chatter, bringing a smile to his father’s face. Adam downed his second cup of coffee and went upstairs to tend to his little man.
Forty minutes later, a light knock on the mudroom door announced David’s arrival.
Carrying the baby, Adam went downstairs to let him in. “Morning.”
“How’s it going?” David offered a finger to Liam, who wrapped his little fist around it.
“We’ve been better. Mommy isn’t feeling good, right, buddy?”
“Yayayayaya.”
“I swear he’s going to talk early.”
David rolled his eyes. “All parents think they’ve got the next Albert Einstein.”
“You’ll be singing that tune before much longer.”
“Hope so. We’re certainly enjoying the trying.”
“Spare me the details, Doc.”
David laughed.
“Let me go tell Abby you’re here and give her a minute to wake up. Help yourself to some coffee.”
“Don’t mind if I do.”
Still holding Liam, Adam went upstairs. “Let’s wake up Mommy and tell her Doctor David is here to see her.”
Liam managed to grab a fistful of Adam’s hair and give it a good yank.
“Yow, buddy. That hurts.”
Liam’s belly laugh had Adam on the verge of laughing, too, but he was trying not to laugh at every naughty thing the baby did. “No, no. That hurts. Use gentle hands.”
Liam patted his face, which turned Adam to putty.
“Yeah, buddy. Just like that.” He sat on the edge of the bed and was alarmed once again by how pale Abby was.
“Hey, hon. David is here to see you.” Giving her a gentle shake, he waited for her gorgeous eyes to open.
But on this morning, not even the sight of Liam could bring a spark of life to them.
“David is here?”
“I texted him, and he agreed to stop by on his way to the clinic. Is it okay if I let him come up?”
“Let me at least brush my teeth first.”
He got up so she could and ended up having to grab her to keep her from falling. What the hell was going on? “Easy, babe.”
She held on to him until the dizziness passed. “I’m okay.”
Adam stayed close as she walked to the bathroom and then back to bed. The small bit of activity seemed to have left her completely drained. He was more concerned than ever. “Let me get David.” He called down for David to come upstairs and showed him into the master bedroom.
Liam picked that moment to loudly fill his diaper and begin howling.
“I’ll let you guys talk while I take care of him.” Adam wanted to be there to hear what David had to say, but Liam needed to be changed and fed. In that order.
Twenty minutes later, he had the baby in his high chair chowing down on oatmeal and applesauce when David came downstairs.
Adam’s heart was in his throat. “Is she… Is she okay?” That was the only thing that truly mattered to him—that she and Liam and the rest of his family were okay.
“She’s going to be fine. I’ll let her fill you in. I’ve got to get to the clinic.”
Adam stood to shake his hand. “Thank you for coming by. I really appreciate it.”
“No problem at all. Have a good day, Adam.”
“You, too.”
On fire with curiosity, Adam quickly got Liam cleaned up and out of the high chair over the baby’s strenuous objections.
“Give me five minutes with Mommy, pal, and I’ll fill your tray with Cheerios.
” Sometimes Adam was certain that Liam understood every word he said.
This was one of those times, because the promise of Cheerios calmed him right down.
Adam headed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. He went into the bedroom and stopped short at the sight of Abby, propped up in bed, her face awash in tears. “Abby… What’s wrong?” He was almost afraid to ask.
She held out a hand to him. “Come here.”
Adam forced himself to take the steps to the bed, to reach for her hand, to sit on the edge of the mattress while his heart hammered with anxiety and dread. “If you don’t tell me what’s wrong right now, you may be visiting me in the hospital.”
Abby reached for Liam.
Adam handed him over and wiped his sweaty palms on his pajama pants.
“David thinks it’s possible I might be…” She took a deep breath. Released it.
Adam died ten thousand deaths.
“Pregnant.”
It took a second for the word to register, and when it did, he tipped his head, hoping he had heard her correctly. “You… You’re… How is that possible?”
She laughed even as tears spilled down her cheeks. “I can’t explain how it’s possible in front of Liam, but Adam, he thinks that’s what it is.”
And then he was sobbing as he reached for her and wrapped them both up in a tight hug that had Liam squeaking in protest.
“Are you happy?” she asked in a soft voice.
“Abby, honey, if I was any happier, my heart would explode. I can’t believe this.”
“I’ve heard of it happening to people—they adopt and stop trying and then bingo. It happens.”
“You hear that, Liam? You were the secret weapon.”
Abby cleared her throat. “Um, well… I think you might be in possession of the secret weapon, actually.”
They laughed through their tears, and then he kissed her and rested his forehead against hers. “Is this real?”
“We won’t know for sure until they confirm it at the clinic, but he said my uterus felt enlarged.
And until he asked when my last period was, I hadn’t even realized I’d missed one.
Remember when we used to know down to the hour when I was going to get it?
” She swiped at the tears that continued to slide down her cheeks. “Now we don’t even pay attention.”
“Because we have what we wanted, so we quit worrying about it,” he said, amazed and thankful. So incredibly thankful. “How soon can we go to the clinic?”
“I have an appointment with Victoria at eleven.”
“Do we have any tests left from before?”
She gasped. “Oh my God! Yes!” Handing the baby back to him, she bounded out of bed, stopping when the dizziness caught up to her again.
Adam was right there to hold her up with an arm around her waist. “Slow down, sweetheart.”
“I’m so excited, I can barely breathe.”
“I know. I am, too, but we don’t want you to fall. Especially not now.”
“No, that wouldn’t be good.”
“You need to breathe.”
She took a series of deep breaths and squeezed his arm. “I’m good.”
“Go slow.”
He stood outside the bathroom door, focused on entertaining Liam so he wouldn’t go crazy waiting. Time slowed to a crawl, or so it seemed anyway.
“Adam. Come in.”
As he took the first step, he felt like he might faint, so he took his own advice. He took a deep breath and then another as he joined Abby in the bathroom, where her huge, tearful smile told him what he wanted to know. “Yes?”
She nodded. “We did it, Adam. We really did it.”
He put his arm around her and kissed her. “We certainly did, and now…”
“Another baby.” Gasping, she looked up at him. “We’re going to have two babies in one year. Adam!”
Damn, he hadn’t thought of that. He tightened his hold on her. “It’s going to be awesome. I promise.” He only hoped that was a promise he could keep.