Chapter 29 #2
“Which is what’s best for the boys.” Carolina gasped when the faces of her grandchildren, PJ and Vivienne, appeared in the doorway, followed by their dad. “Get in here and see me, you guys!”
Joe came in, carrying the children, who giggled at her reaction to seeing them. “Remember what I said about being gentle with Grammy. She hurt her leg.”
Both children gave her sweet kisses and hugs while their daddy held them over her bed.
“I’m so glad to see you guys!”
“Grammy broke her leg,” PJ said solemnly.
“Grammy is a clumsy girl,” Carolina told him.
“How’re you feeling, Mom?” Joe asked as he handed the kids to Seamus so he could hug and kiss his mother.
“Hanging in there.”
“How’s the pain?”
“Better than it was.”
“Thank the Lord for that,” Seamus said as he bounced little ones on his knees.
“When are they letting you out of here?”
“They said tomorrow.”
“And what’s the plan for getting home?”
“We’re going to have the chopper take her back to the island, and the ambulance will take her home,” Seamus said. “It’s all arranged. Just waiting for the docs to give us the green light.”
“I’m so sorry to drag you guys home in the middle of your semester,” Carolina said to Joe.
“It’s no problem. I got one of the grad students to cover my painting class, and Janey will have some quiet time to study. We’re where we need to be.”
Dara Watkins eyed the pregnancy test with trepidation.
She was almost certain it would be positive, as the familiar signs of pregnancy were hard to ignore—sore breasts, a ravenous appetite even when she was nauseated and an overall feeling of things changing the way they had when she was expecting Lewis.
Her eyes filled with tears, which was another thing that’d been happening more often lately—emotions run amok and thoughts such as what right did she have to be expecting another child when Lewis was dead?
She shook her head and reached for the wand, determined to find out for certain one way or the other.
Like with Lewis, the second the pee hit the stick, it seemed to pop positive.
She laughed as she cried, torn between competing emotions—elation and grief and the staggering realization that this baby would never know his or her big brother.
After wiping her tears, she disposed of the box and paperwork in the brown paper bag from the pharmacy but tucked the wand itself into her medicine cabinet.
Emerging from the bathroom into the bedroom, she found Oliver sitting on the bed, looking as anxious as she felt.
Dara nodded as she smiled, and he launched off the bed to wrap his arms around her.
“Yes,” he whispered, twirling her around.
She didn’t have the heart to tell him that might not be a good idea with her stomach in the usual morning uproar.
“How do you feel, babe?”
“Conflicted, but mostly happy. And scared. And excited. And nauseated.”
“Anything else?”
“I think that’s about it.”
Oliver put her down, buried his face in her hair and held her tightly. “I’m so excited, Dar. I want you to be, too.”
“I am, even if part of me feels I have no right to this.”
“You have every right to this,” Oliver said fiercely. “What happened to Lewis was a freak accident. Neither of us did anything wrong.”
They’d been trying to convince themselves of that since the day their three-year-old son let himself out of their house and was hit by a car, while she was working and Oliver was napping.
“We were good parents, and we will be again,” Oliver said.
“I just worry that I’ll never be able to relax.”
“We’ll find a groove. I know we will.”
“What’s going on up there?” Monique called from downstairs.
“Let’s go share the happy news,” Oliver said.
Dara let him lead her to the spiral staircase that went down to the lighthouse’s living room and kitchen. Coming to Gansett Island to spend a year as the lighthouse keepers had been the best thing they’d done for themselves since they lost Lewis. Somehow, someway, they’d managed to heal there.
“Y’all are looking mysterious,” Monique said from her post on the sofa. “What’s up?”
“Well, it seems we’re pregnant,” Dara said.
Monique jumped up so fast, she nearly spilled the mug of coffee she’d been sipping from. She put down the mug and rushed over to hug them both. “That’s the best news I’ve ever heard.”
“You really think so?” Dara asked.
Her big sister pulled back to look at her. “Hell yes, I really think so. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I just wonder if people will question whether we should be trusted with another child.”
“What? No one will do that, Dar. Not one single person who knew you guys as parents has ever thought that. You were wonderful parents, and you will be again.”
Dara blinked back tears and hugged her sister as it all became real to her.
They were going to have another baby and a second chance at parenthood.
A year ago, that would’ve seemed preposterous to her.
But now… She felt stronger than she had since that awful day, and against all odds, their marriage had also recovered from the terrible trauma.
They would never again be who they’d been before they lost Lewis, but she was incredibly thankful for the second chance they’d been given.