Chapter 36
thirty-six
. . .
Savanna
I’d just arrived back from Dallas with Hayes. He’d worked his schedule so that he could take off the weekend and come with me. We’d gotten a hotel near the hospital and spent our days with my father and Nadia and our nights wrapped around one another.
It made the stress of this whole experience so much better with my husband by my side. My dad was four weeks into treatment, and to say he was responding well was an understatement.
His numbers were improving.
He was feeling better.
Eating better.
Sleeping better.
It was a small win, and one that I would take. He was improving, and there was hope in that. I knew it didn’t mean that he would be cured overnight, but the hope was that eventually he would be in remission.
I wanted my father to be around to know my children.
He and Nadia were already looking at homes in Magnolia Falls. They planned to get married and move there when they left Dallas. I couldn’t ask for more.
Life had a funny way of working out.
Hayes had dropped me off at the Golden Goose to meet the girls for lunch, and he was going to run a few errands.
“Hi, Midge,” I said, as she walked me to the back where Demi, Ruby, Saylor, Emerson, and Peyton were sitting.
“Why didn’t you bring that sexy husband of yours in with you?” she grumped.
“He’ll be back to pick me up. I’m sure he’d be happy to come in and say hello,” I said with a laugh as I slid into the booth.
“Hey,” Peyton said. “Did you come straight from the airport?”
“Yep. Hayes dropped me off.”
“Well, he loves doing that and keeping his eyes on you. He’s been hilarious since you found out you were pregnant.” Saylor chuckled, and we paused to place our orders with Letty.
“Please. I notice King is constantly at the bookstore ever since you found out you were pregnant,” Demi said, and the table erupted in laughter.
“I’ve got to tell you, I’m scared to drink the water in Magnolia Falls lately. Two of you are pregnant, and I feel like Emerson is next. Peyt, you and me are the last ones holding out.” Ruby reached for her Coke and took a sip before setting the glass back down.
“I think Nash and I are going to start trying after the wedding, but there’s something that’s more important right now.” Emerson put her hands together, and we all leaned in because it sounded like she had some big news.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yes. We’re great. But my brother, Easton, is helping us start the discussion with Tara.” Tara was Cutler’s biological mother, and I’d heard the horrible stories about her from Hayes and the girls.
“What discussion?” Ruby asked.
“I want to adopt Cutler. He heard about adoption and what it was, and he came home and asked Nash and me about it. I’ve been looking into it ever since, and it just feels right, you know? Easton has reached out to Tara, and we’ll see if she’s even willing to consider it.”
“Wow. That would be amazing,” Demi said, her eyes wet with emotion.
“Yeah. So that’s first and foremost, and then the wedding, and then we’ll start trying for another baby.”
“Damn. You’ve all got baby fever,” Peyton said.
“I’ve actually got news, but it sure as hell doesn’t involve a screaming child, because, ewwww. No offense. I’m sure you’ll all have great kids and your vaginas will bounce back just fine.
” More laughter erupted around the table as Letty set down our plates.
“What’s your news?” Saylor asked, as she bit off the top of a french fry.
“Slade and I are moving in together.” She shrugged. “I’m going to shack up with Demi’s brother!”
I laughed, and Demi’s entire face lit up. “He told me he was going to ask you.”
“So I guess we really are sisters, huh?” Peyton said.
“Of course, we are. You didn’t need to shack up with my brother to make that happen. But I’m glad you are. I love seeing you both so happy together.”
“Look at us,” Saylor said. “We’re just a bunch of ridiculously happy women.”
“Who’d have thought it?” Demi said, her voice laced with humor.
“Not me.” Ruby shrugged. “I always thought being happy was overrated. But look at me. I am nauseatingly happy, aren’t I?”
“You are. I’m embarrassed for you,” Peyton said, bumping Ruby with her shoulder. “You smile all the time. What would your vampire family think of you?”
“Well, look at Hayes. He gave me a run for my money when it came to being a big grump, and then little Miss Sunshine came back to town, and he’s a new man.”
“He really is putty in your hands.” Saylor beamed at me. “King said the renovations are coming along at the barn, and your office space will be ready in a few weeks.”
“Yeah. We’re still unpacking boxes from the move into the house, but we’re pretty settled. And for now, I just work out of the house. It’ll take some time to build the business up.”
“Yeah, but you’re already taking on a few projects with the guys, right?” Emerson asked.
“Yes. And I love it. It’s so fun to help create people’s dream homes or dream businesses, you know?”
“I can’t wait to find out the sex of the baby so I can have you help me design the nursery,” Saylor said.
“Yeah, I’m so excited about finding out the sex of the twins, too.” I reached for my grilled cheese sandwich and took a bite. My appetite was pretty ravenous lately.
“I’m amazed at watching Demi nurse little Hayes, but how in the hell can someone nurse two babies at the same time?” Peyton gasped.
“From everything I’ve read, it’s doable. But I’m just going in with the attitude that I will do the best I can. If it works, that would be wonderful. If it doesn’t, I can pump, and we’ll figure it out.”
“I can’t imagine having anyone on my boobs all day.” Peyton shook her head in disbelief.
“You’re feeding your baby. It’s natural and beautiful.” Demi chuckled.
“Oh, really. Look down at your shirt, girl. You’re leaking. I don’t know how beautiful that is on your cute blouse.” Peyton sipped her soda, and I tried to hide my smile.
“I hope you and my brother have lots of babies, and I get to tease you about your leaking breasts someday.” Demi smirked.
Peyton shivered dramatically. “I have such perky breasts. I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
We spent the next hour talking about everything from babies to work to sex to home décor.
Girl talk was my favorite. I loved the bond I shared with these women, and there was nothing that we couldn’t talk about.
I was grateful for the life I was building in Magnolia Falls.
“Why do you look so nervous?” I asked, as Hayes held my hand in his when we stepped off the elevator.
“I just want to make sure everything is okay.”
I peeked up at my husband, this big, strong man beside me, who looked like he was about to pass out.
“Hayes,” I said, coming to a stop as he turned to face me. “We’re meeting our doctor, and it’s just a checkup.”
“Savannah.” His tone was lacking all humor. “You are carrying two humans in your belly. One is a lot for most people. You have two. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
I sighed. He was ridiculously protective, but I couldn’t fault him.
I worried every time he left for work.
When you loved someone so much that you couldn’t imagine your world without them in it, you could behave irrationally at times.
“Okay.”
He lifted my hand and pressed it to his lips before leading me down the hallway to the last door on the left.
I checked in and gave them my insurance information, and they called us back.
It was all very standard, with getting my weight and vitals and everything you did when you went to a regular doctor’s appointment, yet my husband paced around the room the entire time.
The nurse chuckled. “First-time dad?”
“Yes. This is all new for us.”
“I understand. It’s normal to be nervous. I’m going to have you slip into this gown, with the opening in the front. You can hop up on the bed once you’re changed. I’ll step out of the room and give you some privacy.”
“Okay, that sounds great.” I pushed to my feet.
“You’re going to love Dr. Shorting. She’s wonderful. She’ll be right in,” she said, just before leaving the room.
“I think that’s a good sign that her name is Dr. Shorting.”
I chuckled. “You do? Why?”
“Because I call you Shortcake. So there you go.”
I took off my clothes, and he put them on the chair while I slipped into the gown and hopped up onto the table. “I love you, Hayes Woodson.”
“Love you, too, baby.”
The door opened, and a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties, with shoulder-length brown hair and warm brown eyes, walked in. She extended a hand to me first and then to Hayes. “Hey, I’m Dr. Shorting. It’s nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Woodson.”
“It’s great to meet you. You can call us Savannah and Hayes,” I said.
She leaned her back against the counter and flipped through the file that she held in her hand.
“So I’ve got a copy of your blood work that was done in Dallas, and I can see why they had reason to believe you were carrying more than one baby with how high your HCG levels were.
I’ve got your ultrasound report here, as well, but I’d like to do my own now, just to see what’s happening here first.”
I nodded, and she guided me to lie back. Hayes moved beside me and took my hand. She opened my gown, exposing my belly, and poured the jelly-like substance onto me. She turned on the monitor and used a hand-held device, which she placed on my stomach. She rolled it around and studied the monitor.
The sound had me leaning up a bit to see the screen.
“There’s the first heartbeat, and it sounds strong,” she said, her voice calm and soothing.
She continued moving her wand around and paused.
“And here’s the second heartbeat. You’ve definitely got two babies in there, and it looks like they each have their own placenta and amniotic sac, which will give them the best chance of growing well. ”
She pointed out their positioning and told us some technical stuff that I was trying to focus on, but I was just relieved that there were two heartbeats and all was still going well.