Chapter 21
We spent the next few days adjusting to each other’s normal routines, which did not take much since we had been spending most of our time together anyway. Thursday came. We got up preparing to go to my doctor’s appointment together. We were both excited to have the ultrasound to find out whether the baby was a girl or a boy. Once we got to the doctor’s office, I checked in. Then we took a seat in the waiting room. There were other couples in there. I realized that they probably thought that Jacob was the father of my baby. I discovered for some reason that didn’t bother me as much as I thought it would.
We were soon called back by the nurse, who took my vitals and got us situated into a room. It wasn’t long until the doctor entered.
“Hi, Mattie,” she said. Then turned to Jacob. “You must be the lucky father.”
Before I could say anything, Jacob replied, “Yes. I’m Jacob, Mattie’s fiancé.” I looked at Jacob in surprise, but he looked at me and smiled.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you. How have you been feeling Mattie?” After asking some questions and doing an examination, Dr.Lee said, “Everything seems to be going well. Let’s use the ultrasound machine to take a look at the baby.”
She got the ultrasound set up and then arranged my clothes. She put the gel on my abdomen and used the wand to locate the baby. It didn’t take long for the ultrasound machine to show pictures of the baby. “There’s the baby. Heartbeat is good and strong. I’ll take a few measurements now to make sure the baby’s growth is on target.”
Jacob was looking at the screen in amazement. He squeezed my hand, “Look at our baby. That is amazing.”
“Baby’s growth is right on schedule for a delivery date of February 27.” Dr.Lee said. “Do you want to know the sex? ”
“Yes,” we both said at the same time.
Dr.Lee smiled, “Let me be the first to congratulate you on your baby girl.”
Jacob looked at me, “You were right, we are having a daughter.” He leaned over and gave me a kiss. Dr.Lee put away the machine after having printed out some pictures for us, telling us she wanted to see us again in a month. On the way out, we stopped at the reception desk to make the next appointment, then were soon on our way.
Jacob drove home, talking all the way about how amazing that was. He looked at me and said, “I hope you don’t mind that I said I was the father.”
I smiled, “It surprised me, but there is no one I would rather have as the father to my baby.”
“I already feel like this is my baby, I love her like my own.” He had tears in his eyes.
“How did I get so lucky to meet you?” I said.
“I’m the lucky one,” Jacob said. We pulled into the driveway; I was surprised to see vehicles parked in our driveway. Jacob laughed. “Looks like everyone couldn’t wait to learn the sex of the baby.” He parked the truck, we went through the house to the back deck where we found Randy, Donald, and Nora sitting there waiting. Jacob and I walked to the rail, turning to face them.
“Hey, everyone,” I said.
Jacob said, “What’s up?” Everyone looked at us in exasperation.
Randy said, “Well, don’t keep us in suspense! Is the baby a boy or a girl?” She looked at me. I looked at Jacob.
“Go ahead,” I said.
Jacob looked at his family, “Mia and I are having a daughter. Her due date is February 27.”
Nora clapped her hands, “Exactly what you thought! I’m so happy for both of you!”
I sat down between Nora and Randy, and the three of us talked baby while Donald got up and walked over to talk to Jacob. I told them that I had been working on the list of things I needed to buy for the baby when we made our shopping trip to the city. Nora and Randy looked at each other, something passing between them that I missed.
“About that,” Randy said. “Would you mind if we made it the weekend after next? Josh and I had plans already.” I was disappointed to put it off, but I told them that would be fine .
Nora said, “In the meantime, why don’t you text us copies of your list, so if we see something on your list, we can pick it up.” I told them I would send them the list that evening after I went through it again to make sure I didn’t miss something.
Donald turned to Nora, “We had better get going, I have a meeting this afternoon.” Nora stood up. Both Donald and Nora gave me a hug and then hugged Jacob. “We are both thrilled for you.” They gave Randy hugs and left.
Jacob said, “I need to run to the office for a couple hours, do you mind?”
“Not at all.” I had taken the day off. He gave me a kiss, going inside to change clothes. I looked at Randy. “Do you need to run off too?”
She shook her head. “No.My boss is on vacation. She left today and won’t be back for two weeks. I’ll go in now and then to do paperwork and check messages. The receptionist is working short hours too. When the boss goes on vacation, I have an easy job.”
“Great, can you stick around? Maybe help me in the nursery? If you want to that is?” I asked her.
“I’d love to! I can help you finish your baby shopping list too if you would like. Oh, by the way, Nora and I talked about the wedding. She said you told her that the main holdup was we didn’t want to upset anyone.”
I nodded, “I hope I didn’t overstep.”
“No, I’m glad you said something to her. We had a really good talk. Josh and I will sit down this weekend to make some plans.”
“Speaking of which, stay here, I’ll be right back.” I got up and went into the house. Jacob was just coming out of the bedroom, dressed in uniform, ready to go to work. He took me in his arms, “I can’t tell you how much I would rather stay here with you all day.”
“Um… I do like seeing you in uniform,” I said, smiling at him.
“Don’t tempt me, I won’t be able to leave.”
I laughed, “Randy is still here.” He glanced out the window.
“Tonight then,” he kissed me and left for work. I grabbed a book off the shelf and took it back outside.
Sitting back down next to Randy, I handed her the book. “I meant to gift wrap this for you, sorry about that.”
“A wedding planner! I have been thinking about getting one. Thank you! This will be very helpful.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied .
“I have a ton of ideas in my head, this will help eliminate the outrageous ideas, bringing to light the ones that will really make the wedding great.” We thumbed through it together, discussed different aspects of the book, and tossed around some ideas. Pretty soon we decided we were hungry and went for some lunch. The rest of the afternoon we spent in the nursery and the playroom down in the basement cleaning, putting things away. We finished the list of things I needed and talked about decor for the nursery, now that we knew for sure we were having a baby girl.
“I really don’t want everything pink. I just want pastel colors. I was thinking of a baby wild animal theme. I have seen some really cute things out there with baby animals on it.”
Randy smiled, “I think Jacob would like that theme also.”
I smiled back, “I think so too. You know, he told Dr.Lee that he is the father’s baby today.”
Randy raised her eyebrows, “He did? How did that make you feel?”
“Oh, Randy,” I sighed. “I wish he was the biological father, but I am happy that he feels this baby is his in all the ways that matter.” We sat down in the living room.
“Have you two talked about getting married yet?”
“No,” I said. “Still wrapping my mind around the fact, he is living here, that we are engaged. Everything has happened so fast.”
She nodded. “I understand. Something to consider though, if you get married before the baby is born, the birth certificate will show you as a married couple with the baby having his name. I did a little research and found out that if you two are married, then Jacob will be the baby’s legal father.”
“Really?” I said.
“Yes, I hope you don’t mind my researching it, but I was curious how it would work out. If you wait to get married, Jacob may have to adopt the baby to make it legal.”
I thought about it for a few minutes. I knew that our marriage would not be legal. I wanted Jacob to be the father of my baby so badly though, what Randy was saying was very appealing to me. I don’t know what would happen if I was found out, but having Jacob’s name on the birth certificate would make me so happy. “I don’t know, Randy. I don’t want to take anything away from your wedding.”
Randy smiled, “Please don’t worry about that. Our wedding will still be special, as will yours. You still don’t look convinced, what else is going through your head?”
I laughed. “Well, I personally love the idea, but what if Jacob isn’t ready yet?”
“Ready for what?” Jacob said as he came through the front door. He walked over and gave me a kiss and then sat down. I looked at Randy.
“Now is as good a time as any to talk to him about it. I’ll leave the two of you alone.” She gave us a quick hug and left.
“What’s going on,” he said looking at me.
“Well, Randy did some research. She found out that if you and I were married before the baby was born, you would be the baby’s legal father.” I watched him take in what I said.
“How do you feel about that?” he asked.
“I would love it,” I replied, which was the truth. I felt awful to continue to lie to him, I just wanted to make him happy and protect the baby. “What about you? That’s asking a lot of you.”
“I told you; I already feel like this baby is my daughter. I’d marry you tomorrow if you would agree to it. I say we do it, the sooner the better!”
“Really?” I said.
“Really. Let’s look at the calendar right now to pick a date.”
“Wow, when you set your mind to something, you run with it don’t you?” I said, laughing.
“Yes, I do. I can’t wait for you to become Mrs.Jacob Vance.” He stood up, “Wait, what about Josh and Randy—will they be OK with us getting married before they do?”
“Randy said they would.”
“Great, come on then!” He pulled me up off the couch, we grabbed a calendar, taking it to the table along with a notebook and pen.
“So when would you like to get married?” Jacob asked.
“Before I get too fat. I don’t want to waddle down the aisle,” I said, laughing.
“So before January?” he asked.
“Definitely. I really don’t want to get married with a ton of snow on the ground either,” I said thoughtfully.
“So not in December or late November.”
“That doesn’t leave us much time!” I said, looking at the calendar .
“Nope,” Jacob said, “October it is. Weddings usually happen on Saturdays, so which Saturday in October would you like to become Mrs.Vance?”
Looking at the calendar again, “October 28th.”
“October 28 it is! We have a wedding date!” We looked at each other and then started laughing.
“Now what?” I asked.
He thought about it for a few minutes. “We need to tell the family. Let’s make reservations for Saturday night, invite them all.” I hadn’t met his sister, Janet, and her husband, Jack yet.
“OK. I’ll make the reservations; you call your family.” When that was done, we sat back down at the table. “I’m thinking I’ll ask Randy to be my bridesmaid.”
Jacob nodded, “Obvious choice. I’ll ask Josh. Now, where should we get married?”
I thought for a few minutes, “How about here? The backyard is gorgeous overlooking the lake.”
“Perfect,” he said. “Are you OK with the pastor marrying us?” I nodded. I had met him on a couple of occasions when I went to church with Jacob and his family.
“What’s next?” he asked.
“The reception. Since it will just be a small wedding anyway, we can do it here. I can cook something.”
“I will agree to the reception here, but I’d like to have it catered. I don’t want you to work that day. It is your day. Catering for the small group won’t be bad.”
I agreed. “I’ll ask Randy to help me with the decorations, there won’t be too many. Oh, what about clothes? I don’t think you guys need to wear tuxes, but it would be nice if you were dressed nice.”
“If you want us in tuxes, we will wear them,” Jacob said.
“No, I think dress shirts and ties would be enough,” I replied.
“What about you?”
“Me?” I said. “Um… maternity clothes I guess.” I shrugged. Jacob rolled his eyes. “What?” I said.
“I’m not expecting you to buy an expensive wedding gown, but I think you can find something in a wedding dress if you look around.”
“You want me in a wedding dress? With my baby bump?” He leaned over, kissing me.
“Do I need to show you again how sexy I think you are, baby bump and all?” he asked kissing me again.
“Yes,” I whispered, “I think you do.” We got up, stumbling our way to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes in our wake where he showed me exactly what he thought.