Chapter Thirty-Seven
NOAH
“Have you seen my shoes?” Katie asks, frantically walking around the bedroom.
“Which ones?”
“The black strappy ones.”
I raise a brow. “The ones in your hand?”
She stops and looks down, sighing. “Oh my God. I swear, this baby brain…”
“You’re freaking out, sweetheart. You need to calm down.” I embrace her, hoping to comfort her. “It’s supposed to be an exciting day.”
“I know, and it is, but I’m just so nervous.”
I palm her cheeks and bring my lips to hers, tasting the sweet tea she drank earlier. “Don’t be. The babies are healthy, and today, we get to find out what they are. No more calling them olive and pea.”
She chuckles. “I can’t believe I’m over halfway through this pregnancy. It’s flying by. What if we aren’t ready by the time they arrive?”
“Don’t stress about that. We will be,” I try to reassure her. My goal is to have the house move-in ready by the end of August, which gives me another month. The upstairs is finished, and I plan on surprising her this weekend with the bassinets I built.
“Okay, you’re right. It just feels like I’m starting all over again as a brand-new mom.”
“It’s my first time, so I expect you to guide me through this whole parenting thing,” I tease.
Katie snorts, sliding on her shoes. “I’ll give you the CliffsNotes as soon as I figure it out myself.”
“Mom!” Owen yells from the living room. “Memaw is here.”
“Crap, where’s my purse?”
“You left it on the counter. I’ll grab it,” I tell her, rushing to the kitchen.
“Hey, Noah.”
“Hi, Mrs. Walker.”
She flashes a warm smile. “I think you can call me Dianna since we’re family now.”
“Alright, sure.” I grin.
“Can I call you that? I’m your family,” Owen asks.
“Absolutely not,” Katie interjects. “She’ll always be your memaw.”
“You’ll always be my little jelly bean.” Dianna boops his nose.
“I’m too old to be called that.” He groans.
“Okay, I’m ready to go. I’ll drive,” Katie says, grabbing her keys.
“Everyone excited to find out what the twins are?” Dianna asks cheerfully. “We should all take our guesses.”
She sits in the back seat next to Owen, who looks less than thrilled about going to the appointment, but Katie wanted him to experience it.
“I think it’s boys. You’ll get two brothers,” I say, looking over my shoulder. “Wouldn’t that be cool?”
He shrugs, staring out the window. “I guess.”
“I have a feeling it’s girls,” Dianna says.
“I think it’s one of each,” Katie chimes in. “But I’ll be happy either way.”
“Me too.” I smile.
“Have you thought of any names yet?” Dianna asks.
“A few but nothing that has stuck,” Katie admits.
“Maybe Owen has some name ideas he likes?” I say, hoping to engage him.
He ignores me and continues gazing outside.
Katie squeezes my hand and gives me a sympathetic smile. I know Owen will eventually come around, but it kills me that he’s feeling left out and isn’t the same bubbly kid as before.
He opened up a little when we worked on the house a few weekends ago and mentioned his dad when I asked him what was wrong.
Instinctively, I froze but just listened so I could support him.
He mentioned how many of his friends have their dads at baseball games and to practice with and how he wishes he had that.
It makes him feel left out. Then he said he was jealous the twins would have a father.
I almost told him I’d always be here for him in the same way, but I chickened out and didn’t want to overstep my boundaries.
The sad way he looked broke my heart, and I didn’t have the courage to tell Katie about our little chat. I told him he can always talk to me about anything and that I’ll keep it between us unless he says otherwise.
The situation with Anthony being at his mimi’s has been confusing for him too, and I wonder if it’s time we tell him that Anthony is his half brother. Surely, he’ll have more questions, but if I were him, I’d want to know.
Brittany was charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder, so Loretta and Elliot have full guardianship rights. All Owen knows is Anthony’s mom got into a lot of trouble and has been in jail.
We arrive in Mobile, and soon, she’s parking at the clinic. I take her hand as we walk inside and sit in the waiting room.
“Did you know I was gonna be a boy?” Owen asks Katie.
“Sure did, and I couldn’t have been more excited about it!” She beams.
“What about Daddy? Was he happy too?”
Katie cups his face. “Of course he was. He even picked out your name.”
Owen’s eyes light up. “He did?”
“Yep, and when you were born, I chose his name for your middle name so he would always live with you.”
Owen squeezes his eyes as if he’s trying to hold back tears. I remember when I lost my mother around his age and how devastated I was, knowing I’d never see her again. I have ten years' worth of memories, though, where Owen only has the stories other people share.
I try hard not to get choked up, especially since today’s already an emotional day, but luckily, Katie gets called back before that happens.
After Katie gives Owen a hug, we all follow the ultrasound tech to a dimly lit room. I can tell Katie’s getting anxious by how fast she talks and nods at the instructions.
Ten minutes later, she’s lying on the table with her shirt up. The tech explains all the measurements she needs to get and says she’ll print us some pictures. The two babies on the screen already have my whole heart, but the love I feel at this moment is so damn intense.
“Wow,” I whisper, sitting next to Katie and squeezing her hand.
“Baby A is sucking their thumb,” the tech says with a smile. “I think Baby B is sleeping, but if you wanna know the genders, I can wiggle around a little bit.”
“Yes, please. We wanna know,” Katie says.
“Alright, ready?”
“Yes!” Katie and I say at the same time.
“Baby A is a boy!” she announces.
“Yes, I knew it.” I grin.
“And Baby B…” She narrows her eyes, moving the wand around “Another boy!”
“Oh my gosh,” Dianna squeals. “A houseful of boys.”
I glance over and see Owen smiling. Relief floods through me that he’s excited to witness this. Katie wipes the tears off her cheeks, and Dianna is over the moon.
“Twin boys, sweetheart. Can you believe it?” I lean over and kiss her.
“I think we should name one Darth Vader,” Owen says. “Or Anakin.” He shrugs as if it’s the best idea ever. “Or one Darth and one Vader.”
“Well, it would continue with the Star Wars theme.” I chuckle, flashing him a wink.
“How so?” Dianna asks.
“Owen was Luke Skywalker’s uncle’s name,” I explain.
“Okay, that I didn’t know.” Katie sighs. “But Luke is cute.”
“Funny enough, Walker is close to Skywalker, which is one of the most famous last names in the films. So it’s almost like we have to continue with it,” I say, teasing her about her maiden name.
Owen grins. “See? I was right!”
“Perhaps a different name than Anakin, though,” Katie muses as the tech hands her the printed ultrasound pictures.
“Okay, I’ll look up names on my tablet when we get home and make a list,” he says eagerly, and honestly, if he picked Darth Vader, I wouldn’t even care because I’m just happy he wants to be involved.
“No peeking,” I whisper in Katie’s ear as my hands cover her eyes. “Keep walking.” I do my best to guide her into the nursery. It’s a room I haven’t let her see in over a month, which hasn’t been too hard since I’ve taken over most of the remodeling.
“I’m not! Can I look now?” she begs.
“Just one minute.” I position her in the doorway and click on the light. “Okay, baby. Go ahead.”
I remove my hands and watch as her eyes flutter open. “Oh my God,” she gasps. “Where did all of this come from?”
“My dad and I built the bassinets. Belinda restored an old rocking chair and dresser.”
“I-I can’t believe y’all did this!” She walks deeper inside, running her fingers across the wood pieces. “It’s so perfect.”
Katie wraps her arms around me, and I pull her into a hug.
“The flooring and paint are beautiful. I can’t wait to decorate.”
“I have direct orders to tell you it needs to be a Star Wars theme.”
Katie chuckles. “I’m never getting away from that, am I?”
“I don’t think so. Though he said if we don’t like Anakin, he’d accept Finn or Ben.”
“Duly noted.” She groans, placing a hand over her belly.
After giving her the nursery tour, she talks about what we still need.
“My sister said she and Everleigh wanna throw you a shower since it’s been so long since you’ve had a baby. We could register for anything else we need.”
“They do?”
“Of course. Any opportunity for Everleigh to drink.”
She chuckles. “Well, my mom mentioned wanting to throw us one too, so I guess the three of them could plan it together. I just feel bad because I had one with Owen.”
“Over ten years ago,” I remind her. “If your family and friends wanna do this for you, I think you should let them.”
“Alright,” she agrees. “But can we please not have a Star Wars theme?”
I laugh, bringing her lips to mine. “I don’t think either of us has an option anymore.”
After I show Katie everything else I’ve worked on and what still needs to be finished, we go back home, and I can tell she’s getting tired.
“Sweetheart, go take a nap. I’ll pick up Owen and hang out with him for a bit. Actually, I’ll take him and Anthony to the park. We’ll play baseball and burn off their energy.” Since he’s at Loretta’s, it’d be easy to take them with me for the afternoon.
“You’re the sweetest man on the planet, Noah Reid.”
“Hold that thought. There’s something I wanted to discuss with you.”
Katie leans against the headboard and rests her arms over her belly. “Okay…”
I bring up my idea about telling Owen the truth about Anthony and sharing just enough so he understands they’re siblings. Since Anthony’s not going anywhere anytime soon, it’d only be a matter of time before he finds out. I don’t want him to be disappointed he didn’t hear it from his own mother.
“I agree with that, but I wanna be the one to tell him.”
“Of course.” I smile, grabbing her hand and pressing my lips to her knuckles.
“I hope Anthony doesn’t tell Owen anything he doesn’t need to know. I have no clue what Brittany shared or what he could’ve overheard,” she states.
Nodding, I sit beside her on the bed. “Let’s take it one day at a time, okay? You need to rest and take it easy.”
She groans. “Yeah, yeah.”
Chuckling, I give her one last kiss before leaving to pick up Owen.
“Hey, Noah.” Loretta greets me with a smile. “Congrats on boys! I heard the news.”
“Yes, thank you. Gonna be a rowdy house.” I shove my hands in my pockets. “I wanted to take Owen to play some ball at the park. Any chance I could take Anthony with us?”
She gives me a suspicious look before her face breaks out into a grin. “I’m sure he’d love that. He and Owen play so well together.”
I can tell Loretta’s still adjusting to all of this too. She could’ve let Anthony go to a foster home for the next eight years, but she took responsibility and accepted him into their lives.
Loretta calls for the boys while packing up Owen’s things. “I know you’re busy with fixin’ up Katie’s house and working, but I’m looking for someone to redo a bedroom. Would you be interested?”
My eyes widen in shock that she’s asking me. “What’re you lookin’ to get done?”
“New carpet, paint, light fixtures, and putting together new furniture. I want Anthony to feel at home here, and I think giving him a brand-new room might help him get a fresh start.”
“That’s a great idea, and I’d love to help.”
It’s perfect timing too because I’ve been working less at the gym to finish the house. I’ve been thinking about pursuing carpentry jobs for more money but also because I enjoy it.
“Hey,” Owen says when he runs into the kitchen.
“Hey, bud. You and Anthony wanna go to the park for a bit?”
A loud echo of screaming entails, and I take that as a yes. “Alright, let’s go!”
Four hours later, I’m drenched in sweat from chasing the boys and fetching balls. I’ve never seen Owen laugh so much, and it brought me so much joy to see him being a kid.
“That was fun,” he says once we walk out of Loretta’s house after dropping off Anthony.
“Good, I thought so too.” I smile. “Looks like you and Anthony get along really well.”
He nods. “I feel sad for him, though.”
“Because of his mom?”
“Yeah, and he never met his dad either. Guess we have that in common.”
I suck in a breath. If only he knew.
“Hey, wanna go to Ma & Pop’s Ice Cream Shoppe before we go home? Surprise your mom with some frozen yogurt?” I ask as we reach my truck.
“Yeah! Sounds good to me.”
Owen takes me by surprise when he wraps his arms around my waist and hugs me. I return the gesture and smile like an idiot. Though I’m not his father, I’m blessed to be in his life, and I’ll never take that for granted.