“Would you like to share? I could use a laugh right now.”
Raegan smiled and switched the subject. She wanted to know how he really felt about everything. She knew that he loved Nicholas the moment he laid eyes on him because that was the kind of man he was, but she was still concerned about the boomerang that had just been slung his way.
“I’m fine. Just surprised. A little scared. Worried. I know we were about to have a child but I’m not sure about just picking up and moving Nicholas from everything he’s known the last year and taking him with us. How do you think he’ll respond?” Caleb asked, stepping aside to allow Raegan to enter the revolving hotel doors first. Once he’d gone through them, he linked his fingers with hers again. “How do you feel about this?”
Raegan surprised herself. Had something like this happened a few years ago, she probably would have left him to deal with it on his own, but instead, she welcomed the idea of having a little person around. They would need the practice.
“If it’s what’s best for Nicholas, I’m fine with it. Every child needs a good home. My heart goes out to him and even if I did have any issues, I couldn’t take them out on him. That wouldn’t be fair,” Raegan concluded.
Caleb thought for a moment as they went through the motions of settling back into their room. “I think she is putting Nicholas’ well-being first. As his mother, if she thinks this is the right thing for him, then we are the better option. Besides, you’re going to be a great mother.” He smiled, pulled her close to him, and planted a kiss on the back of her neck. Raegan indeed had proved to be his favor from God; he was grateful to have her by his side.
CHAPTER 37
“Dada Dada Dada!” Nicholas squealed as he squirmed out of his mother’s arms upon noticing Caleb in the hotel lobby.
Caleb stretched his arms wide and knelt down to scoop Nicholas up into his arms, squeezing him tight. Caleb loved the feel of the boy’s little hands clasped around his neck. He held the embrace just as long as Nicholas, allowing him to be the first to let go. When Nicholas finally released him, he turned to look at Raegan.
Nicholas pointed at her and smiled. He mumbled a word that sounded a lot like “pretty.” He snuggled his face into his father’s shoulders, pretending to be shy.
“Looks like you have another fan already. I am, of course, your biggest fan, but it looks like your fan club just got bigger.” Caleb nodded toward Nicholas.
“Hi Nicholas. How are you?” Raegan cooed, stepping closer to them and complimenting him on his Elmo T-shirt.
Nicholas smiled again and buried his face in his father’s neck once more. He then rose up, as if he’d found courage, and reached for her to hold him. Raegan’s heart immediately melted. She had only known him a few minutes and she was already becoming attached.
“He’s so sweet.” Raegan smiled and played with the little boy, telling him how big and strong he looked, complimenting him on being handsome like daddy.
Natalie watched the exchange with tears in her eyes. She knew that she was making the right choice. They all seemed to fit together. She inhaled and exhaled slowly, then gathered the strength to walk over and say good-bye to her son.
“Bye-bye momma,” Nicholas said, as if he understood what was about to happen. Natalie’s heart broke at the sound of his words, spoken so clearly. Raegan’s eyes filled with tears as well at the exchange. She knew that no matter how much Natalie thought this was best, it had to be painful.
“Momma loves you and will see you soon, okay? Be a good boy for Daddy and Ms. Raegan. Will you do that for me? You’re Mommy’s big boy,” she encouraged, choking back tears.
“Big boy!” he echoed.
“We’ll take care of him. Take care of you,” Raegan whispered, hugging the woman before she left.
Caleb and Raegan stood in the hotel lobby with a car seat and suitcase filled with bottles, clothes, toys and a few diapers.
“So what do we do before our flight leaves?” Caleb asked.
“Eat?”
“Want some food? Hungry?” Raegan asked a smiling Nicholas, who was clinging to her chest, as they walked toward the hotel’s restaurant to grab something to eat before leaving for the airport.
∞
Back in Houston, Caleb and Raegan busied themselves making a room comfortable and child proof for Nicholas. They were amazed at his level of energy and curiosity.
Joshua and Tammy, along with Michelle, came by for a dinner party about a week after they arrived back in town with Nicholas. They invited a few friends over to share in the new life they were starting.
“He’s so handsome! He looks just like you,” Michelle and Tammy said to Caleb, gushing over the little boy.
“Our baby is going to be handsome too,” Joshua piped in.
“Or pretty . . . we may have a girl,” Tammy said, smiling and dancing a little before returning to sit in her husband’s lap.
“I am so happy for you guys. Congratulations! You’re going to be a great mommy, Tammy. I’m sure of it,” Raegan said, walking over to hug her friend.
As observant as Tammy was, she immediately noticed Raegan’s pudge when she pulled away from the embrace. Her shirt was pulled tight around her stomach for a moment. Tammy’s eyes and mouth widened in excitement, but she quickly hid her expression when Raegan gave her a warning glance. She still hadn’t told Caleb yet, and she didn’t want him to find out along with their friends.
Caleb was excited for Tammy and Joshua, but he knew that Raegan desired to bear a child of her own, one created by the two of them. He hoped that the news of Tammy’s pregnancy didn’t make her uneasy, so after Raegan hugged her, he quickly turned everyone’s attention to something else.
“How about some food? I know you folks are hungry,” Caleb acknowledged and everyone agreed. While Joshua and Caleb, with Nicholas in tow, headed toward the kitchen, Raegan steered Michelle and Tammy in the direction of Nicholas’ room to show off the nursery.
Raegan took her friends upstairs because she knew that Tammy was about to burst open with excitement, knowing that she and Raegan were pregnant at the same time. When they made it up the stairs into Nicholas’ room, out of earshot of the guys, Tammy squeezed Raegan tight and congratulated her.
“Why haven’t you told your husband, silly?” Tammy playfully tagged her on the shoulder.
“You’re pregnant too?” Michelle asked, up until now fully oblivious to what just transpired.
Raegan nodded and Michelle gave her a congratulatory hug as well.
“I’m not trying to keep it a secret per se, but I wanted to find a special way to tell him. Then the whole situation with Nicholas came about . . . and we’ve just been on one wild ride after another. I’m going to tell him tonight. I don’t think he will mind how I tell him. Poor thing will probably pass out knowing we’re going to have two babies around here.”
They all chuckled at the thought.
“He seems pretty content with Nicholas. I’m sure he’ll be just as excited.”
“Yeah . . . let’s hope so,” Raegan said hesitantly, ushering her friends back downstairs to join the guys for dinner.
Raegan and Caleb entertained their friends until Nicholas became irritable and was ready for bedtime. After they bid their friends goodnight, Caleb cleaned the kitchen and Raegan took charge of giving Nicholas a bath and putting him to bed. She told Caleb that she wanted to bond with him.
After bath time, Raegan put on his pajamas and read Brown Bear, Brown Bear to him. Nicholas enjoyed the rhymes, giggling and pointing at the colorful animals pictured in the book. When she finished the story, Raegan prayed with him and sang him a song her mother used to sing to her, even though she was off key. It didn’t matter because Nicholas smiled and his eyelids were getting noticeably heavy. Not knowing that Caleb was watching them from the hallway, she told Nicholas that soon she’d be singing to him and his little brother or sister.
“We need to practice and get our stuff together so when the new baby comes in about
seven months, he or she can enjoy stories and mommy’s version of lullabies too,” she told him, before kissing his forehead and placing him in bed. He began drifting off to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.
She tiptoed toward the door, making sure the baby monitor was on before leaving and quietly closed the door. She jumped when she realized Caleb was standing right outside of the bedroom door.
“Please don’t do that. Why didn’t you say anything?” She grabbed her chest to calm herself from the shock of seeing him standing there.
“I could ask you the same question. . . . Honey, are you pregnant?” Caleb grinned, hoping that what he’d been thinking all along was true.
She smiled and nodded.
“Yeah!” he screamed, causing Nicholas to stir in his bed.
“Shhh, you’re going to wake him. I worked hard putting him to sleep,” she admonished.
“I knew it!”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Raegan’s eyes narrowed as she placed her hands on her hips.
“It means that your beautiful body has been ingrained in my mind; I could tell something was different,” he said against her lips in between kisses. “You’re so beautiful. Thank you for being everything that I want and need. And thank you for carrying our baby. I love you Mrs. McKinney.”
“And I love you Mr. McKinney,” Raegan said. Before she could get the words out, Caleb lifted her by the waist into his arms and kissed her passionately, allowing the kiss to indicate how happy she’d made him.
EPILOGUE
“You have a handsome little boy,” the doctor said, delivering Tammy and Joshua’s eight-pound, twenty-two-inch son. They chose to wait until birth to find out the baby’s gender.
Tammy was exhausted but finally relieved that God had blessed them with such a beautiful boy. The past four months were filled with countless doctor visits to monitor the baby’s heart and filled with triple the amount of prayer, asking God to heal the baby before he was even born. Their prayers seem to have been answered because after monitoring the baby for twenty-four hours after birth, there was no sign of arrhythmia, the irregular heart beat the ob/gyn heard during their first visit.
His little heart was no longer skipping beats and he was breathing just fine.
“You’ve been worrying Mommy since the moment I knew you were there,” she cooed, kissing his forehead. Joshua sat next to them on the bed, rubbing the baby’s back. He continually kissed both her and the baby. He was so thankful that the baby was healthy and there were no signs of any heart condition being passed on to the baby. Joshua had fasted many weeks during Tammy’s pregnancy, praying and asking God to have mercy on their baby. He didn’t think he could bear knowing that the baby would have heart trouble too.
“God has been so faithful to us. I love you honey.”
“We love you.” Tammy kissed him and then drew both of their attention back to the baby, gently holding him up so that Joshua could look at him.
“Told you we’d have a little ball player,” he said, smiling with pride.
They took selfies of them holding the baby and sent the pictures to their parents to announce the birth of Joshua, Jr. Their parents immediately called and wished them well, scheduling a time to come visit and help out for a while. After sharing the news with their parents, they called a few friends to let them know that they were all doing well.
“Caleb and Raegan are actually across the street at the doctor’s office for a visit. They will stop by before heading home. Is that all right with you, or would you rather wait until you get home to have visitors? It’s totally up to you. Caleb mentioned that Raegan has been extremely achy and tired lately, so I’m sure she won’t take offense if you just want to rest.”
“Nah, let them come on. It gives me a chance to tease Raegan about that big belly of hers one last time, especially since mine is empty now.” She laughed heartily, looking at her now deflated stomach. She felt as if someone had just let the air out of her.
Joshua joined her in laughter and left to call Caleb to let him know it was fine for them to come on up.
About an hour later, Caleb entered the room along with a waddling Raegan, who was wearing a purple sundress. Caleb peeped at the baby, congratulated the couple, and took a seat near the door. He didn’t want to pass any germs to the mom or new baby. He was around when his sister had children, so he remembered all of the things his mom told him about a woman’s body being susceptible to germs.
“Look at you! Still waddling around. When is your due date?” Tammy teased.
“Should have been months ago if you ask me,” Raegan said through heavy breaths as she took a seat next to her friend. She was breathing as if she’d just run a marathon.
The room suddenly became quiet as an exasperated Raegan said “oh no!” She realized that her water had broken as her seat became wet.
“What is it?” everyone asked simultaneously after staring at her for a few seconds. She looked as if she could go into labor at any moment.
Caleb rushed to her side and asked if she was feeling contractions. He helped her to her feet as she explained what happened. She didn’t have to use many words because the water continued to seep down her leg.
“Are you all right, can you walk?” Caleb asked, with one hand in hers and the other around her waist.
“Yes . . . good thing we’re already at the hospital,” Raegan said with a nervous laugh.
Since they were already on the maternity floor, Caleb helped her check in. The hospital staff arrived immediately to the front desk with a wheelchair to whisk her away to the delivery room. Caleb followed closely behind as one nurse handed him a gown and cap to wear in the delivery room.
Caleb was more nervous than she was, knocking over things, stuttering and constantly questioning whether or not she was fine.
After eight hours of labor, it was finally time for Raegan to begin pushing. They were expecting a little girl and they were both excited to have both a little boy and girl at home.
At the instruction of the nurses and ob/gyn, Raegan pushed until their little girl was born, seven pounds, eighteen inches long. The nurse held the baby up so that both Raegan and Caleb could get a look at her before cleaning her up and wrapping her in a receiving blanket. Caleb couldn’t have been any more in love until he was interrupted by the sound of his wife in more pain.
“What’s wrong?” Caleb panicked, becoming worried that she was still in pain after the delivery.
The doctor glanced at him but remained quiet as he pressed around Raegan’s belly. He looked from Raegan to Caleb and then announced that another baby was coming. Raegan’s eyebrows shot up as Caleb nearly fainted.
“Another what?” Raegan asked, her heart rate elevating second by second.
“Hang on Mommy,” the nurse said, instructing her to breathe and push as before.
After a few minutes, Raegan delivered a six pound, fifteen inch baby boy. After cleaning up both babies, the nurse handed one baby to each of them.
“Congratulations!” the doctor said to each of them. “I’m not sure how we missed this on the ultrasounds. I guess this little fellow was hiding.”
“Once again Cami, you have over delivered . . . giving me more than my heart desires. I love you, all of you,” Caleb murmured against her lips.
“I love you too,” Raegan said through tears of happiness, in total disbelief, believing that God had made up for the loss she experienced the first time. She couldn’t have been happier.
Thank you for spending time with Raegan & Caleb and Tammy & Joshua. This has been my favorite story to write so I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Let me know what you think; please take a couple of minutes to leave a review here.
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SHATTERED VOWS (LOVE, LIES & CONSEQUENCES BOOK 3)
CHAPTER 1
Dressed in only her undergarments, Chloe poised herself at her antique vanity table applying a thin layer of makeup and eyeshadow from her palette filled with hues of brown. She hardly ever wore makeup, but tonight was different. It was her and Rico’s eighth wedding anniversary and she was doing her best to at least look the part of a happy wife.
They had spent the last year trying to reconcile their marriage after his affair with Raegan. Their last marriage counseling session was a month ago, and she couldn’t help hearing the pastor’s words replay in her mind. Love is a choice. Staying in your marriage is a choice. Fighting for your marriage is a choice. God gives you strength, but what you do with that strength is up to you. Choose wisely.
Choose wisely. Is that what her husband thought he was doing when he chose Raegan? When he cheated before Raegan? She’d forgiven him before, but how was she to forgive him again? Forgive seventy times seven, the Word of God that she’d hidden in the deep recesses of her heart so long ago chided. But this feels like seventy times seven plus one. How am I supposed to get through this?
They’d spent months in counseling and things still weren’t quite right. They were both trying to work past the stench of his infidelity, but their relationship was starting to feel forced, at least on her part. Fake smiles, cordial chatter and flimsy hugs. That was the extent of them touching. Sex was out of the question. Anytime her body wanted it, the feeling quickly dissipated at the thought of him being in another woman’s bed. This was not the happily ever after she thought she would have. But hopefully, tonight would be different. She was turning over a new leaf. She planned to put forth her best effort during their date tonight. It almost felt like a first date since they hadn’t been out in more than a year, because of her work schedule and then their issues with his extramarital affairs.
Through Thick & Thin Page 16
