by Amber Lynn
“That’s a good outlook. We should probably worry about getting this wedding planned. How committed are you to waiting until after the baby’s born to get married? Because I’m all for going to pick up a license as soon as possible and finding a judge to pronounce us husband and wife.”
Annie slowed their quick pace down just a little. “You’d really deny me my dreams of wearing a big white frilly dress and having your extended family, including probably fifty hockey players, watch me walk down the aisle?”
Nelson snorted as he held the door open for her. Annie hated playing dress-up, and only had that night because he’d asked her to. It had been a little strange to be overdressed for the play, but it was the only thing he could come up with on short notice.
“So we see eye-to-eye on the issue. If other people have anything to say about it, we can have a little party or something to make them feel better.”
“I don’t really care what other people want. We can tell them it was a pregnant woman’s prerogative and that should be all they need to know. I am a little worried that your friends in the media are going to think we’re only getting married because of the baby.”
Nelson hadn’t really thought about that, since at one time he’d planned to do just that. That had only lasted a few days in his head, so he was sure they could convince everyone it was true love that brought them together, not the baby.
“Let them talk. As soon as anyone sees the two of us together, they’ll know the truth. So, the three-hour play didn’t last that long. What should we do with the rest of the night?”
If Nels had needed to sit through the whole play, there wasn’t a chance he’d have still been awake at the end. He was going to have to find Annie a friend who could do the culture stuff she seemed to enjoy, because he still wasn’t cut out for it.
“I think we should go back to your place and look a little harder at picking out a home. If we’re going to try to prove to the world that we’re the real deal, it’s probably a good idea we don’t do it from your less than one bedroom apartment.”
“That’s a very good point, but I guess it would mean I’d have to share the other surprise I had for you.”
Nelson didn’t elaborate as he helped Annie into the car. It was always fun to watch her climb up into the SUV on her own, but he liked to give her a little boost.
“If you’re going to tell me you already bought us a house, I can’t say I’m going to be happy. That’s something I hoped to at least have a little input on.”
“I know I said a few minutes ago that I could be an idiot, but I’m not that stupid. What I was going to say was that Dylan and Casey own acres of land out by their place, and they may have offered to sell us a parcel of it to build our own home.”
Nelson hadn’t been sure how much he liked that idea. Being that close to two of his favorite people had a lot of perks, but the proximity meant it was easier for the girls to gang up and plot against the guys.
“I guess I’d get a lot of say if we were starting from scratch. It wouldn’t have to be a tiny house like theirs, would it?”
“You don’t see me driving around in a nice little sedan like they do, do you? It can be whatever we want it to be, but it’s going to take time to get driveways put in and plans together for the build. Let’s just start with buttoning up the wedding plans and see where life takes us.”
Nelson knew things wouldn’t always be easy for them, but he was happy that Annie was going to be next to him for the rest of his life.
Epilogue
“You better be happy with two kids, Nels, because I swear to you this is the last one you’re ever going to have.” Annie felt like something was tearing her apart from the inside, and she wasn’t taking it well. She hadn’t reverted to threatening to kill Nelson, but it wouldn’t be long before those words were coming out of her mouth.
Nelson stood by as she squeezed his hand as hard as she could. She wished she had more arm strength, because she knew she wasn’t getting her point across with her weak squeezing. Nelson chuckled softly and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. If he felt the pain she wanted to inflict on him, there would be no way he could laugh about it.
“If I remember right, you said the same thing after Jack was born. And yet, here we stand waiting to welcome the newest member of our family. I’m not going to predict the future, but I wouldn’t make threats you don’t plan to keep.”
He was right, but there was no way Annie would admit it. Ever.
Jack was only a year and a half, so Annie remembered exactly how she’d felt having him. Her desire to not have any drugs during labor was coming back to bite her a second time. Casey had touted the natural way, and Annie had bought in to it.
Over the almost three years that Annie had known Casey, she’d probably told herself at least fifty times not to buy into her ideas. Some of them were great, particularly when it came to marketing a hockey team, but when she had ideas about Annie and Nelson’s relationship, or Annie’s body being split in two, it was best to nod your head and pretend you were listening.
Annie needed to remember that more often. She didn’t usually take medicine, but an epidural would’ve felt really good right about then.
“Well then, you better hope Isabel is smaller than your eleven pound son was, because the only hope you have to come anywhere near me in the bedroom again, is if she’s half his size.”
They both knew the threat wasn’t valid, but another big baby could very well lead Annie to having her tubes tied. Their giant of a son was not only heavy at birth, he was also twenty-three inches long. He was practically the size of Annie’s leg, and it had shown when her stomach grew as big around as an exercise ball. Annie had gained biceps for the first time in her life, just from carrying the baby around.
Jack was out in the waiting room with Nelson’s mother, who had travelled down to see them during the last week of pregnancy. She didn’t seem to be in any hurry to head back to Canada, which was a blessing and a curse. She helped out all the time, but she had a lot of opinions about pretty much everything. Between Casey and Helen, Annie found it hard to have an opinion of her own.
It was clear Jack was taking after Nels, so Annie hoped their daughter would be different. It’d be nice if she found an ally in the house, since Jack was walking around pretty well and seemed to want to do everything his father did. Nelson had already bought him a pair of hockey skates, but thankfully Annie had talked him into waiting until after the new baby was born to take him out on the ice. She wasn’t sure why her pleading worked, but she was happy it had.
“I remember from the last time how much you guys like to spend this time arguing, but it’s only going to take another big push, so let’s shelf the ‘never having kids again’ talk until the next time we meet under these circumstances.”
Annie couldn’t see Dr. Underhill, but she was tempted to kick him. If her feet weren’t a hundred feet apart, she might have. The Palmers had spent enough time with him that he’d picked up a lot of nuances between them. Annie wouldn’t exactly call him a friend, but they had grown pretty close to him over the years.
“It’s best that he hears things as soon as I make up my mind about them,” Annie argued as an intense urge to push slithered through her body. “Because we all know I’m going to have to repeat myself at least ten times, so the more times he hears it the better.”
“But my part in all this is too much fun to pass up.” Nelson had flexed his bicep to keep Annie from totally lifting her back off the hospital bed. She couldn’t argue with how much fun they’d had creating Isabel, especially since he remembered it. She still felt bad that he didn’t remember what went into having Jack, but they’d made up for it over time.
Annie had a response to their fun, but all that came out of her lips was another scream as she focused all her energy into pushing the baby out. If there were any expectant mothers within hearing distance, they were bound to be rethinking their choices. The pushing seemed to last forever,
until Annie could finally collapse back down on the bed. The panting that had been going on seemed to increase as she tried to catch her breath.
She was pretty sure the hard work was done, and if it wasn’t, she wasn’t going to be up for helping for about a year. She was lucky she was even conscious. She had to look like she’d been dunked in a swamp and then dragged through a forest.
Hearing the cry of her little girl made it somewhat better, but the exhaustion wasn’t going away anytime soon. Nels still had ahold of her hand, but he was pulling away a little to try to get a look at the baby. He was doing a good job of keeping the connection, up until the baby stopped crying. The lack of noise instantly worried Annie.
She was a few days past the due date, so Isabel had plenty of time to grow. In the later months of both pregnancies, Annie had been preoccupied with keeping track of their movements. She’d made the mistake of spending too much time reading the worst case scenarios, and had turned into a nervous wreck. Even after she’d gone through the whole ordeal once, the second time around wasn’t any easier.
Jack had been perfectly healthy when he was born, but he had cried for two minutes straight, more than likely trying to get his parents ready for the long nights ahead. He was never diagnosed with colic, but Annie was sure that was the cause of some of her sleepless nights.
Nels didn’t want to let go of her hand, but the desire to check on the baby was getting the better of him. She couldn’t see it with her eyes closed, but she could feel the anxiety rolling off him. Annie decided at least one of them should get a good look at the baby, and she wasn’t going anywhere.
“Go help clean her up and bring her back to me.” After screaming off and on for an hour, Annie’s voice wasn’t more than a harsh whisper.
Nels leaned down to gently kiss her forehead and was gone before she could reconsider. Annie’s quick worry about the lack of crying disappeared when she heard soft noises that she didn’t think the doctor or the nurses were making.
Annie about fell asleep waiting for anyone to pay attention to her, which felt like hours to her, but was only a minute. By the time they were ready to hand Isabel over, Annie had to deal with the issue of the placenta needing to evacuate from her body. Thankfully that didn’t take long, and Nels was ready to hand over the baby.
The pillows behind Annie were fluffed and set up so she could lean against them, and then she finally got a chance to see her tiny girl. Tiny being the all-important word. She didn’t seem to be half the size of Jack, but she was definitely smaller.
The little tufts of black hair on her head were covered with a pink hat embroidered with her name. Nelson had ordered it the second they had agreed on a name, mostly in hope it would mean they wouldn’t change it. Once they knew it was a girl, an epic battle of picking the right name had begun. For some reason, when they named Jack, they didn’t have the same issue.
The baby’s skin was still an angry red color, and her face seemed slightly smooshed, but she was the most adorable thing Annie had ever seen. Her eyes were a bright blue color, that reminded Annie a little of Dylan’s. Chances were they wouldn’t stay that color forever, but those eyes were even more intriguing than Annie’s fake purple ones.
“I’m going to have to buy a gun, aren’t I?”
Annie didn’t want to look away from Isabel, but Nelson was talking crazy, so she didn’t have a choice. His eyes were on the baby, making it so he didn’t see the questioning look on Annie’s face.
“I’m sure Casey’s dad can help you out with that, but I’m not exactly sure why you think you need one.”
Nelson’s chocolate-colored eyes gravitated up to Annie’s face, and she saw the same awe in them that she had when they’d welcomed Jack into the world.
“Good idea. I’ll give Holcomb a call tomorrow, since I don’t think he’d appreciate me calling at one in the morning. I’m not sure how soon boys are going to show up at our door looking to ask Izzie out, but I want to be prepared.”
“You are not going to be one of those dads.” Annie felt the need to stand up for their daughter, since she couldn’t do it herself. In reality, Annie was probably going to be the one answering the door with a shotgun in hand.
“We’ll see about that. Is the pink blanket they wrapped her up in warm enough? They put her in a mini diaper, but they didn’t put on the onesie I had picked out.”
It sounded like the latter part hurt Nelson’s feelings. Annie knew the onesie in question probably said something about Isabel being a daddy’s girl. He’d practically filled a whole room in their house with clothes, bottles and pacifiers that shared the sentiment.
“As far as I’m concerned, she looks fine. I, on the other hand, have to look like I’ve been dragged through the mud. How soon before I can get cleaned up, Doc?”
The doctor had allowed the family a little bounding time as he worked to fill out paper work. At least that was what Annie assumed he was doing. She was busy dividing her attention between her husband and daughter.
“Let me finish up with this and then I’ll take a look. It’s probably a good idea to see if Isabel is ready to nurse. How’s your chills? I remember we had to bring in an extra blanket the first time.”
Annie knew the procedures, and that it’d probably be a day before she could get a shower, but that didn’t change the fact that she really wanted one. She knew if she tried to get up on her own right that second, she would’ve fallen flat on her face, so she had to wait until she could handle things under her own power.
“The chills aren’t too bad.” Annie hadn’t even noticed when she had Jack that she’d shivered until they brought in a blanket that felt like it was fresh from the dryer.
“I don’t see your teeth chattering, so hopefully things remain that way. Are you up for trying to feed, or should I just do a quick inspection and get you changed into something a little more glamorous.”
Dr. Underhill moved back over to the bed and tapped Annie’s left leg, so she moved to let him take a look at what she was sure was her lady bits lying outside her body. He’d given her a choice about whether she wanted to feed while he went about his business, but he seemed ready to move things along without her voicing her decision.
Since Annie was a pro at feeding a baby, she knew she didn’t need directions to handle that part of things. As the doctor took care of whatever he did, quite possible using duct tape to patch her back up, Annie adjusted her gown to free her breast. She proceeded to try the various tricks the nurses had shown her with Jack, and Izzie was quick to show she could eat as well as her brother.
The doctor didn’t spend too much longer in the room. He gave her his seal of approval and left her in the care of the nurse who stuck around. Annie knew the nurse had introduced herself at one point, but Annie had been a little preoccupied during introductions.
Once Isabel was done eating, Annie handed her over to her father, so the nurse could help Annie stand and get changed. Her legs felt a little like jelly, but she kept upright, even taking a few steps around to try to regain her strength. For how tired she felt, any step was a great accomplishment.
By the time she felt a little more like herself, it was time to move to the room she’d be spending the night, and probably at least one other day. Annie wasn’t a bit sad being wheeled out of the overly bright and plain delivery room.
She hated being in the hospital, even if it was for a good cause. The room she was temporarily calling home was as luxurious as they came in a hospital. It had a comfy adjustable bed, a couch for Nels and a plastic see-though bed on wheels for Isabel. Those were the features that were on Annie’s mind, because all she could think about was taking a little nap.
That’s exactly what she had on her mind as soon as her head hit the pillow. She was a little hungry, but she thought feeding the mild irritation could wait.
“Did you let everyone waiting around to hear the news know that everything is okay?”
Nelson had settled into a chair next to the bed. There wa
s a matching recliner in a corner by the couch. It seemed like a lot of furniture for a small space, but since there were at least five people out in the waiting room, it was probably needed.
“I sent a text, which I’m sure wasn’t what they wanted, but they’ll live. Can I get you anything, or are you just going to fall asleep?” Nelson’s voice was soft, for both Annie’s and Isabel’s sakes.
Izzie had fallen asleep almost immediately after feeding. She was already so much different than Jack, and Annie loved it. Jack hadn’t wanted to fall asleep, which had kept Annie awake.
“I’d ask for a drink, but that would only make me have to pee. So, I wasn’t joking about no more kids. How set are you on having the hundred you brought up the day we were married?”
Annie hadn’t taken him seriously, but two babies within pretty much the same amount of years set a precedent. Annie didn’t think her small frame could expand and shrink anymore times. She’d retained a little bit of her baby weight after Jack, but it was mostly in her boobs.
“That’s something we can talk about later. Remember, we have the rest of our lives together to make those kind of decisions. Although, I will note that you agreed to build a five-bedroom house, and we have a couple of bedrooms left to fill.”
There were days Annie wished they would’ve decided on something a little smaller. Almost three thousand square feet was too big, even with their growing family. It was a beautiful home, though, and she loved being out of the city.
“I think it’s time to get some dogs. They can each have their own room,” Annie suggested.
She closed her eyes and tried to turn her mind off. It wasn’t the easiest task, but Nelson started singing the lullaby she liked to sing to Jack when he was fussy at night. She hadn’t heard Nels sing it on his own, so she was a little surprised when he didn’t flub any of the words.
“Just so you know,” he said once he got through the song. “I have no problem stopping at two kids, but you better look into getting on birth control as soon as you can, because we both know you can’t keep your hands off me. You’re tired now, but it’s only temporary.”
