Life's Next Chapter

by Sarah Goodman

  “This is Kara, she was my first horse here and I’ve had her ever since. I’ve kind of adopted her. She’s my favorite. Just don’t tell the other horses.” I wink at Luke, still kind of pissed about how he acted, but I’m trying to blow it off, especially after everything that happened with Keith. I’m not even bringing the subject up to Luke.

  He helps me clean up the mess and get the girls inside. I give them a quick shower and get them dressed for bed. I tuck them in and kiss them goodnight. Luke is already in the bedroom, watching TV. “I’m going to take a shower,” I inform him as I walk to the bathroom, not even bothering to look at him. He wants to play these games, so be it. He wants to stay in his black hole and not talk to me, fine. I’m tired!

  For a minute I really thought Luke would pull his head out of his ass and come shower with me, but he never came in. And I took a long damn shower, too. He’s no longer sitting in the chair when I get out of the shower. Well, shit he might have just left. I’m trying so hard to be a bad ass at this, and pretend his actions aren’t hurting my feelings, but whom am I kidding. I have hormone grand central station running through me and it takes too much to be strong, so I cry staring at the empty chair. He left and didn’t say goodbye. I slowly get dressed in a pair of boxers and a cami. When I walk to the stairs to go and lock up the house, I see the girls’ bedroom light back on. Walking over, I hear Luke talking to the girls.

  “So, will you be our new daddy when momma marries you?” Julia asks.

  “Sweetheart, I will never be your real daddy, you already have one, but I’ll be what’s called a step-dad. You can just call me Luke if you want. We wouldn’t want to upset your daddy with you calling me daddy, too. You only have one, and that name is reserved for your daddy.”

  “It’s okay, momma says we shouldn’t mention you or the baby to Daddy. Daddy just gets mad anyways, and says mean things to Momma and makes her sad,” Nicole mumbles. I put my hand over my mouth to hold back the sobs. As much as I pray they’ll never hear the rancid things Keith says, they do; they hear every damn ugly word out of his mouth.

  “Did Daddy upset Momma today?” Luke asks quietly.

  “Yep, he called Momma bad names. Something about trap and bastard,” Julia barks out.

  I hear Luke hiss. “Girls, we don’t repeat bad words, it’s not nice and it wasn’t nice of your daddy.”

  “Daddy needs a big time out,” Julia declares. I sense Luke is tucking them back into bed as I hear him walking around the room.

  “Girls, no more talk. It’s time to have sweet dreams.” I listen as he blows kisses and switches the lights off. I run down to the hallway and back into the bathroom. I need to clean my face again before he sees me crying.

  I wait a while. Then I can see by the bottom of the door he turned out the bedroom lights. I open the door to see him lying in bed with the TV on. “Come here we need to talk.” Pulling the covers back, I crawl into bed. I slide in and roll onto my side facing him. “How much did you hear?” He couldn’t possibly know I was outside the room.

  “Huh?”

  Pulling me closer into his warm chest. “You heard me, how much did you hear?”

  “How did you know?” I ask as I glide my hand over his chest and shoulder, feeling the softness of his new skin compared to the skin that was never burned.

  “Honey, I was trained to listen to everything. I slept with one eye open for many years, too. So I know you were in the hallway, and I heard you run back into the bathroom. So, how much?”

  I mutter, “I think I heard everything. I heard Julia ask you if you would be her new daddy. Why? What did I miss?”

  “I asked the girls if they would be okay if I asked you to marry me.”

  I scoot back from his embrace. “Is this why you have been so distant? I thought we talked about marriage and we would just wait, at least wait until the baby comes. Luke, I’m nowhere near ready for marriage. I thought you understood this.”

  Pulling me into his chest he kisses my forehead. “I understand and I’ll wait till you are ready. I just wanted to ask the girls and see what they thought, especially since I’ll be moving in here. I want to give them stability, and reassure them I’m not going anywhere. They already had their father run out, I’m not doing that to them or their sibling.”

  I kiss his neck and then slowly lick his ear lobe and the outer shell of his ear. I can hear the soft moans vibrating in his chest. Sliding up on my knees, and bearing weight to my hands I push up and straddle him. I can feel his dick harden behind my ass. I slip my cami up and over my head and I hear Luke exhale. “Damn, baby, your tits are huge!” He pulls me down and takes one nipple into his mouth. My breasts are sore, but he’s so gentle, I love the pleasure and pain. He palms my other breast in his large hand. Once he is done with one, he switches to the other. I pull myself up giving us some room to catch our breaths. I slide down his body, kissing and licking all the way down to his bare abdomen. I grab the elastic waist of his boxers and yank them down. He lifts his hips to help me out. His dick thrusts up, tall and proud. I wrap my hand around it and slowly stroke the soft velvety shaft.

  “Fuck me, Kate! Your hand feels fantastic. Don’t stop, Sunshine.”

  “I plan to, babe right after this…” I bend down and jut my tongue along the bulging vein of his dick. I feel him arch his back off the bed.

  His breathing is starting to get more robust. “Kate,” he heavily whispers. I wrap my mouth around his enlarged head then roll my tongue around, and slowly suck up and down on his hard dick. I take him all the way into my mouth relaxing my throat to combat my gag reflex. I can feel him wrap his hands in my hair. Letting my mouth and tongue do all the work, I suck and move my head up and down.

  “Kate, I’m going to come.”

  “Come, baby, I want to taste you,” I mumble against his dick.

  “Damn…Shit…Kate!”

  A few more strokes and I feel his body tense up. His thighs quiver, and I feel his dick start to shoot his warm release down my throat. I keep sucking, until he softens in my mouth. He grabs me by the shoulders and pulls my mouth to his. He attacks my mouth with such force, I feel like he is extracting all the air from my lungs. My chest starts to burn with the need for more. He flips me over, so I am lying on my back. His eyes have glassed over to pure desire. He rips my boxers off my legs. He spreads my thighs with his knees. “Farther, baby, spread them farther.” I spread them as far as my hips will allow. He starts by kissing my right ankle and moves up my leg licking, kissing and sucking. Once he gets to my bare mound he kisses some more. With his fingers he spreads me and plunges his tongue into my wet folds. “Christ, baby. You are so wet!”

  “Luke…shut up and keep licking,” I command. He rubs his thumb in circles around my clit, causing me to writhe on the bed. I can feel the orgasm starting to boil over. He shoves his tongue into my pussy then takes his fingers and rubs them along the crease of my ass. I moan into the fist I shoved into my mouth. He continues to fuck me with his tongue and rub up and down my ass with his finger. I start to feel my abdomen flex and contract and I know I’m close.

  “Luke…Oh God…Luke!” I scream body shatters in ecstasy. Luke plunges his cock into my pussy while I’m still shaking from the longest orgasm of my life. He doesn’t give me a break as he thrusts and glides across my overly sensitive clit. “Luke…” is all I can manage, but all I want to do is scream the roof off the house.

  “Baby, hurry, I’m almost there. Come with me.” He only needed to thrust a few more times and I was there.

  “I’m…coming!” I grab onto the nape of his neck, pulling him to me. Once I feel his dick stop shuddering, he rolls to the side and pulls me with him. He lays his large hand on my lower abdomen and kisses me softly.

  “Sunshine, you fucking amaze me. I love you.”

  “I love you, too. So much.” I whisper before I drop in to a deep sleep.

  THE WEEKS BETWEEN Thanksgiving and Christmas have been such a blur. I worked my ass off seeing my fur
ry patients. This time of year is always busy, since people get their pets checked before travels and boarding. I’m coming out of my first trimester and the morning sickness is slowly decreasing.

  Last weekend we had a small baby shower for Beth. Since we don’t know what she’s having, we loaded her up on the baby essentials—diapers, wipes, baby shampoo—considering she already had three of each baby device. It was a surreal feeling being with my two best friends and all of us pregnant; a dream we always envisioned.

  My two best friends are beautiful when not pregnant, but they’re drop dead glowing beauties when they are. Beth is only carrying a small bump with this pregnancy, granted it’s only one baby instead of three. She’s in her glory this time around. Ella just looks like she swallowed too much air. I can’t get over how tiny she is given she’s five months pregnant. I have no clue where she hides the baby. I’m working on my little baby bump. I’m actually enjoying being pregnant. I think it’s because I know what I’m doing this time around, and the support Luke gives me is beyond anything I could ever imagine the father of my child giving me. He is so patient, giving, and loving with me.

  It’s hard to believe today is Christmas Eve. We’re having our traditional gathering over at my place this year. With Beth being so close to her due date, we all felt she didn’t need the chaos and mess of entertaining everyone. I’m getting the cookie cutters and sprinkles ready for the kids to decorate their cookies when Danika knocks on the door. She comes bearing more gifts and goodies for the girls. I help her set the bags on the counter, and give her a hug as she kisses me on my cheek. We have come so far in just two weeks. She pulls out more pre-packaged cookie dough for the kids. “Where’s Dad?” she asks.

  “He had to take the work trailer back to the office, and then he had to clean up from his last job, since the new people will be moving in after Christmas. He couldn’t put it off any longer.” She shrugs away my answer and joins the girls, entertaining them and making more of a mess. Luke has been so busy with work that none of us have seen him much. I can’t wait for him to move in, knowing every night he’ll be sleeping with me. Glancing out the window I see Beth pull up.

  I walk out to greet her, “Bethy, Merry Christmas, babe!” I shout as I approach her SUV to help get the boys out of their car seats, as she slowly gets out of the truck. “You alright?” I ask as I hold Cole in my arms. She looks so tired.

  “Katie, I’m so done…this butterball is roasted and ready to come out of the oven. I’m so tired, and these Braxton Hicks are so fucking annoying.”

  I hop back into the SUV and unbuckle Evan and Grant. “Girl you need a bus with all of these car seats.” I laugh as I watch her lean against the truck door and rub her belly. “Are you having another one?”

  “Yes! I don’t remember having this many with the boys.” She breathes in and out.

  “Well, babe, you didn’t make it this far with the boys, so Mother Nature is doing what she does best—preparing you for labor.”

  Carrying presents with the boys in tow, we walk inside the house, and already hear the screams and laughter from the kids. “It’s just surreal this time around, this time everything is going to plan, it’s almost terrifying.” She laughs to herself.

  “Beth, every birth is terrifying.” I laugh as I rest my head on her shoulder. She inhales another breath and rubs her belly again. “Are you sure they are Braxton Hicks and not contractions?”

  “Kate, I’m only thirty-seven weeks. I’m not ready for a baby, especially not now.”

  I just stand there, stunned, “Seriously, Beth…you’ve had babies before. You, of all people, know they come when they want to come. Not by a date on the calendar, and definitely not by your plan.”

  “UGH…I know, but Jacob is at work, working all night. It’s Christmas and I don’t want to ruin Christmas for the boys.” I just laugh and hold a cookie out to her. “Thanks,” she says as she walks to the kitchen table and eats the chocolate chip cookie. She chats with Danika for a while as I pull the other batch of sugar cookies out of the oven.

  Ella and Chris pull up with the girls. More screams and shrills erupt through the house. I order the pizza and wings. When I turn around, I see Beth standing in a puddle of water.

  “Beth, did your water just break?” By the look on her face, I know it has.

  Ella runs in from the living room. “Oh Shit!”

  Beth starts to cry.

  “Beth, I guess this baby wants to be born around Christmas. You jinxed your own child’s birthday, babe!”

  “Call Jacob…please someone call Jacob!” She squeals through the room.

  Ella walks to her side. “Beth, you’ve done this before, no big deal. We have time, how far apart have your contractions been?”

  “Shit, Katie, they were contractions. Crap, I don’t know, five to seven minutes?”

  Ella shifts into commander nurse role. “Danika, I’m going to need you to stay here and watch the kids. I’ll have my mother swing by and get my girls. I’ll have someone come and get the boys.”

  “Ethan, call Ethan, he’s at my house. He can take the SUV back,” Beth shrieks to us. Ella and I look at each with a what the hell look. “Why is Ethan still at your house? Why didn’t he come over?” I ask.

  Breathing and panicking, she growls, “He and Megan broke up and he’s in a depressing mood. Kate, grab my purse…boys come here!” Beth yells for them. The tiny tot trio runs into the kitchen. Chris picks up each boy for her to kiss and hug. She tells them their baby is coming. The almost two year olds don’t care and run to the living room where all the action is. “Danika, for the time being let them eat pizza and open their gifts,” Ella says.

  “Take pictures!” Beth and I blurt out at the same time.

  “Chris, go get the car. Kate, grab Beth’s purse.” Then we’re walking to the car.

  Everything was orchestrated so quickly and calmly that once we were on the road we all realized Ella and I never said goodbye to our own children on Christmas Eve. “Oh well, they can have a redo next year!” I blurt out. Beth starts to chuckle. Then her chuckle turns into a non-stop hysterical fit. “Christ, Beth what’s wrong with you?”

  “I’m laughing because it fucking hurts, and the birth stories I’ll tell my children one day need to be written in the books. This is nuts…Christmas…this baby couldn’t want a birthday two days ago, or two days from now.” She continues to laugh as I pull out my phone and call Jacob.

  “Dr. Alexander,” he answers.

  “Jacob, it’s Kate.”

  “What’s wrong? Kate, you never call this line unless something is wrong.”

  “Nothing’s wrong, just that Beth’s water broke. We’re on our way to the hospital. Merry Christmas, Daddy!” I laugh into the phone. “Jacob? Jacob? Hello? You there? Either we lost connection or he passed out!” I laugh.

  “KATIE! Oh my God, if he passed out because of what you said, I’ll smother you in your sleep.” She yells at me as she is trying to breathe. Chris is white knuckling it, Ella is being such a good coach, and I’m being the lunatic friend and laughing my ass off. I just keep picturing Jacob in the middle of the hospital hallway flat on his face. I get a grip and call Luke about the change of plans and to meet us at the hospital. He tells me he will be there soon.

  Four hours later, a nurse comes to the waiting room and tells us we can go back to the room. I text Luke the baby has arrived, and he replies that he’s on his way. As Ella and I walk into the room, we both ooh and ahh over the beautiful baby. We look at Beth to ask what she had, since the bundle of joy is swaddled in a pink and blue hospital blanket. “Meet Madeleine Rose.” Ella and I high five each other, since we both thought it would be a girl. Ella leans in and hugs Beth as I turn to hug Jacob. He’s over the moon with joy looking down at his two beautiful ladies. “Congrats, man, and hey, I’m sorry for earlier.” He hugs me back and laughs into my hair.

  “She’s beautiful. Beth you got your blond hair, blue-eyed beauty. Watch out, she is going to
be a knock out when she is a teenager,” I say.

  “Hey, that’s my daughter you’re talking about,” proud papa says to me.

  “She’s beautiful, and she looks just like her daddy,” Beth softly says as she kisses her daughter’s head.

  Ella swipes the baby from her arms. “I just want a quick hold before we leave, got to get ready for Santa.”

  Beth looks all frazzled. She quietly yelps out an ‘oh my god’. “Bethy, don’t worry. Ethan came by, grabbed the boys, and took them home. Your parents have already flown in and should be here soon.” Ella reassures softly while rocking Maddie.

  “Okay, times up. I get to hold her now.” I say as I take Maddie from Ella. Ella kisses her white hat and walks over to give hugs to Jacob, who is chatting with Chris. She grabs Chris’s hand and pulls him to give hugs to Beth.

  “Merry Christmas, guys, we love you and we’ll call tomorrow. Call us if you need anything,” Ella says as she leaves.

  “Elizabeth, I’m going to go grab a coffee. You want anything, love?” Jacob asks, kissing Beth on the forehead

  She shakes her head no before launching into a huge make out session. “Ugh, hello guys you are doing this in front of brand new innocent eyes.” I scold, acting like I’m shielding Maddie’s eyes from her parents PDA.

  After Jacob leaves, I hold their beautiful baby in my arms and just stare at her. The thought that I will have one of these tiny miracles in my arms in a matter of months fills my heart with so much love and anticipation. I look at the door when I hear a knock. I look over to Beth, who has nodded off sleeping. I turn back and Luke is in the doorway.

  “Hi, babe,” I whisper, waving him in. He sits next to me on the small sofa. “This is Madeleine Rose Alexander, isn’t she beautiful, Luke?”