Key To My Heart: Stay
Page 13
Life was still busy, but again, everything seemed to be going well. The baby was still growing well and was at a healthy weight, Jay and Nikki seemed happy to be back together, and Gavin and Demi seemed to exist in a world of perpetual bliss. His older brother was so happy that it was almost comical, and he was one of the proudest fathers that Garett thought he had ever seen. Garett felt good about the future all around, and he thought that Acasia did too.
Acasia
Acasia was happy. After the Renee issue had been clarified and seemed to be solved, she felt much better. The wedding plans were right on track, the baby was healthy and growing well and even the house seemed to be coming together. Garett no longer seemed concerned that the house wouldn’t be ready before the baby was born, and he turned some of his attention to his plans for the wedding itself.
Before she knew it, it was time for Acasia to take her maternity leave. That was quite a relief as well. Her ankles had started to swell so much when she was working that she had had to purchase different socks and shoes, and even her larger uniform had started to feel tight. She got bored at home sometimes while Garett was at work, but she did what work around the house she could, and spent quite a bit of time with her sister as well.
She wasn’t thrilled with the way she looked in her wedding dress, but Garett assured her that she would always be beautiful to him, and to her that was all that mattered. Everything seemed right on track, and she was able to let go of some of her worries, especially as the days towards the wedding ticked down and their backyard started to take shape.
The gazebo that Garett had designed with the help of his father and Gavin was beautiful and she was so proud of her man. He was really talented, and she knew that she would always be proud to call their house home.
The days seemed to fall away at an alarming rate, and before they knew it, the wedding was right around the corner. And everything was well until three days before the day Acasia and Garett were set to say their vows.
Garett
Acasia was still in bed sleeping, so he made an effort to be quiet as he made a pot of coffee. He felt half asleep since it was only 6 a.m. and they had been up late the night before making love, but his lack of energy was worth it. Making love to Acasia was always worth it.
He stood at the kitchen window and looked out into the backyard, wanting to take a minute to admire the combined handiwork of himself, his father, and his brother. He thought that his eyes were deceiving him at first, and he blinked, and rubbed his eyes, looking again. His heart sank as he realized that what he thought he had seen had indeed been real, and he moved to the kitchen door, opening it carefully so that it didn’t creak as it often did.
He wanted to cry. The gazebo had been destroyed. He had a feeling he knew exactly who had done the damage, but he didn’t know quite how she had managed to do it. He sighed as he went back into the house, wishing again that he had never been dumb enough to date a woman like Renee Neal.
Acasia was sitting up in bed when he entered their bedroom. She took one look at his face and said “Oh baby, what’s wrong now?”
“The gazebo.”
“Hold that thought.” She got out of bed, used the restroom and then returned. “What’s wrong with the gazebo Gar?”
“Someone destroyed it.”
“What do you mean someone destroyed it?”
“It’s ruined baby. And three days isn’t enough time to start over.”
“Start over? How could someone have damaged it so badly that you would have to start over?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know baby. I really don’t. I have no idea how someone could have done so much damage and we didn’t hear a damned thing.”
“Who would do something like that?”
“Renee would do something like that. She’s always been spiteful, especially when she didn’t get something that she wanted or thought she wanted.”
“What are we going to do?”
“We can reschedule the wedding again I suppose, though that’s probably not the best idea with you being so close to your due date, and everything already being scheduled.”
Acasia bit her lip. “I know how much this meant to you, being able to get married in the gazebo that you built. And it was so beautiful, with the flowers and everything it would have been perfect. How long do you think it would take to redo it?”
“I don’t know sweetheart. I think I could probably get some of the other guys from work to help out.”
She sighed. “Why does something always have to go wrong? Why aren’t we allowed to be happy?”
He squeezed her hand. “We are happy baby. And there is nothing in this world that will keep me from marrying you. We’ll get this worked out one way or another.”
“I love you Garett Black.”
“And I love you soon to be Mrs. Garett Black.”
He called his father, who advised him to report the damage to the police. Garett knew that it wouldn’t do any good, but he made a report anyway. And then they set about rescheduling the wedding.
It luckily wasn’t too much trouble to reschedule everything with Clinton being such a small town, and he discovered that some of the materials for the gazebo were salvageable. So they rescheduled the wedding for three weeks down the road, knowing that it may be too close to Acasia’s due date for comfort, but not having much of a choice.
Acasia
She thought it was a false alarm when she had the first contraction, but as she put on her wedding dress and had a second contraction, she realized that she was in labor.
Heather noticed that something was off and gave her daughter an inquiring look. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
She forced a smile for her mother. “Nothing Mom.”
“Don’t you lie to me Acasia Marie.”
Demi smiled at her behind their mother’s back, then shared an eye roll with Nikki. Sammi and Nicole were down the hall in the capable hands of their fathers, since they had much less to do to get ready for the ceremony.
“I’m not lying Mom, I’m fine. I promise.”
“You are not fine. I can see from the look on your face that you aren’t. Now tell me what is going on darling. Are you getting cold feet? I would have thought that after your wedding had been rescheduled for the second time that cold feet would no longer be a problem.”
“No, I don’t have cold feet. I’m just having some stomach problems, that’s all.”
“You’re in labor aren’t you? I told you that you needed to wait until after the baby was born to get married honey.”
“I’m not in labor Mom.”
Then she winced as another contraction hit, and she knew that she couldn’t keep the truth from her mother any longer.
“Okay, so maybe I am in labor.”
Heather shook her head. “Demi sweetheart would you go tell Garett that your sister is in labor? I knew this was going to happen.”
Demi left the room and returned shortly after with Garett.
He gave her a gentle smile. “It’s time huh?” He squeezed her hand.
She nodded, squeezing his hand back as another contraction hit. “Yeah, it’s time. I’m sorry.”
Garett chuckled. “No need to apologize sweetheart. Dad is telling everyone what’s going on. I’ll go get your bag and then we’ll go.”
He left the room.
Acasia looked at her mother. “Mom, is the baby going to be okay?”
“You’re only three weeks from your due date honey. She’s going to be fine.”
Heather embraced her. She could see that there were tears standing in her mother’s eyes when she pulled away, but she hoped with all her might that her mother was right and that the baby would be fine, even if she was born three weeks early.
Garett
He wasn’t exactly surprised when Demi told him that Acasia was in labor. He was a little concerned that she was still three weeks away from her due date, but both his parents and Heather Brown assured them that the baby would be fine.
And their little girl was fine. She was a little small, not quite six pounds, but she was breathing on her own just fine, and seemed healthy. Besides Acasia, he was sure that their daughter had to be the most beautiful thing that he had ever seen, and he couldn’t have been happier to welcome her into the world, even if she had interrupted the union of her parents.
They hadn’t been quite sure of what they would name her, and had been throwing around name combinations up until the last minute, but when they looked at their dark haired blue eyed little girl, they both agreed that she would be named Elda in honor of her grandfather, and everyone agreed that the name fit.
Their daughter took right to her mother’s breast, and the happy family was able to return home six days after Elda Jean’s birth. Everyone settled in well, and even though being the father of a newborn was exhausting, Garett had never been happier. His life felt complete, and he knew that it would only feel more so once he had made the mother of his child his wife.
Acasia
When she laid eyes on her daughter’s face for the first time she fell in love. It was incredible to think that two imperfect people had created such a perfect child, but she supposed that parents felt that way quite often when they looked at their children. And she knew that she never should have worried about becoming a mother. Holding her daughter, caring for her daughter felt right. It felt meant to be, and she knew that they were all going to be okay. She knew that it wouldn’t always be easy, but she knew that it would always be okay as long as she had her daughter and her man.
She was tired a lot after they went home, and she knew that Garett was too, especially since he was working full time, and getting up in the middle of the night to care for Elda so that she would have an occasional break. But she was happy, and she knew that he was too.
They decided to reschedule the wedding a month into the future, and for once, their wedding plans went along exactly as scheduled.
Renee Neal had left town without selling her house. Rumors had gone around town for a while that she had had sex with three different men all in the same night so that they would destroy the gazebo, but Acasia tried to ignore the rumors. She didn’t care what Renee had done. She was just glad that the woman would be out of their lives for good.
The wedding was beautiful and Acasia didn’t think she had ever been happier than when she said the words “I do.” She meant every word of her wedding vows, and knew that Garett meant his as well.
They didn’t have much of a honeymoon, since it was only overnight and they stayed home while Elda spent the night at Grandma’s house, but it didn’t matter because they were together and they were happy.
Life wasn’t always easy for Acasia and Garett, but they always managed to make their marriage work. Elda was made a very proud big sister three years later to twin boys they named Jed Gavin and Jay Damien, and their family was complete.