Back to Life

by Mellie George

  “I think I’m going to go tell Marissa that she’s okay. Do you want to wait for me to let her know about the baby?”

  “Well, under normal circumstances I’d want to wait, but I think we all need some good news after what happened today. You can tell her,” I said, and he gave me a quick hug before heading off down the hall and through the doors leading to Marissa’s room.

  I walked back over to our group, and everyone was waiting to know what the doctor said. “Son, what did the doctor say? Is everything all right?” Mom asked.

  I sighed. “Rory is going to be fine, she’s going to make a full recovery.”

  “Then what did the doctor need to tell you?”

  I exhaled deeply. “She’s pregnant.”

  Everyone audibly gasped, and they all looked excited. “Oh, son, that’s wonderful! Is the baby okay after what happened?” Mom asked. I told her that everything was fine and after Rory was stable they would do an ultrasound, which I was not going to miss. After waiting for the longest hour of my life, Dr. Kilpatrick came out and told me I could go back and see her. I practically ran and when I reached her recovery room, I almost fell to my knees. She was still out, but she looked like she was just sleeping. A bruise was starting to form on her cheek, but other than that she looked so beautiful. I walked to her bed in two big steps and fell into the chair at her side. I buried my head by her hands and the tears started to flow. God, I hope she came out of this. I know the doctor said she would be okay, but I wasn’t going to relax until she woke up and stared at me with those beautiful chestnut colored eyes.

  Soon, Dr. Kilpatrick, a nurse, and someone wheeling in a big machine came into her room. “What is that?”

  “It’s an ultrasound machine. If it’s okay, we’d like to see how far along she is and check for any problems,” Dr. Kilpatrick said.

  I nodded, and the nurse rolled her blanket down and lifted her gown. “I take you are the father?” she asked me.

  “Yes, I am,” I said, and she squirted something on Rory’s stomach. I held onto her hand as the technician placed some kind of a mix between a wand and a computer mouse and rolled it across her belly. I fought back another wave of tears…Rory should be awake for this. This was another important moment in her life she would miss because of that woman. The technician rolled it around her belly for a few moments, and all of a sudden I heard a whooshing sound that was repeating over and over really fast. “What’s that sound?” I asked.

  Dr. Kilpatrick smiled. “That’s the baby’s heartbeat. Everything looks good, dad,” he said. He wheeled the screen around so I could see. “See that there? The little blurb in the middle of the black pocket?” I nodded, and he continued. “That’s the baby. It’s really early on in the pregnancy, but I’m going to guess she’s about four or five weeks. I will have an obstetrician visit her once she’s awake, and I’ll order a transvaginal ultrasound to be done so we can get a proper due date.” He smiled at me again, and said, “Congratulations.”

  All I could do was stare at the little blurb on the screen. Four to five weeks…that meant we probably conceived the baby on the fourth of July, just like I thought. I stared to tear up again, but this time, they were tears of joy as I saw our little miracle floating around on the screen. “You’re sure everything is okay? She had a previous pregnancy four years ago that didn’t end well,” I said.

  “I read her records, and I did note she had an ectopic pregnancy, but as you can see, the baby is safe in the uterus, and not in the fallopian tube. Everything looks great so far,” he said.

  The technician handed me a little picture and said, “Baby’s first photo,” before they said their goodbyes and wheeled the machine out of the room.

  As I sat by her bed holding the picture in my left hand and her hand in my right, I took a deep breath. “Come on, angel, you have to wake up because I can’t wait to show this picture to you and say I told you so,” I said, giving her hand a squeeze. I looked at her angelic face and felt an overwhelming ache coming from deep within me as she just laid there in a deep sleep. She had to pull through this…she just had to. She was going to finally get her happily ever after no matter what.

  “So you found out that Erica was guilty just about the time she was confessing, huh?” Rory said. “That’s pretty crazy.”

  “I know. Are you really okay? I mean, you finally have your answers about who killed Mason. How do you feel about all of that?”

  She sighed, and her eyes were sad. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad to know what happened, but if just feels like an empty victory. It never should have happened, and nothing that we know now will bring him back,” she said, as a tear streamed down her cheek.

  “I know, angel,” and I kissed her head. “Tell me something about him.”

  “What?”

  “Come on, we never talk about him, and I’m curious. He must have been pretty awesome to have a girl as amazing as you give him a second look,” I said, and she smiled. “Tell me.”

  She sighed. “Well, he was a pretty straight laced guy. If he wasn’t wearing a suit and tie, he was wearing a polo, actually,” she said, and I laughed.

  “Figures,” I said, smiling.

  “I know, right? He told the worst jokes ever, but they made me laugh anyway just because they were so terrible. I used to say if he’d been a Muppet, he would have been Fozzi,” she said, giggling. “Baseball was his favorite sport, and he loved the Red Sox which I teased him about all the time because you know I’m a diehard Yankees fan. He worked out and ran at least two miles every day, but he had such a weakness for cheeseburgers, so that was probably why he ran so much, to keep the weight off. He loved his friends and family, and he would have done anything for them, including giving them the shirt off his back. He literally did that once when a lady spilled mustard on her shirt at Sox game. He just stripped his shirt off right then and there and gave it to her.”

  I smiled. “He sounds like he was a pretty cool guy,” I said.

  “He really was,” she said sadly.

  “Thanks for sharing that with me, angel.”

  “Thanks for asking. It felt good to talk about him again,” she said. At that moment, there was a knock at the door. “Come in.”

  A doctor came in with a nurse and someone wheeling in a machine. “Hello, Rory, I’m Dr. Jennings and I’m an obstetrician on staff here at New York Presbyterian,” said a woman that looked she was maybe five feet five inches in heels, and was possibly in her forties. “Dr. Kilpatrick asked me to come and see you, is that okay?”

  She nodded. “Sure. This is my fiancé Liam Tanner, and he’s the baby daddy,” she said, and Dr. Jennings smiled.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Liam. Rory, if it’s okay, I’d like to perform a transvaginal ultrasound so we can get a clearer picture of your baby and get a confirmed due date.”

  “Sure, that’s sounds great,” Rory said. The nurse pulled the blanket down and lifted her gown. “Okay, sweetie, if you can, I need you to pull your knees up and relax them to your sides. We are going to perform the ultrasound with this wand,” the nurse said, “and it will go up into your vagina. This way we can get a much clearer picture of the baby. Are you still okay with that?”

  Rory nodded. “Yes, of course. I want to see the baby,” she said. As they got the wand ready, I held Rory’s hand as they slid the metal instrument into her.

  “Does that hurt?” I asked.

  “Not at all, it just feels…weird,” she said, grinning.

  “Okay, Rory, let’s fire up the machine,” Dr. Jennings said and she wheeled the machine to face us. “Okay, everything looks great. You look like you are approximately five weeks along, which means you probably conceived around July fourth or fifth,” she said, and I smiled at Rory.

  She turned her face to mine and I whispered, “I told you so,” and she giggled.

  “Whoa, well, what do we have here?” Dr. Jennings said. “Lacey, do you see that?”

  The nurse nodded and smiled. “I definitely
do, doctor.”

  Rory’s head snapped back to the doctor. “What’s wrong? What do you see?” she asked, panic in her voice.

  “Nothing is wrong. However, it seems your baby already has a little playmate in there,” she said, and pointed to the screen. “See? There is one baby, and there is another baby.”

  My eyes went wide and Rory gasped. “Another baby?” I asked.

  Dr. Jennings nodded. “Congratulations, you two. You’re having twins.”

  “T-twins? How did Dr. Kilpatrick miss that the first time?” I asked her.

  “Well, he’s a surgeon, so he doesn’t look at ultrasounds all the time like I do, so he probably didn’t notice it. Do you have your original picture?” I took it out of my pocket and handed it to her. She smiled. “Uh huh, you see there? There is one little dot, and then another dot, its right there,” she said, handing the picture back to me.

  I looked at Rory, wondering what was on her mind, and she was absolutely glowing. She looked at me, tears streaming down her face and whispered, “We’re having twins, babe.”

  My heart melted for her all over again in that moment. “I know. Wow, when I do something, I fucking do it right, don’t I?” I said, and she giggled. God, I’d missed that giggle of hers.

  “So, when are the babies due?” Rory asked, sniffing.

  “I’m putting your due date at March twenty-seventh, but since you are carrying twins and you had a prior miscarriage, that makes you high risk you will probably deliver early, possibly at thirty-seven weeks.”

  “Thank you so much, Dr. Jennings,” I said, and they cleaned Rory up and got her comfortable. They handed us another picture.

  “Make sure to follow up with your primary care physician or obstetrician of your choice as soon as you are released, okay?” Dr. Jennings said.

  “Actually, do you have a practice? Because, actually, I’d like to stay with you through the pregnancy, if it’s okay,” Rory said.

  She nodded and smiled. “I do, and I’d be honored to deliver your babies. We can schedule an appointment as soon as you are released and get you started on some vitamins.”

  “Actually, Liam has already been making me take them hoping I was already pregnant,” Rory laughed, and Dr. Jennings smiled.

  “Well, you have a good man there, Rory,” she said. “I’ll see you both soon,” she said, and they left the room, leaving me to hold my beautiful, glowing fiancé who was carrying our babies. I placed my hand on her belly and kissed her lips. Twins…wow, that ACDC tee shirt was going to be stretched a whole lot wider now.

  Chapter 19

  Rory

  “Are you sure you are ready for this, baby?” Liam asked me, taking a drink of his soda. “If you aren’t sure, you can change your mind.”

  Taking a bite of the most mouth watering cheeseburger I’d ever eaten (or maybe it tasted that way because all I had eaten was hospital food for the past few days), I chewed and swallowed before I said, “I’m sure. He’s my dad, Liam, and it speaks volumes to me that he came to New York the minute he found out I was hurt. I want to hear him out,” I said. I had originally planned on seeing Dad the day after I woke up, but I decided I needed some more time to process everything, what with his arrival and finding out about the twins. In all honesty, my dad was the parent that always tried, albeit weakly, to get my mom to ease up on me, and he was the one that told her not to press charges when I punched her after the funeral. With impending motherhood looming over me, I actually wanted my dad in my life again. I wanted our babies to have two grandfathers, not just one. Although, between Grayson and Vivian these babies already had the two best grandparents in the world. “Besides, I’m being released tomorrow, and I want to do this before we go home.”

  There was a knock at my door, and Liam grabbed my hand. “No going back now, angel,” he said, and I smiled at him.

  “Come in,” I called, and I sat up straighter on my bed. The door opened, and Brody walked in with Marissa and there he was…my dad, James Shaw. He looked so tired, like he hadn’t slept in days. He probably hadn’t. Other than the weary and careworn look on his face, he still looked just like my dad.

  The minute his eyes met mine, he began to tear up. “Hello, Rory,” he said, and I immediately started bawling. I could chalk the tears up to pregnancy hormones, but I knew that wasn’t true. Never, and I mean never, in my life had my father ever called me Rory. That simple act alone, him finally acknowledging the real me, made all my walls crumble and I held my hands out to him, motioning for him to come to me.

  “Oh, Daddy,” I cried, and he walked over to me and pulled me into his arms for the first time in four years.

  “My little girl,” he cried, “I can’t believe I let all this time go by without being a part of your life. I’m so, so sorry, sweetheart. Can you ever forgive me?” he said, stroking my hair.

  “I already have,” I cried, and I heard Marissa crying as well. “I love you, Daddy. I’ve missed you so much.”

  “I’ve missed you, Rory,” he said. We stayed like that for a few moments before we broke apart.

  It was now time address the elephant in the room. “So, I heard you left Mom.”

  He sighed and nodded his head. “I did. I’m sorry you had to find out about it this way. It actually happened only two months ago, but things between us had been strained since Mason’s funeral. When the incident happened outside the church, I was stunned. I was horrified that after what you were going through Mona would have the nerve to speak to you like that. When you hit her, part of me cheered internally,” he said, and I smiled. “But then, when I saw you collapse on the ground, I was terrified. Once we got to the hospital and heard that you had a miscarriage, I was so heartbroken for you. Mona was still screaming about pressing charges, but I yelled at her and demanded that she back off and let us get you some help. She was furious with me, but she relented. I didn’t know until I spoke to Brody a few months ago about what she’d said to you when you were slipping in and out of consciousness. At that point, I wanted to contact you for several months because I missed you so much, and updates from Brody were only getting me so far. Your mother was trying to forbid me from seeing you, and I always gave in because it was exhausting arguing with her. But when I found out the way she’d spoken to you during that devastating time, I lost it. Every bit of love I ever felt for that woman was washed away in that instant. I confronted her, she admitted everything, and told me that it was time for me to choose. Either I stay with my wife of thirty years or I choose ‘the daughter that had pushed herself away and disappointed her at every turn’. It was no contest…I chose my little girl, and I’d do it again.”

  His confession floored me. I reached for him and we embraced again. “Oh, Daddy, I’m so sorry it had to end that way.”

  “But it needed to end, Rory. No one should ever make a father choose someone over their children, even if that person is the one that’s supposed to love you unconditionally.” He kissed my cheek and then released me, smiling. “Okay, that’s enough of all of that. So, I hear my little girl is going to be a mother,” he said, smiling and wiping his cheeks.

  “Yep, can you believe it?” I smiled, placing my hand on my stomach.

  His eyes flickered down to my belly. “Can I?”

  “Sure,” I said, he placed his hand on my belly. He smiled at me.

  “I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandpa,” he said. “Thank you for letting me be one, Rory.”

  “Thanks for wanting to be one, Daddy,” I said.

  “So, what’s this surprise Brody said you and your fiancé had for me?” he said.

  I smiled at him. “Well, I wanted you to hear from us first that we are actually having twins,” I said, and he smiled even brighter.

  “Twins? Are you serious? Sweetheart, congratulations,” he said, hugging me again. I took a deep, happy breath and leaned back in the bed. I reached out and grabbed my cheeseburger, taking another big bite.

  “Thanks, Daddy,” I said, between bite
s. “Sorry to eat like this in front of you, but this cheeseburger is fucking amazing,” I said, and everyone laughed. We stayed in the hospital room for the next few hours talking and laughing and just being a family, which is all I ever wanted from my dad. Despite the big knife gash in my back, my life was dangerously close to perfect.

  November

  “So, tomorrow’s the big day! Are you nervous yet?” Marissa asked me.

  “Not at all, I can’t wait until we are finally married,” I said, taking a drink of my blueberry smoothie. I grabbed a handful of grapes from the bowl setting next to me and popped them into my mouth. “I also can’t wait until these little sluggers come out of me so I can have an alcoholic drink again and not want to eat everything in sight,” I said, and she giggled.

  “Well, if it helps, you don’t look like you’ve gained a single freaking pound,” Samantha said. “You look absolutely beautiful, Rory. Your little belly is so cute.”

  “Make that big belly,” I laughed. “Thanks, Samantha.” In the past few weeks, my belly went from “a little pooch” to a full blown baby belly because of the twins. I was double the size of a normal pregnant woman at this point in the pregnancy since I was carrying two, and even though I felt huge already, I had to admit I loved looking down and seeing my belly getting bigger every day. I never thought I’d get to have this, and I was making sure to enjoy every minute of it.

  We were spending the morning at Eclipse getting manicures, pedicures, massaged, waxed, and everything in between. It felt amazing to be on the other side of the chair and be pampered for a change. I leaned back in the vibrating spa chair as Brian massaged my feet. “Oh, God, Brian, that feels so good. I swear if I wasn’t marrying my dream man tomorrow I’d totally be your beard and marry you instead,” I said, and everyone laughed.

  “Honey, you could only be my beard if I was in the closet, but I’m not. I’m out and proud, sister,” he said, and I giggled, and I felt the babies kicking.