Happily Ever Addendum (7 page)

"Five minutes is up." Maggie
giggled, placing her head back in my lap.

"I guess we will see." I said
in a hushed tone.

By the end of the four hour long shower,
Elora still hadn’t gotten through all the gifts. It was crazy. I started to
consider hiring people to unwrap gifts at my shower if it was going to be the
way Viola claimed.

As guests started to leave, Elora took a
seat next to me.

"Hanging in there?" I asked,
giving her a half-smile.

"I am so tired." She groaned,
putting her feet up on a chair. "If I have to see one more Tiffany Blue
box I may cut my wrist with it…and I never thought I would ever say that about
Tiffany’s!"

Viola, Phoebe and I began to laugh.

"I wish Celia could have made it."
Elora sighed.

"She had to work." Phoebe
pouted, with a little shrug.

"She's always so funny and blunt. I
could’ve used her up there with Anne a few times." Elora smirked.

"Was she giving you a hard
time?" Viola asked.

Elora shrugged. "She was just being
her snobby self, commenting on proper gifts and such." She groaned and
grabbed her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Phoebe jumped
to her feet.

Elora laughed.

"Yes. The baby is just stretching
out and a foot has found a rib."

Phoebe’s face twisted and her body
shuddered.

"I felt it! Did you feel it?"
Maggie’s head shot up, looking at me excitedly. I nodded. "That was so
great! Hey babies, its Auntie Maggie." She rubbed my stomach and there was
another kick. "They know it’s me!" She smiled.

"Did you get into the
mimosas?" Viola eyed Maggie with a small grin.

Maggie rolled her eyes at her mother.
"So, one month to go." Maggie turned her attention to Elora and her
round stomach.

Elora nodded.

"Yep, thankfully it will be all
over soon."

"We should all go out to dinner before
the baby comes." Phoebe chimed in.

"Oh…can we go to the Japanese
Steakhouse?" I begged.

Elora nodded in agreement.

"That sounds so good." Elora
and I were both lost in thoughts of food before Phoebe snapped us out of it.

"If either of you starts drooling I
will slap you." She rolled her eyes, a playful smile on her lips.

True to our word, two weeks later we
were all seated around a large private table waiting on the chef to arrive and
cook our food. The smell of the food from the other tables was driving Elora
and me into a hunger craze. When the chef arrived everyone told him to start
with our food.

I’m sure I moaned out loud with almost
every bite of noodles, shrimp, vegetables and chicken. Aidan was rubbing my
thigh or wrapping his arm around my shoulder during most of the night. Once I
was finally full, Elora and I sat back, talking amongst ourselves about how we
were feeling.

"Are you okay?" Elora seemed
to be a little off, causing me some concern.

She nodded and drank her water. After
wiping her mouth she spoke.

"I’m just a little tired." She
shrugged. "I’ve had this huge burst of energy the past couple of days, I
think I wore myself out." She smiled, rubbing her shoulder.

"Maybe we should call it a night,
so you can go rest." She nodded in agreement with James’ suggestion.

Celia, Dixon, Oscar, Phoebe, Aidan and I
stayed about an hour longer talking and laughing. I, of course, ended up with
dessert in front of me. At the first sign of my own tiredness, Aidan ushered us
from the restaurant, so he could get me home.

It was roughly five in the morning when
I heard Aidan answer his phone. Burying my head in pillows and blanket, I
silently cursed the caller.

He nudged me.

"Whhhaaaaat?" I groaned.

"James took Elora to the hospital."
He whispered, wrapping his arm around me.

"Is she okay?" I was
immediately wide awake.

"Mmhmm…she went into labor a couple
of hours ago." He snuggled closer.

"Should we get dressed and—"

"Are you crazy?" His head
snapped up as he looked down at me incredulously. "Lilli, you are almost
seven months pregnant. I think you should sleep and then we will go to the
hospital after the baby is born."

"Are you sure? I feel like maybe we
should—"

"It will be fine, Lilli. Sleep."
With that final order, he pulled me closer.

After laying his head back on the pillow,
his hand found my stomach. It took me a little while but, eventually, I fell
back asleep.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aidan

Lilli and I got up a couple of hours
after the phone call from James and went to the hospital.

We arrived to the maternity floor and
found everyone in the waiting room, including Elora’s parents.

"Lilli, Aidan…" Viola walked
toward us, giving us each a hug and kiss to the cheek.

"Viola." I smiled and kissed
her back.

"We're having a baby!" Elora’s
parents boasted in unison.

"Has anyone been back yet?"
Lilli asked, taking a seat next to Maggie and Jason. Maggie immediately started
rubbing Lilli’s stomach.

"Not yet. We're still waiting."
Anne stated impatiently.

"These things take time."
Viola patted Anne’s arm.

"I’m starving." Lilli stood.
"I’m going to go get something to eat before I get cranky."

"I’ll come with you!" Maggie
jumped up, linking arms with Lilli. As they passed me, I ruffled Maggie’s hair
and kissed Lilli.

"Be right back." She smiled up
to me. I nodded.

"So, how is Lilli feeling?" My
head snapped at the sound of Uncle Henry’s voice.

"Good. Lilli and the babies are
fine." I smiled.

"That is great to hear." He
seemed to relax significantly. "So, have you gotten the completed
paperwork from the lawyers about AIS?"

I furrowed my brow. We were here for the
birth of his grandchild and the asshole was concerned about the fucking
inheritance.

"It’s taken care of." I curtly
replied.

"Any more information about the
birth control pills?" Liam inquired with genuine concern.

I shook my head. "Not yet? But, I
assure you, I will continue to dig until I find out."

"Why bother?" I glared at my
Uncle Henry's ability to brush off the incident. "The outcome was for the
best and no one is hurt."

"What the hell, Henry?" Liam
spit out, before I could say one word. "The poor girl was drugged, which
is not only illegal, but was also a risk to her health."

"I’m just saying…" Henry
shrugged.

"I suggest you don’t say anything
else about it." I snarled. "And don’t you dare say one fucking thing
about any of it with Lilli around. Do you understand me? I will not have her
upset over your lack of compassion!"

My uncle’s face stiffened in anger, but
also fear. When I felt a hand rubbing my back, I looked over. Viola had moved
to sit next to me. I forced a smile. She wrapped her arms around me in a large
hug.

We all sat in silence for what felt like
an eternity.  The ding of the elevator finally broke the silence. A smiling
Maggie and Lilli stepped out. My whole body relaxed when this beautiful creature
– my wife – walked toward me, smiling, carrying my children and wearing my
grandmother’s necklace. God, I love her.

Lilli sat on my left side with a brown
bag in her lap.

"Here." She handed me a bottle
of orange juice from the bag and then a bagel.

"Thank you."

I watched her pull out a bagel with
cream cheese and strawberry jam. She ate the bagel and drank a bottle of milk.
Then she pulled out a banana and ate that.

"Is that going to be enough?"
I inquired, ready to go get her something else.

"What are you trying to say?"
She pretended offense.

"That my babies need to eat, which
means you need to eat." I laughed and wrapped my arms around her.

"I’ll be fine. For now." She
leaned her head on my shoulder. I deeply inhaled.

"Did you just sniff me?" Her
face twisted in confusion.

"Maybe." I whispered.

"You're so weird." She
giggled.

"It’s a boy!" James burst
through the set of gray double doors.

"Congratulations" and "awwws"
flooded the waiting room. James was smiling from ear to ear. I can say I'd
never seen my cousin look like so elated.

"Elora was amazing and both of them
are doing great." He boasted proudly.

After watching everyone hug and
congratulate him before heading back to see Elora and the baby, he stopped in
front of me.

"Congratulations." I pulled
him into a hug.

He pulled back, smiling with his hands
on my shoulders.

"I can’t describe it. One minute I
wanted to run and, then, it was like nothing could pull me away from her. It
was unbelievable! Once he was here and cried out…fuck, man! I can’t even tell
you!"

His smile was infectious and I hugged
him again, patting his back firmly.

"I am so happy for you,
James."

"You’re next." He smiled and
walked me down the hall with his arm around my shoulders.

"So, Lil, you’re next?!" I
heard Dixon before we rounded the corner, seeing him walking toward Lilli.

"Fuck you, Dixon, you are not
helping to deliver these babies." She pointed to her stomach.

I looked at James.

"Guess who was on fucking duty, of
all days?" James rolled his eyes.

I burst into laughter.

"Shut the hell up!"

Dixon's response brought my attention
back to their conversation. My smile faded.

"Ah, come on. I’ve already seen you
naked before." He chuckled.

James felt the tension in my shoulders and
removed his arm.

"We were like sixteen and it was an
accident!" Lilli yelled, blushing from the comment.

Relaxing slightly, I moved to her side.

"Yeah, yeah, sure it was, Lil. We
know you purposely left the bathroom door unlocked for me." He smirked.

"Oh, yes, that, of course, was what
I wanted. However, you feeling the need to sneak through my bedroom window to
get in the house? What was that about, huh?" Lilli crossed her arms over
her chest.

"The front door was locked."
Dixon replied like she was an idiot.

Lilli shook her head, took a step
forward, and smacked Dixon in the arm roughly.

"You are not delivering them!"
She walked around him and headed into the hospital room behind Dixon.

"Hey, man." He smiled at me.

"Are you trying to piss her off so
I have to deal with it for the rest of the day?" I raised my brow with a
smirk.

"Hey, I didn’t knock her up, so you
must deal!" He laughed loudly and turned to the nurses’ station.

Shaking my head, I walked into the room.
Viola was holding a small bundle wrapped in a blue blanket. Lilli was leaning
over her arm looking into the bundle.

Glancing over at Elora, I saw James
scoot in next to her and wrap her in his arms as they both talked about the
delivery. Lilli shuddered a few times when Elora recapped the pain.

"Okay, enough. I don’t want to hear
any more." Lilli waved her hands in front of her to stop. Elora laughed.

"So, what is my grandson’s
name?" Aunt Anne broke into the conversation, she now held the baby.

"Henry James III." Elora
stated proudly. James looked surprised by the announcement. His grin spread
widely and he kissed the top of her head.

"Happy Birthday, Jimmy!" I
proclaimed. It was my turn to hold my little cousin.

Chapter Four
7 Months
Lilli

I sat in the waiting room of my doctor’s
office going through every out of date magazine on the table next to me.
Thankfully, the nurse called my name. I wanted to get this blood test over
with.

Earlier this morning, I had to drink
four ounces of the most disgustingly thick and sweet glucose serum. It was absolutely
foul and I wanted to puke. I hadn’t been allowed to eat anything during the
time either, having to wait until the test was complete.

Sitting in the cold, hard chair with my
arm extended out in front of me, the nurse wrapped a rubber tie tightly around
my bicep. After a few taps on my vein, she poked the needle through my skin and
drew the blood she needed. I used to have a small apprehension about needles
but, after all the poking and prodding since the car accident and the pregnancy,
I was a pro.

Once she was finished, I gulped down the
granola bar I had in my purse, feeling like I'd smuggled contraband into the
office, and waited for my official doctor’s appointment.