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“Doesn’t matter. Just because you’re not really showing, Maddie, doesn’t mean you’re not pregnant. If you need something done in the nursery, just ask one of us to do it, sweetheart.”
I saluted my father. “Yes, sir.”
He kissed me on the forehead as he chuckled. “Where is my granddaughter?”
I looked around the nursery and smiled. We’d decided to use the guest bedroom downstairs as the new nursery. I had no clue if I was having a girl or a boy, but I had a feeling that it was a girl. So I’d started decorating in a French country theme. Cale thought I was crazy, but something in my heart told me I was having a girl. Plus, I had been insanely sick the first three months, and Mary assured me that meant it was a girl.
“She’s with Cale and Mary,” I said. “They took her to the park so I could rest, but I couldn’t sleep, so I started messing with the baby’s room.”
“How are the plans for the second wedding going?” My father asked, walking out of the nursery and toward the living room.
I slapped at his arm as I passed him by to sit on the sofa. “You’re so mean. How’s your wedding plans coming along with Michelle? You know, Mom called me the other day and was asking all kinds of questions.”
He sat in the recliner and rolled his eyes. “I hope you didn’t tell her anything. With the amount of money I gave her in the divorce, I figured she’d just stay in Paris forever.”
I giggled. “Daddy, that’s so mean.”
He had a serious look in his eyes when he asked, “You don’t agree with me, Maddison?”
I held up my hands. “Now, I didn’t say that! I wasn’t surprised when she took off for Paris. She always loved it there, and said she wanted to live there.”
He let out a gruff laugh. “Well, she can stay there forever as far as I’m concerned.”
My cell phone rang and my father jumped up and grabbed it from the sofa table behind me. When he handed it to me, I saw that it was Jack. My heart beat faster.
“Hello?”
Jack yelled, “Her water broke! Her water broke!”
I stood up quickly. “What?”
“Her. Water. Broke. They’re coming. Finally!”
I smiled at my dad and gave him a thumbs-up. “Okay, Jack, calm down. Where is Monica?”
I could hear Monica in the background talking. “I’m heading on out to the car. Honey, grab my makeup bag, will you?”
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her, Maddie. She’s too calm. She’s about to give birth to twins and she is so chill. She walked to the bedroom, changed her clothes, grabbed a towel and told me to meet her in the car. And she wants makeup. Why does she want makeup?”
I tried to hold back my laughter. Monica was so ready to give birth to the twins. She was nine months pregnant and they’d told her she’d deliver earlier. She hadn’t, and she’d been one pissed off pregnant woman the last three weeks.
“Jack, just grab the makeup bag and head to the car. Did you call the doctor yet?”
“Fuck! I forgot. Son of a bitch.”
Then my phone beeped. I pulled it away and looked at it. “He hung up on me,” I said to my dad. “He didn’t even say goodbye. He just hung up. What the hell?”
I heard Mary and Cale come in through the front door. “Maddie!” He yelled.
“I’m in the living room with Dad.”
Cale came rushing into the living room. I could tell he was still having a bit of trouble with his leg.
“She’s in labor,” Cale said. “We have to go.”
He walked back down the hall and all I could hear was Cale rummaging through the hall closet. I looked over to my father and then to Mary who was holding Lily. She set her down and Lily quickly made her way to me. I kneeled down and took her into my arms. She smiled at me and then gave me a slobbery kiss.
“Mom, James? Can one of y’all watch Lily while we go to the hospital?”
I stood up and Lily screamed excitedly and pointed to Cale. I stood there, staring.
“What the hell is that?” Mary asked as my father laughed.
Cale was holding a camel. A giant camel.
“Wait, where was that thing?” I asked as I walked over to him. He frantically looked around. He pointed and said, “Your purse. Maddie, get your purse. We have to go.”
I shook my head. “Right now, I’m more curious about the giant camel in your arms.”
He looked at me like I was crazy. “The camel?” he asked, surveying the room.
I placed my hands on my hips. “Daddy, up. Up!” Lily said, pulling on Cale’s jeans.
“Yes, Cale. The camel. What’s the story with the camel?”
He looked down at Lily and smiled. He dropped the Camel to the ground and she laughed and crawled all over it. “Well, it’s kind of a joke,” he said. “Er, um, well…not a joke I care to share right now.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Cale…”
“Really, Maddie now might not be…”
“Oh just tell the joke, for Christ’s sake,” my father said.
Cale ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Fine. The first time Jack ever saw Monica, he made a joke. She was wearing these tight pants…and, well...”
The moment he said it I was taken back to the night we meet Cale and Jack. “I think we should go now.” I blurted.
“Oh no, I want to hear this joke now.” Mary said.
Cale sighed. “Jack looked at Monica and said, ‘To hell with kissi
ng that girl under the mistletoe, I’ll kiss her camel toe instead.’”
I closed my eyes and shook my head as my father and Cale’s mother both laughed. “You are not bringing that to the hospital. Are you insane?”
“What? He’ll never see it coming.” Cale said with a smile.
My phone buzzed, notifying me of a text message.
Monica: Please tell me you’re on your way. I’m about to kill my husband.
Me: Same here. Leaving now. Don’t worry. It will all be okay!
I looked at my father and Mary. Mary smiled. “Go. I’ve got Lily. Go be with Monica and Jack.”
I bent down and kissed Lily. “Mommy loves you, Princess.”
Lily waved bye-bye and I waved back. Her light brown, curls fell to her shoulders and her green-blue eyes lit up as I waved back. She was the spitting image of Cale.
Cale went to grab the camel when I pulled him away from it by the arm. “No, Cale.”
“Aw, Maddie. Don’t be such a killjoy.” Cale whined.
I walked out to the car and got in first, followed by Cale. He started the car then told me he’d forgotten something. He jumped out of the car and ran back into the house. When he came back out with the camel, I rolled my eyes. I’d clearly lost this fight.
I COULDN’T BELIEVE how insanely beautiful the twins were. Monica and Jack named them Craig and Lucy. Craig had been named after Jack’s dad and Lucy was named after Monica’s grandmother. I glanced up and saw Cale holding Craig. I looked down at Lucy and smiled.
Lucy yawned and made the sweetest sound. My heart slammed in my chest as I thought about the child growing in my own stomach. “Hey there, little one,” I whispered. Welcome to this crazy world.”
Jack came into the room and smacked Cale on the back of the head. “Get that damn camel out of this room. Now.”
Cale laughed as Monica asked, “What’s with the camel anyway?”
Cale went to explain, but Jack stepped in front of him and said, “Don’t even think about it, Cale Blackwood.”
I giggled and shook my head.
“How are you feeling, Monica?” I asked.
