Maggie - Epilogue

“You won’t get away this time, Hawk. There’s no way down from this skyscraper! I’ve got you cornered!”

“That’s what you think, McTavish! See you on the other side!”

I watched Shane—as Travis Hawk, the incredibly hot, rogue mercenary who traveled the world, fighting evil underworld characters—throw a nylon rope with a metal hook on one end, just as a helicopter rose behind the staging area. Apparently, through the magic of editing and computer generated graphics, the elevated space where Shane was standing would be turned into the roof of a skyscraper, making him—and the helicopter behind him—appear to be hundreds of stories off the ground.

Even though everything was being shot just a few stories high, there was still a very big risk of something going wrong, but Shane liked to do his own stunts. I watched as he jumped off the edge of the building holding the rope—which was hooked to a metal railing on the building. In the movie, he would be shown propelling down the rope to the helicopter as it pulled away. That part had already been shot. Today, Shane was—in reality—jumping off side of the stage, then landing on a huge inflated balloon on the other ground below.

I loved coming to Shane’s studio to watch him work. Not long after we were married, and my parents moved to the island, Shane started planning a movie production company. He bought up already-existing buildings on the outskirts of Lihue, in order to keep the integrity and natural beauty of the island intact. Then had an entire studio designed that was dedicated to very low impact filming on all of the islands, but especially this one.

He told me that any filming done this way would take longer and would be more costly than a normal movie shoot, but even so, there was already a long waiting list to film at this location. And I could understand why. This island was so beautiful.

This was the first movie to utilize any of the sound stages or filming areas located on the production company compound. He wanted to run through the shooting of a movie that he was producing first, in order iron out any of the new-equipment kinks. But soon, there would be productions scheduled back to back for the next few years.

“Hey, babe!” Shane yelled to me as he came around the staging area. Questions were coming at him from left and right but he walked past everyone, keeping his eyes on me. “You look gorgeous.”

“I doubt that very much,” I said, glancing down at his hands as they wrapped around my eight-and-a-half-months-pregnant belly. “I’m as big as a house.”

“You’re beautiful,” he said, kissing my forehead. “Every single inch of you.”

“Mr. Holloway, I need your approval on these,” one of Shane’s assistants said as a pile of papers were thrust in front of him.

“I’ll get to them later. Just leave everything in my office. We’re wrapping up filming tonight and I’ll take care of all of the paperwork in the morning.”

“You got it, Mr. Holloway.”

“So you’re going to be done with everything by Valentine’s Day?” I asked, my fingers entangled in Shane’s hair. He’d let it grow out a bit, and it was now a sexy mane that came halfway down his neck. “You won’t be jumping off buildings or going on any more high-speed boat chases?”

“Nope. Not for this movie, anyway. We’re wrapping up tonight. I’m going to have some work in the editing room, but I’ll be all yours after this weekend. And I have a big surprise for you,” Shane said as he brought his lips to mine.

“I don’t need a big surprise. Just being with you will be the perfect way to celebrate.”

“Okay, it’s not big or small. It’s just a surprise.”

“Please don’t buy me anything, Shane. I don’t love you because of the things you buy me. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, I know that. But I’m allowed to do nice things for the woman I love, aren’t I?”

I gazed up at Shane, trying to keep a straight face, but couldn’t keep a smile from creeping up one side of my mouth. Before I knew it, that smile was stretching from ear to ear. Shane always seems to have that effect on me. “Of course, you are.” I said. “But really, the only thing I’d like is a nice quiet hour or two with you down at the cove. I haven’t been there in months.”

“I’d like that too. Why don’t we spend the day lounging around down there?”

“Honey,” I said with a laugh. “I might be able to get down the trail to the cove, but I don’t think there’s any way I could hike back up in my condition,” I said, circling my belly with one of my hands.

“Don’t worry about a thing. I’ll carry you.” Shane’s lips dropped down to mine once more before we were interrupted again.

“Sorry to bother you, Mr. Holloway.”

“What is it?” Shane said, his mischievous eyes still on mine.

“Jack wants you to check something on the video playback. He says you might need to reshoot a scene and he wants your input … like … now.”

Shane sighed and kissed my forehead. “Tell him I’ll be right there.”

“I’m gonna to get going. I’ll see you back at the house.”

“Are you sure? It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.”

“Even if you have to reshoot?”

“I doubt we’re gonna need to do that. But if you’re tired I totally understand.”

“Yeah, I’d like to lay down for a little while. I’ll take a nap, then figure out what to make for dinner.”

“No,” Shane said, a worried look on his face. “You go home and relax. I want you to stay off your feet. You’re due in a couple weeks. I’ll make dinner tonight after I get home, and I don’t want to hear any arguments.”

I rolled my eyes at Shane, then smiled. “Fine. You can make dinner. But don’t be upset if all I want to eat is frozen pizza. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it all day.”

“You’re hilarious. Frozen pizza it is, then. And the cove on Valentine’s Day.”

“Yeah right,” I said. “I can just picture you carrying me in this condition. You wouldn’t make it ten feet!”

“We’ll see.” Shane kissed me one more time, then ran off to talk to the crew.

It was more than an hour drive back to our house on the other side of the island, so I put on some music and took in the beautiful scenery as I headed up the coast.

It couldn’t have been ten minutes into my drive when I felt the first contraction. At first I thought it was just the baby kicking or one of the other uncomfortable moments of my pregnancy, but when it didn’t go away I knew what was happening, even though I wasn’t due for two more weeks. I decided I’d better be safe and turn around because the further I drove toward our house, the further away I was from any of the hospitals on the island.

I thought I’d be able to make it back to town on my own, but when the next contraction came, I almost drove off into a ditch. I pulled off the road and called for an ambulance and it showed up within minutes.

“That was fast,” I said to the EMT as he helped me out of my car.

“We were just a few miles away, on our way back to Kauai Medical, when we got the call. Do you know your due date, Mrs …?”

“Holloway. Maggie Holloway. I’m not due for another two weeks. I wasn’t sure if this was a false alarm or not, but I thought I’d better be safe and call.”

The two EMTs helped me into the back of the ambulance and started getting my vitals. “Definitely better to be safe. We’ll get you to the hospital in no time, Maggie.”

“I tried to call my husband a minute ago but he didn’t answer. He’s filming a movie not too far from here and he might not—”

“The hospital will call your husband as soon as we get there. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“I need to call my parents too. They’re more than an hour away and I want them to be there if the baby is coming.”

“All that will be taken care of when we get to the hospital. Just lay back and relax. We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

* * *

“It looks like you’re going to have your baby today, Maggie. I called your husband’s number again, but there still wasn’t any answer. Is there anyone else you want us to call?”

“Yes, my parents. Their number is—”

Just then the phone in the room rang and the nurse picked it up. “Yes, Mr. Holloway. I have Maggie right here. Hold on please.”

The nurse handed me the phone. “It’s your husband.”

“Shane! The baby is coming now!”

“I’m only fifteen minutes away, Maggie. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Okay. I haven’t talked to my mom and dad yet. I don’t think there’s any way they’ll be able to get here on time.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll call them and—”

“They’re on the other side of the island, Shane. There’s no … way … oh God …”

“Maggie? Babe? You okay?”

I wasn’t able to do or say a thing until after the contraction passed. They were getting stronger and coming faster and I knew there wasn’t much time. “Shane … the baby is coming really soon. I want you to be here.”

“I will, Maggie. I promise. I have an idea. Just hold on as long as you can, okay?”

“Okay. I’ll try. I love you so much.”

“I love you too, Maggie.”

The phone went dead and I handed it to the nurse. “He’s on his way.”

“Well, he’d better get here really soon, sweetie.”

“Can you make sure he’s brought to me when he gets here? I want him in the delivery room. And my parents too. I want them all in there if they make it to the hospital on time. I just hope they do.”

“Of course. Now just relax. Everything is going to be just fine, Maggie.”

I fought back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. This wasn’t how I’d planned things at all. After all the classes I’d taken with Shane and my mom, and all the plans I made, I’d imagined that I would be surrounded by everyone I loved the day I gave birth to my first baby. I was scared and I needed the support of my family and the man I loved. But all of the sadness and fear was quickly pushed out of my head with the next contraction, when all I could do was grip the nurse’s hand and scream.

* * *

“Okay, Maggie,” the doctor said from behind her surgical mask. “I need you to start pushing.”

I had passed the point of being ashamed of the fact that I couldn’t stop crying long ago. When they came to wheel me into the delivery room, I begged them to wait, but they said the baby was coming and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. From that point onward, all I remember was my incoherent sobbing in between the pain of the contractions.

“Maggie, you have to push, now,” the doctor said with a calm, but urgent tone.

“No, please, not yet,” I said, but I could feel that I didn’t have a choice in the matter any longer. I could feel the baby coming, so I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth. Just then the door to the delivery room flew open and there they were. My mother and father and Shane. They ran in and surrounded the bed and grabbed my hands.

In the back of my mind, I wanted to kiss Shane and tell him I loved him, but the fact that a baby was coming out of me suddenly took precedence. And now that everyone that I loved was with me, I let go and pushed as hard as I could.

When they brought my daughter to me, I was so weak and exhausted I could barely open my eyes. But as soon as they put her down in my arms I was wide awake.

“She’s so beautiful, dear,” my mother said. “I’m so glad we made it. That was such an unexpected ride … over the entire island!”

“What do you mean?” I asked, looking around at the three of them, then my eyes landing on Shane’s. He was smiling and his eyes had that look in them—the one that always told me he was up to something.

“Your husband brought us all the way across the island by helicopter,” my dad said. “We landed on the roof of the hospital!”

“You’re kidding,” I said, still looking up into Shane’s eyes. “The one from the set?”

“Yeah, that’s the one,” he said with a laugh. “It’s my company that’s renting the thing, so I figured I could do whatever I wanted with it. The pilot was still there, so I grabbed him and gave your parents a call. We made it to the house on the other side of the island and back here in fifteen minutes!”

“You’re kidding!” I said, laughing and looking at the smiling faces around me. “I can’t believe you did that for me, Shane.”

“Of course,” he said, lowering his lips to mine. “I’d do anything for you, and for little Alexandra.” He bent down even further and I watched my husband kiss our little baby on her head too. “The two of you mean more to me than anything in the world.”

As I sat there with my newborn in my arms and the people I loved most in the world surrounding me, I knew that my life couldn’t get any better.

But, of course, I had completely forgotten about the big Valentine’s Day surprise that Shane had planned.

* * *

“Are you ready?” Shane asked as he kissed my cheek to wake me up.

“What are you talking about?” I asked. I blinked to get my eyes used to the morning sun, then turned to see his smiling face.

“It’s Valentine’s Day, babe. Did you forget about your surprise?”

I stretched my arms up in the air, then brought them down around Shane and gazed at him. “I don’t need a Valentine’s surprise. I already have everything I want. You and Alexandra are all I could have ever asked for.”

“I know you don’t need anything, and if you’re too tired I totally understand. But I thought it might be nice for the three of us to take a quiet boat ride around the island. Nothing fancy. Just some beautiful scenery and sea air.”

“Oh, that sounds lovely. Did you make the arrangements already?” I asked, sitting up and glancing over at Alexandra, who was still asleep in her crib on my side of the bed.

“Yes, there’s a small barge that will pick us up down at the boat harbor. We can eat breakfast here, then have lunch when we dock after the cruise. How does that sound?”

I picked Alexandra up and cradled her in my arms, then noticed a breakfast tray on the nightstand. “That sounds wonderful. You made breakfast already?”

“Yeah,” he said, pouring out some coffee. “I’ve been up for a little while. I guess I’m excited for today.” Shane set my coffee down on the bedside table next to me and gave me a kiss. “I hope you enjoy what I have planned.”

“I’m sure I will.” I let myself become pulled into Shane’s kiss for a long moment, then basked in the incredible feelings of love and happiness that filled me.

* * *

The boat ride was as incredible as Shane had hoped it would be. With the island off to the left, and the open sea on our right, we cruised up the beautiful coastline. It wasn’t until the motor stopped that I noticed where we were. I could see our house way up on top the cliff and I knew that the cove was just around the outcropping of rocks in front of us.

“Pull up the rudder and paddle the rest of the way in,” Shane said to the men who were manning the boat.

“What’s going on?” I asked. “If we go closer to the shore we might get stuck.”

“Don’t worry,” Shane said. “We’re on a special barge. It can go up to the shore without running aground.”

“Are we getting off the boat?” I asked. But just then I looked up and saw where we were headed. It was our cove, with tents and tables set up and people milling around, and everything covered in layers of purple and pink flowers. “What’s going on, Shane?”

“I brought you to the cove for Valentine’s Day,” he said with a warm smile. “Well, that, and to celebrate Alexandra’s birth. Everyone is here. Your parents and our friends. I hope that’s okay.”

“Janine is here? I can’t believe her! She didn’t tell me about this!”

“I made her swear that she wouldn’t say a thing. I know this isn’t exactly what we talked about—just you and me at the cove—but I thought this would be nice too.”

“Of course, it’s okay! I can’t believe you arranged this, Shane.”

“Well, I knew how much you missed coming down here. We can pull the barge all the way up onto the shore and help you in and out. You won’t have to make the trek back up to the house and you won’t have to worry about me carrying you.”

“You are too much. This is wonderful. I love it.”

“I’d originally planned it just for us, but since Alexandra came a bit early, I just turned the whole thing into a luau. A big surprise celebration. But not too big,” he said with that sexy look in his eyes again.

“No, it’s not too big.”

As the boat moved closer to the shore, Shane wrapped me and Alexandra in his arms. I was amazed at how my life just seemed to keep getting better and better. Every time I thought there was no way I could feel any more love or be filled with any more happiness, I was surprised yet again. And I knew that this was just the beginning—that my love for Shane and Alexandra would continue to grow, and to surprise me, for the rest of my life.