CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
December
He ran up the stairs, burst into the room, and yelled for Vivi. “What in the hell are you doing? This isn’t something that we can be late to.”
Vivi walked slowly out of the bathroom and smiled serenely. “The party doesn’t start until I get there, and I’m not meeting my children without looking my best. I had to shower, do my hair, and put on my makeup.” Smoothing down her caftan, she beamed. “How do I look?”
“Amazingly, blindingly beautiful. Can we go now?”
Glancing around the room, she made sure that she hadn’t forgotten anything. “Sure.”
Joel guided her slowly out of the room like one would, say, do for a small ship in a tight harbor. And that was what Vivi pretty much was at this point. Make no mistake, she kept her vow of eating as much as she wanted. So with two babies in her belly along with countless quarts of ice cream, she resembled a yacht more than she cared to admit.
“Have the contractions changed?”
“No, they’re still forty-five minutes apart. I have a ton of time.” Moving down the steps at a snail’s pace, she hoped she was going to use most of it just getting out of the house. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
Stopping briefly at the door, he gave her a kiss. “Me too, honey.”
Bending over slightly, Vivi squeezed Joel’s hand with more strength than he knew she possessed. Breathing slowly in and out, she braced herself as the contraction rolled through her. “That was a good one. Check your watch and let’s see when the next one is.”
Glancing up, she noticed that he was sweating and had a slightly wild-eyed look. She released his hand and winked. “This is going to be a piece of cake. Speaking of cake, I’d like one after I give birth.”
“Sure, honey. Whatever you want.” They walked out of the house, and Joel made her sit on the bench while he set the alarm. Running back to the car, he opened the door and climbed in, and drove down the driveway. Vivi rested on the bench and wondered how long it was going to take him to realize that he’d forgotten something.
Stretching her feet out in front of her, she admired her pedicure. She had gotten one yesterday and had chosen a lovely raspberry color. It was the perfect complement to her gold flip-flops and caftan. The screech of tires echoed as Joel roared back down the driveway.
He threw the car door open and jogged over to her. Being a smart woman, she didn’t say anything and held his hand as he helped her get up. After she was settled, he glanced around, and she was pretty sure that he was double-checking to see if there was anything else that he needed to take to the hospital.
Apparently satisfied, he slowly drove down the driveway and out to the street. “I don’t know how you can be so calm about all this,” he remarked.
Fluffing her hair, she checked her lipstick in the mirror. “This is the easiest thing we’ve done in the last nine months. Giving birth is easy-peasy lemon squeezy.” When she looked at him, she realized that he didn’t think that was true at all. “Compared to having my clinic being threatened by two gangs, then having it blown up, and after that having someone take a run at me in a car, also having my house being shot up and Molotov cocktails being thrown through the front window, this is a dream.”
“Don’t forget being shot at by the woman obsessed with your sister.”
“That too. A Southern woman is known for her grit and grace, and that’s what I’m displaying.”
Taking her hand, he squeezed it. “God, I love you.”
“I love you too. Thanks for giving me these babies.”
“Any time, Viv.”
“You could have just given me one. That would have been more than enough.”
“When a SEAL goes on a mission, he likes to give it everything he has, and that’s what I did. Gave you everything I had.”
Her laughter filled the truck and he joined her. “Let’s hope that the babies are sweet and kind,” she remarked.
“I’m sure they will be, along with loud, opinionated, stubborn, and funny,” he added, “Any children that we make are bound to be hell on wheels. So let’s not fool ourselves into thinking it’s going to be any different.”
“You’re right, Joel.” Grasping his hand tightly, she said. “Here comes another one.” Breathing less calmly this time, she held on as the contraction happened. “Check your watch.”
“Fifteen minutes, Viv.”
“Plenty of time.” The way he sped up slightly told her that he didn’t believe her. But she knew it was going to be hours before the babies arrived.
***
One hour later, Vivi lay in bed cradling her two sweet babies. “They ended up coming a lot faster than I thought.”
Joel kissed his wife’s head and stared down at his two beautiful children. “We sure are glad to meet you two. Welcome to the world, Victoria Elizabeth and Jordan Ellis.”
Gazing down at the strongest, kindest woman in the world, he felt tears gather in his eyes. “We should have as many of these as we can.” When he heard an intake of breath, he gazed at his exhausted wife and realized that probably wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Placing her hand on his face, she faintly smiled. “Later is probably a good idea.”
“I love you, Viv. Thank you for bringing me back to life.”
“I love you, Joel. Thank you for helping me find my happy.”
“Turns out we just had to look in the right place.”
Staring into one another’s eyes told them both that they had found what they’d been searching for all along. Someone to love who loved them back. A family.
THE END