Chapter Eighteen

Caroline’s pregnancy flew by, and it was a little more than she bargained for. She did everything that she was supposed to do—she ate really well and continued to exercise, but pregnancy was not for the faint of heart. She carried around a little basketball under her dress most times and felt blessed that she didn’t gain a lot of weight during her pregnancy. She had terrible morning sickness throughout her pregnancy, however, and she was looking forward to it being over with. Caroline wanted to get back to feeling normal and holding that little baby in her hands, instead of feeling sick every single day. All she thought about these days was holding that baby in her arms. A smile came to her face every time she thought about it. She pictured rocking the baby to sleep and feeding the child. She couldn’t have been more excited at the prospect of being a mother. It was one of her biggest dreams, and it was finally coming true. She loved Mike with all her heart, and they were going to have a blast raising their child together.

Both their families came together and gave her the most incredible shower she could have ever dreamed of. It was more than she had bargained for, but living on the upper east side of New York was all about going big on everything. It was something she just had to get used to. They had the shower at the plaza, and it was as elegant as their wedding had been. She felt it was overboard, considering it was just a baby shower, but that was just the way things were done, and she was still grateful to have people in her life that loved her that much. She was shocked to find a few hundred people waiting there to celebrate with her and didn’t even know some of them. But they were all there, happy to help her celebrate. The gifts had been lavish and much-needed; she had barely bought anything herself being so busy keeping her company running. The nursery was complet,e but they hadn’t purchased anything to fill it yet. Now they would have more than they needed for their bundle of joy. With so many people there, she had found the event a little overwhelming, however, but it was something she got over quickly enough. She had expected a more private affair with just immediate friends and family, but Mike and her best friend had made sure it was nothing like that at all. So she had accepted it and it turned out to be quite a night, though she was fairly exhausted with the whole thing afterwards. It had been one hell of a party, but it was tiring being around all those people. Caroline was pretty sure that their child would have enough clothing to get it through to college. After the shower, she had looked through all the clothing, finding them so cute. She hung them lovingly in the closet and put the clothing in the drawers. She was very grateful for everything she had been given, and it caused her an immense amount of excitement at the thought of what was to come next. She couldn’t wait to see her little baby and get to use all the things that were given to her. Being around people at the shower made her realize just how excited she was to be a mother and see what that next step in their future was like. She knew that Mike would make a wonderful father, and she looked forward to being a part of that with him. He had changed a lot, and Caroline knew that he really loved her. She was sure that they could get through anything if they just stuck together. That was what was most important.

Since their talk, things had been going really well between Mike and Caroline. She couldn’t ask for anything more. He was on his best behaviour, and she felt the connection between them growing stronger, and that was all she ever wanted. Mike no longer brought up Joshua, and she was grateful for that as well. She didn’t want to be punished for someone she had dated in the past. She never wanted to judge him on his past and didn’t think she should be judged based on anything that happened between her and Joshua. It just wasn’t right. Everything was great now between her and Mike, and it made her feel like the trouble between them was a thing of the past. Which was good because she didn’t want to bring their child into the world if things between them weren’t going well. She wanted that child to be loved as much as possible, not have to come into a home where the parents were fighting constantly. But she felt good about things, and that was all that mattered; she would be okay from then on out. She truly believed that they would be good now, and being a family would be an easy step for them. It was all going to be alright, she chanted that often.

The months that passed the conversation had been nothing short of a whirlwind. They were both as busy as ever. There was so much planning to do to prepare for the baby, plus she still had to juggle the company that she ran, and that was no easy task. There was so little time to prepare, and yet the baby was coming sooner rather than later. She hadn’t realized how busy she would be with the clothing line she had launched, and being pregnant didn’t allow her to get much done. She had to delegate a lot to her team, but it was probably time that she did that anyways. But it just seemed that the company was getting bigger, and she didn’t have enough hours in the day to complete what she wanted. Caroline liked being part of the whirlwind, and she knew she would miss that part once the baby came. She liked being very hands on but knew she would have to take a step back from that and spend more time in her own studio. Things were just going to be a little crazy for awhile; she thrived in that environment, though, so she didn’t worry too much about it.

Caroline was thrilled that her line was being picked up by the celebrities; it helped immensely in fast-tracking her line. Once a celebrity wore her items everyone wanted them—it was just that easy. Seeing it splashed all over the magazines was like seeing her dreams come true right before her eyes. She couldn’t imagine how well things had been going but was grateful for it all and wouldn’t have it any other way. The future looked bright for her line, and Caroline knew that she was going to continue to be successful and probably very wealthy because of it. Not that money ever meant much to her, but the success portion always did. She had wanted to be someone, and it looked like it was going to happen exactly the way she had always envisioned it. The more her line soared, the more she was being considered as a designer to be reckoned with. Finally, able to call herself one of the elite designers was something to be proud of. She had a long way to go but believed she would go all the way to the top in no time. The most exciting part for Caroline was when she decided to start up a couture line for children. She had decided on it upon realizing she was pregnant. She wanted to be able to design clothing for her own child and then send it out into the world. Caroline had started putting things together while pregnant, and seeing the dress and suits she put together caused her so much pride. She couldn’t imagine being happier than she was then. Everything was just the way she wanted it. As soon as word got out that she was a designer for children, Caroline had orders pouring in. They had to hire a whole new team just to handle the children’s couture line because they had trouble keeping up with the orders. That was all good news, of course, for Caroline; she was widely popular and her line was exclusive only to a few places. She was thinking of opening her own boutique to showcase the children’s line and then eventually spreading that chain all over the world. It was a dream of hers, but one that would have to wait; she had her hands full already with the baby coming.

That was a thing of the past, however; they were all caught up now and able to handle anything that came their way. The designs were selling as soon as they were launched, and she continued to sell out like crazy. She couldn’t wait to find out what she was having so she would know whether her child would be sporting her dresses or blazers. Celebrities wanted first choices and had regular clients on waiting lists dying to get the clothing before it hit the stores.

Caroline had a new line available as well, but it would not be launched until she had her little bundle. Things were getting close, and she needed to focus on her pregnancy; too much stress was not good for the baby. Not that she had much to be stressed about. Her marriage was back on track, and they had a little one on the way. They were just very busy people.

She just needed everything to be right for the new line, and what she needed right now was to focus on Mike and the baby. He was just as excited as she was to meet their little one. Caroline couldn’t wait to see his face when the child was born. She knew deep down that he would make a wonderful father.

Caroline was due in a matter of days and was anxious to get things over with; it was time to start the new chapter in her life. She couldn’t wait to find out what she was having and sometimes thought Mike was even more excited about finding out the sex of the baby than she was if that were possible. Being pregnant was for the birds; she was over the back aches, weight gain and vomiting. It was time to get out of this and get some baby love. She had been longing for a glass of wine for months, and soon enough she would be able to partake in a glass or two, which was exactly what she needed. The best part was that Mike and Caroline were having plenty of sex these days to try to induce her. She was desperate to go into labor, and having sex was just a step in the right direction. It hadn’t been working, however, which had been shocking to her since sex between Mike and her had always been rough.

The next morning when Caroline woke up, she rolled to the side of the bed feeling like a beached whale. She prayed that she would go into labor that day. She swung her legs over the bed and headed to the bathroom before her bladder burst. Caroline peed so many times during the day no matter what she did to stop it. She went to the bathroom and started to brush her teeth. Mike had already gone off to work for the day, and all she could think about was going back to bed. She was exhausted and needed more rest, but considered, however, going out to sit by their pool if it wasn’t too hot out. A cool swim would probably make her feel better.

While brushing her teeth, Caroline suddenly felt a pop and water pooled down at her feet. She put a hand between her legs and gasped. Her water had broken, and suddenly she felt panicky. She had thought it would be more dramatic like a flood, but it was more like a trickle down her leg. Not knowing what to do, her mind suddenly blank, she dropped the toothbrush and headed back into the bedroom to find her phone. She immediately called Mike and told him she was in labor. He told her he would send a driver for her and meet her there as soon as he could. She grabbed her baby bag and headed for the door to wait for the driver to arrive.