If you so much as touch me again, I swear to God I’ll eviscerate you!”
Jeremy ignored Bernie and took her hand anyway, wincing when she dug her fingernails into him instead of the bedsheet. But it was all in a day’s work for a labor coach. What Jeremy couldn’t figure out was why they called him a “coach” when absolutely nobody listened to anything he had to say.
“You always did have a way with words,” he said, smiling down at Bernie.
“I’m not kidding, Jeremy. This is your fault. You started this whole thing. If sex so much as crosses your mind again—oh, God!”
“Remember your visualizations,” he said. “Picture yourself in a beautiful country garden, picking a bouquet of roses…”
“Oh, shut up! That birth class instructor was a New Age goofball. How many flowers would she be picking if her uterus was tied in a freakin’ knot?”
He helped her breathe through another contraction, and then the pain subsided. Barely. At this point, one was kind of blending right into the next one.
“Oh, God, Jeremy,” she said, gasping a little, looking worried. “I don’t think I can do this. It hurts so much. Are you sure everything’s all right?”
“Hang on, sweetheart,” he said, brushing her hair away from her temple, then kissing her there. “Everything’s going exactly as it’s supposed to. Our babies will be here soon.”
“I know. We’re having babies. Two of them.”
“That’s right.”
“That’s a hundred percent more babies than most people have.”
“Yes, it is.”
“One for each of us. Like Twinkies.”
He smiled. “But we can share.”
Then her brows drew together. “But they can’t come out yet. I’m not ready to be a mother.”
“Sure you are. You’re going to be the best mother ever.”
“No,” she said, breathing hard. “When they come out, I’m stuffing them back in.”
He smiled. “Sure you want to do that?”
“Yes. But don’t worry. It won’t be forever. Just until I know I can do this. I’ll let them out in a couple of years. Or maybe a decade or two.”
He squeezed her hand. “But I’ll be there to help you, sweetheart. We can do it together.”
She took a deep breath and let it out, actually smiling a little. “Oh, yeah. Together. That’ll work.”
Jeremy couldn’t have imagined being this much in love with anyone.
A month ago, on a cool, crisp Saturday afternoon, they’d gotten married in the sanctuary of Sunnyside Baptist Church. Teresa was Bernie’s maid of honor, and Jeremy asked Phil to be his best man. Eleanor didn’t stop crying all day. Jeremy hired the best photographer in the metroplex and made sure she had all the photos she needed to show her family, her friends, the ladies at the church, the postman, the clerk at the drugstore, and the poor woman who was just out walking her dog and minding her own business.
After her first night’s visit in the guest suite, Eleanor never left. At first she wasn’t sure about taking Jeremy up on his invitation, telling him the suite was entirely too luxurious for somebody as ordinary as she was. But it wasn’t long before she felt right at home on the pillowtop mattress, raved about how helpful the Jacuzzi was for her arthritis, and had tea every morning on the balcony. In her spare time, she chatted endlessly with Mrs. Spencer, planning exactly how they intended to spoil the twins when they made their grand entrance into the world. And when the time came that Eleanor needed more help, Jeremy insisted that she would never have to leave the comfort of her new home to get it.
Bernie continued to oversee the renovations at Creekwood, and they were well on their way to being wrapped up when she went into labor three weeks before her due date. The tenants were thrilled to have such a nice place to live. They thought the owner of their complex was just about the greatest guy on earth, and Jeremy couldn’t have imagined how wonderful it would feel to be that guy.
Life was good. And it was getting ready to be even better.
Another contraction came. Then another. Bernie swore she couldn’t do it, but Jeremy held her hand and got her to breathe with him. Half an hour later, their babies came into the world—a boy and a girl—and just like that, Jeremy had the family he never could have imagined.
And he couldn’t have loved them more.
An hour later, Bernie lay resting in her hospital bed, exhausted and ecstatic all at the same time. Jeremy sat beside her, holding her hand with a look on his face that said there was nowhere he’d rather be. Eleanor stood by the isolettes, admiring her new grandchildren.
“They’re so beautiful,” she said, rubbing her thumb gently over one of the babies’ hands. “I can’t believe I’m actually a grandmother.”
And Bernie couldn’t believe the chain of events that had led to this moment. The night in Jeremy’s safe room. A pregnancy that never should have happened. Jeremy’s insistence that he was staying in her life no matter what. Two highly dissimilar people falling in love, only to find out they weren’t so different after all.
Her mother was right. It was a blessing.
“What about names?” Eleanor asked. “Have you made the final decision?”
“Our son is Jeremy, Junior,” Jeremy said.
Bernie rolled her eyes. “That discussion was closed weeks ago. He loves the idea of having a mini-me.” She sighed. “Two of them in the same house. Can you imagine?”
Eleanor trailed her fingertip over the other baby’s face. “You have a little girl here, too,” she said. “What have you decided to name her?”
Bernie looked at Jeremy. “Unfortunately, that’s still up for discussion.”
“No, it isn’t,” he said.
She closed her eyes. “Jeremy—”
“I’m naming this baby.”
Bernie looked at her mother. “He’s been coming up with some weird names, but don’t worry. He thinks he has the final word, but I still have veto power. If it’s something awful—”
“Her name is Eleanor.”
Bernie froze. Slowly she turned back around to look at Jeremy. Then suddenly he looked all blurry, because tears were filling her eyes.
“You’re naming her after me?” Eleanor said.
“If that’s all right with you,” Jeremy said. “Maybe we’ll call her Ellie for short.”
“That’s what they called me when I was a little girl,” Eleanor said, and then she was crying all over again.
Bernie pulled Jeremy to her, putting her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I love you,” she whispered in his ear. “I love you so much.”
And he hugged her back, stroking her hair and whispering that he loved her, too. When she finally let him go, he scooped up little Ellie. He stared down at his daughter, then lowered his lips and kissed her gently on the forehead, and Bernie thought she’d die from loving him so much. Eleanor sat down in a nearby chair. Jeremy brought the baby to her, and she held her as if she were the most precious thing on earth. Then he picked up Jeremy, Jr., smiling down at him like the proud father he was, one who Bernie knew would be there for his children every day of their lives.
Then he brought the baby to Bernie. As she cradled him in her arms, he blinked a few times. His eyes got heavy. Then he stuck his fist in his mouth and fell asleep.
“Well, he’s certainly not like his father,” Bernie said. “He’s not demanding anything.”
“Give him time. He’ll be a chip off the old block soon enough.”
Jeremy sat down beside them, leaning in and resting his hand on the baby’s blanket. “My family,” he said softly, then turned to kiss Bernie on the cheek.
She couldn’t believe there had ever been a time when her only goal had been to keep him out of her life, because she couldn’t imagine living life without him now. In the end, he was all she’d ever wanted—a good, kind, dependable man who would love her forever.