Here Comes The Bride (29 page)

"Heartbeat," she said with a small smirk.

My eyes widened at the sound. Aidan’s hand clasped mine. I squeezed as the room went silent.

"And there is the other," she announced as the whooshing and swooshing sound filled the room again. "They both sound very healthy and strong."

She pulled the small piece away, wiped my stomach off, and offered me a hand to sit up.

"Everything is looking great. Good job
, mommy." She smiled warmly and I swallowed down the panic at being called a mommy.

I hadn't been prepared to be a mommy.  And, right now, I wasn't sure what to do about Aidan
and me. I don't believe he'd been the one to drug me, but I don't feel safe. Someone did this and not knowing who or why was forcing the distance between us to grow.

Would we ever be a normal couple? Could we achieve normal for our children?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aidan

Brief phone conversations and text messages were all I could get from her. She would make excuses for me not to visit. And
, though I could ignore her and just show up, I didn’t want to fight with her or argue, which is exactly what would happen.

Seeing her step off the elevator was like the first time a small child sees a rainbow. She was so beautiful and I instantly felt my
entire body fill with warmth and the itch to touch her.

I was catching her off guard, but I couldn’t resist wrapping my arms around her. Walking down the hospital hallway, I took in every inch of her
. That was when I noticed her belly.

I 'd seen Elora multiple times with James over the past month
, Lilli was already almost the same size as her. I felt fascinated and scared at the same time. She was carrying a part of me inside of her. But, what if she was too small and fragile to carry twins? She needed to come home where I could take care of her, I was going to have to insist.

Lilli’s mood lifted when Doctor Sherman took away her air cast and signed her off in full working condition. However, her mood shifted the second he sent us off to Doctor Munthers. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, wanted to know why she felt so tense, but assumed it was still because of the whole situation between us and this pregnancy.

I tried to remain quiet during the appointment, but I had to bite my tongue when I heard how sick she had been getting. It already killed me knowing how far away from she was, let alone now finding out that she’s been ill.

Then the swooshing filled the room and I was awestruck.

That’s my baby, both of my babies, inside Lilli.
Hell yeah!

Mentally I was cheering, knowing it wouldn’t be appreciated by Lilli if I burst into a song. She seemed scared
and squeezed my hand instead of pushing it away.

Phoebe greeted us in the waiting room.

"I see the cast is gone. How was everything else?" She stood up, shoving a large magazine into her bag.

Lilli shrugged. "Good."

"Actually, she said that the babies were doing great." Lilli looked at me quickly and I winked at her. She tried to hide it, but there was a small smile trying to break through.

"That’s wonderful!" Phoebe squealed
loudly, placing both of her hands on Lilli’s stomach. "You hear that babies! You are doing great! Keep growing, so I can take you shopping."

"Will you stop that," Lilli groaned as I chuckled.

"Hell no I won’t stop!" Phoebe stood up with her hands still on Lilli’s stomach. "You know they can hear me in there, I read about it online."

I watched Lilli roll her eyes before I asked.

"Is that true?"

Phoebe nodded enthusiastically to me with an excited smile.

I quickly replaced Phoebe’s hands with my own and dropped to my knees, face directly at Lilli’s stomach.

"Hey there
, babies. It’s daddy." I heard Phoebe giggle.

"Get up," Lilli hissed at me and tried to reach for my arms to pull me up.

I swatted her away.

"I’m talking to my children, Shh!" I chuckled.

"No, you are talking to my stomach in the middle of the hospital. Get up!" This time her giggle couldn’t help but break through.

"We’ll continue our conversation later." I kissed her clothed stomach and got up smiling at her. Phoebe giggled and Lilli rolled her eyes.

We all got onto the elevator.

"So, you’re riding back with us right?" Phoebe smirked at me and then I turned my head to see Lilli staring at me.

"Yes, if you don’t mind." I said to Phoebe, but still looked at Lilli.

"Wait, you’re coming to Winter Harbor?" I nodded. "Don’t you need to get back to work or something?" I shook my head at Lilli.

"I’ve got a couple of days." I shrugged. "I cleared my schedule. Plus…" I swallowed the nerves "I hoped that you would come home with me." I had been looking at the floor, so I looked up slowly to see her expression. It was blank.

The elevator announced its arrival to the lobby with a ding and we all walked in silence to the car.

The drive back to Winter Harbor had been very quiet. Phoebe napped in the back seat as Lilli glanced out the passenger window with her head on the headrest. I was about to ask her what she was thinking when my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and furrowed my brow.

"Hello
?" I answered.

"Aidan, its Loreley, do you have a moment?" She sounded like she was
either rushed or excited.

"Actually I’m driving and…"

"It’s about the birth control pills, Aidan."

"Oh?"

"Are you with Lilli now? She will want to hear this I’m sure."

"Yes
, I’m with her. Loreley, I think—"

"I know who it was
, Aidan."

"You do? How did you find out? Wait. Who was it and who gave you the information?" I had so many questions that needed answers.

"It was Becca Johnson, you remember her? Dr. Johnson’s daughter? And let’s just say that I sort of stumbled upon the information. I really can’t out my source." She stated a bit too innocent.

"It’s fine, thank you
, Loreley."

I hung up my phone and immediately felt Lilli look at me with confusion on her face. I answered her unasked question, though my mind was still reeling from the information.

"That was Loreley." I was scrolling through my contacts. "Gideon’s daughter." I informed.

"I know who Loreley is," Lilli sounded annoyed.

"Sorry," I found the contact I was looking for and hit the talk button. "Lilli, it was Becca." I could feel Lilli’s confusion and then it seemed to hit her.

"Becca is a pharmacist. That’s how I knew her." It was my turn to be confused.

"What are you talking about?" Then I motioned for her to wait. "Lance, it’s Aidan, I need you to look into some information that I was given in regards to the ‘situation’."

"Of course, what do you have?" he replied.

"Look into Becca Johnson" I spoke firmly.

"The same Becca Johnson that…" I cut him off.

"Yeah, the same one," I spit out.

"Damn," he breathed out heavily in disbelief. "I’ll start looking around now and will get back to you."

"Thanks," I said quickly before hanging up. "Now…what are you talking about?"

"Becca," Lilli exclaimed. "She works at my pharmacy
, that’s why she looked familiar to me."

I could feel my eyes widen.

"But why would she do this? I don’t understand what her motivation would be."

"I don’t either," Lilli quipped and then sighed heavily as she sat back into the seat. "It feels better to know that it was someone else though."

I bit back my smile. She was finally going to believe me and maybe even trust in me and in us. One could hope.

We spent a week together in Winter Harbor before Donald and I could convince her to
even consider going back to New York. Phoebe and Millie seemed to be the final nudge that pushed her to agree. Millie promised to take good care of Donald, who was a little stand offish with me, but I assumed that Lilli had told him what happened so it was to be expected. Though, I do have to say that at the mention of him being a ‘grandpa’, as Millie called him, he would light up with joy and happiness. Hell, she even bribed him to do his therapy and eat correctly with the promise that it would allow him to be strong enough to hold and play with his grandchildren.

Even though the comments were for Donald, I had to admit that it made me feel incredible to
o.

Lilli spent most of the trip back to New York with Phoebe. Though we were talking and both had basically discovered the source of the ‘tainted’ birth control pills, there was still a distance between us that wasn’t there before. She was more withdrawn
.

"You know
, there is this really great maternity boutique on fifth that we should definitely go to and then…" Lilli cut Phoebe off.

"Oh God, can you please not talk about maternity clothing," she groaned.

I watched Phoebe pat Lilli on the stomach.

"Oh
, we are going to have to do more than just talk about it, dear." Phoebe giggled.

"Shut up," Lilli growled, scowling at Phoebe.

The banter drew a laugh from me, earning me a scowl.  I'd take it.  At least she was coming home; her and my,
our
, children.

Coming soon…

Book 3 in the Modern Arrangement Series: 

Happily Ever Addendum
 

             
Aidan finally has Lilli and their unborn children home, where he can participate in their lives

and protect them. But when hurdle after hurdle is thrown in the way of their happily ever

after, will they be able to survive betrayal, lies, and the realization that they may be meant for each other after all.

Join Lilli and Aidan as they fight to prove that they are more than the contract they signed.

Tentative Release – May 2013

Also in the works:

             
All Grown Up

             
When the Mackey's move next door to teenage Chloe Fisher and her blended family, she

gains a best friend, a crush on Leo Mackey- the boy next door, and a future she never planned

on. All grown up now, she thinks the crush of her dreams is ready to go the distance it’s whooshed away without her understanding why. Chloe and Leo follow different paths in life and try to move on, but pivotal life altering events drive them back for another chance of the passion they started years before. Can they fan the flame of their love, or will stubbornness and lies tear them farther apart.

Tentative Release – Summer 2013

Books
by Sadie Grubor (& other pen names):

Falling Stars Series

Falling Stars
Stellar Evolution (a Falling Stars novella)

Hidden in the Stars (coming soon…)

Live-In Position

Under pen name V.S. Tice

Young Adult Books as Saewod Tice:

Amongst the Ruins

About the Author:

To keep up to date on upcoming releases, sneak peeks, cover reveals, and inspirational music & images for the Falling Stars book(s) you can find Sadie Grubor on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and her website.

Amazon Author Page:       
Sadie Grubor

Facebook:                          
Author Sadie Grubor

Goodreads:                        
Sadie Grubor

Website:                             
www.sadiegrubor.webs.com

Twitter:                              
https://twitter.com/SadieGrubor

You can also find me on
Authorgraph
.

About this Editor (& Script Savior):

There is so much I could say about the woman who corrects my missing words, bad grammar, over use of the semi-colon and comma, and all the other craziness I send to her.  Though I could go on and on, she would probably edit me.
 