The New Ever After (The New Ever After Series)
Read The New Ever After (The New Ever After Series) Online
Authors: Julie Farley
The New Ever
After
Julie Farley
Perfect Mamas Press
The New Ever After
Perfect Mamas Press
Published by Perfect Mamas Press August 2013
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 Julie Farley
Cover illustration by Rob Huddleston
All rights reserved.
ISBN
:
0989222721
ISBN-13: 978-0-9892227-2-3
For Justin
who puts up with me,
loves me
and inspires me.
Publishing
Tripped Up Love
was the scariest thing I have ever done. But you, my readers, welcomed my book into the world and your lives. You, my readers, turned my dreams in to reality. Thank you from the bottom of my heart and the tips of my toes.
I couldn’t have written
The New Ever After
without the greatest support system in the world. Thank you to Jenni, a.k.a JD Combs, for being the best writing partner any time of the day or night. Thank you to Julie for being my editor and becoming my friend. Thank you for going the extra mile in so many ways. I could not have done this without you. Thank you to the original bus stop moms for buying my books for yourselves and your friends, for listening to my endless talk about my books, my numbers and my crazy plotlines, for attending my events and supporting me with your smiles and love and for sending my kids inside when I was too deep in the writing to make it out to the bus on time. Thank you to every single person I work with for all of your support. You have embraced my writing and me and it means the world to me. Thank you to Suzanne and Lauren for being awesome beta readers. Thank you to Suzanne for her attention to detail and her friendship every step of the way. Thank you to Ali for keeping our writing group together and on task. Thank you to Lisa for reading and re-reading this book and for helping and inspiring me each and every day in more ways than I can count. Thank you to Ryan for his unending knowledge about the technical topics in this book. He is truly my real life MacGyver! Thank you to the countless book clubs that have welcomed me into their groups and their homes.
Thank you to
my entire family - my in-laws, my brother, and my cousin - for your constant support. Thank you to my mom for cringing through some of the scenes in this book but reading and loving it anyway. Thank you to my kids who believe with the publication of this book they are one step closer to getting a pool or going to Hawaii. Thank you to Justin for everything.
And just like last time, thank you to my dad even though he’s only with us in the stars.
Thank you Dad for pulling some strings and making this dream a reality.
"A friend is one to whom one may pour out the contents of one's heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that gentle hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness, blow the rest away." George Eliot
The new ever after...it's filled with sadness and tears and overwhelming happiness. It's messy and chaotic and highly structured. It's days filled with nothing and hours scheduled by the minute. It's love and hugs and slobbery kisses. It's wishing the kids were all in college and crying that they are going to kindergarten. It's a lingering hole in your heart for an old love. It's not believing you're cooking for so many people and it's being unbelievably grateful that you have a partner-in-crime to help you. It's getting a hug even when you're covered in spit up. It's deciding between comfy cotton boyshorts and a fancy new thong. It's not wanting to roll over and kiss the one you're with and it's the hottest sex you’ve ever had. It's life, and it's your life. It's passing you by with hours that feel endless and years that are gone with the blink of an eye. The new ever after, it's what real fairy tales are made of.
“Your blood pressure is 140/85. That’s too high. I can’t let you leave the office. We’re going to admit you and prepare to deliver the babies,” said the doctor.
“What do you mean her blood pressure’s
too high? Why is it high? The babies aren’t even due yet,” said Peter.
“It happens
in many multiple pregnancies. It’s called preeclampsia. The babies are 36 weeks. With twins, that’s a safe time to deliver them.”
“But what about Heather? Is she in danger?”
“No. As long as we deliver them now she should be fine.”
“What do you mean deliver them now? If you wait an hour is she
in danger?” asked Peter.
“Mr.
Adamson, your wife will be fine. We will deliver the twins before she is in any danger. That’s why we’re going to admit her now and monitor her progress,” said the doctor.
Heather turned to Peter.
“I’ll call my mom. She can stay with the other three kids. Will you call Jenny and ask her to pack me a bag of clothes and bring it to me?” she asked.
“Yeah, yes, I can do that. What should I tell her?” said Peter as he ran his hand through his hair about five times in a row.
“To bring me a bag of clothes,” said Heather for the second time.
“What kind of clothes? Pajamas?
Jeans? What would you like?” asked Peter.
“Don’t worry
. Jenny will know. Just call her!”
“Ok, yeah, I’ll do it now.”
The doctor interjected. “The nurse will come in and wheel you over to the hospital. You should have these babies in a few hours. I’ll be over shortly.”
Heather called her mom who was already at
the house watching the kids. Peter walked out into the hall to make his phone calls.
3:03 Jenny: Just talked to Peter. He seems a little freaked. Are you ok?
3:04 Heather: I’m fine. Happy to get these guys out of here. Will you pack my robe and the new Target pjs that are on the couch in my room?
3:05 Jenny: No prob. Text with anything else. Xo
Peter walked back in with the nurse and the wheelchair. Heather waddled over to the chair and plopped her overgrown body down.
“Are you all set, Mrs. Adamson?” asked the nurse.
“I am more than ready to have these babies. Let’s go.”
“What can I get you, babe? W
ater? Will Jenny get the camera? Do you want something to eat?” Peter turned toward the nurse. “Can I stay with her or do I have to leave?”
“Dude, chill out. Don’t get all crazy on me
. I am fine. I’ll tell you if I need anything. Right now, I need you to be calm.”
Shit, if this is how he’s going to act I’m in trouble,
thought Heather.
Peter ran his hands through his hair again. Even though it was the end of June
, he was wearing one of his signature outfits that Heather had a hard time resisting even as she was being wheeled into the hospital – a white t-shirt, tight well-worn jeans and his black Doc Marten boots. The nurse kept stealing sideways glances at him. Heather was too excited to have the twins out of her stomach and into her arms to feel jealous.
Heather
was wheeled to a private room and the revolving door of nurses and administrators gathered vitals and necessary information. The anesthesiologist arrived and asked her when she had last eaten. She’d had lunch before her doctor’s appointment.
“Ok. I’m going to give you a little concoction to clear everything out. It doesn’t taste good so drink i
t quickly, like a shot of tequila.”
Heather did as she was told
, and the nurses and doctor left them alone. Within two minutes, she was nauseous and started throwing up. Peter leapt up from the chair next to her and pushed the button on the remote asking for help from the nurse.
“Yes? How can I help you?” asked the voice on the other end of the remote.
“MY WIFE IS THROWING UP! HELP!”
Heather was too busy tossing her cookies to tell Peter to relax
, but a nurse arrived thirty seconds later to tell him just that.
“Mr. Adamson, the doctor gave her a medicine to mak
e her throw up so her stomach is empty in case we need to put a tube down her throat. Everything is normal. Mrs. Adamson is fine.”
The nurse helped her clean herself up and Heather reprimand
ed Peter.
“I am going to ask you to leave if you get crazy
. I am fine. You need to help me.”
“I know. I’m sorry
. I just don’t want anything to happen to you, and I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Heather knew fatherhood was new to him
. He had gotten thrown into it faster than most. He was fabulous at helping her raise the older kids. But starting with babies was completely new to him, and she needed to keep that in mind.
Peter took Heather’s hand and started rubbing circles on her palm. She sat back and focused on the circles and waited to be taken to the operating room. If he acted up again, she
would ask them to give him a sedative.
An hour later, Peter was sitting on a stool next to her head
behind the big white sheet in the operating room. The anesthesia had taken effect and Heather couldn’t feel anything below her chest.
“I love you, babe. I can’t believe you are having my babies,” he said as one tear dropped down his cheek.
“I love you too. Thank you for calming yourself down.”
Heather had delivered her
other three children naturally, so it felt strange to be having babies without pushing them out. But this was certainly faster than the eighteen-hour labor she endured with Henry. The doctor made an incision and pulled one twin out and then the next.
Emily Rose Adamson was born at 4
:01 pm and was named for Heather’s grandma. George Henry Adamson was born one minute later at 4:02 pm. He was named for Peter’s grandfather and Heather’s first husband, Hank, who had died of a sudden heart attack a little more than two years earlier. Peter cried and snapped photos of the birth, inadvertently taking pictures of Heather’s insides that would soon become favorite family shots.