The Family Secret

~ Seventeen ~

2 MONTHS LATER

Callie's POV:

I'm not sure how the past couple of months flew by so fast, when summer transitioned into fall, or when Chase and I settled into our routine of him being on the road and me being at home but somewhere along the way, we did and surprisingly enough, it's been smooth sailing. The renovations on the lake house have gone smoothly, never once having had an issue with supplies or the construction guys falling behind on their timelines. Austin has adjusted to being at the lake house primarily like a dream, the move never once messing with his sleep schedule. If anything, being here has helped with his sleeping since he is fascinated with the workers. It's adorable to hear him asking to help them. Even more adorable when they actually let him. The smile on his face in those moments can make even the worst days seem better.

But now, the time had come for us to welcome little Ainsley ino the family. Well, more like today is her due date but she seems content to just hang out right where she is; a fast that this mama is not really enjoying since I'm to the point of waddling like a penguin that's about the size of the biggest cow in the history of ever. Just this morning I was joking with Chase over facetime that his daughter already had his stubborn streak, telling him that she must be waiting for him to come home before she makes her grand debut. His response to that was that he would be home later today and if Ainsley was waiting for him, then my suffering would be over before I knew it since tonight's show in West Virginia was his last one on this leg of the tour.

Since Chase wasn't going to be back until tonight and because it was officially my due date and he wasn't here, he'd called in the calvary. I now had a house full of Earnhardt's –minus Dale since he was a team owner and Xfinify was beginning to wrap up– and a couple of Rice's here with me just to make sure that nothing happened in his absence. And I wasn't complaining one bit about it. Most people in my situation –nine months pregnant with a house full of guests who seemed to know nothing to do but hoover– would be ready to rage but over the past few months, Chase's new-found siblings and I have grown close, Casey and Chad and I have gotten to know one another better than we had before, so it was no chore to have any of them around. Especially when it meant that Amy and I got to hang out in the backyard around the firepit that had just been installed while everyone catered to our every want and wrangled the kids so we didn't have to.

"So are you going to hold out on me or are you going to tell me what you found out at the doctor this morning?" I said. Looking over at Amy as she sat in the loungers across from me. Nearing five months, her belly was almost as big as mine.

"You mean aside from them telling me that I already needed to be on modified bedrest?" she asked, rolling her eyes.

"I told you that he was going to tell you that you couldn't go jogging anymore." I said, lifting my decaf coffee to my lips and taking a sip. "But yes. I'm dying to know what the sex of the babies are. I'm tired of calling them 'the babies'."

"Staying active through pregnancy is a good thing. I don't see why I have to quit doing that." she said with an exaggerated eye roll, ignoring the part about me wanting to know the sex of the babies.

"Maybe if there was only one little Earnhardt in there, that would be the case. But since there are three..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Amy said. Her tone told me that she was upset about having to give up running for the time being but as I watched her caress her belly, I knew that there would never be a minute of the day that she would regret doing what was best for her unborn children.

"So, again I ask. Are you going to tell me the sex of the babies or are you going to continue to hold out on me?"

"Why cant you wait for the gender reveal like everyone else?" she smiled. "Do you think just because it's your due date and my niece has not made her appearance yet that you should get special treatment?"