Starting Over

Chapter 98- My Beautiful Life

The past five months have been great. Bridget's pregnancy has went smoothly and she got rid of all the tiredness she was feeling after the first trimester. The weather has turned colder and our entire family has been in Tennessee since Thanksgiving. They all want to be here when the new baby is born. Bridget and I sat down back during the summer and decided we didn't want to find out the baby's gender. I started calling the baby peanut around that time, but because it seems like that's all that Bridget wanted to eat, either salted or honey roasted.

"So, when do we find out if it's a boy or girl?" I asked my wife curiously.

"I was kind of thinking that. I was thinking that maybe we could wait to find out. This will be our last and I really want it to be a surprised. I want to know what it's like just hoping for a healthy baby," Bridget explained to me, but I only heard one thing.

"Our last?" I questioned her in shock.

"Luke, I know we never talked about it, but we have six kids in the house right now. I really don't think it would be wise to add more to the mix after this one. Besides this will be the fourth child I have given birth to. I really don't know if my body will be able to handle another pregnancy," Bridget continued to explain. We're both getting older and I don't want to be one of those parents who is really old when their kids are young."

"I guess you have a point. We aren't getting any younger, but Bridge, baby, I thought you wanted a house full of kids?" I questioned my beautiful wife.

"Luke, look around. This house if full of kids. Eight on most occasions. And that's not even counting this one," Bridget paused and gently rubbed her expanding belly, "Kris and Jordan are here every chance they get. Til and Kenzie almost always have friends over. Hell, even Jordan and Kris bring friends over sometimes. This house is always packed to the brim. We really need to add a few bedrooms downstairs for everyone."

"Is it all just too much for you? Does it stress you out too much?" I asked my wife.

"No. Well, not that much. Sure I feel like we're in over our head sometimes, but Luke, I grew up one of four kids. I had a lot of friends and cousins that were my age. We always had a full house. I'm just used to it, I guess. It's just when you aren't home and it's Tia's day off and it's me and all the kids, it gets a little stressful. But I'm okay. I can deal with it. For every day you're gone, I know it's just one day closer to you being home. Honestly, that's what gets me through it," Bridget enlightened me.

"What are you doing?" Momma asked me as she walked into the kitchen.

"What does it look like? I'm drinking my coffee," I said with a little hint of a smartass tone while smiling.

"You're worried aren't you?" Momma questioned me while grabbing my hand as she sat down across the table.

"Of course I'm worried. It's been three days since Bridget's due date and there are no signs of her going into labor anytime soon. Her doctor is even concerned," I voiced my concern to my mother, "He's talking about inducing her next week if she hasn't gone into labor naturally. Momma, I don't know how I feel about that. Bridget has never went past her due date before."

"Calm down, son. It's not easy on Bridget either. She's a nervous wreck right now. She don't know why this baby don't want to come on its own or why it hasn't already," Momma told me with a soothing voice.

"But..." I said but was cut off.

"Luke!" Bridget screamed from upstairs.

I shoved my chair backwards and jetted out of the kitchen. When I reached the stairs I ran up them skipping steps on the way up so I could move faster. Honestly, I was in panic mode from the second I heard her blood curdling scream. What was wrong? That wasn't an 'I'm in labor so you better get your ass up here' scream. It was a 'something is not right' scream. I rounded the corner to our bedroom to find Bridget standing in the middle of the floor with a terrified look on her face.