Hey y'all! Hope you're having a great week. I plan to have this story finished by the end of the month! I'm planning a re-write to make it a more cohesive story. The large gaps I left between writing parts parts have causes a few plot holes/loose ends. I also might re-write it to make it a little more mature lol ;). Thanks for sticking with me, and thank you so much for the lovely comments and support <3. Hope you enjoy this next part!
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Have you ever felt fear so deep that when the problem is settled, you can feel a physical weight coming off of you? That was how I felt after Liz started the ultrasound and was able to play our baby boy's heartbeat clearly through the room.
Over the past week I had done a lot of healing, mental and physical. Today is my first day out of the house since coming home from the hospital, and I was petrified. The only thing that brought me out was knowing I was doing it for my baby boy. His health and safety will come before mine for the rest of my life, no matter what.
We met Liz at the OB/GYN outpatient clinic, and I was thankful I didn't have to go to the hospital. That is not something I'm ready for yet, and I'm praying by the time I go into labor I'm ready, otherwise this baby is being born at another hospital.
I'm also nervous because lovely bruises that have turned into a nasty yellow still grace my face. The swelling was finally gone but most of the bruising was still left. I wore color corrector and more makeup than I usually wear, but the bruises around my eyes still peaked through. I was hoping the baseball cap I was wearing would cover those. The last thing I need is strangers staring at me, and sending me into a tail spin.
I'm brought back to the present as Liz rubs the probe over my abdomen, and Colton and I stare in awe as she counts all his little fingers and toes. She then moves on to measure his growth, and look at his heart and brain.
I squeeze Colton's hand a little tighter as she does this, and before Liz says anything I can tell our beautiful boy is perfectly healthy. It feels as though another huge weight comes off of my chest, and like I'm truly breathing for the first time today.
"Everything with growth and development looks perfect, and he is sizing right at 31 weeks." Liz says with a smile, and I can see the relief in her too. I don't know that any of us could have handled any more bad news in our lives.
Liz does another sweep of everything, and its strange to see his movements as I feel them through my abdomen. After this sweep a slight frown mares my face.
"He's breech." I mumble, and Colton's wide eyes turn to meet mine.
Liz nods, humming as she looks at the sonogram screen. "Completely normal at 31 weeks, a lot of babies are at this point." Liz states.
I nod my head in agreement. "Most babies will correct their position before 36 weeks, so there's no reason to worry yet." I say, giving Colton a slight smile.
He squeezes my hand in response, and turns his attention back to the screen.
"Have you guys told your family the sex yet?" Liz asks.
Colton shakes his head no. "We wanted to make sure everything looked okay today."
I nod in agreement. "We're planning on having a friends and family get together this Saturday at our place, I would love if you could be there."
Liz gives us a megawatt smile, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
I return her smile. "We've barely talked about names too." I say.
Liz shrugs, handing me a towel to wipe of the jelly from the ultrasound. "We've sent babies home without names before- I think you'll be okay."
"You can do that?" Colton asked, clear surprise on his face.
I nod, "As long as you turn in everything with the state within so many days, your baby can leave the hospital with no name."
Colton shakes his head. "That sounds stressful, we won't be doing that."
I laugh, "We won't, huh?"
Colton just rolls his eyes, helping me up after I roll my leggings back over my belly.
"Alrighty, we'll have you back here next week for a quick check in. No ultrasound again until 34 weeks to see if the baby has turned to be head down." Liz says, handing us the strip of sonogram pictures.
I give her a hug. "You're the best, thank you."
Liz returns the hug, careful not to squeeze my ribs. While they've healed immensely, they still hurt fairly bad.
We bid her goodbye, and Colton takes my hand as we walk out to the parking lot.
"I think this is the most I've moved in almost two weeks." I say, enjoying the breeze against my face.
"That means we're doing bed rest correctly." Colton says, opening my door for me.
I roll my eyes as I slide into the car. What I wouldn't give to be able to just do short walks outside. Sitting outside is fine but doesn't really help the cooped up feeling. Hopefully after the pool is serviced today Colton will allow me to lay in it on a floaty, and not consider it too 'strenuous'.
"What do you want to eat? We can go home and I can make something or we can stop somewhere." Colton asks, smoothly backing the car out of the parking spot.
My stomach flutters as he does the one hand on the wheel and one hand on the passenger seat turn around thing to look behind us. All my ladies know, there's something so sexy about that.
"Earth to Faye, food?" He asks, glancing back over to me before pulling out of the parking lot.
I shrug. My appetite had been almost non-existent since Michael attacked me, but I force myself to get to the recommended amount of calories everyday. No way would my baby ever suffer because of me.
Colton looks back over at me as we pull up to a red light, concern on his face. "I forgot to ask Liz about your appetite, can you call her?" Colton asks, focusing his eyes back on the road.
I take a deep breath, trying to shove down the annoyance, and repeat to myself he's only worried and just trying to help.
"There's not anything she can do Colton, I'm eating, I just don't feel hungry, that's all. I'm still bruised, stressed, and tired. Those are all factors that can cause that. Not to mention this baby is squishing all of my organs, including my stomach."
Colton hums in response, merging onto the highway.
"Do you think we could eat somewhere? Like sit down at a sandwich place?" I ask.
Colton glances over at me surprised before turning his eyes back to the road.
"We can do that, I just didn't know if you would want to be in public like that anytime soon."
I shrug, "It would be nice to sit down somewhere, and be out of the house a little more. I didn't realize how cooped up I felt."
Colton agrees, and takes the next exit. After a few more minutes he pulls in front of the cutest deli with outdoor shaded seating. I give him a smile and excitedly get out of the car, actually excited to eat for once. The parking lot is empty except for us, which isn't surprising considering we got here right at 11am.
Colton takes my hand and we walk in together, and the smell of fresh bread makes my mouth water. A small older woman stands behind the cash register and gleams when she sees us.
"Oh my goodness aren't you just the cutest couple! Darren get out here! Look at these two young kids!" I falter slightly at her excitement, but Colton just chuckles.
"And you're pregnant! Oh my goodness how far along are you!?" The woman asks.
Before I can answer, an older man comes from the back of the store, whom I assume is Darren.
"Doreen you're probably scaring them, and I thought you weren't supposed to assume someone is pregnant." Darren says, raising his eyebrows.
I giggle as she turns and gives him an icy glare. "No Darren, MEN aren't allowed to assume a woman is pregnant, other women just know." She says huffing, putting her hands on her hips.
Darren rolls his eyes, turning towards Colton an I. "I'm sorry about my wife, its been 45 years and I still don't know if she has an off switch."
Doreen turns and swats Darren on the shoulder before turning back to us. "Excuse my husband, you would think after 45 years he would have grown some social skills."
I giggle again as Colton chuckles.
"My goodness shame on me you're pregnant and I'm sitting here yapping instead of feeding you! What can I get the gorgeous couple?" Doreen says, beaming at us.
I bite my lip, scanning over the menu. "Sandwiches sounded good, but I'm now realizing I can't even eat lunch meat. Pregnancy brain I guess." I say, frowning .
Colton swears under his breath, as Doreen waves a hand in front of her face. "Nonsense dear, we have chicken breast and turkey breast sandwiches. We smoke the meat ourselves, and its kept nowhere near the cold cuts!"
I smile at her, thankful I didn't royally screw this up. "In that case, can I get a turkey pesto sandwich?"
"Of course! Excellent choice!" She says, ringing us up on an old-fashioned cash register.
Colton gives her a swoon worthy smile. "Can I have the same?"
"Oh dear, you're one lucky girl." Doreen says, turning to me.
"Dammit Doreen, leave those poor kids alone." Darren grumbles, heading to the back to make our sandwiches.
I laugh, and look up at Colton. "I know I am, he reminds me everyday."
Doreen sighs, placing a hand on her heart. "Darren, why can't we be this sweet?"
Darren pokes his head out. "Doreen quit it, you're the love of my life, don't pretend you don't know that."
I can feel tears building in my eyes, and I blink quickly, blaming pregnancy hormones. Doreen rolls her eyes, a small blush now gracing her cheeks. I can only hope Colton and I make it as long as they have.
"We'll also take two waters." Colton says, pulling his wallet out of his jeans.
"Of course, that will be 16.50!" Doreen says, ringing us up.
My eyes widen, knowing this is probably the cheapest meal I've ever eaten in Austin.
Colton pulls out cash, and I turn to look at the photos on the wall. I smile at the black and white one that appears to be from the opening, a young Darren and Doreen staring back at me. This place is truly their passion.
"Oh dear, we cannot accept that!" Doreen exclaims.
I turn back to her and Colton, seeing him holding out a hundred dollar bill for her.
Colton gives her his swoon worthy smile again. "Of course you can, you've been so kind to us. Just promise to pay it forward." He says, winking.
Doreen blushes again, shaking her head, finally accepting the bill and putting in the till.
I come up behind Colton, grabbing his hand and leaning into his back.
"You okay Faye?" He asks, turning to scan me.
"Yeah, I just love you." I say, my voice cracking.
Colton's eyes soften. "I love you too baby."
I grin, and turn to Doreen. "Is it okay if we sit outside?"
"Of course! I'll bring your food when its ready! Either of you have any allergies?" She asks, heading toward the kitchen.
Both Colton and I shake our heads no, and she winks before disappearing into the back of the shop. Colton and I head outside, picking a table shaded by an umbrella. I take a few sips of my water before turning to Colton.
"Do you have any baby names you love?" I ask, trying to think of some myself.
He shrugs. "Nothing that really sticks out."
Colton seems lost in thought for a moment before looking up at me. "What were your parents names?"
I swallow the tears that quickly make their way to my eyes. Fucking hormones. "My mom's name was Lydia, and my dad's name was Nolan." I say softly.
"I really love Nolan actually." Colton says, grabbing my hands.
"You want to name him after my dad?" I ask, tears falling down my face.
"If you want to, I would love to." Colton says, running his thumb over the back of my hand.
I nod, unable to form words. My heart feels like it could burst, and for the first time in two weeks I let myself imagine our future, our baby boy Nolan.
I hear the door to the deli open, and I quickly wipe my face as Doreen makes her way to us with two baskets.
"Alrighty love birds! I brought your sandwiches and one of each of our desserts, as a thank you!" Doreen says, placing the sandwiches and a mound of treats on the table.
"Doreen! You didn't need to do that!" I say, shocked at the sheer amount of sugar on the table.
"Of course I did!" She says winking, then walking away.
I shake my head laughing, and Colton does the same. My stomach actually growls at the site of the sandwich, and I thank god I might actually enjoy a meal today.
Colton and I quickly demolish the sandwiches. I lean back in my chair as Colton digs through the dessert pile, pulling out a double chocolate cookie and handing it to me. I groan, shoving it away.
"Colton if I eat anymore our baby will run out of room." I say, willing my leggings to somehow expand.
Colton shrugs and unwraps the cookie, finishing it in three bites.
"Damn." I mumble.
Colton just grins at me, and I giggle at the chocolate smeared on his teeth. I don't think my heart has ever felt this light, and I can't help but hope this is what the rest of my life looks like.
"What if we name him Nolan Eric King? Eric after your dad?" I ask suddenly.
"I didn't think I could be any more in love with you." Colton says shaking his head.
I roll my eyes, and he gently pulls me to my feet after scooping up the sweets.
We wave goodbye to Darren and Doreen, and promise to come back soon. We'll probably be back sooner than they anticipate, that sandwich is definitely my new pregnancy craving.
Colton helps me into the car, since my ribs are still tender, before getting into the drivers seat. I lay my head against the seat and close my eyes, drained from the events of the day. We barely did anything, and yet it was the most I've done in what felt like forever.
After what feels like seconds, but is really more like 15 minutes, Colton pulls up to our automatic gate, then into our driveway.
When we park, he turns to me. "If we ever have a girl we should name her Lydia Grace King, after our moms."
I choke out a sob, and hold back a wince at the pain in sends through me.
"I miss them so much." I choke out through tears. You would think I would be out of them at this point.
Colton quickly exits the car and walks around to my side. He opens the door, unbuckles my seatbelt, and pulls me into his arms. I lean against him, trying to take deep breathes. His cologne helps soothe me, and when my sobs settle he picks me up and carries me through the house, and up to our bedroom.
Our bed feels like heaven, and I can definitely see a nap in my immediate future. I curl into his chest, wiping the tears streaming down my face.
"They would be so proud of you Faye, and everything you've become. You're going to be an incredible mother. You've given so much for our son and he's not even here yet."
I shake my head. "If I'm half the parent they were, our son will be incredible." I whisper.
Colton sighs, pulling me closer and plays with my curls. "Nolan and I are so lucky to have you."
I quickly fall asleep, finally able to dream about our future without a sense of dread washing over me.