Spiralling Skywards: Fading (Contradictions, #2)(38)

“Didn’t really stand much chance of dodging that gene then, did you?”

She laughed at her own joke while I fought the urge to punch her right in her laughing, smiling face.

“Sarah?” I turned my head towards Liam.

“What?”

“I asked if you were okay.”

“I’ve had better days.”

“Oh, come now. It’ll take a bit of getting used to, but this is something to celebrate,” Doctor Smiley Face stated.

I didn’t respond. I had nothing to say. I was about to have three children under the age of four, which meant life was about to get very interesting in the Delaney house.

“You let Luke know that you’ll be working no more than thirty-seven hours a week, no weekends, and zero travel for the next ten years at least.” I informed an also smiling Liam. He kissed the back of my hand.

“No travelling for at least a year, I promise. I love you,” he told me quietly. “We’re gonna be fine. We’ve got this.”

Carter grabbed his face. “Me too? You love me too, Daddy?”

“Yes, bud, I love you, too. And you know who else I love?”

“You love Mummy. She’s you pretty girl.”

“I do love Mummy and she is my pretty girl. But ya know who I also love?”

I watched as Carter shook his head until it looked like it was about to come off his shoulders.

“I love the two bubbies that are growing in mummy’s belly.”

“Two bubbies?” Carter held up three fingers, and Liam bent one down.

“That’s right, bud. Daddy’s very clever and put two bubbies in Mummy’s belly.”

“Two? Two bubbies? But how will they fit? How will they grow? Are you trickering me, Dad?”

“I wish he was,” I whispered. Even though I was smiling on the inside at Liam and Carter’s exchange, I probably looked shell shocked. The doctor finally finished and let us know that, according to my measurements, I was due mid-February.

We took Carter to TGI Fridays to celebrate, during which he proceeded to hold court, standing on his chair and telling the entire restaurant that his daddy was so clever because he put two babies in his mummy’s belly. He then proceeded to hold up four fingers and earned himself a round of applause from everyone listening. It made his day.

***

By late September, things were not so good. My blood pressure was high this time, and I was once again ordered on bed rest, which was impossible since I had Carter running around and a husband that worked very long hours. I couldn’t shake the perpetual fatigue, either.

My nan and grandad came to stay with us, and that took a little of the load off. Liam’s mum was coming in November and staying until after the babies were born, but for now, I was enjoying being spoiled by Nan.

“What you fancying for dinner tonight sweetheart?”

“I don’t mind, Nan. Luke said he was coming over, shall I ask him what he wants?”

My brother was still single and went through women at a rate of knots I couldn’t keep up with. We had attended several work and industry functions over the last few years, and he turned up with a different one on his arm every time. All stunning, some were girlfriend material and some not so much, but we never saw any of them again.

Sasha, meanwhile, was still attempting love long distance. Shain had asked her to move over to Australia, but she didn’t seem to be ready to commit.

She recently moved back in with her parents so that she could save money for the airfares she was constantly paying out for. I was not sure how that was going, though. Sasha’s mum was great when we were younger. She had Sasha’s older sister when she was just sixteen and Sash at eighteen so she was always the pretty, young cool mum to us. She would let us dress up in her clothes and try out her makeup. She was just good fun in general, but as she got older she got kind of bitter, often telling Sash that she wasted her life by getting pregnant so young. Her parents were still together, but I didn’t think it was the happy home I remembered from my childhood any longer.

“He’s not out with one of his fancy bits of fluff tonight?”

“Don’t think so. He said he was coming here when I spoke to him yesterday.”

“I wish he’d find a nice girl and settle down. He’s a good-looking boy, I don’t know why he has a problem holding on to a woman. If I were his age and we weren’t related, I definitely wouldn’t be in any hurry to kick him out of bed in the morning. In fact, I’d be tying him to it so that he couldn’t get away.”

I shook my head and tried to rid myself of the thought of my nan tying my brother to the bed.

“I don’t think him hanging on to them is the problem, Nan. It’s more that they can’t hang on to him. He’s just not found the right one yet, it’ll happen one day.”

“I always thought he’d end up with Sasha, ya know? They’d make a lovely couple. Just imagine how gorgeous their babies would be.”

I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Luke when I was pregnant with Carter. I still had no clue what the issue was, but I knew just by the way he looked at her that my brother was hurting and still very much had feelings for Sasha.

“I think we all thought that Nan, but she’s got Shain now.”

“Pfft, Shain. There’s something about that boy I just can’t take to and I’m not convinced he’s the one for Sasha. She never seems too enthusiastic when she talks about him and he’s nowhere near as good looking as Luke. Now him, I’d have no trouble kicking out of bed.”