Happily Ever Addendum (11 page)

Isobel refused the proposal and sent him
on his way but my grandfather, being relentlessly persistent, would not go
away. He sent her tokens and words of praise and love but they all fell on deaf
ears. She had heard it all before.

Then came a day that changed everything.
At barely four months pregnant, Isobel began to have complications. She became
gravely ill and lost the baby. She was unconscious for over a week and woke to
Aidan by her side.

Over time, Isobel had learned that her
parents had done nothing when she fell ill. Aidan had been the one to ensure the
doctors took care of her. Isobel was saddened by the loss of the child but woke
with a new perspective. Aidan didn't run or leave her shamed. He fought for her
well-being and accepted her at her worst. They married two months later.

The creak of the door pulled my
attention from the journal in my lap.  Lilli stood, cotton pajama pants, a t-shirt
and a long robe, in the doorway.

"What are you doing?"

She waddled toward me.

"Reading my grandmother’s journals."
I moved the journal off of my lap.

Standing next to me, she picked up one
of the journals.

"It’s quite the story." I
spoke as I pulled her into my lap.

"Stop, I’ll crush your legs!"

"You're fine." I sat her down.
"Oh God, my legs. They’re going numb!"

"Asshole." With a light slap
to my chest, she started to move.

"Aw, come on, I was just
kidding." I wrapped my arms around her, stopping her from getting up.

"Nope, you’re an asshole." She
laughed and moved next to me in the oversized chair.

"But you love me." I raised an
eyebrow in question.

"Maybe. I think I may be reconsidering."
She playfully scowled.

"Oh, you know you do." Wrapping
my arm around her, I situated her snugly at my side.

"So, what have you learned?" She
looked up at me. The tilt of her head positioned her lips perfectly. I kissed
her.

After pulling back, we talked about what
I had read of my grandmother’s journals.

"Wow." She heavily sighed.

"I know." Closing my eyes, I
laid my head back on the chair.

"Well, I guess we know the reason
behind the foundation your grandmother started." She settled further into
my side.

"Huh?" Picking my head back
up, I looked at Lilli.

"Aidan, clearly the foundation is
to support battered women and children, as well as those abandoned." She
sat up straight, looking at me. "You didn’t make the connection?"

"Honestly, no, but now I do." I
picked up the journal and continued to read. Lilli stayed by my side, reading
the journals I had already finished.

There were letters speaking of love and
devotion stuffed into the pages of the journal after my grandfather and Isobel
married. He worshipped her.

The journal spoke of the two children
born prior to my father. Both had died early on in their years due to illness.
Isobel was very protective of my father after he was born and also became an
advocate for children.

Lilli was right. The foundation is a
reflection of my grandmother’s life, experience and heart.

It was in the last two journals that my
grandmother discussed her illness. She hadn’t mentioned it to anyone else, adamant
about living her life normally before she was unable to live at all. The last
journal entry was to my father.

My dearest Aidan,

My son, my heart, the love of my life. From
the moment you were born until your first steps and words, you have been your
father's and my greatest joy. I know you will continue to be your father’s joy.
Please know that I love you so much and will miss you dearly.

Please keep an open heart and don’t turn your
back on that one person who intrigues you. Your father was so intriguing from
the moment I laid eyes on him, but life and stupidity stood in the way.

It wasn’t until after much heartache and
heartbreak that your father was able to heal me and convince me that I could
love. However, if I would have gone with my instinct, perhaps things would have
been different.

Don’t let the world interfere. Look for her
and you will find her.

Love always and forever,

Mother

I finally understood some of my
grandfather’s rationalization behind the conditions and him pushing his son’s
toward women. When life became overwhelming, he made sure they took time to
stop and look.

Lilli shifted and move to the edge of
the chair.

"Where are you going?" Putting
the journal down, I helped her to stand.

"Food." She said quickly,
"before I pass out."

"Sit down, I’ll go get—"

She shook her head.

"I am not waiting for you to go and
bring it back. I’m starving right now." She laughed.

"I’ll come with you then." I wrapped
my arm around her waist, guiding her from the room.

As we got close to the kitchen, Lilli
moaned in delight. The smell of bacon was filtering in from the kitchen.

Rachel smiled brightly when we walked
in.

"Good morning." Lilli said, zoning
in on the food.

"Morning. Eat up!" She rubbed
Lilli’s stomach.

"Oh, I plan on it." Lilli
laughed.

I sat at the table next to Alex.

"What’s up?" He asked as I sat
down.

"Me." I chuckled. He rolled
his eyes at my bad joke.

"Lilli, you want some of my
cereal?" Alex turned to Lilli, who was placing bacon into her mouth.

She nodded. "Let me grab a
bowl."

"I can make eggs." Rachel offered.

"Make those, too!" Lilli
grinned around a full mouth of food.

My chuckle got me a scowl from Lilli.

"Leave the fat girl alone."

"You’re pregnant, not fat."

"It’s all the same at this
point." With a bowl in her hand, she sat at the table. Alex started
pouring out some cereal for her. "Thanks, little man." Lilli pulled
her bowl toward her and poured the milk.

"No problemo." Alex responded.

"Sir?" Jay spoke from the
kitchen door. "Your car will be arriving shortly."

"Shit! Work." I'd gotten so
lost in the journals this morning I hadn’t even thought about going to work.

"Ahhh…you said a bad word."
Alex taunted. "Mom, get the soap." He giggled, Lilli joining him.

Ruffling his hair as I walked to Lilli,
I kissed the top of her head.

 "I’m going to go get dressed for
work."

She nodded, chewing on her food.

It was the quickest I'd ever gotten
dressed and I was only a few minutes behind schedule. Halfway to work, my phone
rang.

"Good morning, Viola."

"Good morning, Aidan."

"To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking
with you this morning?"

She laughed.

"I wanted to talk to you about
Lilli’s baby shower. I’m planning it with Phoebe but need your help."

"What do you need?"

"I need you to do me a favor with
the party planning company…" She hesitated.

"I’ll help, if you help me with
something in return."

"What do you need help with? I’ll
help you regardless, you know that." This is why Viola was so loved. She
was always there to do anything for anyone.

"I want to do something for Lilli
and I need your help. I would like it completed by the time of the
shower."

"And what is it that needs to be
completed?" She pushed.

"The nursery, I want an elaborate
nursery set up for her and the babies."

"Oh, Aidan, that is so sweet. That
only gives me two weeks! I will get right on it but, first, I need to know what
you want." She paused. "Oh, and how are you going to keep it a secret
from Lilli? She is in the house."

"I already have some ideas for the
nursery and I will tell her that I am having construction done on the room and
she needs to stay away from the paint and hazardous area. Plus, I'm counting on
you to keep her out of the house during the day when they are working."
Then I remembered she had called me for a reason. "What do I need to do
with the party planning company?"

"Well, they are arguing that I will
not be able to—"

"Give me twenty minutes to speak
with Greg. You will be getting a call from them soon"

"Get them, Aidan." She
laughed.

With a short goodbye, we hung up.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Lilli

Once Aidan was gone for the day, I
decided to go to the pool. Feeling like a whale, I might as well get in the
water.

In the water I felt weightless and loved
it.  Swimming also happened to be one of the most comfortable ways to exercise
now. Knowing I had to meet with Viola today, I didn't stay in too long. Getting
dressed was a bit more complicated. Maternity clothes were becoming the bane of
my existence. I longed for the day I could slip into a pair of worn jeans and a
t-shirt again.  Instead, I slipped on a dress and some flats before going
downstairs.

When Viola arrived, Jay helped me into
the car. He had become just about as protective as Aiden these past few weeks. Once
he saw that I was tucked away into the back of Viola's car, Jay closed the door
gently.

"Dear, we are going to have to
start working from your house soon." She spoke as soon as the door was
closed and smiled widely, rubbing my oversized stomach.

"Ugh, I really am about done with
all of this pregnancy stuff." I huffed.

Viola laughed. "Well, can you at
least hold off until we have your shower?"

I rolled my eyes and groaned.

"Now, now, I know you aren’t
excited about all of the gifts but I promise we will try to make it as fun as
possible."

"If you let me have Maggie and
Phoebe as my official gift openers then I will plaster on my fake smile and be
gracious." I winked.

"Done!" She giggled. "So,
I have some news I wanted to talk with you about." Viola seemed nervous,
which was very unlike her.

"Sure. What’s going on?"

She looked up and smiled.

"Liam and I discussed adopting last
night."

"Really?" My voice rose with
surprise and excitement. "Is it a child from one of our homes? Have you
already decided on—?" Her small smile provided the ‘yes’ to my questions.
"Who?"

"Well, I want to take Abby into our
home."

My shock must have been easily read on
my face since Viola felt the need to explain.

"Lilli, we want to take Abby in and
help her with her baby. We would become the legal guardians until she's of
age."

"Viola…" Tears began forming.
Damn
hormones
. "That's so wonderful." Pulling her into my arms, I
embraced her tightly.

"Well, we are only just discussing
it and have yet to go through any other processes. Besides, I haven’t talked to
Maggie or Abby yet. I want both of them to have their say in this." She
took a deep breath and exhaled.

"We both know Maggie will be
thrilled and supportive." I paused. "Abby, may need some time to
think about it, but I’m sure she will realize the opportunity in front of
her."

"You think?" Viola looked more
nervous.

"Of course." I said firmly,
shocking myself with how certain I sounded.

A week had passed before Viola and Liam had
spoken with Maggie about Abby. As I predicted, Maggie was thrilled. She
couldn’t wait to have a ‘sister’ and to be an ‘aunt’. Hell, Maggie was already
planning the nursery between her and Abby’s room.

Aidan was surprised by the news of Viola
and Liam adopting a pregnant teenager but was supportive of their decision. Just
as I knew he would be. Henry and Anne were, well, they were themselves, large
plastered smiles with small remarks about a pregnant teenager. James and Elora,
however, were excited for them.

Elora and Jimmy had come over to visit
one afternoon when I wasn’t feeling up to leaving the house. Aidan had been
doing work on the would-be nursery. We had decided to wait until after the
babies were born before really putting one together. They would be in our room
for the first few weeks after coming home, anyway. I didn’t want to spend my
energy working on a nursery. However, Aidan wanted the room ‘baby proofed’ and
secured before we did anything. The hammering and saws were really wearing on
my nerves.

Elora and I headed to the furthest sitting
room since it was the quietest room.

"How is he doing?" I asked
Elora, who was relaxing in a chair. She looked tired.

"He is great. Except that he
doesn’t sleep at night and it’s killing me." She sighed.