Lost and Found (42 page)

An hour later, we are both sitting in Claud's car shell
shocked and not saying a word. I have so many thoughts
going through my head about what the doctor said that I
feel a headache coming on. She keeps looking at me and
shaking
her head and tries to say something, but can't seem to say the right words.

"O... I don't know what to say. Twins? Are you freaking
kidding me? And you're further along than you thought? I had no idea you could still have periods when you're
pregnant. God! You must have gotten pregnant the first
time you guys had sex! So you've been pregnant this
whole time? 10 weeks pregnant. Wow! I guess the plus
side is you only have 2 more weeks for your first trimester
to be over, so that you can tell Cash."
She is saying everything that is going through my mind,
except for one thing.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. Telling him I was
pregnant with one baby was one thing and I know that I
could have probably convinced him that everything would be fine, because I've always had easy pregnancies and deliveries, but to tell him I'm pregnant with twins? Which
could turn into a high risk pregnancy? I'm scared to death,
Claudia!"
I'm having problems breathing I'm so panicked. She
reaches for my hand to calm me down.

"Okay. Let's calm down for a minute. I think that we are
both in shock. I don't know what to tell ya girl. Christmas is
in a couple of weeks, so you'll be extra busy, which will
explain how tired you're going to be. What about morning
sickness? Have you had it bad yet?"

"This morning was the first time I had it, so I might be
alright there. I really only thought that I was four or five
weeks along, because I started my period a couple of weeks
after our first time. I've never had a period while pregnant
and I've felt fine until yesterday. Twins, Claud? I could
start showing at any time. I know I've gained a little bit of
weight, but I just thought it was because I've been eating
more and Cash hasn't complained, because he thought I was
just skin and bones to begin with! Oh my God! What am I
going to do?"

"I've noticed you have had a glow about you, but I never suspected you being pregnant, because I know you would
have told me if you were. I don't know how you're going to keep this from him. I guess you could tell him at Christmas
time, in front of everyone, haha. Surely, he wouldn't throw
a fit in front of his parents. You know they're going to be
ecstatic. Hell! Everyone is going to be happy about it.
What about your parents? Are you going to tell them?" Oh,
my parents. I immediately start crying.

"I'm such a bad liar, Claud! I can't tell anyone until he
knows. Can you imagine how betrayed he would feel if he
knew that everyone knew except for him? You can't tell
Caleb! I know you guys are friends and have gotten close,
but please, Claud! You can't tell him! He's his brother!
You know he would feel obligated to tell him!"

"I won't say a word. Don't worry. You just need to make
sure if you lie and it involves me, you have to let me know
so I can cover you, okay? I'm still not crazy about this and
I'll go with you to tell him, if you want me to." I shake my
head no. "Please think about it, okay? I know your head is
spinning right now with the news, but please reconsider and
just tell him."
I know she's worried about me, but I'm more scared of
Cash's reaction to the pregnancy news than anything.

"Let's go eat some lunch, because I'm starving and since I
told Carmen I was going to go Christmas shopping, we
might as well buy a few things, so I'll have something with
me when I walk through the door." For some reason this
has her laughing her head off.

"Oh Lord! It just hit me that you're eating for three people! Three! No wonder you've been so hungry
lately. I have an idea. How about we stop and buy a
couple of infant car seats and you give that to Cash for Christmas. That should clue him in! I'm picturing his
reaction right now!
Hahahahahahaha..." Well, she definitely lightened the
mood and I love her for it.

"Yeah, yeah. You're so funny. I'm craving Italian, so let’s
go eat at that little Italian place on the corner by your house
and then we can get some shopping in."

"Oh lord! I hope you don't get any weird cravings like you
did with the kids, because he will figure it out on his own.
I'll never forget when you were pregnant with Jeremiah and
you wanted a hardboiled egg dipped in peanut butter.
Ewww that looked disgusting!"

"Oh, I remember that and believe it or not, it was pretty
good. Hmmm. It actually sounds pretty good right now!
You're right. My cravings are going to give me away!
Oh lord!"

********************

I arrived back at the house the same time that Cash and
Gideon arrived home from their day. I didn't mean to stay
gone all day, but Claudia and I really got into our shopping
excursion to get our minds off of my pregnancy. The guys
came over to help me with my shopping bags of already wrapped presents.

"How was your day today, gentleman?"

"Well, aren't you a vision of radiance and beauty. I see
you've done some more shopping. I don't know about you,
but do we even have room under the tree? Today turned out
better than I thought it would, so I guess I was having a
crazy moment this morning." If only he knew how my day
went, he wouldn't be saying that. "Liv? Hello?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. You distracted me and you're right, there
are tons of presents, but we can make room. This will be the
kids’ best Christmas ever!" He arched his eyebrows at me.

"Yes, I have a lot of making up to do and might have gone
overboard too on the gifts. Honey? Are you alright? What
did you mean by I was distracting you? You don't seem
yourself. Did you and Claudia have a good day?"

Let the lies begin. Oh, I'm not good at this, but I just need
some time with my thoughts on how to deal with all of this.

"Yes, I'm fine, and Claudia and I had a great day. You were
distracting me by just being you. Sometimes when I look at
your handsome face, I lose all train of thought. Give me a
kiss, handsome!"

His eyes light up and he gives me a passionate kiss and tips
me towards the ground, which has Gideon giggling
uncontrollably.

"You guys! That's just gross! Yuck! I'm going into the
house." Our kiss turned into giggles at that point, so we followed him into the house hand in hand.

"Eden! Mom and Dad were kissing in the driveway and it
was GROSS!"

"Now, Gideon. I'll remember that when you grow up and
start kissing girls." Cash is so good with them and loved teasing him.
Gideon gets a disgusted look on his face and crinkled his
nose, while Eden runs to me and Cash to give us hugs and
kisses.

"No way, Dad! Girls are nasty! Why would I want to kiss
one?" He starts making a gagging noise, which has all of us cracking up.

"I kiss you, Daddy." Cash whisks her into his arms and
kisses her all over and then she does the same to him.

"That's right, you will always be my only little Princess and
I'll be the only boy you ever kiss!"

"That's right, Daddy!" Oh she's so cute. Gideon is still
looking disgusted by all of the kissing going around.

"Geez. Kiss, kiss, kiss. Can I go play my Xbox before
dinner?" Cash looks over at me and we are both grinning.

"Yes Gideon, hurry up and get out of here before someone
kisses you."

Cash gives me a wink and I knew that was my cue, so I
grabbed him on his way out and gave him a big kiss on the
cheek. He looks up at me and grins.

"Hmmm. That wasn't too bad. Bye, Mom. Bye, Dad!
Come on Eden, I'll let you play too. Yell at us when dinner’s
ready." Oh that boy. He sure has my heart. Cash puts
Eden down to follow her brother and he pulls me into his arms and looks into my eyes.

"I have been meaning to ask you something. Wanna go to
prom, aka a Christmas party with me? All of the men dress
up in penguin suits and the woman dress up in gorgeous
gowns."

"Ooh la la. You in a tux? I'm totally in!" I love the sight
of him when he wears his business suits every day, but to actually see him in a tuxedo? Oh, I'm there.

"Wait. That was too easy. You know there will be a lot of
people there. You're sure you're okay with that? Mom and Dad will be there and we do make it kid friendly, being Christmas and all, so the kids will be there."
So, it's a family event? With me going it will let everyone at
his office know that he's officially dating.

"Do you not want me to go? I can stay home if you want
me to." Maybe he doesn't want anyone to know he's in a
relationship. He puts his arms on my shoulder and each
hand on each of my cheeks.

"No, sweetheart. That's not it. I want you to go, but it will
be our first time stepping out into the public as a family unit. The press will even be there, as they are every year,
because it’s always the biggest party of the year, next to
New Years. I just want to prepare you for lots of stares and
questions, when everyone starts wondering who the
exquisite beauty is on my arm."

So, he's just trying to prepare me out of protectiveness.
This will be the biggest event I've ever gone to and I am
quite shy., It will probably be overwhelming, but I will
have the kids and his parents there as well.

"Okay, I see. Honey, as long as I'm with you, I don't care
where we are. I'll even call your mother and maybe we can go shopping together to find us a dress to wear and get the
kids something to wear as well. When is it?" He reaches
down and gives me a long kiss, before he answers me. He
seems rather ecstatic.

"It's the night before Christmas Eve. Have I ever told you
that I love how easy going you are? How did I ever get so
lucky, as to have you walk into my life? I feel like the luckiest man in the world."
Right now as guilty as I'm feeling about not telling him I'm
pregnant, I would walk on hot coals if he asked me to.

"No Cash, I'm the lucky one." I leaned up and gave him
another kiss. "I need to call your mother and set a day for
us to go shopping. I'm actually looking forward to spending
some one on one time with her."

"Go ahead and call her right now, Honey. I'm going to go
kick Gideon's butt on the Xbox before dinner. I love you!"

"I love you, too! Try not to beat him too bad, haha..." He
yells at me, as he's running up the stairs like a child.

"I'm not promising you anything! He may be crying when
he comes down for dinner." Oh, how I love him. I love every one of them! I call
Amelia as soon as he leaves the room, and we set one day
next week to go shopping for our dresses for the party.

********************

"So, Olivia, what kind of dress are you looking for? Do
you have a particular color or style that you want to wear?"

Being around Amelia is really making me miss my own
mother and I wish I could call and tell her my news about
the babies. I wish I could tell Amelia as well, but it’s best
that no one but Claudia knows for the time being.

"I don't have a particular style, but Cash did say he would
prefer for me to wear something blue to go with my eyes,
haha. Honestly, I don't think there's anything striking
about my eyes. They're blah blue compared to Cash's."

"Oh, I would have to disagree with you there. Yours might
be a little lighter, but they're just as gorgeous and he's
right, blue is definitely your color, a baby blue color will
be perfect."