Chapter 16
A Lifetime Of Love & Happiness
1 year and 4 months later...
Happiness. What does it mean? It means the state of being happy. Love. What is love? It is an intense feeling of deep affection.
Toby didn't think those words would matter to him until he met Spencer. She brought him, so much love and happiness that sometimes he thought his life was just a dream. A dream that he so desperately did not want to wake up from. Every moment that he spent with Spencer just made him fall even more in love and made feel even more happy.
The day that their first daughter had been born was one of the happiest days of his life. When he first saw his baby, he broke down in tears, but they were tears of joy. He may have lost the bet, but he got something much greater. He got his daughter, Hadley Marion Cavanaugh.
She had his blue eyes and her mothers dark brown hair. She resembled Spencer a lot and he loved that. He had both of his beautiful girls. He remembered the first night that they had brought her home. Spencer didn't want Hadley in the crib for her first night, so she slept with them. Well, more like, she slept on her dads chest and he stayed up all night just, so she and her mother could sleep.
Things were going pretty well for them after the birth of their daughter. Toby and Spencer graduated from college. Toby's company got bigger and bigger, then after a few months he made Caleb and Holden his business partners. He would have asked Ezra too, but he knew Ezra wanted to continue his job at Hollis. Spencer got into business with Hanna and they opened up their own boutique, which was still doing very well. Expect, Spencer has been running the business for a while by herself now because Hanna just had her baby girl a few weeks ago.
Aria was there to help her anytime that she could, but of course she still had her family to attend to and plus her new job as an art teacher at the elementary school. Emily worked there too as a swim coach for the school, but also coached middle school and higschool too. She was able to go back to Stanford to finish her degree with the help Paige by her side and their little boy.
Toby liked how everything was falling into place. He especially liked days like this. It was a warm and sunny day in Rosewood. These were one of the days that he and Spencer would spend outside in the hammock. And that's what they were doing, but now they had a plus one sitting there with them.
"My parents offered that if we needed to take a vacation that they would watch Had for us." Spencer said without even opening her eyes because she was stretched out on the hammock and she felt at peace.
Toby held Hadley in his arms as she poked around in his hair. He blew a raspberry on her tummy, earning a squeal of laughter from her."And leave this behind? I think we can survive a few more months."
Spencer smiled to himself because of his words."I was hoping you'd say that."
He reached over and rubbed his hand along his wife's slightly bigger belly. Yep, she was pregnant again. She was four months along and Toby couldn't wait. This time they didn't want to keep the baby's sex a surprise. Frankly, Toby didn't want to lose another bet and have a month of diaper duty again. Expect, this time he wouldn't have lost.
In a few months they were to be expecting twins and both were boys. They had already picked out their babies names too. Grayson Daniel Cavanaugh and Matthew James Cavanaugh. They had given one of their sons middle name the same name as Toby's father for a reason.
Toby's father had passed away a three months after Hadley was born. It was a sad time for Toby because he had lost his father. Now he didn't have a mother or a father around, but his stepmother was still always there for him. Toby was just glad that his father got to see at least one of his grandkids before he died.
"I think the boys would agree with me too." He chuckled to himself when he felt one of them kick.
Spencer sat up and took Toby's hand into hers and held Hadley's little hand and in the other."I really love this, Toby."
He loved it too probably more than he had loved anything in his whole life."I love it too and I love you." He quickly pecked her lips, then kissed the top of his daughters head."And I love you." He leaned back over to Spencer to kiss her belly."And I love you guys too."
She giggled when he blew a raspberry on her stomach."Alright, I would love to stay in this hammock all afternoon with the both of you, but I have to run down to the boutique."
He didn't like her going down there and doing work, but she was a Cavanaugh and they were pretty headstrong. He picked Hadley as he stood up and the reached out to help up his wife. He held closely as they walked through the house all the way outside. He helped her into her car and kissed her lips through the window. He waved as he watched her drive off.
"Looks like it's just you and me for a little while, Had." He cooed to the little one in his arms."Don't worry, mommy and your brothers will be back real soon."
6 months later...
Spencer knew that she should be outside with everyone else, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the sights in front of her. Hadley was asleep, but was all snuggled up to Emily's son Aiden. Amelia and Taylor were playing with Snow and Tiger. Hanna's daughter, Jade had fallen asleep in front of the t.v. because she couldn't keep up with Grayson or Matthew. In her defense, Jade is still younger than all of them, but she's just like her mother to try before quitting.
"I think I see a little love connection." Spencer didn't know that anyone had came back into the house, but she turned around and there was Jason. She followed Jason's gaze over to Hadley and Aiden.
She shook her head slightly."I don't think her fathers gonna be letting her date anytime soon. Besides she's too young and he's like two years older than her."
"But you can easily tell that they're best friends and I happen to know a couple who were best friends that fell in love."He teased and Spencer playfully rolled her eyes at him.
"Okay, you got me there, but just wait until you have a daughter and see things from my perspective."
He nudged with his elbow to get her attention."Come on, everyones waiting for you to come back out. Your moms got everything under control in here with the kids."
It was true that her mother loved not only her kids and her sisters child, but also adored Spencer's friends kids. It was like they were more grandkids to her and she loved them all. That's why when everyone would get together for the monthly barbecue at Spencer's house, her mother would be the first to volunteer to watch the kids for a few hours.
Spencer sighed deeply before nodding her head."Alright, let's go."
Spencer followed him back outside and was immediately greeted with the sound of her friends and family's laughter. She loved that sound. Her eyes immediately scanned the backyard for Toby and he was talking with Hanna and Emily over by the pool.
He must have noticed her watching because he looked up and smiled at her. He excused himself and made his way over to her. His arms instantly wrapped around her once he was close enough to her.
"Where have you been, Mrs. Cavanaugh? Your husband has been missing you." He questioned as he started to pepper light kisses on her neck.
"I went to go check on the little Cavanaugh's."
He pulled back to kiss her properly on the lips."And how are they?"
"Well, your daughter his asleep, but your boys are running around in there probably giving my mom hell." She teased because those boys were just like their daddy. They looked like him with the same sandy colored hair and blue eyes. Matthew loved to play with building blocks and Grayson absolutely loved motorcycles.
He laughed before saying."Don't worry I'll have a stern talk with them before bedtime." Spencer could tell by the amused look on his face that he was gonna do the exact opposite.
"Whatever, just go get them and wake Hadley up because the foods done and they need to eat."
"Yes ma'am." He kissed her once more before going into the house and retrieve his kids. Caleb and Ezra both got up and went inside the house to get their kids too.
Spencer finally went back over to sit with the girls, Jenna, CeCe, and her sister. They were all talking animatedly about something, so she just slipped back into her seat and listened. It was like she had a big happy family now and it was just getting bigger and bigger. She momentarily glanced at Alison and Alison winked at her before turning back to the conversation. Yeah, things were looking better and better everyday.
Later that night, after everyone had left, Spencer just couldn't bring herself to go downstairs to go to bed. Earlier, Toby had helped give the kids a bath and helped put them in their Pjs. He took them into their bedroom and read them a story until they fell asleep. He gathered up Hadley in one arm and Grayson and Matthew in the other. Spencer took the boys to put them in their cribs in their room while Toby went to go put Hadley down in her room.
She heard Toby's footsteps as he went back down the stairs, but Spencer hasn't left yet. She just kept looking at her babies. She stood in the hallway and left their bedroom doors open, so that she could get a good view of all of her kids sleeping. It was something she did almost every night and every morning. It was during these moments that she felt some love and joy.
Before she heard him, she could feel him standing behind her. His arms circled around her waist and she rested her body back into his chest. He kissed her cheek before resting his chin on her shoulder.
"We did good didn't we?" He said more like a statement, than more of a question.
"Yeah, we did." She brought his hand up to her lips and kissed his knuckles.
"Alright, let's get to bed. Don't worry the kids bodyguards will keep 'em safe." He gestured to Snow sleeping in the rocking chair in Hadley's room and Tiger sprawled out on the carpet in Grayson and Matthews room.
She grabbed his hands and started leading him downstairs to their bedroom. They both go into bed and Spencer cuddle up to Toby's body. One of his arms wrapped around her shoulder. Her head resting on his bare chest with an arm thrown over his torso and a leg swung over his hip. She fell asleep almost instantly.
Toby don't fall asleep yet, so he just played with the ends of Spencer's hair. They had come a long way from their highschool days. She wasn't just his girlfriend anymore. She was his wife, the mother of his children, his best friend, and the keeper of his heart. He could hear the soft breathing of his kids on the baby monitors. It was at this moment when everything was going perfect that Toby knew. He knew that she'll always be his girl.
"I love you, Spencer Cavanaugh. Always and forever." He kissed her forehead and pulled her a little closer to him. He closed his eyes and started to drift asleep.
The End
Well, this is the end for this story and I'm sad to see it go too. But I'm still doing my other stories For Keeps and Finding Hope. Sadly after those stories I won't be doing anymore.