Chapter 48
New Beginnings
"Skinny Love"- Bon Iver
Kyle (POV)
It had been two weeks since I had shown Amanda the new house, and two weeks since she had told me she was pregnant. We had decided to hold off on telling the family about the pregnancy. Part of me couldn't wait to tell the family; however we had agreed to wait until after the first ultrasound to tell them. We wanted to make sure that the baby was healthy.
Yesterday, Amanda and I had fallen asleep on the couch and when I woke up I tried listening very closely and I was able to hear the baby's heart beat. It was faint, just starting to develop and strengthen. I had to leave for my night shift at the hospital before she woke up, so I never had the chance to tell her about it.
I changed out of my scrubs and into my jogging clothes. I was meeting Foss and Nathan for an early morning workout, before Nathan had to go to school. I left the hospital and drove to the warehouse.
"There you are!" Foss called when he heard me come in through the metal doors.
"Sorry, there were some complications with the last surgery," I explained, tossing my bag aside. "What do you have planned for today?"
"Martial arts training," Nathan grinned.
We had been working on defensive training about two times a week. Nathan always enjoyed the challenge of sparring with me; he said that when he trained with Jessi he was too worried about hurting her. When he told me that I couldn't help but laugh, because when I sparred with Jessi she got mad if I held back.
"Okay, I want you to go over the close quarter combat." Foss instructed for me to help demonstrate. "Say I was backed against the wall and Kyle was to come at me, ready to punch me."
I mimicked an attack stance with my hands clenched into fists ready to punch.
"When he comes at me," he motioned for me to strike. "I want to put my arms up and get my right elbow in the crook of the right side of his neck."
We demonstrated the move in slow motion.
"Then I am the one who has the power, what should I do next?" Foss posed the question to Nathan.
"Move for a shoulder dislocation," Nathan answered.
"Right," Foss agreed, mimicking the next move without actually dislocating my shoulder. "Now show me."
Nathan and I ran through the motions slowly allowing him to get a feel for the technique.
"Faster," Foss ordered after the first run through.
We practiced the moves a few more times getting faster with every run through.
"Now Kyle, I want you to actually attack and respond to Nathan's counter attack," Foss harked.
Before Nathan could go for a shoulder dislocation I responded with a side step flipping his body onto my back and sending him to the ground.
"React Nate, come on!" Foss encouraged and the sparring began to pick up.
He bounced back to his feet and lunged at me with a punch to my abdominal section using his entire body. I faltered slightly regaining my footing before attacking back. His arms were up in preparation, I took that to my advantage by circling my arm around his and grabbing his face with my palm and locking his other arm behind his back.
"What now?" I teased.
"This," he taunted back, flipping me to the floor this time.
As I fell I anchored my foot around his shin and kick his thigh with my other foot causing him to crash down after me. The fighting continued on for two hours before Foss brook it up and the session ended.
"Good work," Foss commented. "One thing we need to work on, though, is becoming faster with our responses."
Nathan nodded, wiped off his face with a towel before jugging down some water.
"Kyle, your nose," Nathan pointed out to me. "It's bleeding."
Instinctively I wiped my nose with my hand and sure enough it was. Foss tossed me another towel and I held it to my nose.
"Nate, I didn't see you hit Kyle's face the whole time," he commented.
"I didn't," he shrugged.
"It's probably just dry in here," I tried to wave it off. "We should get going; you need to get ready for school."
"Right," he sighed and began gathering his things.
Foss pulled me aside. "What was that?"
My eyebrows pulled together. "What?"
"The nose bleed, Kyle."
"Just a nose bleed," I shrugged.
"We both know nose bleeds are never just nose bleeds," he replied in a stern whisper.
"Kyle, come on I'm going to be late!" Nathan called, ready to head out.
"Alright." I took that opportunity to leave.
We drove back to the house with casual conversation about how Nathan was adjusting to school and life in general.
"How's that girl?" I asked
"Hailey? She's nice, she's in a lot of my classes so we talk, I guess." He indifferently played it off and I smiled.
"Have you hung out?" I asked
"We've gotten coffee with friends at that place, the Rack," he said as we pulled into the driveway of the Trager home and made our way into the house.
"Hey guys!" Nicole greeted. "Phew! You stink!"
"Nice to see you too?" I questioned when we were in the kitchen.
"What did Foss have you do? Run a marathon?" she joked. "Both of you, go shower. Kyle you can use our bathroom."
We headed upstairs to shower. Once I was done, I dried off then went downstairs to my old room and grabbed a set of clothes I kept there in case of emergencies. I pulled on the dark wash jeans and buttoned up the black shirt. As I walked back out to the kitchen I rolled up my sleeves.
"Better?" I questioned as I went to hug Nicole.
"Much," she smiled. "Coffee?" she asked, holding up a mug.
"Sure," I said, taking a seat at the counter.
"How was training?" she asked as she fixed my coffee. I always felt like I was a young kid when I visited Stephen and Nicole, because even though I was older Nicole has never stopped acting on her motherly instincts. It was one of the things I loved about visiting; it was also something that I could always count on.
"Fun actually; Foss had Nathan and I practice martial arts," I said, and she handed me the dark green mug of steaming hot coffee. "Thanks."
"You guys seem to be bonding well," she observed as she began preparing her morning tea.
"Yeah, it's been great. It's different though," I mumbled, testing my coffee.
"What do you mean?" she probed.
"Well with Lori and Josh, yes they are my brother and sister but they have a bond with each other that I don't have because we didn't grow up together. However with Nathan, I do have that bond in a way because I've been with him since day one."
"You and Nate are also able to relate to one another, you share the same history as well as parents," she added.
"Right," I smiled.
"I'm just glad that he's been staying with Stephen and me, I kind of miss having you kids living here," she admitted. "But now that Amanda knows about the house, I assume you'll be moving in soon and Nate will be too."
"Yeah, Amanda and I have been packing all week. We took today off because we're having the movers come this afternoon so we have to finish up a few things," I explained.
"Than it will just be Stephen and me in this big empty house," she sighed dramatically.
"Don't worry; Lori is going to be having those twins any day now," I chuckled.
"Wasn't she due yesterday?" Nathan asked after charging down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab something from the fridge.
"Yep, and she's been complaining about it all day," Nicole added.
"It's only 7:30," I pointed out.
"Exactly," she smiled, sipping her coffee. "We need to get you to school!"
"I can drive him if you want me too," I offered, rising from my seat at the counter.
"No, no; you need to go help Amanda pack," she reminded me.
I followed them out and hopped in my Jeep and backed it out of the driveway so I wouldn't block Nicole's car any longer. I drove back to the apartment after that and made my way up to our floor. My hand fumbled in my coat pocket for the keys before I was able to unlock the door. It was odd to think that this would be one of the last times I entered the apartment after today.
"Amanda?" I called, gliding off my shoes and shrugging out of my coat.
"Don't come in here!" a groan came from the bathroom.
"What's wrong?" I asked through the closed door.
"Nothing…it's just morning sickness… you don't need to see this," she cried.
"I'm your husband, 'through sickness and health'," I quoted our vows as I opened the door.
"No don't!" she tried to protest but was overcome by nausea instead and hurled into the toilet.
I held her hair back and rubbed small soothing circles on her back.
"When did this start?" I asked when I knew she was finished. I really hoped that she hadn't been in here all morning.
"After I got back from dropping Brice off at school," she moaned.
I damped a cloth and handed it to her. We sat on the tiled floor of the bathroom for a little while longer. I leaned against the bathtub and she rested her head on my shoulder with my arm slung around her shoulders.
"I think it's over…" she said timidly.
"Are you sure?" I mumbled, kissing her head.
"Yeah," she sighed in relief.
I got to my feet, than extended my hand to her and helped her up.
"Just give me a minute to clean myself up," she said and I nodded.
"Why don't you lie down for a while?" I suggested, cupping her cheek in my hand. "Get some rest?"
"What about packing?" she questioned.
"I'll take care of it, there isn't that much left anyway," I smiled.
"Only if you wake me in an hour," she wagered.
"Alright," I chuckled and gently kissed her forehead.
Within that hour I was able to finish packing up the family room and begin on packing up Brice's toys. I packed some of his action figures and trucks into the cardboard box. When I reached deep into one of the dresser drawers, in the way back I found an old pacifier. It must have been one of the ones he hid from Amanda and me when we were trying to wean him off of them.
I sat down on the edge of his bed and held it between my fingers. It had been years since he had last used on of these. The rubber end had teeth marks in them and the lime green ring was all scratched up and some dirt clung to it from neglect in the drawer. It seemed like only yesterday we were struggling with him to stop using them. Now he was five years old, we were moving into our new house and there is another baby on the way. I shook my head and sighed, tossing it into the box and continuing on.
I glanced at the wall clock that hung on the wall above Brice toy chest; it had already been an hour and a half since Amanda went to lie down. She would probably be upset if I let her sleep all day. I tapped up the box and stacked it among the others in the family room.
"Amanda," I whispered as I gently nudged her shoulder.
"Mmmm…" she moaned, her eyes fluttering a little. "What time is it?"
"Just after eleven," I replied softly.
"Okay," she mumbled as she willed herself to sit up.
"How do you feel?" I asked, brushing a few strands of stray hairs away from her face.
"Better, I really hope this morning sickness doesn't last the entire pregnancy," she said as she rubbed her face with her hands.
"It will get better," I assured.
"Promise?" she questioned, looking up at me through her eye lashes.
"Promise," I chuckled.
Once she had woken up a little more she joined me in finishing up with the packing. There really wasn't much left since we had been working on it little by little all week. The boxes had begun to flow from the family room into part of the hallway by the time everything that was going to the new house was packed.
"That's it," I said, placing the last box with the others. "That's all of them."
"Wow," she mused, taking in how truly empty the apartment was. "Do you remember when we first moved in here?"
"Yeah, it was pouring outside and we were running in and out of the lobby with boxes," I laughed, wrapping my arms around her.
"We had to get everything moved in that day, or else we would have to pay to have the moving company hold our things for the night," she recalled with a slight laugh. "Growing up, my dad would always tell me to slow down, because life would pass me by in a heartbeat. I never truly understood what he meant until the past few years."
"What do you mean?" I whispered.
"Our lives have changed and grown so much in the last few years, I could have sworn it was yesterday that we were seventeen and we would get coffee at the Rack." She smiled faintly. "Now we're married, Lori and Declan are going to be parents any day now and Josh and Andy aren't too far from being engaged."
"Do you feel like things are moving too fast?" I asked, a little concerned.
"No…I mean…Sometimes I just wish that I could slow time down. That I didn't have to feel old when I take Brice to school," she laughed.
"You wish that he didn't have to grow up so fast?" I concluded.
"I wish we didn't have to grow up so fast," she laughed.
"I felt the same way earlier when I found one of his pacifiers when I was packing his things," I added. "I could have sworn that I just signed those adoption papers."
"I know exactly what you mean," she sighed with a smile.
It wasn't long before Amanda left to pick Brice and Nathan up from school. She was going to run by Stephen and Nicole's before she and the boys met me at the house. An hour after she left the movers came and loaded all the boxes and furniture we were planning on taking with us into their truck. And were on their way to the new house.
"One door closes…"I mumbled the cliché to myself in the empty apartment. I glanced around soaking in all of the details we were leaving behind.
There was a brown stain on the carpet where Brice had spilled his apple juice when he was three. There were also fade marks on the white walls where picture frame once hung. There were little quirks about the apartment that part of me would grow to miss. For instance, the temperamental shower and the kitchen drawer that stuck so you had to open it a special way or the musician in the apartment below us that would play guitar late at night.
I placed the single beaten up golden key I had on the ledge by the front door and took one last gaze at the vacant apartment. I smiled faintly as I closed the door. There was the vivid feeling of optimism and fear as I did. Physically I was leaving behind and apartment, however emotionally I was leaving a place that held an abundant amount of memories.
After I drove to the new house and met the movers and I supervised as they unloaded all the boxes into the correct rooms. It wasn't until the movers were finishing up that I received a phone call from Amanda.
"Hey, where are you guys? The movers are just finishing up," I divulged as I paced casually in the kitchen of our new home.
"We're on our way to the hospital, Lori is in labor!" she blurted out.
"I'll—I'll be right there. Let me just lock up and I'll meet everyone there," I stammered and said a quick goodbye as I tried my best to hurry the movers along.
Within twenty minutes I was flying down the road and hopping onto the highway making my way to the hospital. I was in such a hurry I almost forgot to lock up the house, not that anyone lived near us. Once I arrived at the hospital and made my way to the waiting room where I joined the family.
"Hey Kyle," Josh greeted with a casual nod from where he was seated with Andy.
"Hey, have we heard anything? How's Lori?" I asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs by Amanda.
"She's doing fine, your mom and dad are with her, and Declan is on his way he was in class when he got the call," Amanda updated me on the situation.
"So now we get to sit here for forever," Josh complained and Andy smacked the back of his head.
"Your sister is having her babies," she scolded.
"And? I'm not having a baby," he teased, trying to receive a reaction from her.
"I think we'd all be pretty concerned if you were having a baby," Nathan commented.
After that Amanda had asked about the house and the conversation flowed from there. After about two hours Brice was becoming antsy, and when Declan arrived we were informed that they would have to perform a c-section on Lori.
"Dad, when are the babies going to be here?" Brice asked, tugging on my sleeve.
"I don't know, Bri, when they're ready I guess," I replied, it was evident that he was bored. "Why don't we go for a walk? I can show you where I work."
He nodded and I took his hand leading him out of the waiting room. We strolled down to the elevator and rode it up to the surgical floor.
"This is where I spend most of my day," I explained and we leisurely walked around the wing. "This is where I treat sick people and make them feel better."
"You cut people open here?" he asked looking up at me.
"No, not here, we take the patient down to the operating room. Then we give them medicine that helps them sleep and so that they can't feel anything, then we fix them," I explained in simple terms that he wouldn't freak out over it.
"Brice Kyle Trager! Is that you?" It was Dr. Palmer, the PEDS attending. "I haven't seen you in years."
"Bri, this is Dr. Palmer, she was the one who helped you feel better when you kept having those ear infections." When Brice was three Dr. Palmer had placed tubes in his ears to help drain the fluid.
"Hello, Dr. Palmer, it's nice to see you again," he greeted politely.
"Well aren't you just a charmer," she cooed and he smiled boyishly. "And I see you've picked up on your dad's smile."
He just laughed not knowing what else to say.
"I thought it was your day off Kyle?" she inquired, turning her attention to me.
"It is, but my sister went into labor and they're doing a c-section right now," I explained.
"Dr. Robins?" she questioned.
"Yeah,"
"Well then she's in wonderful hands," she assured me. "I've got to run though, and it was great seeing you again Brice."
"Bye, Dr. Palmer," he replied.
"Just like your dad," she mumbled as she walked away.
After a few hours we meandered back to the waiting room where we were informed that Lori was out of surgery and everything went well. Lori and the babies were resting and we would be able to go back and visit in a little while. I spoke with a few of the nurses and was able to allow all of us to go back into the room to visit with Lori.
"Hey guys!" Lori greeted quietly so as to not wake the baby she had in her arms or the baby Declan was holding. "I'd like you to meet, Peyton Margaret McDonough and Lillian Alexandra McDonough."
"There so tiny," Brice commented, I had lifted him into my arms so that he would have a better view. He was the first of us to speak after the 'aw's' and the 'they're so adorable' died down. However he was right, they could probably fit in the palms of my hands. I slipped my free arm around Amanda and pulled her close, knowing that in a few months that would be us.
AN: Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the new chapter, please feel free to comment. I love to hear suggestions of any kind they're always welcome! Happy holidays everyone, I'll try my best to update one last time before the year is over. If I don't get the chance though, I wish you all the best of luck in the New Year!