From Now Until Forever
Chapter 16
Several hours later Fran was pottering around in the kitchen she baking her sons favorite dessert her grandmothers peach cobbler when she heard the doorbell, she made her way to the door and when she opened the door she saw Sarah and Desiree standing there she smiled and reached out her arms and bought her girls in for a hug she kissed them both on the cheek before releasing them and allowing them to enter the house, neither of the girls knew the real reason they were there all they thought was that they were having dinner with their Mamma Sarah could smell the delicious peach cobbler and said "Mamma is that peach cobbler I can smell" Fran smiled and said "yes it is" just then she heard the creaky floorboard at the top of the stairs and she turned to see Derek and Penelope standing there hand in hand, Sarah and Desiree turned their attention to the top of the stairs and couldn't help but smile.
Sarah and Desiree moved forward and wrapped Penelope in their arms and Penelope couldn't help but smile she had been worried about meeting Derek's family the whole flight to Chicago and now as Sarah and Desiree welcomed her with open arms she felt the weight of her worry that they weren't going to like her drop from her shoulders as she relaxed into the hug Derek said "alright alright stop smothering my Baby Girl and give her back to me" Sarah was the first to pull away and said "geez Derek protective much" Derek mumbled "you better believe it" Fran said "well let's move this into the living room where we can all get comfortable" everyone moved to into the living room while Fran went into the kitchen to get the peach cobbler out of the oven, just before Penelope sat down she said "Hot Stuff can you show me where the bathroom is please" Derek smiled and said "of course Baby Girl" Derek took her hand and lead her upstairs and into the bathroom he left her too it and went into his bedroom.
Penelope came out if the bathroom which was right across the hall from Derek's room so she went into his room she saw him sitting on his bed waiting and bent down and grabbed her purse she pulled out the ultrasound picture and stood up she put the picture the large pocket of her jacket and made her way over to Derek she leaned forward and kissed his lips before saying "I am sorry about my little outburst at the airport earlier today it was just me being silly and I am sorry about snapping at you before I was just emotional and hormonal and was worrying that your family weren't going to like me but now I know that they do like me I am all good" Derek pulled her into his lap and said "Baby Girl I love you so much and I am glad you are all good but I did tell you that everything would be ok, didn't I" Penelope nodded and said "I love you too Handsome, now shall we go and spread some good news to your family."
Derek and Penelope made their way back downstairs and into the living room they sat down on the couch and Derek pulled Penelope into his side his arm wrapped around her waist Fran watched the couple getting cozy and said "so Derek when are you going to tell us the surprise your keeping" Derek looked at Penelope and she gave him a slight nod and he pulled the ultrasound picture from her pocket and handed it to his Mamma, Fran looked at the picture and knew exactly what it was after all she was a nurse and a mother and had that type of picture before many times but it took her a few minutes to work out that there was it just one baby but four babies in the picture she said "i... is that four babies I count" Penelope smiled and nodded.
Fran got up from her chair only to crouch down in front of Penelope and Derek she took Penelope's hand and said "Penelope you have made me the happiest women alive, I have been wanting grand babies for a long long time and now thanks to you I am getting four all at once" Fran then turned to Derek and said "that is a surprise well worth waiting for Baby Boy" Derek smiled and said "I am glad you like your surprise Mamma" Fran laughed and said "Baby Boy I don't just like my surprise I love it, it is the best surprise ever" Derek pulled his Mamma in to a hug Fran got up and and sat back in her chair.
Sarah said "so Penelope, how far along are you" Penelope replied "I am nine weeks but we were told yesterday that with me carrying high order multiples that I could deliver early" Fran said "high order multiples can be delivered anywhere between 25-33 weeks, but you want to try and keep them in there as long as possible so that they don't have to have an extended stay in the hospitals NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and if you get to the point where they are classed as full term then there is a likely chance that they will be able to go home when you do, and you are going to need lots of help" Penelope smiled she wondered whether Fran and the girls would be willing to move to Virginia to be close by to help if need be.
Fran, Sarah and Desiree went into the kitchen to start preparing dinner and while they were in there the began to discuss the idea of packing up everything they owned and leaving all their friends and family behind to move to where they would be closer to Derek and Penelope and the babies, all three were going to give the idea a serious thought before mentioning it to Derek and Penelope, an hour later Sarah walked into the living room to let Derek and Penelope know that dinner was ready, the couple got up off the couch and made their way into the kitchen where they washed their hands so that they were ready to eat.
Throughout the meal everyone was laughing and enjoying themselves when Sarah looked at Penelope and said "did my little brother tell you about the time he tried to burn the kitchen" Penelope looked at Derek and said "no he didn't tell me that" she couldn't help but laugh when she saw Derek hang his head in shame as Sarah said "yeah he wanted to help Mamma and he put the oven mitt to close to the the flame and it caught fire and he ran around the kitchen screaming until Mamma grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to the sink and stuck his hand under the water" Desiree said "we still get a Christmas card from the fire department that attended that night" Derek looked up and stuck his tongue out at his sisters and said "I am never gonna live that down am I."
Sarah and Desiree laughed at Derek and said in unison "nopeeeeeeee" Fran looked at the girls with a serious look before saying "girls what have I told you about teasing your brother about that, it happened 22 years ago now leave him alone" the girls stopped laughing and dropped their eyes to the table and said again in unison "sorry Derek, sorry Mamma" the rest of the meal was quite as they continued to eat when everyone had finished eating and had made their way into the living except for Derek who stayed help his Mamma clear the table as he wanted to ask her if she could go shopping with him to help him pick out a ring Derek stopped what he was doing and said "Mamma I was wondering if you could come ring shopping with me while we are here" Fran looked at Derek and said "you want me to go shopping with you to buy an engagement ring" Derek nodded and Fran bit her bottom lip as she fought to contain the scream that was ready to escape.
Fran and Derek made their way into the living room and Derek sat down beside Penelope he leaned in and gave her a kiss not caring that his Mamma and sisters were witnessing their display of affection, when Derek broke their kiss he pulled back so that they could get some much needed air and he noticed that his Mamma and his sisters were sitting there smiling at the couple, Fran could tell that for the first time in a long time that Derek was completely happy and it is all because of Penelope watching the way that the couple interacted reminded her so much of herself and her husband when they were younger.
Penelope snuggled into Derek a little more before letting out a big yawn Derek noticed that she was making herself comfortable and he knew that it wouldn't be long before she was asleep and said "Baby why don't you head on up to bed" Penelope shook her head said "I am ok Handsome" but before she could finish what she was saying she yawned again Derek chuckled and said "Baby if you are tired why don't you go to bed and I will be up in just a minute, ok" Penelope finally conceded and said "I am sorry but I just can't seem to be able to keep my eyes open anymore, I will see you tomorrow, goodnight" Fran said "goodnight Sweetheart" Sarah and Desiree said "goodnight Penelope" Penelope leaned down and gave Derek a long kiss and said "I will see you in a few minutes Handsome."
Derek watched his Baby Girl leave the living room and when she was out of sight he turned back to his family and said in a low tone "Sarah, Des I am going to need your help with getting Penelope out of the house so that Mamma and I can go shopping" Sarah said "what are we supposed to do to get her out of the house Derek and what are you and Mamma going shopping for" Derek turned and looked over his shoulder again and said "well if you must know Mamma and I are going ring shopping and you could take her shopping in the next town over so that Mamma and I can go to the Mall here and if either of you breathe a word of what I am doing to Penelope I will kill you do you understand" Sarah and Desiree both nodded they wouldn't say anything to Penelope.
It wasn't long after Penelope went upstairs and had gotten changed when Derek opened his bedroom door and entered the room before closing the door behind him, he gave Penelope his mega watt as he made his way over to her he reached out and pulled her into his arms as he crashed his lips to hers Penelope let out a little moan and Derek took the opportunity to deepen their kiss by thrusting his tongue deep into her mouth their tongues battling for dominance, Derek had won when Penelope pulled back and whispered "we can't have sex here Hot Stuff, your Mamma and your sisters are downstairs" Derek kissed her neck trying to make her forget about what she was saying.
Derek knew that Penelope was right and said "your right Baby, we will just have to wait until we have the house to ourselves" as he shed his clothes except for his boxer short and climbed into bed with Penelope, the couple lay facing each other their arms and legs tangled together Derek held Penelope as close as he could without squishing her belly between them as they quickly drifted off into a peaceful slumber dreaming of what tomorrow shall bring.