Time jump, 10.5 years, December
"A date? You have a date?" Lucas asked, hearing the words coming out of Mattie's mouth but not wanting to believe them.
"Yep. Its with Zane, Dad. You don't have to worry about anything."
"He's 18."
"Yes and I am 17."
His Mattie was seventeen and going on a date with Zane Coulter. He couldn't believe it. How was it possible?
"Dad?"
"Sorry, sweetie. What?"
"Can I borrow your car? I need to go to the mall to get a new skirt."
He handed her the keys but before actually letting go, he pulled her into a hug. "I love you, Matea Bouchard but I don't like that you are growing up and starting to date. This makes me feel out of control."
She reached up and kissed his cheek. "I love you too, Dad. I'm not going to elope or anything. Its just a date."
"Not something to joke about," he told her, kissing the top of her head.
He heard something loud happening and knew it was his boys. "Ethan! Vince! Stop wrestling in the house!" he shouted so they could hear him.
"Daddy?" 13 year old Lilly said, walking into the room.
"Hey, Lilly bug."
"Can I go with Mattie to the mall? Please? I need girl stuff."
"I'm good with it," Mattie told him. Mattie was such a sweet big sister.
"Sure, Lil. You can go."
"Thanks, Daddy."
The noise upstairs started again. "Those boys. Okay, girls. You have fun. I'm going to go see what your brothers are up to."
He heard a crash as he rushed up the stairs.
"Ethan, Vince! What are you doing?"
"Just playing around, Dad," Ethan told him.
"What did you break?"
"Nothing."
"E?"
"Just my lamp. Its not a big deal."
The boys had their own rooms but the girls shared. At this point, it was a great setup because these two needed to be separated.
"Vince, go to your room."
"Why?"
"Because I told you no wrestling and you kept doing it. Mom has told you a hundred times and you still did it. You are both grounded. So go. Now."
"Not fair."
"Go." He waited until Vince walked out and he sat down on the bottom bunk that was filled with clothes and books and didn't smell very good. "E, I want you to do your laundry and clean this room. You are grounded for a week."
"Mom said I can't do my laundry."
"Why?"
"Because I tried to wash my boots last time. I didn't know I couldn't!"
"I will show you how to do your laundry and discuss it with Mom. In the meantime, open your window to air this place out."
"Its like 20 degrees outside."
"Yep, and this room stinks. Now get cleaning."
Lucas walked down the stairs to start the burgers and veggies.
"Babe? I'm home," Elizabeth called from the door.
"Hey, how did it go?"
"Great! I think I just need one more day and we will officially be done with this condo project."
"Nice."
She walked up to him and gave him a kiss. "How are things around here?"
"Let's see, Mattie has a date."
"With Zane?"
"Yeah. You knew?"
"Yeah. She told me."
"And no one told me?"
"Babe, it wasn't for sure so we waited until Zane actually asked her. You know they've liked each other for a while. It shouldn't be a shock."
"I guess not, but how can she be old enough to date?"
"Babe, I am almost 40 and you are almost 41. We've been married for 18 years in about a week from now. She's growing up."
"Yeah. I don't like it."
"I know."
She hopped up on the counter and watched while he made the burgers. "Where is everyone?"
"Because Mattie has a date, apparently she needs a new skirt and Lil went with her because she needed girl stuff, she said."
"And the boys? Its pretty quiet."
"Yeah well, I separated them and grounded them for a week."
"Uh oh. What did they do?"
"They were wrestling and continued even after I told them to stop. And the lamp in Ethan's room is broken. Also, I told E to clean his room and do his laundry."
"Only if you watch him do it. That boy…he put his boots in there! I could have smacked him."
Lucas put the burgers in the pan and washed his hands.
"Babe?"
He turned and looked at her. "Yeah?"
"Come here." She held her arms out and he stepped up to the counter. She wrapped her arms and legs around him. "For our talk tonight, I have something that…"
"Ewwww gross!" Ethan said, heading for the refrigerator. "Why do you have to do that all the time?"
"E, no snacks. Dinner will be ready soon," Elizabeth told him.
"I'm starving," he said in a typical teenage boy way.
"Is your room clean?"
"Sort of."
"Keep cleaning and stay there until I call you and Vince for dinner."
"So you were saying?" Lucas asked when Ethan was out of the room again.
"I just want to chat about something later."
"Okay." He tucked her hair behind her ears and slowly kissed her a few times, his hands softly holding her face right where he wanted it. "No hints?"
"Nope."
"Okay. I can be patient."
"I'm going to go shower before dinner."
He watched her walk upstairs, curious what she was wanting to chat about. He had something he wanted to talk about too, but he didn't think it was the same thing.
"I don't want vegetables," Vince announced at dinner.
"You know the rules, Vin. You have to eat a few bites."
"I hate broccoli. It stinks like Ethan's room."
Ethan kicked Vince under the table making him yell.
"Knock it off, guys. Seriously," Elizabeth told them.
"Vin, eat your broccoli and stop saying rude things. Ethan, keep your feet to yourself," Lucas told him.
The girls came home after dinner was done, each toting a couple bags each. "What did you get, Mattie?" Elizabeth asked.
"I found a skirt and a sweater on sale! They're awesome." She pulled them out of the bag and showed her.
"Those are cute. Did you find anything, Lil?"
"Tampons," she said, turning pink.
"Gross," Ethan muttered.
"Shut up, E!" she said, yelling at her twin.
"What is it with all the fighting and bickering today?" Lucas asked.
Lilly started sniffling and ran upstairs. Mattie followed her sister.
"Let's do your laundry, bud," Lucas said to Ethan.
"All my clothes are clean."
"No they aren't. The smell coming from that pile of clothes on the bottom bunk told me otherwise."
"That was just an old sandwich in my lunch bag."
"Gross, E. We still need to do your laundry. Let's go."
Elizabeth's phone buzzed as she finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Hey, Rosie," she said, putting her on speaker.
"Did you tell him yet?"
"Shhhh! No! I'm telling him later."
Rosie and Lee still lived about four hours away with their now five children. Zane was a senior in high school, Zach was a junior, Betsy was almost 15, Connor, 13 like the twins and little Francesca was 5.
Zane and Mattie texted a lot and Elizabeth had predicted a few years back that eventually they'd date. Now, they were going to and Elizabeth was not upset about it. Zane had a good head on his shoulders. He planned to be a doctor but he was going to enlist in the army after he graduated to help with schooling costs.
"Beth?"
"Uh, yeah. Sorry."
"Text me when you tell Luke."
"Rosie!"
"Tell Luke what?" Lucas asked from the doorway. "Hi, Rosie."
"Uh hi! Bye now!"
"Get Ethan's laundry started?"
"Yes. Tell Luke what, babe?"
She sighed and leaned back against the counter after starting the dishwasher.
"On our honeymoon, do you remember that dream I told you about?"
"Are you serious? Beth, that was almost eighteen years ago."
"I know, well…in my dream one of our five kids was marrying one of Lee and Rosie's…"
"Hang on. Who's getting married? Mattie said it was just a date. No eloping."
"Babe…apparently I'm doing this badly. I'll just tell you. I'm pregnant."
"What?"
"Pregnant. With child. A bun in the oven."
"You're…we're…are you serious? I thought we were done…I mean Vince is ten. But the eloping thing…"
"No, babe. No one is eloping. My point was we are going to have a fifth child, like in my dream. Though it is a little funny that Zane and Mattie are seeing each other. Or will be."
Lucas sighed and leaned back against the fridge, arms crossed. This put a crimp in his plans.
"No reaction?"
"I wanted to take you on a trip for our twentieth. I've been saving and planning. Now, well, I guess that won't work. We will have a one year old."
"Sorry to disappoint you. Um, I'm going to bed."
"Beth, we need to talk. We talk every night before bed."
"We just did and I really don't have anything more to say. Night."
"Beth, please wait. I don't want to go to bed without making things right." He softly took her hand and stopped her momentum.
She was crying and he hated that he had done that. "I'm so sorry, baby. Forgive me? I was just shocked."
"I was too. I didn't necessarily want another baby but once I knew for sure that I was pregnant, I realized how much I do." He held her close for a moment, rubbing her back.
"I love our babies, Beth. I love that God provided us with another one, even though we didn't know we wanted it. Obviously He knows best."
"I love our babies too."
He leaned back just a touch and put his hand on her stomach. "How long until we meet this one?"
"Six months. I'm honestly surprised you hadn't noticed I was putting on weight."
"You're so beautiful. I guess that's all that I notice."
"I love you, Luke. Are you sure that you're okay with it?"
"Of course. Now though, since my news of our twentieth anniversary trip is out, why don't we ask your parents to come stay here and we can go to Florida for a long weekend for our eighteenth?"
"Yes! That's a wonderful idea."
"Great."
She stood on her toes and kissed him. "I'm exhausted so I really am going to bed now."
"Alright. Goodnight, my love."
…..
Girls room
Mattie smiled at her phone. She had been texting Zane for quite a while and he had that effect. He was so cute with his blonde hair and glasses and strong arms. He wasn't tall, since neither of his parents were but that didn't matter to her, Mattie was the same height.
"Mattie?" Lilly asked, looking up from the book she was reading.
"Hm?"
"What's it like to kiss a boy?"
"I don't know."
"You don't? You haven't kissed a boy? You're seventeen."
Mattie nudged her. "That's not old. I just never liked anyone enough to kiss them."
"Until now?" Lilly giggled.
"Right."
"So if Zane kisses you, you'll let him?"
"Absolutely."
"Will you tell me what its like?"
"Sure."
"Okay. Thanks for being such a good big sister, Matts."
"Thanks for being such a good little sister, Lil."