An Unexpected Life Read online

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  An Unexpected Life

  A Carolina Rebels Novella

  Copyright © 2017 by Lindsay Paige

  Smashwords Edition

  ISBN-13: 978-0998195537

  All rights reserved.

  Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products, bands, and/or restaurants referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Smashwords Edition License Notes

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  ***

  Title Page

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Coming Soon

  Carolina Rebels Roster

  Sylvia: What the fuck is taking you so long?

  Sylvia doesn’t like it when I’m late. We’re having lunch with my sister-in-law, Lizzy, today. Lizzy is pregnant with twins and has been having an extremely hard time since my brother, and her husband, died suddenly. She refuses to leave her house, so if we want to see her, or have lunch with her in this case, then we have to go over there.

  Finally pulling into Lizzy’s driveway, I throw my SUV into park, switch off the engine, and get out. I jog up to the door, pushing it open without knocking. Lizzy is standing, hands on the back of the couch, and I hear Sylvia moving around in the kitchen.

  “Everything okay?” I ask quietly.

  Lizzy shakes her head, her gaze on the ground. “My water just broke,” she says softly in a casual tone. There’s no panic at all, but her words hit me immediately and induce my own panic.

  “Sylvia!” I shout. “It’s time! Grab her bag!”

  “Shit! Really? Okay, hold on!” She runs around the house while I walk over to Lizzy and take one of her hands in mine.

  “Let’s get you to the car,” I say softly. I’ve been tiptoeing around her ever since my brother, Roger, died. She’s been devastated and the last thing we want to do is something to upset her even more. She’s fragile. I’ve never seen Lizzy like this before and it kills me. She used to be this strong, fiery person who spoke her mind. I haven’t seen that person since my brother took his last breath.

  She shakes her head again. “No. Not yet.”

  “What? Why? We need to get you there.”

  She leans forward, winces, and grabs her stomach with one hand while squeezing my hand with the other. Fuck, is she having contractions?

  “Lizzy,” I start, keeping my voice calm, yet a little firm.

  “No!” she shouts. Lizzy starts crying as Sylvia comes into the room and glares at me like I did something to upset her. All I did was try to get her some help. Lizzy’s crying quickly becomes hysterics. “I can’t do this. Not without Roger. I can’t. I just can’t. I am not going to that hospital.” She lifts her head to look at Sylvia and me. “Adopt them. Take them. Raise them as your own. I can’t do it. I can’t. Please, tell me that y’all will. Please.”

  “Lizzy, we—” Sylvia starts.

  “Promise me you’ll do it!” Lizzy demands, her words turning into a groan as pain grips her. “This is the worst time for me to be a mother. I can’t do it without Roger. I just can’t. But y’all would make great parents and these girls deserve better than me. I’d have no say. Promise you’ll adopt these babies.”

  “Okay. We promise,” I say. We have to get her to a damn hospital as soon as possible. I don’t care what her demands are, I’ll promise anything to make sure we keep her and those babies safe.

  Lizzy nods, makes some comment about me calling our lawyer to make the adoption official, and finally lets me lead her out of the house and into my SUV. The rest is a bit of a blur as we rush to the hospital and get her checked in. We’re both with Lizzy when she gives birth to the first little girl.

  I send a worrisome glance to Sylvia. Lizzy has no reaction and she refuses to acknowledge the nurse and the baby. This isn’t good.

  Lizzy does the same for the second baby. When asked if she wants to hold them, she says no and even goes as far to as telling the nurse that we’re going to be the parents. Surely, she’ll change her mind. Surely, she’s not serious. I can’t see her actually going through with this.

  In the meantime, Sylvia and I each hold a beautiful baby until they want them back. We give Lizzy some time to rest, but before we leave, she tells us to name the girls whatever we want.

  We stand just outside of the room where the baby girls are wailing. Sylvia has her arms around my waist.

  “She’s serious, Scott,” she whispers. “She wants us to take the girls.” Her voice trembles, letting me know she’s close to tears.

  I’m torn over how I feel about this. Sylvia and I have always wanted kids. We’ve been trying for as long as we’ve been married and then, after many trips to a specialist, we were told that it would be impossible. Sylvia wasn’t meant to get pregnant. It took entirely too long for me to get my wife to accept that. It’s a hard thing to accept, I know. I was as devastated as she was, but it was nothing compared to my Sylvie.

  We recently decided to try the adoption route, funny enough considering Lizzy wants us to adopt her twins. So, if she’s serious, then I’m elated that my wife and I will finally be parents. However, I hate the expense at which it’s coming. If Roger was still alive, Lizzy would be over the moon right now. Instead, she can’t see past her grief. I hate that I agree with her, too. She’s in no shape to take care of babies, but I’ve been praying that once she saw those cute, pink, screaming faces, she’d find some strength to do what needed to be done for those girls.

  Then again, maybe she is.

  “What if she changes her mind six months down the road when she’s recovered from her grief?” Sylvia glances up at me, the tears freely falling down her cheeks. “I can’t get attached and pretend that I’m their mom for her to change her mind, Scott. But I don’t want to do the paperwork now and have her change her mind, and this be something we took from her. What are we going to do?”

  “Let’s do what she wants for the time being, but hold off on making anything official. Maybe now that they’re here, she’ll find a way to get through her grief.”

  “She wants us to name them. This just feels so wrong. I feel like she’ll be mad at us or change her mind at any second.”

  “Has she mentioned any names to you?”

  Sylvia shakes her he
ad. “She barely talks anymore, and before, she never said.”

  We’re definitely between a rock and a hard place. “Let me talk to her one more time before we do anything. Stay here.” I kiss her gently and return to Lizzy’s room.

  The moment I step inside, she opens her eyes. “I’m not changing my mind. Have y’all picked names yet?”

  I cross the room to sit in the chair next to her bed. I take her hand in mine, wishing my brother could be here. Today would be so different if he were. “Are you sure, Lizzy? You know we’ll help and—”

  The tears are as sudden as her interruption. “I can’t, Scott. Not without Roger. And we both know I’m not in any shape to take care of someone else when you and Sylvia have been taking care of me. If I can’t take care of myself, I can’t take care of them. Roger would want this.”

  She had me until that last part. It seems like such an odd thing to say.

  “He would want what’s best for them,” she adds. “Please.”

  “Okay. But if you change your mind—”

  “I won’t.” She winces as she turns on her side away from me. “You can go now.”

  Fuck. She’s already withdrawing from us again. With a deep breath, I stand and return to Sylvia. Our priority is those two beautiful girls and then helping Lizzy heal. We’ll hold off on the adoption papers until we see what happens with Lizzy.

  “Well?” Sylvia says when she sees me.

  “Let’s think of some names and move forward with caution.”

  “I like Stephanie and Stella.”

  I laugh. “You already decided without me?”

  She takes my hand and leans against me. “Those are my suggestions.” Her voice lowers to a whisper. “Our names start with S and those were names on my girls list that started with S that I liked.”

  That’s right. Sylvia used to keep two lists, one for boys and one for girls, and she had names she liked for each letter of the alphabet. The list is currently buried in the bottom of her nightstand drawer because that’s something she just can’t throw away.

  “I think those will be perfect.”

  Sylvia’s chest starts to labor. “Don’t let me get too attached, Scott.”

  “They’re family either way, Sylvie. You can’t love them too much, and if she changes her mind, we still get to see them. We’ll be parents one day, I promise. Let’s focus on making sure we take care of them and give them a bunch of love. They deserve that whether we’re their parents or their aunt and uncle.”

  Turns out, Sylvia worried for nothing. Three months later, at Lizzy’s demand, we started the process of adopting our girls.

  ***

  Mmm. This is the life. A strong arm pulls me even tighter against a fit body, one of the first signs he’s awake. Depending on how we’re lying depends on which routine he follows. Next, his nose moves back and forth over the back of my neck as he inhales the scent of my shampoo. Then, there’s a kiss right between my shoulder blades. His scratchy, sleepy voice murmurs, “Sylvie?”

  “I’m awake.”

  “I love you.” That’s the final part of his routine. First thing every morning, he tells me he loves me.

  “Love you too, Scott.”

  “We should get up.”

  “No. Hold me a little longer.”

  He’s quiet for a moment while his arm tries to pull me even closer. “You okay?”

  It’s not often I make that particular request, especially not first thing in the morning. “Just want to enjoy you while I can.” Preseason will start very soon and that means my husband will be traveling. I have no idea why, but I’ve been dreading it lately. I don’t want him to go. It’s absolutely nuts because he loves what he does and I love that he does it. But for some reason, I’m not feeling quite right this season.

  “You know you’ll still be able to enjoy me when the season starts.” Scott rolls me over to face him. “What’s going on, Sylvia? You’ve been acting funny.”

  I frown. “Me wanting to spend time with my husband is me acting funny? Are you fucking kidding me?”

  He runs his hand down my arm in an effort to soothe me, but I pull away. He knows I hate that. When I’m on the verge of getting pissed off, the last thing he should do is try to calm me down. It throws gasoline on the fire. “What I mean is that something is off. I know it. You know it. I want to know what the fuck it is. Don’t get pissed at me for trying to figure this out.”

  Ugh. “Don’t get your bossy, I’m the man, let me fix this tone out. You know I don’t like it.” Why some girls like to be bossed around or have their men take over, I don’t know. Even though I know that Scott finds subtle ways to do this, if it’s blatantly clear, I’ll rebel faster than he can take a breath.

  Scott sighs and rolls onto his back to stare at the ceiling. That’s when I feel bad. The sigh is always a sign of defeat. A sign that means I haven’t necessarily overreacted, but I’m being more difficult than he currently wants to deal with. It always comes quicker in the morning.

  “Are you going to talk to me now or later?” he asks. We always talk. It’s just a matter of timing.

  “Can you look at me?”

  He turns his head immediately. I have the best husband, I really do. If one of us is the problem spouse, it’s me. I know it. Scott would deny it because it’s what good husbands do. I’m his polar opposite in a lot of ways, but we fit in so many others. Nothing tears me up more than an issue between us. And there’s not even an issue between us right now, but I’m apparently making one.

  “I just...” As my voice fades, Scott pulls me to him again.

  “Tell me,” he softly orders. Only because I love him and because this nagging sense is really bothering me am I letting him get away with that.

  “I don’t want you to play this season.”

  Scott’s eyes widen. “What?”

  “I mean, I do, but I’m having some kind of anxiety over it and I don’t know why. Something doesn’t feel right.”

  “You’re not one to worry, so this worries me.”

  “I’m sorry.” The last thing I want to do right before or during the season is make Scott worry. I feel like it’s part of my job as his wife to make sure that when he’s working, he can focus on that and when he’s with us, he can focus on us.

  Scott doesn’t try to tell me not to be sorry. Instead, he holds me close. That’s exactly what I want and need. “Are you happy, Sylvie?” he asks quietly.

  I lift my head. “God, yes. Why are you even asking me that?”

  “We’ve been married a long time. You say something doesn’t feel right and I don’t know. I have to make sure it’s not that.”

  He’s right. Our ten-year anniversary is coming up soon. Wow. Have we really been married for ten years? I prop myself up on his chest. “I’m happy, Scott. You and the girls are the only people who make me happy.” I take a brief pause. “What are you going to do for our anniversary?”

  Scott laughs. “You act like I’ll be able to make it a surprise.”

  “If anyone can keep a secret from me, it’s you.” He’s the only one who doesn’t give in to my need to know things.

  “Any expectations? It is a big one.”

  “No more than usual. As long as we have a babysitter, then I’ll consider it a success.”

  He chuckles. “That’s all you ever want from me,” he says with a fake tsk. “Sex.”

  “What can I say? You’re really good in bed.”

  “Daddy!” The door to our room bursts open as Stella runs in and jumps onto our bed. I sigh as she crawls over me to wiggle between us, her sister right on her heels. “We’re hungry.”

  “You are? Well then, sounds like I best be getting out of bed. I can’t have my girls going hungry. What do we want for breakfast?”

  With a smile on my face, I watch as he picks each girl up, hauling them out of the room over his shoulders while they giggle and spout off their breakfast demands. He’s the best father, the best husband, and the best man in our lives. H
e is truly amazing. He married me, knowing that I can be difficult, that I’m nosy, that I’m a little out of control, especially compared to how he’s laid back.

  We tried and tried and tried to have kids and when we discovered that I was the problem, he gave me time to mourn what I would never be able to do. Then, he started us on the adoption route, though that didn’t end in the way we expected. Once we finally had our family, things settled into the routine we have now and it’s been bliss.

  It hasn’t been easy, of course. What life is? But I know how to handle Scott, he knows how to handle me, and most importantly, we continuously work on our marriage to keep it strong. How else would we last nearly ten years of marriage through all the ups and downs we’ve experienced?

  Now, we just need to figure out what’s nagging me.

  On that note, I get out of bed to take a quick shower. Scott doesn’t have to be anywhere for a few more hours, so he’ll take the girls to school. If he has the opportunity, then he always takes advantage of it. I get the girls ready for school while he gets dressed himself. Once they’re well on their way, I walk into the kitchen and smile when I see there’s a plate of food waiting for me.

  Our life is a bit predictable as we’re set in our ways and we follow a routine every day, but there’s a source of comfort in that as well. Maybe that’s what’s nagging me? The fact that we are so predictable? I can pretty much tell you how every day will go. If something happens to change it up, I can change with it and still predict how the rest of the day will go. We have patterns we follow regardless of whatever curveballs come at us.

  Once I eat, I start cleaning the kitchen. I used to work, but my dream job was to be a stay-at-home mom. When Scott’s brother, Roger, died and we had to look after Lizzy and then Stephanie and Stella, I quit my job. Doing that became a full-time job. I’ve never looked back, though. There’s always plenty to do around the house. In the afternoons, the girls keep me busy between Stella’s practice and her wanting ice time when she’s not practicing, and then Stephanie likes to skate with her sister, but she’d rather socialize.