Let Me Love You (Love #4)(45)
Author: Megan Smith

Andrew, Cooper’s dad, is on his way to go pick Cooper and Mason up from the airport. Hailey is upstairs in bed where she belongs while MacKenzie, Chloe, Elle, my mom and I are converting the downstairs for Hailey’s baby shower. Hailey’s mom wasn’t able to make it because she had plans she couldn’t get out of with her other daughter. Hailey didn’t really seem to care in the least, probably one less thing for her to worry about. The doctor gave her strict rules that she is not to leave the house. We were planning to have the baby shower here anyway just because of the bed rest rules from earlier on in her pregnancy. She went to the doctors late last week and her blood pressure was high. The stress of Mason not being around is affecting her more than she’ll admit.

I’m wrapping crepe paper down her railing when Hailey drops a couple of f-bombs. I’m glad Alex and Ryder aren’t near to hear her. That’s all they need to hear, those little bad asses would definitely repeat it and at the most inappropriate times too.

Chloe ties an umbrella shaped balloon from the railing. She snorts, “Has she been doing that a lot?”

“When doesn’t she do that?” We all found out early on that Hailey hates being pregnant. She loves the babies but just never ever wants to carry them again.

Chloe laughs, “True. Think she’s okay?”

I yell up the stairs, “Hails, are you alright?”

“No, I’m convinced these babies hate me already.” She yelps. “I swear they are going to crack one of my ribs with the way they kick.”

I raise my eyebrows at Chloe, “She’s perfectly happy.”

She shakes her head and goes out the front door to hang more balloons out front. Mom, MacKenzie and Elle are in the kitchen getting all the food prepped for the guests that will be arriving in a half an hour.

The house fills quickly with family and friends. Everyone is standing around chatting and catching up.

MacKenzie comes to stand by the front door, “Mase said they’re around the corner.” She whispers.

“I hope this doesn’t put her into labor.” I look over to MacKenzie hoping she’ll put the thoughts in my head to rest.

“You never know what’ll happen. Look what happened with Ms. Olivia, she couldn’t wait to make her grand entrance.” MacKenzie peeks out the door. “They’re here.”

I run into the kitchen to let Elle know that Mason is here. We all run over to the door and greet him when he opens it. He gives us each a hug before he makes a beeline to his fiancé. This wasn’t part of the plan but there was no stopping him.

The room gets quiet and we all wait for Hailey to notice Mason. MacKenzie grabs a hold of my arm and Chloe takes my other one.

“Oh my…” Hailey starts to cry and I think every female in this house gets teary eyed. We can all hear Hailey sobbing from upstairs.

After a few minutes we gather everyone in the living room. We decide to play a game giving Hailey and Mason a few minutes of alone time.

Eventually they make their way downstairs. We start the party after Hailey has made her way around the room. Mason is holding Hailey’s hand, never letting her get out of reach. He helps Hailey with all the presents that everyone brought for them and the smile that touches his face never falters. It’s nice to see that by the end of the shower, Mason and Hailey are pretty much set for the delivery of the babies.

I’m envious of my friend; she’s living a dream of mine, a dream that is so far out of reach for me right now. I want what they have. The way Mason adores her, the way you can see it in his eyes that nothing means more to him than her. I want the happiness that I see radiating off her, the dreaminess in her eyes that tells me she knows her life is perfect. She has my dream life. Everything I want, she’s living it. It pains me to be jealous of her but I can’t help it, not when I can’t have what I want.

Cooper never showed up at the shower and I assumed that maybe it was because of me. Monday evening rolls around and I’m on my way to the soccer field to meet my group of girls for the first time. I was lucky enough to get my own group this year as opposed to last year when I was assistant coach.

Twelve out of my thirteen girls showed up for practice, a pretty good turnout for the first day. I have them start with a jog around the field to warm up their bodies. Then I send them into the center of the field for some stretching to loosen up. After that we did some dribbling exercises up and down the field. We also took some practice shots from the corner and also six and eighteen yard line shots.

My assistant coach, Kelly, stays back assessing the players and takes some notes on where some girls would be positioned. After about an hour and a half practice is over and the girl’s parents start to arrive to pick them up.

I’m collecting all the cones when I hear my name being called. I turn and see Hunter jogging towards me.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask, surprised to see my brother .

He puts his hands on hips, “We’ve got to go. Hailey’s in labor.”

My eyes go wide in surprise, “Seriously?”

Hunter nods, “Let’s go.”

Hunter helps me carry the cones back to my car and we discard them in the trunk. I look down at my attire, I’m wearing Nike shorts and an old tank top that I’ve been sweating in. I’m not exactly clean and dressed to go to the hospital. “Uh, Hunter, I think I should go home first and change.”

He looks over at what I’m wearing and then down at himself. He’s got a pair of gym shorts and a sleeveless shirt. “I’m not exactly dressed for it either but I don’t want to miss Mason’s reaction when he comes out to tell us what the sex is.”

I smirk picturing the reaction in my mind. “You’re right, let’s go.”

We arrive at the hospital shortly after leaving the field and we find everyone in the waiting room. Everyone is here including the kids, the Cahill’s and McCormick’s taking over the majority of the waiting room. Each person is betting on what the sex is going to be and even passing money around to officially place the bets. Andrew is keeping track for all of us. I guess that they are going to have two girls as did MacKenzie, Hunter and Chloe. Andrew is the only one who said two boys and Jackson, Elle and my mom said one of each.

Three hours later Mason comes walking out the double doors wiping at his face. Andrew walks up to his son and brings him in for a hug. Mason wipes his face again as we all stand there waiting, and not very patiently I might I add.