A Love Worth Fighting For

Ch. 21

It's been three months since Clay was released from prison. I was now in my sixth month of pregnancy and I felt like a whale. My stomach kept getting in the way whenever I cooked or tried to put my shoes on. I'd break down and cry every other day. Clay never once laughed at me during my meltdowns.

We were still attending counseling and he was still going to solo sessions once a week. We've been communicating more and more than not, everything was under control.

I didn't give up my classes during all of this and was set to graduate in three weeks. The following weekend, Mikey was graduating at the top of his class. We found out that he got approved for several scholarships we didn't even know about. Caroline's life insurance was put into college savings for both Mikey and Hannah and between Clay and I working, both kids should be set for college. Mikey has already talked about getting a job also to pull his part.

**** **** ****

"Claire, honey. It's time to wake up," Clays voice said trying to wake me from my slumber. "Come on, honey. It's time to start getting ready."

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Seven thirty."

"Let me sleep. It's Saturday."

"Babe, it's graduation day."

"No, that's next weekend," I grumbled, causing him to laugh. "Are you laughing at me?" I asked, finally opening my eyes and staring at him.

"Never," he smiled. "Baby, you're graduating today. Mikey is next weekend."

"Me. Oh shoot," I said, sitting up as fast as I could. As soon as I did, one of the babies was not happy with the sudden movement and let me know about it. I fell back on the bed suddenly and placed my hands on my belly.

    "Are you okay?" Clay asked.

    "He did not like that," I said.

    "Which one?"

    "I think it might have been Lucas."

We found out when I was right around a month ago that both of the babies were boys. I immediately wanted Clayton Jr and Clay wanted to honor my dad and name baby B, Lucas. When we told mom that, she immediately wrapped us both in her arms. She couldn't have been any happier. Bill was beaming with pride and told us that he was happy that we remembered dad like that. Of course we wanted to include Bill so Lucas' middle name was William.

    "How can you tell?" Clay asked.

   "The jolt came from the top and that's where Lucas is right now. I mean, it could have been CJ kicking but I'm pretty sure it was Lucas."

    "That's amazing," Clay said and then got down on his knees and placed his hands on my belly. "This whole process has been amazing," he said, smiling up at me. "I love you."

    "I love you too, Clay," I said and he stood up and helped me to my feet. Once he knew I was steady, he wrapped his arms around me and leaned down to kiss me.

    "I can't wait to see those beautiful boys of ours. I can't wait until we have ten sets of little feet running around."

    "Ten! You're crazy. You're carrying the next baby," I laughed.

    "Next baby?" he smiled. "You're already thinking about our next baby?"

    "Yeah. In about five years."

    "Well, we'll have..."

    "Stop right there," we heard Hannah's voice from the door. "Clay, get out of here and go make yourself useful in the kitchen. Brent said something about making monkey bread."