The Radford Boys [Completed]

Chapter 24 A Happy Beginning

Chapter 24 A Happy Beginning 

One Year Later

Jessie

            I watched my baby, Addison Marie Radford, scoot across the floor to where I was sitting cross legged. She gave me a big smile and flashed her hazel eyes that matched Michael’s. She had bouncy brown curls and Michael’s nose while sporting my mouth and high cheek bones. She will be five months old in another week. I smiled, thinking about how my little girl was getting so big.

            Michael and I married in the court house by a judge who was grinning ear to ear about his first marriage of the year. My dad helped Michael get a job as the budget manager for the city hall. I worked a few days a week at a local diner in town and Mom watched Addie when I was working.

            Addie giggled and laid back on my leg. She was definitely a happy baby. I picked her up and took her into the kitchen where I was working on dinner for Michael and I . Feeling my brand new baby bump rub across the counter, I smiled. Yes, I was pregnant again. I was officially four months pregnant with Michael’s baby, again.

“Where are my beautiful girls?” I heard Michael’s voice boom through the house and quickly spun in his direction. From what I could hear, he was in the foyer taking off his shoes.

“We are in the kitchen!” I yelled this over my shoulder as I returned back to the stove. I heard light footsteps as he entered the kitchen and pulled me to his chest with his arms wrapped around my waist.

“And how is my little boy growing?” Michael smiled the smile of a happy man and rubbed my baby bump. The doctor had confirmed that it was definitely a boy yesterday. We were so happy that it was working out just as we had planned.

            Looking back on the last year, I realized that there were a lot of things that hadn’t worked out as planned. Such as, Addison was born through C-section, and we had a little while there where Michael couldn’t find a job and I was working full time while being eight months pregnant. There was also the time that my father was admitted to the hospital from a mild heart attack, which he didn’t take seriously. Our last year has been one of the most exciting, happy, beautiful, painful, and even resentful years of my life. I mostly resented taking Michael away from the boys. He still went over to the house when he knew they would be home but Angela wouldn’t. He picked them up from football practice and brought them over here for a few weekend nights. Ross loved little Addie with an uncle kind of love. He was always the first to jump up to change her diaper or to help feed her. I could never get a word in edgewise when he was here. Mets liked Addie, but he had already expressed that he was just waiting on little Joey. Yes, he named our baby. Will mostly hung out with the boys. He never really became comfortable around me again. He had this weighted look about him. He seemed like he was mad at the world, even though he now had a lovely girlfriend named Jade.

“Your little boy is eating more than maybe he should. I’m already looking like a cow.” I said this with a frown but all Addie had to do was look into my eyes and I instantly felt better.

“You are pregnant, and you look radiant, ravishing, regal, I can keep going.” His breath lingered on my neck and a shiver ran down my spine. This last year may not have been the best year of all, but it had certainly had its high moments. Now, I was standing in the arms of the man I love, holding my baby girl, and smiling like a fool at the love that is bouncing between us.

“Sure, I can take a compliment from a handsome man any day.” He gently took my empty hand in his, ran his thumb over the back of it before flipping it over and doing the same thing to my palm and kissed the very middle of my hand. I was definitely in love with Michael. The last year had been spent learning about all these new things, love, hurt, pain, angst, true happiness, and even a little fear, but it wouldn’t have been anything without my time spent with the Radford boys in the Radford home.