A Bond Never Broken

Chapter 28

August 24, 2015

Franklin, Tennessee

Luke's House

It had been a few weeks since the ordeal that went down with Chris and resulted in the death of Derrick happened. Brooke had been heartbroken and devastated that Derrick was gone, but she has been doing much better. The emotional toll was a lot on her at first, but now she was excited for Ava to be born. A few days after Derrick's death, he was brought back to Franklin and buried. It turns out, there was no existing family. So just Brooke, Luke, and I attended. 

last week, I went to my appointment with OB-GYN to check on the baby. I was told devastating news. We had lost the baby. I had done nothing wrong, it just didn't make it. I had gone home and told Luke. That's when I lost it. He held me in his arms and hushed me softly for hours, but it didn't seem to help me cope. After a while, I came to the conclusion that God would bless me with another child another time if that's what He thought was best. Besides, I had no right to curl up into a ball and hide in my bedroom. That wouldn't be fair to my boys which God had blessed me with. And now Til too. For that, I am thankful.

Today Brooke invited me along to one of her last check ups before the birth. There were five weeks before the baby was expected to arrive. Despite the recent tragedy, her spirit was high and that made me happy. My best friend was a damn fighter to be able to keep her head up in a time like this.

"Caroline," I heard Brooke yell from the foyer. "Get your butt out here."

I slung my purse over my shoulder and took a sip of coffee out of my travel mug. I shook my head. "Coming! You're so impatient woman!"

I walked to the foyer and laughed as I saw Brooke with her arms crossed. I laughed.

"Oh, don't look at me like that girl. You know you're impatient too."

She rolled her eyes. "Mhmm. Well if we don't go now we're gonna be late."

I opened the door and gestured my hand outside. "Then move your ass to the car."

Brooke nodded her head. "Good idea."

I heard footsteps patting quickly on the hardwood, approaching us. I turned around to see Tate running towards us. 

"Hey, buddy, Mommy's leaving. Give me a hug goodbye." I said and bent down to his level.

Tate put on a stern look. "You said a bad word."

I closed my eyes and chuckled. "I promise it won't happen again."

"Good."

I opened my arms. "Now can I have a hug?"

Tate debated whether or not to hug me for a moment before he accepted and squeezed me tight. I smiled.

"Now run along and find Daddy." I said and ruffled his hair.

"Okay."

With that, he took off. I stood back up and noticed Brooke grinning from ear to ear.

"What are you so happy about?" I said as we headed to her car.

She let out a content sigh. "Seeing you interact with Tate like that makes me even more anxious to have this baby. I can not wait to be a mother."

"Brooke, you're going to be a great mother."

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"Well, Brooke, everything looks great. We just need to check on the amniotic band."