Shattered

Chapter 13

Carter

The man was silent after that and each one of the three siblings said a few words about their father. When the service was over, we headed to the graveside. The service there was short, 'Taps' was played, twenty-one gun salute was done, the flag was presented to Grant, and we left. There was no after-service dinner for all those who paid their last respects, just a family gathering at our home. 

Six weeks had passed and life was our kind of normal, Matt was rolling over and eating baby food instead of formula. Lee was acting odd when I came home from work today. I couldn't place what was wrong but she was acting a bit off. "Lee, tell me what's going on, I'm worried, you are acting, odd?" She was setting dinner on the table and then she stopped and looked at me, "Did you say hello to our son?" This is just strange shit, I was about to get mad when I picked Matt up to set him in his high chair and saw his shirt, 'Big Brother' What the-"Are you serious?" I turned to face Lee and she nodded, chewing her lip. I looked at Matt, our chubby little five-month-old son and then back at Lee, a pregnant Lee. 

I set Matt in his high chair and strapped him in then turned to Lee and kissed her deeply, loving the feel and taste of her. "I love you so much, Lee." She cupped my cheek and grinned, "My hero." Then she ran for the bathroom, throwing up. I shuddered and looked at Matt, he was babbling on about something. Later that night, Lee was sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery, rocking Matt to sleep and I stood in the doorway watching them, my perfect family. I couldn't ask for more than this, but I was getting it anyway. 

Lee's belly was growing at an alarming rate, so after a couple months, they scheduled an ultrasound. So, we are sitting here, waiting for the doctor to start and Lee squeezes my hand, "This is the easy part, Carter." Then he rubs the gel stuff on her belly and waves his magic wand and I almost faint when he says, "Twins, that explains it." Lee's laughter is uncontrollable when he tells her everything is healthy and she can have a normal pregnancy, not high risk, but since she already had a c-section, she has to have one each time we have babies. 

A few months later, we welcome a set of twin girls with inky black curls and icy blue eyes, Caroline Rose and Madison Ann. Life became crazy, Matt was walking and talking and saying the damnedest things that I have no idea where he learned, the twins were always hungry, Jackson and Penny were married with a baby on the way and Grant and Matthews had adopted a little girl named Stephanie, she was four and had strawberry blonde hair and large brown eyes. 

At least once a week, we all gathered at our home for dinner, although sometimes it was several times a week and as our families grew, we all grew closer. After a hectic dinner with the family, Lee put our three children to bed, Matt was four, the twins now two, and curled into bed with me. She looked tired but absolutely beautiful and as she locked those bright green eyes on me, she smiled and whispered the most terrifying and wonderful words to me, "I'm pregnant."