His Forever Flame

24. Birthday Week part 1

The next three weeks flew by. Lauren finished up her solo teaching and only had a few days left before she was done with student teaching all together. They'd talked and skyped every night during that three weeks. Jay worked on her birthday surprise too. He wanted to make it extra special for her since her birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year.

The week of her birthday arrived and Lauren was so excited to be heading back to Chicago. She hadn't talked to her mother much, and the few times they had talked, neither mentioned her marriage or Chicago. It was like if they avoided it than they were ok. Lauren knew her mom wasn't happy that she wasn't going to be here for Thanksgiving or her birthday, but Lauren promised that on Sunday and Monday before she left they could do stuff.

She had a birthday party with her whole family on Sunday, and everything went fine. On Monday night, she went to visit her mom even though she wasn't sure it was a good idea. When she got there, her mom was the only one home and Lauren was thankful for that. They had a short easy visit. As Lauren got ready to leave, her mom started with the whole Chicago deal.

"Mom, I told you. This is my life and my decisions. He makes me happy... I love him so much and he is so good to me. This is my life now and you're just going to have to accept it. I'm married now, and after graduation I'm moving to Chicago; it's up to you whether you stay a part of my life and your grandchildren's lives or not."

"Grandchildren?!"

Lauren didn't say anything for a minute; "Yea grandchildren. I will be having kids and it's up to you." With that, Lauren turned and walked out the door.

On Tuesday, they weren't doing anything at school since it was the last day before break. Lauren decided to just take the day and head on to Chicago giving herself an extra day with Jay. This time she told him she was coming; she'd thought about flying, but she was still too nervous to. So Tuesday morning she loaded up and headed for Chicago.

Jay was so glad that she was coming home. He'd missed her something terrible during these three weeks, but he had her birthday all planned out. Her first surprise was waiting on her when she'd get there. He knew it was a long drive, but like her, he still wasn't comfortable with the whole flying thing so he was glad she was driving.

He got off work and had right at twenty minutes before she would be there. He headed home to wait on her. When Lauren got there, she was so excited but also tired. She grabbed her bags and headed up to their apartment.

When she opened the door, rose petals were scattered from the door as far as she could see. Lauren couldn't help but smile and felt a few tears gather in her eyes. There was a note where she would hang her keys. "Follow the rose petals for your first birthday surprise -J."

Lauren dropped her bag and turned to follow the rose petals. "Oh, Jay," she whispered. She followed the rose petals through the living room and into their bedroom. There were dozens of roses in vases all around their room. Some were red, some were pink, some were white, and even some he'd turned blue. Lauren took it all in amazed. The petals continued on into the bathroom.

When she pushed the door open she felt the few tears fall. There he stood, surrounded in rose petals and candle light with a bubble bath waiting. "Jay?" she whispered. He smiled big as he walked over to her wrapping her in his arms.

"Well... it was a really long drive and I know how tiring it can be, so a nice relaxing bubble bath sounded like something you would like."

Lauren leaned up and kissed him hard, winding her arms around his neck. "Jay Matthew Halstead you are truly amazing," she whispered.

"I love you baby," he whispered softly kissing her as he started helping her undress. She was fourteen weeks pregnant and he could see the slightest hint of a bump. He ran his hands over her belly; he seriously couldn't wait to see her growing as their baby grew. Lauren smiled as she watched him. He was going to be an amazing daddy.