Maybe this time [Completed]

Epilogue

Epilogue

"Paul, hurry up! They'll be here any minute!"

I was scrambling around, putting finishing touches on the kitchen, checking if I missed anything. I probably looked like a mess, but that was the least of my worries right now as a scream echoed through the house.

The baby was awake. I groaned in frustration as I untied my apron and hurried upstairs.

"Go and check on Lucas after you're done," I quickly rapped on the bathroom door as I heard Paul turn off the shower.

"Give me a minute," he shouted back and I turned around to head to the nursery, wondering why little Lily had woken up. This was supposed to be her nap time.

After struggling with her sleeping routine for the first nine months, we had finally gotten our five-hour sleep at night when Lily turned ten months. She had a routine now, and this was one of them.

I entered the nursery and I had my answer. Her brother was there.

"Lucas!" I hissed, eyes flashing daggers at him for waking up his sister when I still had so much to do before our guests arrived. I picked Lily up and tried to rock her back to sleep.

He bowed his head, looking guilty as he mumbled an apology.

"Sorry mom, I was only trying to smell her. I didn't even touch her, I swear!"

"Honey," I sighed, feeling my irritation melt away at his confession. "I told you babies need their rest so they can grow properly, right? You need to let Lily get her full sleep. You can play all you want when she wakes up."

He nodded sheepishly, holding out a hand to touch Lily's feet.

"I just like watching her, mom. She is so pretty!"

I held his hand and led him to the couch next to the crib. We had initially placed it there for whenever there were guests, but it soon became Lucas' mini bed. He would fall asleep here while watching over his sister, and no matter how many times we've told him to sleep in his room, he wouldn't budge.

Lucas embraced his big brother role like a natural, and I felt silly for worrying about it when we first found out we were pregnant.

I chuckled as I recalled that day.

Paul and I were planning to go to Micronesia to celebrate our first wedding anniversary and to have a real honeymoon as well.

We didn't get to have one after the wedding because of Paul's schedule - he had just taken over the VP's office a couple of months before, and at the same time was training Allan, the foreign correspondent who replaced his previous post.

It was a mess and he'd call me usually past midnight to tell me he had just gotten home. I wanted to postpone the wedding and do it when things have calmed down. After all we've only been officially dating less than a year, but Paul refused to even consider the option.

He probably would have pushed for a wedding sooner, if he wasn't worried it would be too soon for Lucas. Though they hit it off from the get go, we knew that we needed to slow things down so Lucas can get used to having him around for good.

So when we were finally able to fix our schedules, I had looked forward to some peace and quiet, and quality time with my husband. Ray happily agreed to have Lucas stay with him for the two weeks that we'd be gone so Paul and I can have our privacy.

But a week before our trip, I was rushed to the hospital for terrible cramps. I thought it was food poisoining, and it was a huge shock to both Paul and I when the ER doctor told us about the baby.

We didn't even consider the possibility. After all, I was turning 41 in a few months, we knew it was going to be challenging and we had actually prepared ourselves that it might not happen.

Then suddenly it did - and Lucas was the most excited of us all when we told him the next day. He would have named her Lucy or Lucia if we hadn't convinced him it might sound confusing when we called them both.

The doorbell sounded, pulling me away from my thoughts and Lucas immediately jumped up from the couch.

"I'll get it," Paul called out and I heard his footsteps heading down the stairs.

"Daddy's here!" Lucas shouted, startling Lily, and she started crying again.

The door opened and Paul came in, taking Lily from my arms, and she immediately calmed down.

"I see she's a daddy's girl," Ray teased as he followed Paul inside the room.

I sighed in resignation and kissed him on the cheek as was our habit, then turned to the woman beside him.

"Hi Bianca, sorry for the mess," I apologized immediately.

She always looked so well-groomed that it embarassed me to have her see my house in a mess, but she was always gracious about it.

"Oh! No, no... Don't worry about me. I'm used to this. I grew up with 4 brothers, remember? Your house looks immaculate compared to ours when we were kids," she assured me with a laugh.

Bianca works with a rival station and met Ray when they were assigned to the same table at an awards show last year. They decided to go for coffee after the show and talked the whole night.

Ray had called me excitedly the very next morning and told me about this girl whom he called his "female version". I had never seen him get giddy like a schoolboy and I immediately knew she was special.

Now Bianca was a part of our extended family, even Lucas sings her praises whenever they got together.

I look around at our little family crowding Lily's nursery and I smiled.

All is well.

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A/N - Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed Paul and Elisse's journey as much as I did :)