Fantasy Life made Normal

Chapter 4

"Mads," he woke her up.

She looked at the clock on the dashboard. It was 2am. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. He had just pulled into a rest stop. They were seven hours into their journey.

"I need you to drive babe." he said.
"Ok," she yawned.

They made a quick bathroom stop. She checked Maverick's diaper and switched off with one of the girls to use the bathroom because he was asleep and still dry. She got in the driver's seat. He settled into the passenger seat. His mind was still reeling from her question earlier. He didn't know how he felt about another baby. He knew the girls would be ok with it since they were with Maverick but he wasn't sure he wanted to start again at 44. He looked at her. She didn't say another word about it. He sighed.

"What?" she asked.
"You really want another one?" he whispered.
"I would have a hundred with you."
"Madelyn,"
"Just forget I said anything. I don't want to fight with you about this."
"I don't either. That's why we are talking."
"Can we not right now? It makes me feel anxious."
"Why?"
"Because I don't like upsetting you."

He nodded. He dropped the subject. He wasn't going to deal with it if it was going to upset her. She drove for the next 4 hours before Hailie and Alaina took over the front. She climbed to the very back with Whitney while Marshall was next to their son. He sighed out of frustration. Normally if the girls were driving she was in the middle seat, snuggled up with him. He turned slightly in the seat.

"Mads," he said.
"I am fine, Marshall. Leave it alone," she said with a little more aggravation than he expected.
"You are already pregnant, aren't you?"

She looked out the window, not giving him an answer. He let out a low growl.

"I swear to God, Madelyn Nicole," he said.
"I have been on the damn birth control, it ain't my fault that shit doesn't work with me," she whispered.
"Fuck my life."
"I mean we can go thru the same shit we did with Mave or we can actually do this shit together."

She went back to looking out the window before cuddling into her blanket with her pillow. She was asleep rather quickly. He on the other hand was wide awake. The girls in the front were silent. They pretended they hadn't heard the argument, as tame as it was.

"I know y'all heard that," he said.
"Dad, don't mess up again. She isn't going to keep coming back," Hailie said.
"I know. I just gotta get used to the idea of another one, I guess."
"Well it wasn't really fair of you to ask her to be with you and only have us," Alaina piped up.
"I know Lainy."

He leaned back in his seat. Two under two was going to be a challenge for his age. He knew that Madelyn would want a family with him. They had done two different forms of birth control now and neither worked.

"It's fate apparently. These babies are here for a reason. She was on the pill with Mave and this one was the shot, right?" Alaina asked.
"Yeah," he said.
"So obviously someone wants them on this earth."

He nodded. They had another 8 hours for their journey and he had a long time to think. He couldn't let her go. He loved her and Maverick way too much.

"I will take care of it all when we get there," he said with finality.
"I hope so," Hailie said.

He made a face at her. She chuckled. He looked back into the peaceful face of his wife and then down at her belly. He just barely made out the small bump forming where their baby was growing. He reached across the seat to wipe a stray tear that had fallen down his wife's face. He hated that she cried about shit he did. He just wanted to make it better.

"I am ok," she said softly, eyes still closed.
"Baby, I love you. We will sort this shit out, I promise," he said.
"I know."

The next eight hours consisted of them trading off on who was driving and Marshall trying to pull his wife in closer. She was hurt, he could tell. She just kept telling him that she was fine.

"Babe, where are we going?" he asked as they pulled into the resort.
"Registration. Then we will drive to our room," she said.

He nodded as he pulled up to the main building to register. They tried to talk them into one of the tours even though they were staying in one of the best rooms they had on the signature floor off of the lazy river. Madelyn drove around to the room and they went up the elevator. Maverick had done well on the trip. He was excited to get down in the room though. He ran down the hallway as Hailie went to go to one of the rooms. The place pretty much had a room for each of them to have their own.

"I want to go straight to the pool," Whitney said.