Part 15 (1/2)

She started to laugh and said, ”You have no idea.”

Epilogue - 3 years later.

Maddox.

”YOU MOTHERf.u.c.kING SON OF A b.i.t.c.h!” Isabelle was screaming at the top of her lungs and sweating profusely. I went to the bathroom to dampen a cloth with cold water and wrung it out. I walked back into the room and walked up to my wife. I put the damp cloth on her forehead and started to wipe away the sweat. ”Sweetheart, please calm down okay? I love you.”

Isabelle started waving her hands in the air and pushed my hand away from her face. ”Oh no! Don't you dare sweetheart me and smile at me all s.e.xy like that! You know what those d.a.m.n dimples do to me! And don't even get me started on the nipple rings!”

I couldn't help but burst out laughing when she said that. Then for the d.a.m.n life of me I started getting hard thinking about the first time she saw those nipple rings and went bats.h.i.+t crazy on me. ”Yeah sweetheart, I do know what they do to you because of our little situation right now.”

I tried to smile at her and then I heard her growl at me. Holy s.h.i.+t! If it were at all possible I was getting harder just hearing her growl at me.

Ok come on Madd let's think clearly right now. Um, puppies, kittens, kittens that purr, lions and tigers that growl, Isabelle growling...Ok not helping at all!

I shook my head and tried to put the cloth back to her forehead but she pushed it away again and her face got really red. ”Don't you da - AH! HOLY s.h.i.+Tb.a.l.l.s!”

I didn't know how much longer I could take this. I couldn't stand seeing my girl in pain. If I could take her place right now I would. I took her hand in mine and kissed her on the forehead. When I leaned back to get a good look at my beautiful girl I saw tears welling up in her eyes.

”Sweetheart, what's wrong?” Then the d.a.m.n floods exploded and came cras.h.i.+ng down on me. It didn't matter if her tears were happy or sad I hated seeing her cry. It nearly killed me.

She started flapping her hands all over the place and then her chin started to quiver when she looked back up at me. ”Oh Maddox, I'm so sorry for everything. This is just hurting like a b.i.t.c.h and I'm just being a huge baby. You have no idea how much I love you and how lucky I feel each and every day when I wake up next to you.”

Oh but I knew exactly how lucky she felt. If she even felt half as lucky to be with me as I did to be with her, then I'm the luckiest b.a.s.t.a.r.d out there. For the life of me my eyes started to well up with tears.

Come on man! Keep it together!

I shook my head a couple of times and moved my hand up to wipe the few tears that fell from her beautiful face. ”I love you Isabelle. Forever.”

”Oh Maddox, I love you too!” And then I leaned in and kissed her on the lips. After pulling back I looked into her eyes and smiled. I was thinking about putting the cloth back on her forehead but decided against it because the last couple times didn't work out in my favor. I pulled a chair up next to the bed to sit down when Isabelle said, ”Maddox?”

I pushed the chair back and moved closer to the bed. ”What is it sweetheart?”

She looked up at me with a twinkle in her eye and smiled. ”Do you mind if I have that wash cloth and some ice chips?” I just laughed and put the cloth back to her forehead and grabbed the ice chips. I thought about just handing her the cup, but put an ice chip in my mouth instead. I saw her mouth droop down but then I moved my head closer to her and her eyes lit up. I kissed her and then opened my mouth and felt her tongue against mine. In an instant the ice chip left my mouth and I moaned. I leaned back and looked into her eyes and winked at her. Of course she blushed.

I heard someone clear their throat. ”Um excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Mitch.e.l.l? If it's alright with you I would like to deliver this baby before you make plans to have another one. You guys think you're up for that?”

I looked back at my wife and if it was at all possible her face got even redder. I put my hand to her forehead and wiped away the loose hair, kissed her and winked at her again. Without taking my eyes off f her I said, ”Yeah, sorry about that Dr. Allen. Sweetheart, are you ready?” I heard her take a few deep breaths and then she nodded her head. ”Yeah, let's do this.”

Dr. Allen moved in between my wife's legs and sat down. ”Okay Isabelle. On the count of three I'm going to tell you to push. One. Two. Three. Push.”

Isabelle was holding onto my hand and I thought it was going to fall off from how hard she was holding it. She was grunting and her face was turning bright red. I couldn't help but feel so proud to be her husband and to have a child with her. In all the time I knew her, one thing never changed. That Isabelle was a d.a.m.n good fighter. She pushed a few more times and then I heard the most beautiful sound ever.

A baby crying.

My baby.

Our baby.

My eyes welled up with tears and I looked down at Isabelle who was looking at me with tears in her eyes. I couldn't believe it. Our little pumpkin was finally here. I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. ”I love you sweetheart.” She kissed me again on the lips before she said, ”I love you too Maddox. So much.” I moved back from her and we both smiled at one another and then turned our heads to where the nurses were cleaning our little pumpkin up.

Dr. Allen walked over to shake my hand and kissed Isabelle on the cheek. I would've freaked out, but Dr. Allen was Sarah's stepfather. Dr. Allen had helped deliver their watermelon, Noah, and fell in love with Sarah's mom, Jill. ”Congratulations you two. You have a beautiful, healthy little baby girl.” A nurse walked over at that moment carrying a little bundle wrapped in a bright pink blanket and handed her off to my sweetheart.

I was in complete and utter shock. I couldn't believe that my little pumpkin was finally here. I didn't even think I was crying until Isabelle put her hand on my face and wiped the tears away with her thumb and smiled. d.a.m.n. That smile could bring me to my knees. It could make me do anything. Be anything. Like getting up at two in the morning to get Isabelle pickle chips because she was craving them. Or when she needed b.u.t.terscotch frozen yogurt and I had to drive around for forever to find it because the frozen yogurt stand was closed. Because it was January.

Her hand was still on my face and I held it there while I kissed her wrist. ”I love you Isabelle. So much.” I then put her hand in mine and knelt down to kiss my beautiful wife on the lips and then stared at my little pumpkin.

She kissed me on the cheek and I could feel her smiling against me. ”I love you too Maddox.” Our moment was broken when Dr. Allen asked us a very important question. ”So guys, what's this beautiful little girl's name?”

I smiled never taking my eyes off our little pumpkin. I kissed our pumpkin on the forehead and then turned to look at Isabelle who for once was staring at me. ”Are you sure sweetheart?”

She smiled and nodded her head. ”Yes. I don't think I've ever been surer of anything in my entire life. Well, besides marrying you.” I smiled and looked to Dr. Allen. ”Idea Lynn Mitch.e.l.l.”

Throughout the entire pregnancy we kept trying to think of the most perfect name for our little girl. My pumpkin. Our pumpkin. Sure there are many beautiful names out there but we wanted ours to be unique to our situation. I smiled just thinking back on the memory.

Isabelle and I were lying in bed while I was designing a new tattoo for a customer. Isabelle was in the process of writing her third novel. Her first was ent.i.tled, Ours and was on the New York Times bestseller list for thirteen weeks. Her second novel was ent.i.tled, Forever, and was on the list for twenty-two weeks. Isabelle huffed a few times and placed the laptop on the nightstand. She took a few sips of water and then turned to me while rubbing her belly. ”Alright Madd. We have got to think of a name for this little one. I'm already seven months pregnant and we don't have much time left.” I was still drawing the tattoo up and without looking at her I smiled. ”I have an idea. What if we name her Idea?”

I didn't hear anything so I put my paper and pencil down on the floor and moved my body so I was looking back at Isabelle. I was thinking maybe the thought was a little crazy but then I saw the biggest smile on her face. ”Idea. It definitely fits.” I smiled and she wrapped her arms around my neck to kiss me. I pulled her onto my lap so she was straddling me. She kissed me one last time and then looked into my eyes. ”I love it.” She leaned in to kiss me again but I put my hands on either side of her face and just looked into her beautiful brown eyes. ”I love you.” She smiled and said, ”I love you too Maddox.” We stared at one another for a while and then made love.