Finding a New Life Ch. 09-10

CHAPTER NINE

"Lily, would you relax?" Grace asked with a grin.

"I'm nervous as hell," Lily grumbled.

"It's just dinner with my parents," Grace reasoned, as she unwound the curling iron from a strand of Lily's hair.

"Yeah, and I get to tell your parents that Ty and I are engaged," Lily said, tapping her fingers on the arm of the chair.

"No, Ty said he wants to tell them," Grace told her friend.

"I don't know if I can do this," Lily groaned.

"You'll be fine. What are you so afraid of? You've had dinners at my parents' house before," Grace wanted to know.

"Your mom doesn't really like me," Lily reminded Grace.

"Who cares? What matters is Ty likes you, and mom will get over it," Grace said, applying the curling iron to the last strand of straight hair.

"I still don't know if I can do this," Lily whispered.

"You'll be fine," Grace repeated, setting down the curling iron on the counter.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Lily groaned, before getting out of the chair, rushing to the toilet and purging her system of her breakfast and lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~

"You're looking well," Caroline said to her son as she and Greg walked into the restaurant.

"Thanks mom. I'm glad you and dad could come on such short notice," Tyler said with a smile. Grace and Grant were already seated next to Lily and Mia who were coloring on the back of a paper place mat.

"This is an interesting place," Caroline murmured.

"Mom, I know it's been awhile since you've been in some place so kid friendly, but you'll live," Grace said with a grin as her father pulled out the chair for her mother.

"So what's going on?" Greg wanted to know after they had their orders taken. Tyler grinned and looked over at Lily who suddenly started fidgeting nervously with the straw in her soft drink.

"We're celebrating," Tyler said with a grin.

"Is Mia in remission?" Caroline asked, looking at her grand-daughter.

"It's possible, but that appointment isn't until next week," Lily said.

"Then what are we celebrating?" Caroline wanted to know. Tyler pulled Lily's hand up from under the table; the diamonds and opals glinted in the light. "You're getting married?" Caroline asked in surprise.

"Yes," Ty beamed.

"Lets order some wine!" Greg exclaimed, flagging down a waiter. "Do you have any champagne?" he asked the waiter.

"No sir," the waiter said apologetically.

"Do you have wine?" The waiter nodded. "Bring me your best bottle of wine," Greg said. The waiter nodded again and hurried away.

"God that was torture," Lily groaned, dropping onto the couch after putting Mia to bed. Tyler laughed and sat down next to her.

"Mom wasn't that bad," Tyler defended his mother with a grin.

"Not that bad? She asked if I was pregnant again for God's sake!" Lily exclaimed. Tyler sighed. "Then she asked if you were going to have me sign a prenup!" she added.

"Mom can go sit on a cactus for all I care," Tyler told Lily.

"We're in Michigan," Lily said with a laugh.

"So? They sell little cactus plants in gift shops," Tyler said with a grin. Lily cracked up and leaned back against him. "So, how about we really piss mom off and just have a small ceremony with Grace and Grant for witnesses," Tyler suggested. Lily sat up and stared at him in surprise.

"Your mom will kill me," Lily said with wide eyes.

"No she won't," Tyler promised.

"I like the idea," Lily murmured.

"Good. I'll let you and Grace set everything up and I'll consult my calendar and find out when I can take a few weeks off of work," Tyler said.

"A few weeks?" Lily repeated.

"We have to take a honeymoon," Tyler reminded her with a grin.

"A couple of weeks?" Lily asked. Tyler nodded.

"I have plans for you," he said, nibbling on her ear lobe.

"Oh do you?" Lily murmured, craning her neck to look at him.

"Hmm-hmm," Tyler slid his hand up Lily's skirt.

"Momma!" Mia shouted from her room. Tyler sighed but pulled away from Lily who stood up and headed for her daughter's room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you sure you don't mind watching Mia?" Lily asked Grace.

"I'm positive. You need a vacation, besides you and Ty just got married and I'm sure you could use some alone time," Grace said with a grin. Lily blushed.

"What are you going to tell your parents?" Lily wanted to know.

"I'll think of something," Grace promised, taking her niece from her long time friend and new sister in law. "Have fun," she told Lily. Grace looked at Mia. "Wave bye bye to mommy," Grace said softly.

"Bye mommy! I wub you!" Mia exclaimed. Lily smiled.

"I love you too sweetie," she cooed, giving her daughter a kiss on the cheek. Tyler and Grant came up to the door.

"Bye kiddo," Tyler said, ruffling Mia's hair.

"Bye daddy!" Mia said as she, Grace and Grant watched Tyler and Lily get in the car and drive away.

"Where are Ty and Lily?" Caroline demanded to know.

"They're on vacation," Grace answered.

"They've been on a vacation for nearly two weeks!" Caroline exclaimed.

"That's pretty normal when you're on a honeymoon," Grant said, coming up behind Grace and setting a hand on her shoulder.

"Honeymoon!?" Caroline looked stunned.

"Yes, honeymoon. Ty was worried you would do or say something to upset Lily so the eloped," Grace answered.

"I wanted Lily and Ty to get back together; she's so much better than Jenni," Caroline said.

"Regardless, mom, they're on their honeymoon, and I don't know where, Ty didn't tell Lily or me," Grace told her mother. "But you can come and visit with Mia," she added, holding the door open.

"Are you having fun?" Tyler asked as he placed his napkin on his lap.

"A blast," Lily said with a soft smile.

"Good. Hungry?" he asked. Lily nodded and studied the menu. "What sounds good?" he wanted to know.

"The chicken with the pineapple teryaki sauce," Lily murmured.

"It does sound good," Tyler agreed. They ordered their meal and talked quietly while they waited for it to reach the table.

When they returned to the bedroom, Lily had no sooner shut the door when Tyler started pulling her clothes off of her. "Ty, you're insatiable," Lily giggled.

"Only for you," Tyler assured her. Lily moaned as his mouth circled a nipple and sucked gently.

"Don't make me wait," Lily pleaded. With a grin, Tyler thrust deep inside her making Lily cry out from the force of it. "Oh God," she groaned as he pumped in and out of her more roughly than usual. They came hard and fast together; they lay together, arms and legs tangled, breathing hard.

"I love you," Tyler whispered before falling asleep.



CHAPTER TEN

"Welcome home!" Grace greeted her friend with a hug. "You look so tanned! Where did you go?" she wanted to know.

"Hawaii, but he'll have to take me back some day because we didn't get out of the hotel once; except to get to and from the airport," Lily said with a wry grin.

"Nice," Grace said with a chuckle.

"Mommy!" Mia yelled, running up to Lily, arms who lifted her eagerly.

"Hey sweetie, were you a good girl?" Lily asked her daughter.

"She was perfect," Grant said, walking up to them. Lily raised an eyebrow.

"You're over here a lot, should Caroline be planning a wedding?" Lily observed. Grace laughed.

"Not any time soon," Grace said. Lily noticed how unhappy Grant looked at the answer. Tyler honked the horn and Lily looked over towards the car.

"Let's go home kiddo," Lily told Mia, taking the bags from Grace's feet.

"Here, let me help," Grant offered, taking a bag from Lily and carrying it to the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't know why you didn't plan a large ceremony so that the whole family could be there," Caroline complained when she spoke with Tyler on the phone later that morning.

"Because neither of us wanted to make that big of a deal about it," Tyler said, watching Lily play with Mia on the floor.

"It was your wedding Ty, a mother has the right to see her son get married," Caroline told him.

"Mom, we got married, went to Hawaii and had lots of great sex," Tyler announced matter of factly. Lily blushed as Mia asked, "Mommy, what's sex?" Tyler looked at Lily and began to chuckle.

"Mom, I'll call you and dad later to set up a dinner. Right now, I'm going to go make up for lost time," Tyler said before hanging up.

-a year later-

"Happy birthday Mia!" Caroline smiled at her granddaughter as Tyler, Lily and Mia walked into the house.

"I can't believe she's four already," Lily said with a sigh.

"I can't believe how much I missed," Tyler grumbled.

"You're here now," Greg said.

"Thank you for having her birthday dinner here," Lily said to Caroline.

"It isn't a problem. I remember how big of a pain moving can be," Caroline said with a smile. Tyler sighed when his cell phone rang and held up one finger as he flipped it open.

"That was the moving company. The van broke down and won't be able to move the furniture until tomorrow," Tyler announced, hanging up the cell phone and putting it in his pocket.

"Wow Mia, look at that," Lily said with a smile as Mia opened up a big box that contained a bike with training wheels with Zoe from Sesame Street on it.

"A bike!" Mia exclaimed. Lily smiled at her daughter. "I want to ride it!" she added.

"How about we open the rest of your presents and go have dinner and cake first," Lily suggested. Mia pouted for a moment but nodded as Tyler slid another present in front of her.

By the time all of the presents were opened and the wrapping paper was thrown away, Lily was exhausted and she had a cramp in her back that wouldn't go away.

"You okay?" Tyler asked. Lily nodded.

"I think I spent too much time getting the garden ready yesterday," Lily answered as the walked into the dining room.

"Pizza, thanks grandma!" Mia said with a broad grin.

"You ordered pizza?" Tyler asked in surprise.

"Mia loves pizza," Caroline said with a shrug. Lily grinned.

"Yes, she does," Lily agreed, wincing a little.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Tyler asked. Caroline looked up sharply.

"It's just a back ache," Lily told Tyler.

"There's some Tylenol in the bathroom," Caroline said. Lily thanked her mother in law and went into the bathroom for the Tylenol.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Where are you going?" Tyler asked sleepily, glancing at the clock. "It's only two in the morning," he groaned.

"I'm going to look for a heating pad," Lily answered, her voice thick with pain. She slid out of bed and took two steps before her legs gave out. Lily cried out as she sank to the floor with a thud.

"That's it, we're going to the emergency room," Tyler said, climbing out of bed. He pulled his boxers and jeans on quickly and pulled a tee shirt over his head.

"What about Mia?" Lily asked as Tyler scooped her up and headed out of the room. He paused outside of his parents' room and knocked on the door.

"What's wrong?" Caroline asked, opening the door and look out at them.

"I'm taking Lily to the hospital. Can you listen for Mia?" Tyler asked. Caroline nodded.

"Call us when you know anything," she said as she watched Tyler carry Lily down the stairs.

"Is there any chance you're pregnant?" the doctor asked Lily.

"It's very unlikely," Lily said. She explained what had happened with Carter.

"Well, let's draw some blood and get a urine sample and we'll go from there," the doctor said. Tyler slid his hand into Lily's and held it gently, growing more worried with every groan of pain.

"Mrs. Billings, I have your lab work back," the doctor began. Lily looked at the doctor. "I had the lab run the blood work three times, and each time, the results have been the same. You're pregnant," the doctor told Lily.

"What?!" Lily and Tyler asked together. Lily watched as a nurse brought in an ultrasound machine.

"Let's see how far along, shall we?" the doctor said, lifting Lily's tee-shirt. When Lily looked over at the fuzzy picture, her heart nearly stopped and all blood drained from her face. "It appears that you're in labor," the doctor announced. Tyler's eyes widened.

"What?" he asked.

"Let's get her up to labor and delivery!" the doctor told the nurse. A bewildered Tyler followed Lily up to the labor and delivery unit.

"Lily?" Tyler asked. Lily looked up and gave a small smile.

"I'm okay," Lily told him, groaning a little.

"The hell you are," Tyler grumbled.

"Ty, trust me, compared to Mia, this is a walk in the park," Lily said.

"Hey there Lily, I hear you're pregnant and didn't even know it," a middle aged man said, walking into the room. "Hello, I'm Doctor Franklin, I delivered Mia," he introduced himself to Tyler. He checked Lily and smiled. "You're ready to go Miss Lily. Let's get ready to push," Doctor Franklin said with a smile.

"Ty, what was wrong with Lily?" Greg asked, answering the phone.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, why don't you, mom, Grace, Eli and Mia stop by when visiting hours begin. And please bring some donuts," Tyler said.

"Is she okay?" Greg asked.

"Lily's fine, just fine," Tyler answered.

~~~~~~~~

"What happened Ty?" Grace wanted to know. Tyler grinned and opened the door to Lily's hospital room.

"See for yourself," he said, stepping aside.

"You had a baby?" Caroline asked in surprise, seeing Lily sitting up in bed, a baby in her arms.

"Yup," Tyler grinned.

"How?" Grace's eyes were wide.

"The doctor said sometimes it happens. The baby's full term, and despite no prenatal care and a few alcoholic beverages, in good health," Tyler answered.

"A boy or a girl?" Greg wanted to know.

"A boy," Lily said, her voice tired; but she sounded happy. "His name is David William," she added. Greg smiled and Eli gave his sister a tight hug. Lily's eyes zeroed in on the boxes in Grace's hands. "Are those donuts?" Lily asked. Grace nodded and pulled out a glazed donut. Tyler carefully took David from Lily's arms so that she could eat without getting crumbs on the baby.

-2 weeks later-

"Grace, what's going on?" Lily asked when she opened the door and let her sister in law into the room.

"Grant asked me to marry him and I said yes!" Grace exclaimed.