Never Too Far Chapter Six
Never Too Far
Chapter Six
December 24, 2011
Angie tore through her closet looking for something to wear to Gerri and Lance’s tenth anniversary party/Christmas party. Nothing seemed to suit her that afternoon.
“Ready to go yet sweetheart?” Josh asked as he entered the room. He stopped when he saw Angie in the closet, still in her overalls. Tears welded in her eyes. He remembered this part of her last pregnancy, the over-emotional stage.
“I don’t know what to wear,” she cried. Josh wrapped his arms around her as she cried into his shirt.
“Don’t cry, Love, I’ll help you.”
“Oh, that’s comforting – Mr. Stylish is going to help me,” she answered sarcastically.
“Fine then.” He took his hands off of her and defensively walked away.
“Josh!” she cried. “Don’t go. I’m sorry.” Josh walked back to his crying wife.
“Didn’t you buy a green dress to wear?” he asked.
“It makes me look like a fat Christmas tree,” she pouted. He picked out a black skirt and a red turtleneck.
“Will this work?” he asked, a little annoyed.
“Yes, but I need to hold onto your shoulder to balance,” she laughed as she tried to step out of her overalls without falling. She pulled on her skirt and straightened it before Josh pulled the turtleneck over her head.
“Perfect,” he whispered into her ear.
“You sure? I don’t know, Josh, I mean…”
“Ange, it doesn’t matter what you wear, you’re always gorgeous.” He kissed her cheek and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. “January 3, January 3,” he kept reciting the due date over and over again. “two weeks…”
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“Happy Anniversary,” Angie hugged Lance as they met everyone at the hall at which the party was being held.
“Look at you!” Gerri yelled, as she hugged Angie.
“You can’t miss me,” Angie laughed. “I told them to keep the double stuffed Oreos away but you know how it is.”
“I’m so glad you decided to come.”
“Hey, I don’t need bed rest.”
“Yea, since when has Angie ever listened to her doctor,” Josh added. Angie glared at him. “Ok, we’re just gonna go say hi to Justin now…” He took Julia and Adam with him to the other side of the room.
“What was that all about?” Gerri asked.
“I don’t think this pregnancy has been easy on him…I mean, I’m hard enough to deal with me when I’m not like this.”
“Did you decide on a name yet?”
“No, Josh is convinced it’s a girl. I think it’s a boy. We have a whole list of names but we’re so stuck. Ger, it’s a lot harder now than ten years ago.”
“How do you mean?”
“We finally finished the nursery…it’s beautiful. Adam was all over helping us with everything. He thought it was great working with Josh and Justin but Julia absolutely refused to help. I thought it would be something nice that we could all do for the baby. She’s just, I don’t know…”
“Jealous?” Gerri suggested.
“Maybe,” Angie shrugged.
“Aw, there’s my bride,” Lance whispered in Gerri’s ear, as he slipped his arms around her waist. “Ready to dance the night away?”
“With you…I’m ready for anything.” Angie headed to the other side of the room to join the others. Justin stopped her.
“You gonna dance with me tonight?” he asked.
“Sorry, Just, I’m not feeling very bootylicious tonight,” she said sadly.
“You ok Ange? You’re not looking too hot.”
“I’m fine. Go dance have fun.” When she was half way there, she sighed heavily and turned back towards the bathroom. “I’m so done with this pregnancy,” she mumbled. “Come out already!” She waddled to the bathroom, Heather followed behind.
“Hey there,” Heather said softly. Angie jumped and placed her hand over chest.
“Startled me,” Angie replied.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean too.”
“No prob. Just give me a second ok?” Heather nodded and sat on a small couch that was in the bathroom. She waited for a minute or two before she heard an “uh-oh” from Angie.
“Are you ok?” Heather yelled.
“Heather, go get Josh!” Angie came out from the stall. “My water just broke.” Heather sat her down on the couch and ran outside to go get help. Angie looked at her stomach. “I wasn’t serious!” she said to her baby. Only moments later, Heather, Gerri, Josh, and Justin came bursting through the door.
“Hey,” Josh whispered. “Just relax and breathe. It’s going to be ok.”
“Yea, we’re going to get you to the hospital right now,” Gerri assured her.
“You’re going to have a Christmas baby!” Heather exclaimed.
“You get a couch in here?” Justin inquired. Angie yelled out in pain.
“Sometimes we need to lie down and ponder why we let men touch us,” she yelled back, pushing Josh away and taking one of Gerri’s hands and one of Heathers to help her up.
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An hour later, Angie was lying in a hospital bed. Josh next to her bed, holding her hands. She looked over at the monitors and listened to the steady heartbeat.
“I love that sound,” she whispered. She looked at her cold hand encompassed by his. “Aren’t you glad I got the epidural?” she joked.
“The strange thing is that it never quite hit me until now that by tomorrow morning, we’re going to have a new little baby to hold, and feed, and love.”
“Any regrets?”
“Not one.” She smiled and kissed his lips.
“You’re sooo sappy!” Justin complained as he entered the room, Julia and Adam following. Adam was a bit apprehensive to approach at first.
“It’s ok, sweetie,” Angie assured him. Adam gave her a hug and a kiss. “So, tonight, you’re gonna be a big brother.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to you, right?” he asked nervously.
“No, no sweetheart, everything’s going to be just fine. Ad you Jules, do I get a hug or anything?” Julia sighed and gave her a hug. “I know you think this changes everything,” Angie whispered in her ear. “But there’s nothing in this world that would make me stopping loving you.” A smile of relief came across Julia face.
She gave Angie another big hug as a group of Christmas Carolers sang in the hallway.
“Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel, born is the King of Israel.”
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Christmas Eve, 11:36, pm
Josh smiled and looked down at the newborn baby girl in his arms. He kissed her rosy and cheek and rocked her back and forth in his arms as Angie looked on tiredly. He smiled at his wife and then back to his baby girl.
“I was just thinking,” he whispered. “You give the best presents, ya know that?”
“What do you mean?” she yawned.
“Well, you went into labor with Adam on my birthday, ten years ago today, you told me that I had a daughter and now this miracle that we never thought would happen. I got both of my baby girls on Christmas Eve.”
“I forgot about that.”
“I could never forget. That night changed my life forever and I wouldn’t change any of it for the world.” There was a soft knock at the door. Josh turned and saw Julia and Adam standing there. “Come on in and meet your baby sister.” Julia looked her over for a moment. Adam stood next to the bed and Angie put her arms around him. Angie and Josh waited for Julia’s response.
“Um, can I hold her?” Julia whispered. Josh smiled.
“Of course you can.” He laid the baby in her arms. At that moment, Julia was no longer angry. To her surprise, she instantly fell in love with the baby and promised to take care of her no matter what.
“I love you,” she whispered and kissed her forehead.
“Wait what’s her name?” Adam interrupted.
“Well, since she’s our little Christmas angel, we named her Noelle,” Angie answered.
“Noelle what?” Julia asked.
“Noelle Ryan Chasez.”
“Why Ryan?” Adam asked.
“It’s a very special name – something that I’ll tell you about when you’re older. So, Jules, what do you think? Jules?” Angie received no answer. Julia was in a different world admiring her baby sister.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Chasez’s spent their Christmas in the hospital that year but no one seemed to care because their family was finally complete. Noelle was defiantly the missing link that held everyone together. The day after Christmas, they finally got to go home. That evening, Josh sat in the rocking chair of the nursery, gently rocking the bundled baby to sleep. He softly sang God Must Have Spent to her as they rocked together. As he neared the end of the verse, Julia entered and finished it for him.
I know that its true, God Must have spent a little more tme on youuu She sang softly.
“You do it better than me,” he joked.
“Nah.”
“Is Mom asleep?”
“Yep and so is Adam…its getting late. I’m going to bed. Goodnight.”
“Goodnight sweetie. Oh, and don’t be startled if she cried in the middle of the night. Babies do that.”
“It’s ok, Justin gave me some ear plugs. Night Daddy.”
“Night Jules. All right, Noelle. Time for bed. Hmmm, I think you need a nickname first there angel. Let’s see, how can we short Noelle? Ah I know, Time for bed Miss Ella Chasez, Sweet dreams my little angel. Daddy loves you.” He stood up slowly and walked into his bedroom. Kissing her forehead, he laid the baby in the cradle. He laughed when he saw Angie sprawled at on the bed, sound asleep. She had been waiting nine months to sleep on her stomach again. He got a blanket from the closet and sat down on the recliner instead of pushing Angie to her side of the bed and waking her.
“Night Love,” he whispered.
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A few hours later, Angie slowly fluttered her eyes open and noticed it was still dark in the room. She rolled over and saw the vacant spot next to her. Panicked, she sat up and looked around.
”Josh, Josh,” she whispered loudly.
“Shh,” he whispered. “I’m over here Ange.” Angie looked over to the recliner and found Josh gently rocking Noelle in his arms. “She woke up a few minutes ago. You mustn’t have heard her cry.”
“No, I was really asleep. Is she ok now?”
“Yea, but I think she may be hungry.”
“Well, that’s in my department, not yours,” she laughed. “Come here.” Angie patted the spot on the bed next to her. Josh sat down and wrapped her arm around her shoulder and Angie fed Noelle. She rested his head on her shoulder.
“Welcome home, Noelle,” Josh whispered.
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3 months later
Angie looked around the kitchen for something to make for dinner. Finally, she decided on something easy that night, spaghetti. As she started to get out the pan, Noelle started to cry. Angie ran to the baby who was in her bouncy seat on the kitchen counter.
“It’s ok, babe, Mommy’s here.” Angie put the pacifier in her mouth. “There you go, see no more tears.” She turned to the clock; 6:00 and still no sign of Josh who was supposed to be done at the studio at 5:00. “Where could Daddy be?”
She continued to make dinner. About fifteen minutes later, Josh came through the door.
“I’m home,” he mumbled, throwing his denim jacket on the couch. He tiredly walked through the kitchen.
“You didn’t call,” Angie mentioned. “I thought you would be home a while ago.”
“Yea, well it took longer than I expected.” He walked towards the stairs.
“Where are you going? Dinner’s almost ready.”
“I’m not hungry – I need to take a nap.” Angie sighed but held her tongue as he walked up the stairs. “Sometimes men just don’t understand, huh?” she said to Noelle.
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Two hours later, Josh woke up from his nap. He ran his fingers through his hair and headed downstairs. Julia was sitting at the kitchen table finishing her project for school. Adam was doing his math homework. Angie was feeding Noelle her bottle.
“Mom, I need some more glue for my project? Do we have anymore?” Julia asked.
“No, but I’ll run out and get you some.” She looked up and saw Josh standing there. “Josh, could you finish here please?” Josh nodded and yawned. He took Noelle into his arms and fed her the bottle. Angie grabbed her purse. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“Thanks Mom!” Julia yelled after her.
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