Heart of Hope Read online

  “Two weeks.” Jenna absently rubbed a hand across her baby bump. “In two weeks we’ll know if Jake’s predictions of boys are correct.”

  “That Jake.” Callan laughed and shook her head, amused by the young man’s fascination with the arrival of the twins. “You’d think he was a real uncle for as much as he has carried on about these babies. I wonder what he’ll be like when he can actually see them.”

  “Probably a complete wonderful nuisance.” Jenna smiled, hoping Jake would truly consider himself an uncle. “Nearly as bad as their Uncle Clay, I’d guess.”

  “Oh, Jen,” Callan said, looking pleased. “Clay is so excited and happy for you. We both are. You can definitely plan on having lots of extra hands to hold the babies if you need them.”

  Jenna clasped Callan’s hand in her own. “You know I will. I just hope I can be as good a mother as you are to Audrey and Emma. I think you were born to be a mom.”

  Callan let out a derisive laugh, much to Jenna’s surprise. “I’d hardly say that. You know I used to be all about my career. Clay used to call me Miss Business all the time. I was focused, determined, and selfish. I didn’t have time or want to make time for a baby. Then, when I got pregnant and lost the baby, I felt like a part of me died as well. I can’t ever get that part of me back. You know the story, but I felt like God was punishing me. Until I got things figured out, we had a few hard years. I’ve been so blessed to have the opportunity to raise Audrey and Emma. I try to be the best mom to them I can be. Clay and I both make mistakes, especially when we jumped into this mid-stream with the girls, but we’re learning. I think the most important thing is to love them. Love them all the time, no matter what, with your whole heart. If you do that, you can’t veer too far off course.”

  Jenna released a sigh and squeezed Callan’s hand as they walked toward the stairs. “How did you get so smart and wise beyond your years?” Suddenly Jenna gasped and looked at Callan with her eyes round in surprise.

  “What is it Jen?” Callan asked, hoping nothing was wrong.

  “I think I just felt the babies move.” Jenna beamed. The two women stood unmoving, halfway down the stairs, waiting to see if Jenna felt another flutter. “There! There it goes again.”

  Callan gave her a hug and wiped away a tear. “Oh, little mama, this is going to be marvelous.”

  By the time the next ultrasound appointment rolled around, everyone was anxious to find out if the two Carver babies were going to be girls, boys, or one of each.

  Josh took the day off and drove Jenna into work, met her for lunch, then drove her to the appointment. The technician didn’t have to ask if he wanted to come closer. He stood right behind her as she brought up the image of the babies on the screen.

  “Just look at these babies. They’re growing right on schedule and appear to be doing very well. Do you want to know the sex?”

  “Yes,” Josh and Jenna said in unison.

  The technician laughed and continued moving around the wand, trying to get the very best look at the two babies. They weren’t being terribly cooperative, showing off arms and legs but not much else. The technician turned up the sound so they could hear the heartbeats.

  “Can you hear them?” the technician asked, smiling at the look of wonder sweeping across both Jenna and Josh’s face. Josh held Jenna’s hand and rubbed his thumb across her palm as they listened to the faint whooshing sound of their babies’ heartbeats. A tear rolled down Jenna’s cheek as she sent another prayer heavenward, thanking God for His wisdom and grace, blessing them with the twins.

  “That is amazing,” Josh whispered, wiping away Jenna’s tear with his finger as he smiled down at her.

  “Let’s see if we can get a better look at these two and figure out who we’ve got in there.” The technician pushed gently on Jenna’s belly with the wand and they watched as one baby came into full view.

  “That is definitely a boy.” The technician laughed, pointing to the screen and outlining body parts with her finger. “All boy, that one. How about baby number two? Come on baby, give us a peek.”

  They waited and finally their patience paid off. “That definitely looks like a boy as well. Twin boys. That should keep your hands full,” the technician teased as she printed off a photo for them while Jenna cleaned up.

  “Two boys,” Josh said, barely able to think of little else as he stared down at the photo. “Wow, two boys!”

  “Thank you,” Jenna said as they left and walked down the hallway. “I guess Jake was right.”

  “Jake? Huh?” Josh functioned on autopilot, intently focused on the idea of having twin baby boys. He’d been hoping for boys. He and Jenna didn’t truly care what sex the babies were as long as they were healthy, but he was thrilled at the idea of having two boys to carry on the Carver name. He couldn’t wait to tell his dad.

  “Jake. Our hired hand, good friend, sometimes like a pesky younger brother. That Jake? The one who said we would be having boys. Remember?” Jenna teased as they stepped off the elevator and entered the parking garage.

  Josh came back to reality and grinned. “Yeah, I remember. I can’t believe we’re having boys. You are okay with boys, aren’t you?”

  Jenna laughed. “Doesn’t really matter if I am or not, it’s not like we can exchange them for girls. I truly don’t care as long as they’re healthy.”

  Secretly hoping for at least one girl, if not two, Jenna knew Josh would be elated to have two boys. At least now, she and Callan could start plans for the nursery décor.

  “Two boys,” Josh said again, as he held Jenna’s door and then walked to the driver’s side of her car. Her appointment was late enough that afternoon that she didn’t have to go back to the office, so Josh drove out of town toward home. When he pulled into the garage, he popped the trunk then helped Jenna out of the car. She walked around to look in the trunk, filled with bags of a variety of sizes.

  “I wondered what you did all day while I worked.” She picked up a few bags that didn’t look too heavy or large.

  “I found a few things I thought we might need for the boys.” Josh grinned, enjoying the way it sounded to say “the boys.”

  “Tell me you aren’t going to go crazy and buy every baby thing you see,” Jenna said as they set the bags on the kitchen table and she kicked off her shoes.

  “Of course not.” Josh tried to look insulted. He might have been if she wasn’t partially right. “Come see what I found.”

  He didn’t have to ask her twice as she looked on with eager anticipation. Josh unpacked storybooks, most of them involving farming or animals. “I thought we could start reading to them now. The books I read on pregnancy say you’re supposed to talk and read to them. They should be at the stage where they’re starting to hear, right?”

  “Right,” Jenna said, impressed with the information Josh retained from reading the books Callan gave him. “What else did you get?”

  “Just a few stuffed toys. I thought they were cute.” He pulled out a stuffed pony and a cow.

  “Good thing these two are boys.” Jenna ran a hand over the soft toys, thinking little girls would most likely prefer unicorns or kittens.

  Josh grinned and pulled out a box with a baby monitor with a full-color screen. “With this, we can hear and see the babies. It’ll be really helpful when we move them upstairs, don’t you think?”

  “It certainly will be helpful.” Jenna admired the monitor. They decided for the first few months, the babies would sleep in the master bedroom, saving Josh and Jenna from running up and down the stairs multiple times day and night. Once the babies started sleeping through the night, or at least for several hours at a stretch, they planned to move them to the nursery. The monitor would be a huge help when they moved the boys upstairs.

  “I thought these would be fun, for later.” Josh lifted two identical bouncing seats out of boxes. Covered in tan fabric dotted with farm animals, Jenna thought the seats were adorable. She got down on her knees and fingered the animals accentin
g the seats.

  “It looks like you just decided how we’re going to decorate the nursery.” Jenna gazed at the plunder and envisioned how cute a farm animal theme would look in the room upstairs, especially for two little farmers-in-training.

  “I did?” Josh glanced at his purchases with a troubled expression. “I didn’t mean to. You can take the stuff back for something else, babe.”

  Laughing, Jenna grabbed Josh’s arm as he started to put one of the bouncing seats back in the box. “No, Josh, I love it. I meant that now Callan and I won’t have to think of a theme. You already did it for us. It’s a good thing.”

  “Really?” Josh asked, helping her to her feet.

  “Really.” Jenna kissed the wonderful man she married. Leave it to him to find perfect things for the nursery when she couldn’t even think about where to start. “What else did you buy?” A pink gift bag sat unopened on the table.

  Josh handed it to her with a shy grin. “It’s a little something for the little mama. Go on, open it.”

  Jenna pulled out the pink tissue paper to find three maternity blouses that she loved along with a very cute and trendy black maternity dress.

  “Josh, these are awesome.” Jenna held each piece up and admired it. “You didn’t need to buy me anything.”

  “Yes, I did. I know this whole thing is hard on you and now that you’re really starting to show, I wanted you to still feel like your usual stylish self.” Josh enjoyed the way her eyes lit as she looked at the clothes.

  After squeezing him around the neck, she pulled his head down and kissed his cheek. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

  “I’m not sure, but whatever it was, I’m glad you did.” Josh’s voice grew husky while his eyes glowed from an inner fire. “Put on that dress and I’ll take you out for dinner.”

  Jenna grabbed his hand and gave him a flirty grin. “How about I go try it on and we stay home?”

  “Deal.” He pulled her close and kissed her passionately until both of their phones began ringing. Frustrated, he rested his forehead against hers. “Let’s ignore them.”

  “We could, but you know they’ll just keep calling.” Jenna’s lips taunted him just a whisper away.

  She took a step back and dug her phone out of her purse then answered it. “Yes, Aunt Amelia, we just got home. Guess. Nope. Yes, two boys!”

  Josh answered his phone to find Callan on the line. “Hey, Cal, we just got home. It looks like Jake wins again. We’re having twin boys.”

  After hanging up with Callan, Josh called his dad while Jenna called her parents followed by her sisters.

  His last call was to Jake. When he got his voice mail, he left a message.

  “Hey, Jake, it’s Josh. Jenna had a doctor appointment today and I’m sorry to tell you that…” Josh left a long pause for effect. “You were totally right, man! Two boys! We are having twin boys! Talk to you later.”

  As she stood in front of her supervisor’s door, Jenna took a calming breath. She’d been expecting this meeting for weeks, ever since she started showing. Surprised it had taken Mrs. Gordon this long to request a meeting, she hoped she’d still be employed at the end of the day. Barb remained the only coworker who knew about Jenna’s pregnancy. It was past time to let her boss know she was expecting.

  Quietly tapping on Mrs. Gordon’s door, Jenna turned the knob and entered when she heard the woman say, “Come in.”

  “Good morning, Mrs. Gordon. How are you today?” Jenna asked politely as she stepped into the office.

  “I’m fine, Jenna. How are you feeling these days?” Mrs. Gordon looked over the top of her glasses and motioned Jenna to take the seat across from her.

  “I’m doing very well. Thank you.” Jenna sat demurely in the chair, although she felt like she was about to be tried, judged, and found severely lacking. “I wanted to thank you again for giving me an opportunity in this position.”

  “You’ve been doing an outstanding job.” Mrs. Gordon removed a file from a drawer behind her, laid it on her desk, and flipped it open. “You’ve been in that position for what, about three months or so?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Do you think your position is one you could do from home on a part-time basis?”

  Caught off guard by the question, Jenna answered honestly. “Actually, I do. There are very few instances when a face-to-face meeting is necessary. Most of the communication is via phone and email, and there are a lot of online aspects to the position as well.”

  “I see,” Mrs. Gordon said, taking down notes. “Do you think you would be capable of doing it part-time from home? Could you work in a home environment?”

  “Yes, I could.”

  “Unless you’ve had some sort of health problem or unreasonable weight gain, I assume you’re expecting to expand your family sometime in the near future. Would that be correct?”

  Jenna fought the urge to squirm in her chair under Mrs. Gordon’s intense stare. Instead, she sat a little taller and looked her supervisor directly in the eye. “Yes, Mrs. Gordon. I am expecting. I’m due in March and we’re having twins.”

  Much to Jenna’s surprise, Mrs. Gordon laughed. “Twins? Oh my. You will have your hands full. Boys or girls?”

  “Boys,” Jenna said, with a wide smile. “My husband can hardly contain his excitement.”

  “I would imagine.”

  “Mrs. Gordon, I didn’t mean to intentionally hide my pregnancy. Well, maybe I did a little. I just wanted to establish myself in the position before I told you I was expecting. I know I’ll need some time off for maternity leave, but I have every intention of continuing in my job if you’ll still have me.”

  “I appreciate your honesty and we wouldn’t think of replacing you. Like I said, you’re fabulous in this position and we wouldn’t want to change that at all. I do think, however, that you could possibly work from home part-time. I assumed you were expecting and I want this to work for you as well. I have four children and understand the demands of being a mother with a career. It isn’t easy. That’s why I like to look at ways to make things beneficial for all parties. If you could work from home two or three days a week, would you be interested in working at the office the other days?

  “Oh, absolutely, Mrs. Gordon, and I appreciate your generosity. I think an arrangement like that will work out wonderfully.”

  “I like to think it will. We’ve got about four months before you’ll be on maternity leave?”

  “Yes.”

  “Great. Now, when are you planning to tell everyone you are expecting? There are more than a few bets that you are and even a few that were guessing you are either due soon or you are having more than one.”

  Relief washed over Jenna and she took a deep breath. “I can send out a memo this afternoon.”

  “Perfect!”

  When Jenna arrived home that evening, she couldn’t wait to tell Josh the news. She’d been dreading the day Mrs. Gordon discovered she was pregnant. She expected to be fired immediately or at least told not to come back after the babies were born. The fact that Mrs. Gordon had been so understanding and actually offered to let her work part-time from home was beyond anything she had hoped.

  “She was so nice about it, Josh. Everything is falling into place,” Jenna said as they sat down to eat dinner at the kitchen counter.

  “That is so great, babe.” Josh rubbed her back comfortingly. “You know you don’t have to work. We’d make out fine if you didn’t.”

  “I know, Josh, but I’m not cut out to be a stay-at-home mom. I need to work for me, to stay involved, and challenge my mind. Unlike your very talented sister, I have no other marketable skills I could turn into a successful career from home. Besides, my job comes with great insurance and benefits. I think I’ll be able to work three days a week from home, so I’ll only have to find daycare for the boys the other two days.”

  “I can take care of them, I guess.” Josh wasn’t sure how babies and farming would go together, trying to picture in hi
s mind how it would work. He couldn’t exactly envision a way to strap car seats to the tractor.

  Jenna looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “I don’t see that working at all. You can’t take them with you and you can’t sit around the house two days a week, especially during the summer. We’ll figure something out. Aunt Amelia said she wouldn’t mind watching them sometimes. Maybe she would be willing to take them one day a week. I wonder if Callan would mind watching them one day a week. What do you think?”

  “I think you’ll have to ask Callan. My guess is that she’ll probably jump all over the opportunity.” Josh liked the idea of the boys being with family members rather than strangers. “You know if Amelia and Callan do agree and something comes up, I can take care of them. I plan to be a very hands-on kind of dad, not one who tells people he’s ‘babysitting’ anytime he takes care of his own kids.”

  Jenna stared thoughtfully at the man she married. Josh turned out to be nothing like she expected but everything she never knew she wanted. “Has anyone ever told you what an amazing and great guy you are?”

  Josh stopped eating and looked at her, aware of the sincerity in Jenna’s eyes. He placed his hand on hers and gave it an affectionate squeeze. “Thank you, babe. Whatever I am, it’s because of you. Because of who I want to be for you and for our boys.”

  “I love you.”

  “I know. I love you, too. Always have, always will. Besides, you couldn’t help yourself,” Josh said with a devilish gleam in his warm gray eyes. “It’s my swashbuckling good looks and undeniable charm, right?”

  “Oh, you.” Jenna playfully popped his arm and turned her attention back to her dinner.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Babe, we’re going to be late if you don’t get a move on. You look fantastic. Let’s roll,” Josh yelled from the living room toward the bedroom. He had no idea what Jenna was wearing, but she always looked stylish and put together.