Always and Forever Read Free

worries, clung on to Matt. They were having a baby . Five words that hadn’t stopped running through her mind since the day they’d found out. And finally, finally she felt like she had everything that she’d ever wanted, that the pieces of her own personal jigsaw puzzle were in place.
    She had Matt. They had their house. Their dog, Blue.
    And soon they were going to have their baby.
    Life didn’t get any better. Which was why Lisa had woken in a sweat every night since they’d had the news, waiting for something terrible to happen, waiting for something to crash. She knew it was stupid but she couldn’t help it. Maybe it was because she was so used to being in control and this was so frustratingly out of her control.
    “Come on, sweetheart, follow me.” Matt’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
    Lisa smiled up at her husband and let herself get swept away in smiles and laughter, the hands reaching out for her belly; became lost in the bubble of good wishes. Her husband’s humor was contagious; the smiles he kept flashing her reminded her why she loved him so much, how much fun they had. He balanced out her anxious tendencies with his positive attitude and zest for life. She might feel like she’d have two children to look after once the baby was born, but Matt was going to be a fun dad, and as long as they were all happy together, that was all she cared about.
    “Hey, come give me a hand,” Kelly called out, catching her eye.
    Lisa was happy to take a breather and disappear into the kitchen. “You do realize that I hate surprises, right?” She slung an arm around her big sister and gave her a hug. “Just in case you’ve missed that fact our whole lives.”
    “The girls wanted to do it when I told them, and Matt was so cute when he spilled the beans. I was going on about the girls already asking for Christmas presents months ahead of the event, and he blurted that he couldn’t wait to play Santa next year before he even realized what he’d done.”
    “Well, I wish you’d warned me, but thanks,” Lisa said. “It means a lot that you did this for us.”
    “You look worried,” Kelly said, moving away from her and taking cling wrap off some large plates. “Have you been sick?”
    Lisa moved closer, leaned forward and stole a sandwich, narrowly avoiding Kelly’s hand slapping at her. She popped it in her mouth and sighed. Kelly’s tiny sandwiches were perfect as always.
    “No. Actually, I’m just nervous, I guess. So many things keep playing through my head—worries, things that could go wrong . . .” She shrugged and went to take a blini, the cream cheese and salmon topped with capers making her mouth water.
    “No!” Kelly said, grabbing it from her before she could eat it. “No salmon! You need to read up on what you’re allowed to eat with that baby on board.”
    Lisa shut her mouth, trying to stop herself from actually drooling. “Oops. I forgot.”
    “It doesn’t get any easier. With your first, you worry about everything, then with your second you start to think about what would happen to your first if you didn’t make it through childbirth. It’s awful.”
    “Oh, thanks for being so positive,” Lisa said sarcastically.
    Kelly stopped what she was doing and gave her the “big sister” look that she always did so well. “I’m just trying to say that what you’re feeling is normal. Everything will be okay, but the worry never stops, even if nothing goes wrong.”
    “I know. Hell, I should know—I’ve seen you go through it twice!”
    “Yeah, but it’s not until you’re a mom that you get that feeling, that . . .” Kelly threw her hands up in the air. “It’s terrible. Suddenly you can’t watch a news story that involves something happening to a child without crying. Everything just affects you differently. It’s impossible to describe how it changes you.”
    Lisa nodded. “So the emotions are normal, even now?”
    Kelly stopped what she was doing and came