Page 1 of The Gift Of Life

Prologue

Harper

“I’m so excited,” I gush all over Drew as he casually knots his tie in the bedroom mirror.

I spritz myself all over with body mist. It’s amazing how much you can sweat and feel sticky during pregnancy. It’s another symptom I didn’t expect, but I won’t complain. It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for this moment. We got engaged three years ago and married eighteen months ago. We tried and tried for a baby, only to fail miserably twice with early miscarriages. Now, here we are today, twenty-one weeks pregnant and getting ready to celebrate a gender reveal with our closest family and friends. I never thought I’d see this day.

“I told you, sweetheart, that our time would come.” Drew wraps his arms around my waist from behind me to rest on my tummy. “Good things come to those who wait. We just had to wait our turn and be patient.”

Looking at our reflection in the mirror, my growing tummy on display, it makes me so proud of how far we’ve come.

“What do you think? Boy or girl?”

Yesterday morning, we attended a private gender scan in Edinburgh. We didn’t find out what we’re having. The sonographer wrote the gender inside an envelope and Drew's twin brother, Derren, and his wife, Alice, organised all the gender balloons, cakes, and games. I know our families are just as excited as we are. This little bean will be spoiled terribly. He or she will want for nothing.

“Honestly, I don’t care. Boy or girl, he or she will be loved unconditionally. “

“I can just see a little Drew running around here.” I clap giddily.

Life has a funny way of throwing curveballs at us when we least expect it. Just as we had given up trying for a baby, our life changed with two pink lines. Two pink lines I'd dreamed of seeing since I was a child and knew what having children meant. Yes, this pregnancy has been filled with anxiety and fear, walking on eggshells while waiting to enter that second trimester when things were safer, but here we are. It’s finally our turn.

“I can see a little Harper running around. Smart, intelligent, funny, adorable with little pig tails...”

“And you say I’m the daydreamer.”

Drew and I have been friends since we were in nursery school. We met each other on our first day at the ripe old age of three. At that age, I had never come across twins before, so I was intrigued by him and his brother and thought it was cool. We went all the way through school together, and it was only when Drew went into the police college and I went to college to study art and design that we focused on our own lives for a while. Even then, we couldn’t stay away from one another. At eighteen years old, Drew declared his love for me, and it was the best feeling in the world. I can remember it like it was yesterday and not ten years ago. I’d loved Drew for as long as I could remember, but the moment he said the words out loud, I was ecstatic. I could tell him exactly how I felt. I didn’t have to pretend that friendship was all I wanted or needed from him. Our families were over the moon for us. I think our mothers had been planning our wedding day since we were in nursery. They had our lives all figured out; we just needed time to catch up and notice what was right in front of our noses.

“Right. Let’s get out of here. I promised to have us there on time. If I don’t, Derren will kill me.”

I jump up like an excited child, clapping my hands and grinning from ear to ear. I grab my bag, but Drew quickly takes it from me, lifts the car keys out of the key bowl, and ushers me out of the door. I’m not about to argue that I can carry my own bag. Today is too special to throw my toys out of the pram over a silly thing. Hormones have turned me into a sulky brat. I’m pregnant and not ill like I tell everyone who tries to treat me like a fragile flower. Drew insists on treating me like an invalid, though. In his words, “I’m just taking care of precious cargo.”

***

We pull up outside Drew’s family farm, which is only a ten-minute journey from our house. This was the only home Drew had ever known until we got our own place and moved in together. It’s a small horse farm just outside the Hillfoots in Tillicoultry. It’s stunning, set underneath the Ochil Hills. It’s everything you’d imagine for the middle of spring in Central Scotland. The greenery is bright and vibrant, the daffodils are in full bloom, and the smell of nature is divine. Unless you’ve lived around here, you just won’t understand how beautiful it is. It’s very different from the hustle and bustle of city life not thirty minutes away from here.

“Are you ready for this?” Drew asks as he opens my door.

I was too busy daydreaming to realise Drew had got out of the car and has come around to help me. I’m the worst daydreamer. My mind is always active and thinking about great possibilities, even if they are a little out of my reach. I can dream. I blame my creative brain for the rubbish that rattles around my head.

“I am.”

I’m suddenly nervous. So far, I've been living in a little bubble throughout this pregnancy, and it was exactly what I needed to get through the difficult parts at the early stages. Now, I want to shout it from all the rooftops in the wee county. We’ve hit a safe zone, and I’m on top of the world. The morning sickness has gone, the fatigue is gone, the aches, pains, and headaches are minimal. I feel normal for the first time in five months. That on its own is worth celebrating.

“We'll go around the outside of the house. The gazebo has been set up round the back.”

I link my arm with Drew’s, and we walk towards the sounds of laughter and music. There are more people here than I thought I even knew, but who cares? The more the merrier. I want to celebrate the life growing inside me starting from now.

“Here's the proud mummy and daddy.” Derren spots us first and jogs over to us.

He hands me a glass of orange juice in a champagne flute. “Don’t worry, all completely alcohol free. Dad on the other hand...” He hands Drew what I presume is a glass of champagne.

Everyone around us claps and cheers. I finally take in the neutral balloons and decorations, the large stuffed animals, and the beautiful tables set out with animal centre pieces. Tears pool in my eyes as I take everything in. It’s stunning. It’s even more than I imagined it would be. Not that I expected any less from Derren and Alice; they’re amazing people.

“I told you it was all too much.” Alice slaps Derren on the shoulder and walks over to engulf me in her arms.

“It’s not. It's not too much. It’s gorgeous. I just didn’t expect all of this. We said a small occasion.” I wipe my eyes and squeeze Alice. “Thank you for doing all of this for us.”

My mum and dad are the next two to approach me. Now that I can see straight, I’m starting to acknowledge faces.

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