Liam Page knows music and a life of solitude, but that all changed when he returned to Beaumont. The once notorious bad boy lead singer of 4225 West is now living the domesticated life with his wife and high school sweetheart, Josie, and their son, Noah. Life is good for the Westbury family.
Josie Westbury loves everything about her life. She’s happily married. She has a successful business and a son who keeps her active. The only thing she longs for is another child.
Torn between his love for music and his love for his family, Liam finds he’s needed back in Los Angeles and the place where it all began. Josie is apprehensive, but knows this is what’s best for Liam and the bands career; however, it doesn’t take long for her biggest fears to start coming true.
Liam and Josie's story continues in this last installment of The Beaumont Series.
To all the fans who have stuck with
Liam & Josie, Harrison & Katelyn and Jimmy & Jenna,
I thank you!
Liam’s eyes go wide when the whoosh of the baby’s heartbeat echoes throughout the room. He stares from the screen to me and back at the screen again. He missed this with Noah so it was important for him to be here when we found out the sex of the baby.
“That has got to be the coolest sound ever. No wonder JD listens to it all the time. I should record it too.”
He takes out his cell phone and holds it right next to the speaker on the monitor. Watching him take all of this in without reservation is such a relief. It’s one thing to become an “insta-dad” to a then ten year old, but it’s entirely different when you’re part of the entire process from the beginning. Liam missed everything with Noah but hasn’t missed a single step this time.
“Mr. and Mrs. Westbury, would you like to know the sex of the baby?”
I look at Liam who smiles so brightly it makes me love him even more. We need this, not because we’re struggling, but because I know he feels incomplete when it comes to being a dad. When Eden is with us, he’s the doting uncle that does everything for her, even rushing to change her diaper. She has Liam wrapped around her little finger and I don’t think he’d want for it to be any different. Liam wants to experience the midnight and two a.m. feedings, the walks in the park, and the first babbling words. I want that for him as well.
Noah, on the other hand, doesn’t want a sibling.
“Do you want to know, Jojo?”
There they are the words I’ve been waiting for... he wants to know but is leaving the decision up to me.
“Yes, I want to know.”
“Perfect,” the sonographer says. “If you look right here, you’ll see his penis.”
“It’s a boy!”
“He has a penis!” Liam shouts, silencing the room.
We look at him and burst out laughing. Liam blushes when he realizes his outburst and turns his attention back to the sonogram on the monitor. He studies it as if there’s a test at the end of the visit and I silently wish I had my camera or phone with me so I could take his picture. I want to believe this is how he would have been when I was pregnant with Noah, but my heart tells me otherwise.
It’s hard to understand why he left, especially the way he did, but I accept it. We were young and naïve about what the future held for either of us. Life is rainbows and roses when you’re eighteen and blinded by your first love. My life was planned around Liam’s. I was going to be his wife, be his constant cheerleader as he played in the NFL. I was going to be the doting mother of two children in our big fancy house inside a gated community. I was going to be the wife who was in love with her husband no matter what.
Instead, I ended up being pregnant and alone. I ended up being a distant memory, an annoying mess of the person he once loved at the other end of a voice message, screaming how much I hated him but never blurting out the words that could’ve changed everything.
I often think back to those bleak days of being forced fed by Mason and Katelyn. Sleeping between my two best friends because they feared I would do something stupid. The only stupid thing I wanted to do was find Liam and tell him face-to-face that we were having a child.
When I went to his parents, desperate and scared, I knew it was a long shot. I knew if I could just talk to Bianca, she would reach out to Liam and tell him to call me. She’d tell him to come home, but it wasn’t meant to be. Sterling refused to acknowledge that I was carrying his grandchild. To them, I was nothing but trash hell bent on trapping their son. To them, Liam leaving me was the best thing he could’ve ever done.
They were right because had I told him, he would’ve come home and we would’ve gotten married. That much I’m sure about. Liam’s a good man and he would’ve done the right thing. But I don’t believe I’d still be with him today. Liam was right when he said we’d be divorced. I can see it play out in my mind. With a child and no college education, he’d be stuck in a dead end job. He’d sulk, sitting in front of the television drinking beer each night. His friends would have all achieved what they set out to do, leaving him behind. He was right to leave and follow his dreams. Even though it killed me to not have him by my side when Noah was born, I have him now.
The sonographer prints off a few pictures and hands them to Liam. He’s mesmerized by them, staring at each one. Honestly, unless things are pointed out to me I don’t know what I’m looking at. The first time I saw Noah, I cried. Not because I was overjoyed or scared out of my mind, but because I thought I was having a bean and that something was seriously wrong with me.
When Liam looks at me, he’s beaming. The excitement in his eyes shows me that he wants this just as much as I do. Bringing another child into the world, into our lives, is the best thing that could’ve happened to us right now.
Outside the doctor’s office, Liam holds me in his arms. I can feel his heart pounding against my chest. He’s excited, ready to burst.
“I’m going to stop by the nursery before I head home,” I tell him.
Liam pulls back, keeping his hands clasped behind by back. “I want to celebrate tonight, have everyone over and share the news.”
I run my fingers over his stubble. It’s constant and I love it. He tried to go full on beard with me, but I didn’t like it. He looked like a chipmunk hoarding nuts in his cheeks. Since I complained, he’s kept it trimmed and perfect.
Sometimes, when I look into his eyes, I see the same eighteen-year-old that I fell in love with. Even with our years apart, my love for him hasn’t subsided. It will always be there because we share a son. It’s there because he’s my soul mate. Whether we’re together or not, I’ll always love him.
“Dinner sounds perfect. I’ll stop by the store on the way home.”
He kisses the tip of my nose before kissing my lips. I melt into him, not caring about the people around us. I’m happy and in love with this man and we’re about to have a baby, another son. I want everyone to share in our joy.
“I love you, Jojo,” he says with a wink as he walks away. My eyes fall to his backside as I watch the swagger in his hips. No wonder he’s so good at his job – just staring at his ass makes me turn to goo.
“You’re one luck
y lady.” I turn and smile at the white haired older lady sitting near me. “I had that once in my life, but he’s been gone for some time. Do you suppose you find that kind of love again?”
My eyes go from her to the door and back again. “Yes,” I say truthfully. “I lost him once, a long time ago.” Those are my parting words as I walk out of the doctor’s office and head to the nursery.
My doctor’s office is in a wing off of the hospital. It’s super convenient when you’re convinced that you’re having Braxton Hicks contractions but are really in labor and your doctor needs to send you to Labor & Delivery. That was me with Noah. I didn’t want to believe that the time had come, or that Liam wasn’t going to be there. I thought for sure he’d call once I left him a message with his agent’s office. I was wrong, but still held out hope.
The halls are busy as people come and go from different departments. I know a few of the nurses and we say hello as we pass each other. When I arrive at the nursery window, I’m elated to see the babies in their hospital bassinets. The mix of blue and pink reminds me of the last time I was here when Eden was born.
When I was with Nick, I never thought about having another child. Somewhere deep in my mind I felt it’d be wrong and that I’d be moving on. I was never fair to Nick and our relationship. He was easy and convenient. He gave me so many missing pieces from my life and would’ve completed me if I had allowed him to. As I look back at that time in my life, I realize how selfish I was by stringing him along. I wouldn’t change the way he is with Noah, though, because Noah needed Nick more than I did.
I wave at Diane, the Labor & Delivery nurse working in the nursery room. She smiles and leaves the room, meeting me by the window.
“No flower deliveries today?” Diane was my nurse when I had Noah and we’ve maintained a friendship ever since. I give her a quick hug and turn back to the babies.
“I took the day off. Liam and I had the sonogram today.” I beam, recalling his expression when he found out we’re having a son.
“Is Liam excited?”
“He is. I know he hates himself for missing all of this with Noah. He’s trying to make up for everything even though it wasn’t his fault.”