Our Ghost Adventures

It had been a few days since King’s Island and Zak and I had gone back to my house for a few days. Gracie and Muffin were here too. I was barely allowed to fly still and he didn’t want to risk it by going all the way to Vegas. If we truly wanted to go back to Vegas, we’d have to drive.

I was examining my bracelet and noticing the interesting beads Zak had put on there. There was one that sparkled a lot brighter than the rest that I loved. It was the only fully red bead on the whole bracelet and it was completely made of gems and sparkled in the light. One of my favorite charms was the one that he had custom made.

“How’s my baby doing today?” As I lay on the couch, Zak came up and began talking to my stomach while rubbing his hand against it. “This is your daddy speaking.”

“You never shut up, I’m pretty sure he/she will be talking just like you when it’s born.”

“I do so shut up; besides, what if our baby is more used to Aaron’s incessant talking? He never shuts up.”

“Hm…Well maybe I can just play Ghost Adventures on repeat and then it’ll hear all of us.”

“There we go,” he grinned. “When’s your next appointment?” he asked.

“Friday, that’s when we may get to find out if it’s a boy or a girl. That way we can stop calling our baby an ‘it’. It’s getting really annoying,” I laughed.

“Hopefully we do…I don’t like calling our baby an ‘it’ either,” Zak replied.

***

“How are you this afternoon, Ms. McMurphy?” a technician asked, walking into the room.

“I’m well, thank you,” I replied. I sat up a little bit on the bed and pulled my black T-shirt up so that she could put the gel on my stomach.

“Any trouble with the pregnancy, thus far?” she asked. I shook my head. “You have gained weight, which is good; I think that you seem pretty healthy now. You mentioned that the doctor that told you that you were pregnant said that you needed to gain some weight, correct?”

“Yeah, back in South Carolina, I think…” Zak said, remembering the event.

“Have you been doing your job, Mr. Bagans? Have you kept her stress free?”

“As best as I can, I’m trying, but this girl is stubborn as hell,” he replied, kissing my hand.

“Well, let’s take a look at that baby,” she said. I winced as she put the gel on my belly.

“You’d think that you’d be able to warm that up somehow, y’know?” I said. The tech giggled.

“I’m sorry, they should figure that out, everybody always complains about it being cold…” she ran the wand across my rounded stomach. “Well, there’s your baby,” she said. “Hopefully it’ll turn so that we can see if it’s a boy or a girl.”

“I’m getting tired of calling my baby an ‘it’,” Zak said.

“Unfortunately, you’ll have to for a little bit longer…he or she doesn’t want us to see them today…Would you still like a picture of the ultrasound?”

“Of course,” Zak said before I could even respond.
“Oh wait a minute…You’re having a baby girl,” the tech said happily.

“What did I tell you!?” Zak exclaimed. “Hi there little Lorelei,” he said to my stomach. “I knew that I was going to have a daughter.” He looked up and kissed me deeply. “I love you so much,” I couldn’t help but smile back into the kiss. Maybe this really was going to be my second chance at the family I didn’t get to raise…Maybe I could live out my life happily this time around.

“I’ll leave you two to look at this while I go get the photograph for you, and Dr. Jefferson probably wants to talk to you both real quick.” The tech left and Zak grinned, kissing me again.

“I would’ve been happy either way, but I was right,” he pulled his phone out and took a picture of the ultrasound machine. He then dialed a number; I assumed that he was calling his mom. I was going to wait until we left to call Carlin and Daren. I just didn’t feel like trying to get to my phone right now. “Mom,” he said into the phone, he turned it on speaker phone.

“Zachary, is everything alright?” Elise asked.

“Everything’s great,” Zak replied. Sheer happiness was the only thing I could pick out of his tone. He was so happy, in turn making me happy too. “We’re having a girl.”

“That’s nice to hear, son. Have you picked out a name?” she asked.

“Lorelei Athalia,” I said.

“Oh, Adrina you’re there too…” I still didn’t think that she liked me very much, but that she was trying for Zak’s sake.

“Well of course she’s here, mom, it’s her appointment,” Zak replied.

“Well I was talking to Stephanie and we want to throw you guys a baby shower, here, in Vegas on the thirteenth of October…So don’t plan a lockdown for that day.”

I knew that my friends wanted to throw me one too, so it would have to be on a different day…and be separated by a larger span of time.

***August***

We were headed back out on the road again. I wouldn’t actually be a part of any of the lockdowns until after Lorelei was born. I was too pregnant to actually move quickly and I’d be assisting Billy and doing whatever I could to help otherwise. We were in the RV, I was lying on the couch, Nick was driving, Zak was in the passenger seat, and Aaron was sitting in the chair across from me. He was laughing and smiling at his phone.

“Aaron, who’re you texting?” I asked, having nothing better to do anyway.

“Nobody,” he said.

“Really? So it’s not Ariel?” I had talked to my friend recently and she had told me that she and Aaron were talking a lot lately. I thought that they would make a cute couple and I was trying to get her to ask him out or something! I wanted both of them to be happy, and I could see them being happy together. At least then, he would have someone that understood the ghosts coming home with him and wouldn’t freak out. I was childish right? I was medaling in her friends’ lives.

“What if it is?” he asked with a slight smile.

“Then I’d say that I’m happy for you. Are you going to ask her out?”

“When? It’s not like I ever see her…I mean it would be kind of pointless, living across the country from each other.”

“What if she’s your soul mate or something? You’re going to let a little distance get in the way of that?”

“I don’t believe in soul mates,” Aaron said.

“You believe in ghosts and demonic spirits but you don’t believe in soul mates?”

“Exactly. Because it doesn’t make sense. Okay, let’s take you for example, do you believe that Zak is your soul mate?” he asked me.

“Yeah…” Of course I did, I loved with all my heart.

“Okay, now your late husband, was he your soul mate too, or did you just marry the wrong man? Or do you some how have two soul mates?”

I would give him that it was a very good question. “Maybe Aidan was my soul mate for the time that he was alive, but maybe he was always meant to pass away and I was meant to be with Zak or…I don’t know!” It was confusing and I had no idea what the universe had in store. I was a fatalist and what was supposed to be would be.