Tea Parties and Feather Boas (Luke Kuechly)

A Huge Thank You and A Surprise! (P.S. It's a Bonus Chapter!)

I started this story four years ago and never did I expect it to take four years to finish it haha. It's been a crazy, wonderful journey and I wanted to thank every single one of you for taking time to read this story. My life has changed so much these four years. It's amazing to think of everything I've been through, done, and experienced while writing this story, but to the real point of this thank you letter.

Never in a million years did I imagine I'd get over 100,000 reads! much less have almost 200,000 by the time I finished this story! It's completely mind-boggling to me and I can't express how thankful I truly am. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who's stuck with me through this journey and put up with long gaps between updates and a sometimes moody me. Y'all really are the best readers and this story wouldn't be what it is without each and every one of you.  Thank you all so much!

As you probably know with this story taking so long to complete, it's set from 2015-2016, meaning Luke and Lydia got married in 2018 and that's the last we've heard from them. So I thought it would be fun to take a look into their lives in this new year.

So as a thank you for the incredible support, I'm giving you a bonus chapter! Enjoy

~January 2020~

"Lastly, I'd like to thank my wife, Lydia, and our kids, Isla and Seth for your constant support. Thank you Panther fans and everyone in the NFL for your support as well."

Lydia handed her husband back his phone, wiping a stray tear. She couldn't believe Luke was actually doing this.

"What do you think?" Luke bit his lip waiting for her opinion.

"It was perfect," Lydia nodded, trying to regain her composure.

"What's wrong then?"

"Just these stupid pregnancy hormones," Lydia sighed, letting out a little laugh. "Are you sure this is what you want to do? I know you've been considering it a lot these past months. We've talked about it, but this makes it official."

"I know it's time for me to step away," Luke said, squeezing his wife's hand. "I don't want too, but I know It's time. Besides, I'd like to be able to walk Isla down the aisle one day, and this little one." Luke grinned, placing a hand on Lydia's bump.

Lydia smiled, kissing her husband softly. "It's a boy."

"You don't know that," Luke scowled.

"Call it mother's intuition," Lydia laughed.

Luke wasn't shy about his want for this baby to be a girl. Of course, Lydia knew at the end of the day he was going to be just as excited with another boy. Isla was right there with her dad, routing for this baby to be a girl. Seth wanted a baby brother and Lydia, honest to gosh, just wanted a healthy, full-term baby. That was her biggest concern for this pregnancy.

"Mommy," Seth wandered into the living room where his parents sat. "Is it time to go yet?"

"Almost." Lydia pulled her son into her lap, kissing his cheek. "We have to wait for Isla to get home from school."

"And then we get to see baby brother or sister?"

"We sure do," Luke said. "And we'll find out if you're having a baby brother or sister."