In the back half of 2023, Luke Combs and his wife, Nicole, became happy but understandably tired members of the “2 under 2” parent club.
Luke and Nicole have two boys, Tex Lawrence, born in June 2022, and Tex’s little brother, Beau Lee, arriving just 14 months later. It surprised many fans when Luke announced that Nicole was pregnant again in March 2023.
He told People Magazine how it felt. Luke said that he and his wife were “just in it.” He also joked, “We’re in the trenches,” but Luke confirmed that they were “excited for the second one,” and he thought that having babies so close in age would be okay, adding, “I feel like we’ll be in practice.”
In February 2024, Luke made a huge impression at the Grammy Awards when he sang “Fast Car” with Tracy Chapman. Nicole accompanied Luke to the Grammys, and before she boarded the flight to LA, she did another Q&A with fans on her Instagram Stories.
One fan asked Nicole a specific question, and she wrote during the Q&A that she gets “this question a lot.” The fan wanted to know how Nicole truly feels about the 13-month age gap between her sons, and Nicole’s answer was candid.
She wrote, “For me, I would say being pregnant while taking care of an infant/toddler was a lot harder [than] having 2 under 2.” Nicole added, “Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lot of work, but I love the 13-month age gap.”
Nicole even confessed during the Q&A that she would do it again. She joked, “There’s also a chance I may be absolutely insane, lol.”
Baby Number 2 Came Earlier Than Expected
Luke had made the announcement about baby number two on Instagram last March. He posted a photo montage of him, Nicole, and Tex and included a soundtrack—one of his new songs, “Take You With Me.”
One of the photos in the montage was Tex wearing a “Big Brother” t-shirt. Luke captioned the post, “Joining the 2 under 2 club! Baby boy #2 coming this September!!”
Nicole debuted baby bump #2 at the 2023 ACMs last May. She told People that she and Luke had “decided on 4” kids “max,” but Nicole admitted they “also might stop at 2. Who knows?”
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But there was something about Luke’s ‘baby #2’ post on social media that wasn’t the real truth. Nicole gave birth to Beau on August 15th of last year, not in September, as he’d predicted. Their first son, Tex, also arrived on a significant day in 2022, with Nicole giving birth on Father’s Day in June.
Luke celebrated the birth of his first son on social media, writing on Instagram, “Welp, he decided that Father’s Day would be a good time to show up. I couldn’t agree more.” Nicole wrote on Instagram that Tex was “the best chillest angel boy,” and she sweetly claimed she was “so happy” that she was chosen to be his mom.
But there was also something off about Tex’s birthdate because Luke and Nicole both wrote on social media in 2022 that they were expecting their first child in the spring and as Today.com noted, Tex almost ended up being “a summer baby.” So it appears both of their kids didn’t arrive on the due dates that Luke and Nicole expected!
Luke Combs Missed the Birth of His Son
Luke did catch some heat from country music fans when he embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2023. Taste of Country reported Nicole was “nearing nine months pregnant” at the time, and they claimed that Luke was “cutting things close” to arrive back in Tennessee by “sometime in September,” when the baby was allegedly due.
But Nicole had revealed “the plan” if she went into labor with their second son when Luke was half a world away. This happened during an Instagram Q&A with her fans, and Nicole set the record straight.
She said that Luke wouldn’t cancel any tour dates down under if she went into labor. She wrote during the Q&A, “It’s around 20 hours to get back from Aus if he got on a plane immediately, lol. So no.”
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The last show of Luke’s Australia—New Zealand tour was August 26, 2023. People Magazine confirmed that Luke did not make it back to Tennessee in time for the birth.
It’s also interesting that Luke and Nicole took a while to announce that Beau had arrived. Today.com reported the happy news on September 1st. This was the day after Nicole’s video announcement on her and Luke’s joint Instagram account—more than two weeks after baby Beau arrived.
Nicole’s video included baby items like a pacifier, a little beanie, and a sweet polaroid of the baby’s feet that developed as Cory Asbury’s song, “These Are the Days,” played. Nicole captioned her post, “8.15.2023 — Beau Lee Combs. Welcome to the world. We couldn’t love you more.”