He had reached a level of bliss that instead of enjoying it, all he could do was worry that it would somehow be ruined, or he would somehow mess it up. Whatever it was, it was an inkling that he couldn't shake, and that bothered Justice because he thought after he got her back in his arms, he wouldn’t feel that way anymore.
“What is it?” Ben asked him.
Justice shrugged. “Not sure how to put it in words. I don't know, I just got a bad feeling.”
Ben rolled his eyes. “If I had a quarter for every time you said you had a bad feeling.”
“I might say it a lot but it's usually right,” Justice shot back, trying hard not to feel offended.
Ben agreed that he was. Justice didn't need him to nod his head and say that he believed him. He didn't care one way or another. Justice was already looking through the throng of people that showed up for well wishes. Her pregnancy was very public, as was her being brought to the hospital when she started to go into labor. Now, every single well-wisher could very well be the bad feeling that Justice was getting. He knew most of them, maybe all of them.
Except one.
His eyes narrowed in on a visitor or rather a stranger. Justice said something to Ben and moments later the Alpha was pulling the stranger toward them. He was watching them carefully and saw the moment he went for a gun. The next second, his jacket was ripped off and he was strapped with a bomb. The crowd started to panic around them and chaos took over.
For Justice though, it was one of those moments where everything started to slow down. Justice had had it happen to him before in a car wreck and now in that moment too. He was holding his three children, Allie was beside him and all he could think to do as the first gunshot hit, was to turn his back to the bullet. He felt it pierce his skin and his only thought was that he hoped he didn't drop one of the babies. His arms fell down lower, pulling them out of harm's way as it ripped through his body.
There was screaming all around him, and Justice fell two more hits in his back before there was a sound of a struggle and the gun clattering to the floor. All the noise sounded so far off, like he was being pulled away. The metal of the gun was light and made it sound almost like a toy. He grimaced, it wasn’t toy bullets making holes through him. He looked down to the state of his shirt and decided it was the third one that made it hard to breathe.
Justice looked in the bed, worried that Allie had been hit, but she was safe. There was no blood coming out of her. He looked further down at the babies and while they were crying, they were held safely in his arms. That was all that Justice needed to see.
He had enough wherewithal to tell someone to get the babies, because he was about to drop them. Justice felt hands rushing forward to grab them and then he heard a hard, far away crash. Somehow, Justice knew that it was his body hitting the floor, his lifeless body. He looked down at his shirt, red spreading all across it and the last thing he did was mumble his apologies to Allie. This was not the way this was supposed to end. But how silly he felt, small vindication, knowing that he had been right that morning? He’d felt something was off. That feeling was finally gone. Justice was glad that the bad feeling was about him and not her.
***
Justice floated in and out of consciousness. He remembered Allie being by his side, saying his name, crying, while telling him that everything was going to be okay. Justice didn’t know why he couldn’t seem to stay awake and with Allie, but it didn’t matter. He relaxed every time he saw her face. It would fill him with such joy.
When he was finally able to stay awake for a few minutes and talk to Allie, he was able to find out what had happened to him. He had been shot, Justice remembered that much, but he hadn’t died. He had several surgeries to get the bullet out of his chest and the doctors hadn’t given him much of a chance to live. He had lived though, so Justice was sure that he was going to be okay. Allie was with him, and it was all that mattered. Their babies were fine. Everything was as it should be. Justice hadn’t expected to wake up from it, but he was grateful that he did.
He wanted to ask more, but Allie had shushed him and told him that he would know everything else soon enough. He didn’t like being put off like that, but he felt like he understood why. Allie wanted him to see that it was as it had always been. Justice knew better than that.
He closed his eyes and didn’t wake up again that day. He didn’t realize it, of course, talking to Allie like he was answering a question that she had asked. Justice would soon realize that he had been talking to himself. Allie was gone and it was the next day. The nurse informed him that he had been sleeping for almost twenty-four hours. Justice didn’t want to hear that. “Where is Allie?”
“Your guest will be back in a while. She is never too far away.”
It was good to hear that, Justice needed to. She had been there moments before. He wished for her, and it wasn’t long at all before Allie was up. She cut her eyes to the nurse and asked why she wasn’t paged. Justice didn’t understand why she was so mad, but the smile she gave him seconds later made him forget everything. Allie was trying her best to make his heart stop and she was doing a damn good job of it. Damn good job.
“Tell me that everything is okay,” Justice had to hear it. He had to know that all that he thought had happened was actual real life. If he and Allie together was a dream for him, he wasn’t going to be able to take that sort of disappointment. He didn’t want to think about it, but he knew that it was a possibility. He didn’t want it to be.
“It’s okay now that you are awake. You had me worried for a little while there, Justice. I hope you know that. I thought I had lost you and you were going to leave me with the babies alone. I haven’t even named them yet. I’ve been waiting for you.”
Justice felt the softness go over him. How badly had he needed to hear the very thing that was out of her mouth? He just got everything that he needed and more, all in one tiny confession. He had his own promise to make. He touched her hand softly. “I’m not going anywhere, Allie, I swear.”
Epilogue
Justice
The kids were several months old and since they were staying with their aunt and uncle for the night, Justice had only one thing and one thing only on his mind. It had been too long since he and Allie had alone time together. She was coming back from lunch with her friends and Justice was ready in more ways than one.
He heard the door open and when she called to him, he told her that he was in the bedroom. It wasn’t long until she was standing at the doorway, and he was lying on the bed. His intentions were clear, especially when he wasn’t dressed and it showed from the haphazard way that the sheets were covering him.
“What are you doing in here?” Allie asked finally, her eyes taking him in. He moved to show off more and loved the look on her face. She was easy to bait, probably as easy as it was for her to do it back to him. The change was immediate.
Allie didn’t say anything to him, just started to get undressed. She appeared to be as ready for it as Justice was and it warmed his heart to see it. It also sent an urge of desire through him when he saw her body revealed. He sucked in a breath. “You are so beautiful.” The words seemed inadequate, but no others were coming to him.
She waved him off and said that he was just liable to say anything in that moment.
Justice agreed. “Yeah, like, let’s have some more babies.”
