The baby!
Sucking in a breath of excitement, making Rhys turn to me in alarm, I almost shriek into the phone. “Elly had the baby!”
His deep chuckle vibrates through the phone. “She did. A healthy baby boy, he’s seven pounds eight ounces and twenty-one inches long. I’d like everyone to come meet him.”
Smiling at Rhys, I lift my shoulders in excitement. “Of course, we’ll be there soon.”
An hour later, we walk into my family crowded into Elly’s hospital room. She doesn’t have family here. After her fatherused her to try to take our land a few years ago, she cut ties with him, and we’ve adopted her as our own.
Marley is standing next to her bed, holding her hand, and they are talking and laughing. Lainey Rai is sitting on her other side, holding her hand. She glances at me, and I give her a big smile. We didn’t have the best beginning since she was the enemy sent to take our land, but since then we have developed a comfortable friendship.
She looks tiny in her hospital bed. She’s only five feet tall, and all the blankets over her make her look like a little girl, especially next to Lainey Rai, who might be taller than her now. Next to her bed is an empty plastic bassinet, I look around to find the newest addition to our family tucked into my dad’s arm.
Dropping Rhys’s hand, I walk right to my dad and look at the peaceful little face and slide my finger along his soft little forehead. “It’s my turn, Dad.”
Gray steps up beside us, his chest puffed out, pride in every line of his face. “Meet Dawson Gray Harlow.”
As Dad gently hands him off to me, I tuck his head next to my cheek and smell him. I love the smell of babies, and I close my eyes as I get to know his scent.
Unintentionally swaying my body, I slowly rock and turn, my eyes meeting Rhys’s across the room. He’s leaning against the closed door, his arms crossed over his chest and his head tilted as he watches me, affection and love burning in his eyes.
I’ve always told myself that I don’t want children, especially knowing that my mom died because of childbirth. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, she got an infection after they took Breanna home from the hospital, and it spread through her body. It happened so fast that everyone was shocked.
But as I look at the man who means everything to me, something inside of me sparks to life. Something that I didn’tthink existed for me. My mind pictures a little boy with Rhys’s dark eyes and hair running to me, and my desire for that slams into me hard, almost making me suck in a shocked breath, and I blink back the moisture seeping into my eyes.
An unspoken agreement, a promise for a future I never saw coming, passes between us as we smile at each other.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
THREE YEARS LATER
Rhys
Kinley squeezes my hand so hard I think she might crush the bones in my fingers. Her face is red and puffy from the pushing, and her hazel eyes are locked on me like she would be happy to torture me slowly - preferably my private parts.
“You’re doing great, baby, you’re almost there.” I push the hair sticking in the sweat off her forehead.
Her teeth are clenched in another push, and her breaths are coming fast and hard through her nose. “Fuck you. I hate you.” She seethes as she growls through the pain, squeezing her eyes closed.
With a smile, I set my cheek against her head and breathe with her before I say, “I know you do, baby.”
When I got up for work this morning, I triedto be quiet to let her sleep as long as possible. She hasn’t had a good night’s sleep in over a month because she’s uncomfortable. It was while I was in the kitchen that I heard her cry my name, panic laced in her tone, and I ran to the bedroom.
She was standing next to the bed, a puddle of water on the floor around her feet.
Oh shit.
Her fears about giving birth and the possibility of getting sick like her mother have been swirling faster in her mind the closer we’ve got to the due date. When she looked up at me, terror was shining in her eyes.
Closing the distance between us in three long strides, I stepped to her side and grabbed her hand. “It’s okay, baby, everything’s going to be fine.”
Her chin wobbled. “You don’t know that.” The statement came out in a cross between a whine and a wail.
Cupping her face between my hands, I kissed her forehead. “Yes, I do. We’ve gone over every possible scenario with your doctor, and we are prepared for everything.”
I know, and she knows, that’s not possible, but I’ll say whatever it takes to help her relax.
“I’m going to be with you every fucking second, I’ll never leave your side. I promise. We’ll get through this together, okay?”
