Mended Hearts

by Tammi Lynn

  My breath catches and I grab onto my stomach minutes later. Emma notices and steps off her swing to walk towards me. “Are you okay, Mommy Mia?” The concern in her little face has me straightening back up.

  “I’m fine. Will you please grab my phone out of my purse for me?” I had set it on the foam floor near us earlier. She gets my phone and is about to hand it to me when I’m racked with more pain and I have to grab my thighs to steady myself. “Emma.” I speak slowly. “Can you please call your dad for me?”

  She nods and goes to his contact in my phone and presses call. “Hi Daddy! No, I’m okay, Mia’s hurt or something though, she’s in a lot of pain.” She pulls the phone from her ear and tries handing it to me, but a contraction hits me again when I reach out to grab it and wave it away instead. “She can’t talk right now, Daddy. We’re at the park. Yeah, the one by the airport." Not that they couldn't just use the tracker still on my phone. "Okay, Daddy, I will.” She hangs up the phone and puts it back in my purse. “Daddy said that Uncle Caca, just picked up Miklo and his friend and can be here in minutes, he’s going to call him now.”

  “Thank you, Emma.”

  I don’t leave my swing, and Emma gets back in the one next to me. I’m not about to try and walk back to my truck only to have to crawl the rest of the way. My contractions are coming about two to three minutes apart and I feel like I can barely catch my breath. It wasn’t like this with Miklo. With him my water broke first and I didn’t have full on contractions until I was at the hospital and he came along fourteen long hours after that.

  Tires squeal in the parking lot and I look up to see Cade flying out of his car, Miklo and Killian hot on his heels. They reach us in seconds, and I’m not even given a chance to say anything before Cade is lifting me up and out of the swing. “How close are your contractions?” He looks almost scared.

  “Too, close.” Another one hits me and I’m curling in his arms my hand gripping onto his shoulder.

  Killian grabs my purse and Miklo picks up Emma piggyback to walk after us to the car. When the pain subsides I look at my baby boy from over Cade’s shoulder and smile at him. “I waited for you Bubbs.”

  “Perfect timing Mom, look at you actually early for something.” He laughs and walks around the other side of the car to put Emma in the back with him while Cade places me in his passenger seat. Killian climbs in the back with Miklo and Emma.

  “We need to call Doc Young.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Baby Girl. Jayson has it handled and him, Roman and Jesse will meet us at the hospital.

  Cade gets in the driver's seat and takes off, he hadn’t even turned the car off when he ran out to me on the swings. What should be a twenty minute drive to the hospital ends up being fifteen and the other three guys are pulling up at the same time as we do, having left the minute Emma called earlier.

  They all run up to my car door and Jayson and Roman each grab one of my hands to help me out. Our whole group of eight walks into the lobby and there’s a nurse waiting with a wheelchair for me.

  I’m about to sit in the chair when Jesse calls out. “Wait!” He hands his phone to Miklo. “Record this, Lil Man.” Miklo looks at him in question much the same way I am but flips the phone around to start recording him.

  “We had plans to do this later in the week but with the baby coming now-” Roman steps forward with Jesse, and Cade and Jayson follow, till they’re standing around me in a half circle.

  “What he means is-” Jayson gets down on one knee at my feet and I throw my hand over my mouth in a gasp. Cade, Roman, and Jesse get down on their knees beside him and I can see Emma jumping up and down clapping her hands. Looks like the secrets out of the bag.

  My eyes start to water and a tear slips down my cheek. Here I am standing in a glittery purple dress with matching purple, teal, and black wings and I have four guys kneeling at my feet, with only one question in their eyes.

  Jayson hands Cade a small black box from his pocket, and Cade opens it to reveal four almost identical rings to the ones they got me for Christmas, but these have single heart shaped diamonds in each instead of birthstones. “Will you marry me, Baby Girl?” He motions to the others. “Will you marry us?”

  “Yes.” I choke on a sob. “Yes, yes, and yes!” That was four yes-es right? I didn’t even have to think about my answer, my heart about burst as the words left Cade’s lips. How could I not say yes? To call them mine and finally get my forever love? I would say yes, a thousand times, scream it from the rooftops, to make that happen. These men picked up the broken pieces of my heart, not caring how damaged it was, and carefully mended it back together. The logistics of marrying four men at once I'll have to figure out later.

  Cade takes the rings and hands them out, placing his on my finger before the others. Once they are all linked together they stand and I look down.

  Wet liquid is running down my inner thighs and pooling at my feet, oh shit, my water just broke. Everyone’s eyes go wide and a contraction hits as they lower me down into the wheelchair and whisk me down the hospital hallway to the maternity wing.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Valentino

  Mia

  “Did you guys grab my go bag? My warm fuzzy fox sox are in there.” I’m wearing my lovely hospital gown with a band around my waist to monitor the baby’s heartbeat and my contractions which feel like they’re almost back to back now. I have a blanket but my feet are still cold.

  “Right here, Angel. We grabbed the diaper bag too.” He reaches into a small duffel and searches around for my socks, pulling them out and walking over to me. Flipping the covers off of my feet he put the socks on for me.

  A contraction has me reaching over and grabbing onto Jayson’s hand and squeezing hard as I try to breathe through the pain.

  “Fuck, where’s the Doc?” Cade’s been pacing back and forth in the room anxiously, he has a hard time watching me go through pain. “Can’t they give her anything?”

  “She’ll have to check and see how far dilated I am before they can give me anything. It’s okay Cade, Im okay, really.”

  “Besides, man, you just scared that nurse off to find the Doc, I’m sure she’ll be here soon.” Jesse’s investigating everything in the room, getting into drawers and cabinets. He finds some blue rubber gloves and starts to blow one up to wave at me with. Good to know I can still smile through pain, Jesse can do that for me.

  The delivery room door opens when Jesse releases the glove and it flies across the room letting out air. Doctor Young snatches it out of the air just before it hits her in the face. “Good afternoon, everyone. After your appointment, the other day I wasn’t expecting you for another week.” She walks over to Jesse and hands him the glove, earning a guilty look from him. Then she gets a new set of gloves and puts them on walking over to me. “Let’s see how far along you are.”

  “Feels like she’s trying to make her escape.” In a hurry and barreling through anything in her path.

  Doc flips the blanket over my raised knees to check me and she laughs. Not the best sound coming from someone looking at your nether bits. “Looks like you’re right. She’s crowning so I’d say we can already have you start pushing.” She has the nurse go grab one more to assist and I start panicking. Fuck this is happening so fast.

  Wait? “So no epidural then?” Fuck! I know women who have babies all the time without epidurals and my hats off to them. I’m not afraid of pain but there is a limit to my pain threshold and I’m not afraid to admit that those women are so much stronger than I am.

  “Afraid not, Mia. There’s no time.”

  A contraction wracks my body again and I’m squeezing Jayson’s hand hard again while grabbing onto Roman’s too who came up on my other side. “It’s okay Sweetheart, you got this.” I got this, I got this, I got this. A whine comes out of me and I close my eyes.

  The nurses come back in the room and get Cade and Jesse to each hold onto one of my thighs and knees since I won’t let the others hands
go. Doc gets between my legs with the nurses. “Okay Mia, when that next contraction hits I want you to push. Try to breathe through it and just keep pushing until we tell you, you can stop.”

  Holy shit! Here we go. “Okay.” I take in a big breath and exhale.

  The guys are all quiet around me as we wait and when that next contraction hits I lean forward and bear down against the weight of their hands holding me. I cry out as a wave of burning hot fire shoots from my belly down between my legs. When they tell me to stop pushing I fall back against the bed, sweat dripping from my brow.

  “Her heads almost out, it shouldn’t take too many pushes.” Is this lady crazy? One push felt like I was being ripped apart.

  Jesse takes a peek down and smiles. “Well, she doesn’t have blonde hair, but there’s still hope.” He then looks over at Cade who still has a panicked expression in his eyes that keep finding mine. We all think it’s Cade’s baby.

  For eighteen minutes I push, the anticipation of seeing my baby girl the only thing getting me to work through the pain. I hear a soft cry as she’s pulled from me and I start sobbing. October 20th at 1:28 p.m. the new edition to our blended family arrives.

  Roman and Jayson pull me up into a hug while they have Cade cut the cord and wrap her in a blanket. I lay back on the bed and a nurse brings the little bundle to lay on my chest.

  She’s absolutely beautiful. Dark wavy hair, long enough to explain a lot of heartburn is matted atop her tiny little head and she glares up at me in confusion, not liking the new addition of light into her world. I laugh and run a finger along her face. I can see myself in her full pouty lips and round cheeks, but the rest? Her little nose and dark furrowed brow? They’re purely Cade.

  I look up at him and he’s staring down at the baby in amazement, a single tear streaming down his face. Never thought I’d see my tough guy cry. “She looks like a little kitten curled against you.” That’s all he says and I wish I knew what he was thinking.

  “What’s her name, Sweetheart? We all never decided.” Jayson kisses my forehead.

  I hand the baby back to the nurse so they can poke and prod and weigh her and I already don’t like the absence of her from my arms. “Eva Yvonne Valentino.” Cade’s head snaps from the baby’s direction to mine, his eyes wide. “I’ve always liked Eva, and Yvonne after your mom, Cade. As for the last name, we’ll have them confirm but I’m almost positive she’s yours.”

  Cade looks to the others around me. “You guys really think so? She’s mine?”

  “Yeah man, there’s no denying that glare. She’s yours.” Roman gives Cade a bro smack on the back and Jesse and Jayson nod, agreeing with his response.

  Cade sits on the bed next to me and pulls me into his arms. “Thank you, Baby Girl. You have made me the happiest man alive.” I feel his chest rise and fall against me in a sigh. “Eva Yvonne Valentino.” He says in a whisper.

  I hold him tight, never wanting to let go. “Thank you, Cade. Thank you for her.” The others come in closer and join in on the hug, the love in this room brimming to the ceiling and flooding through me.

  Jayson steps back first and grabs his phone from his pocket. “I’m going to take a picture of little Eva to show her very excited sister and brother.”

  Epilogue

  Cade

  “Thanks for riding with me Cade, those ladies had a lot of luggage.” Jayson pulls into our driveway and we both get out.

  “No problem, Jay. Their going to be our mother and sisters-in-law too someday.” Hopefully someday soon. It’s only been a little over a week since we proposed and my kitten Eva was born, so we haven’t gotten around to talking about when we’ll get married yet. Mia’s mom and sisters flew up for a week to help get her settled in with the baby after leaving the hospital and we just dropped them off at the airport.

  While it was nice to have them around and I’m thankful for their help, I’m glad to finally get some time alone with my Baby Girl and Kitten. We go inside and head up the stairs, and Jayson gives me a quick side hug before going into his room and shutting the door.

  When I get to mine and Mia’s room there’s soft slow jams playing over the tv and I immediately walk over to Eva’s crib. She’s not in there so I look over to see a mound under the covers and when I walk closer I see Mia lying on her side without a shirt or bra on. Eva’s snuggled with her head on her mommy’s arm in a purple onesie nursing and they are staring into each other's eyes. There are no words to describe the feeling I get when I see the love of my life with my baby girl.

  I strip down to my boxers and crawl under the covers behind Mia, wrapping my arm around her and placing my large hand against my baby’s small back. Mia’s humming to the song playing and her hum turns to a purr when I kiss her neck. Her eyes droop and she sags back against me. “Tired, Baby Girl?”

  “Exhausted.” It has been a crazy week, she deserves some rest.

  My kitten falls asleep, belly full, a few minutes later and I get up to place her in her crib. Looking down at her I can’t believe she’s mine. How did I help in creating something so beautiful, something so innocent and sweet? Kissing her tiny forehead I walk back over to Mia and cuddle back against her, holding her tight.

  Turning around to face me I get lost in Mia’s honey colored eyes, they pull me in to their depths and I don’t want to be anywhere else, or with anyone else. This is my forever.

  “I love you, Mr. Valentino.” She kisses my chest and I bury my face in her hair.

  “I love you, Mrs. Valentino.” I really like the sound of that.

  “That’s not my name yet.” She giggles.

  “Yet.” But it will be.

  Tammi Lynn

  Leaving You, Finding Them

  Book 1 - Broken Pieces

  Book 2 - Mended Hearts

  Book 3 - Announced Soon!

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  Facebook Group - Tammi’s Tiaras

  Email - TammiLynnbooks@gmail.com

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