Consumed by Truths (Truth or Lies Book 6)

by Ella Miles

  Fuck, I can’t do this.

  “Try positive affirmations. Don’t call them a contraction. Call them a wave,” Beckett yells.

  “It’s just a wave. Just like the tide. We like the water; the babies are going to love the water. This is just a wave helping us meet the babies,” I say, trying what the internet says.

  “I hate fucking waves,” Kai screams through another contraction, now less than five minutes apart. We’ve only made it two hours so far. We have at least six more to go before we have any chance of getting a doctor here. And with how fast things seem to be speeding up, I don’t feel like we have five minutes to wait, let alone six hours.

  “What else does the internet say?” I ask, so far none of the techniques are working.

  “Breathing, massage, pressure points, taking a bath, getting an epidural,” Beckett says.

  “Yes, I want the epidural,” Kai says.

  Beckett and I both laugh.

  Somehow Kai and I ended up sitting on the floor of the kitchen, my legs are spread, and she is sitting between them resting against my chest.

  “I’m sorry, baby. I wish I could get you the epidural.”

  She sighs. “I know, it’s not your fault. It’s probably better for the babies not to get one anyway.”

  I kiss her cheek. “You’re strong. The strongest I know.”

  “Let’s try the tub, before another contraction hits,” she says.

  “Wave,” both Beckett and I say in unison.

  She just rolls her eyes.

  Beckett races downstairs to start a bath, while I slowly help Kai stand and walk down the stairs.

  We get to the small bathroom of the yacht, and I curse for not creating bigger bathrooms on this ship. The next one I build will have plenty of room in the bathroom.

  “I’ll just be right outside researching birth things,” Becketts says, scooting past us.

  I help Kai undress and get into the tub. I take off my pants, but the tub is too small for both of us, so I sit on the edge of the tub behind her, putting my feet in the tub next to her as I rub her back through each wave.

  But after thirty more minutes of waves, I no longer call them waves—they are fucking contractions. They are hell. I’m happy I’m sitting behind her because she can’t see how much pain I’m in watching her in pain and not being able to do anything about it.

  The door opens slowly, and Beckett sticks his head in. His eyes are also puffy and red. He’s been crying too. It's impossible not to while listening to Kai’s deep groans, panting, and crying.

  He looks at me, asking how he can help.

  I shrug. I have no idea.

  He stands in the doorway, staring at his watch during her contraction. “I think the babies are coming,” he says.

  “What? No, we still have hours left to wait until the doctor can come,” I say.

  He nods. “I know, but her contractions are basically on top of each other, and they are strong. Everything I read says that means it’s time to start pushing.”

  I stroke Kai’s head, but before I can respond another contraction comes. She squeezes my hand hard until I can no longer feel my fingers.

  “I can’t do this,” she cries loudly.

  “And everything I read said women almost always go through an I can’t do this stage right before they give birth.”

  I frown. “She’s been saying that for the last ten minutes.”

  “It’s time.”

  Kai barely acknowledges either of us. She’s in her own little world. But the bathroom is too small to give birth in. She needs to get into the bedroom.

  I break the silence. “Kai, we are going to move to the bedroom.”

  She just growls and grips my hand roughly.

  Beckett grabs a towel as I help her stand. I dry her off with the towel and offer her a shirt to wear, but she definitely doesn’t care about modesty right now.

  It takes us forever to walk the five feet to the bedroom, but finally, we make it.

  “Kai, we think the babies are coming. Do you feel like pushing?” I ask.

  “Yes,” she screams, like that sounds like the best idea.

  I help her onto the bed, hoping it's the right thing to do. Women give birth in beds, right?

  She lays back and bends her knees, but after one contraction in that position, Kai is completely uncomfortable.

  “Try getting on all fours or squatting,” Beckett says.

  I give him a dirty look, not happy with him seeing Kai naked or telling her to get on all fours.

  He laughs, which at least relaxes the two of us a tiny bit. Kai barely acknowledges that either of us is here. She gets on all fours and starts pushing with the next contraction.

  “Is a baby coming?” Kai moans.

  “Yes, oh my god! I can see hair,” I say.

  I keep rubbing her back and watching for the babies, while Beckett moves to her head, rubbing her shoulders gently.

  “Fuck, this hurts!” Kai screams.

  “You got this, baby. Only a few more minutes and the babies will be here,” I say.

  She looks up at Beckett and must give him a dirty look because he looks terrified.

  “What can I do? Should I kiss you like you kissed me?” he asks, trying to get her to relax.

  She moans, “Not helping, Beckett.”

  “Sorry, sorry.”

  But I catch the corner of her smile, and I know his joke helped her just a little.

  She takes a deep breath as she gets a break from the contractions. When another contraction hits, she cries out.

  “Push, baby. You have to push,” I say.

  Beckett rubs her back, and I prepare to catch the first baby.

  “One more push. You are so fucking strong, Kai.”

  She pushes, and I catch the first baby in my arms.

  Suddenly, everyone goes silent. All eyes are on me as I cradle the baby.

  “Is the baby…” Kai asks, terrified to ask if the baby is alive or dead.

  But then the baby cries loudly at the top of her lungs, and we all breathe in relief.

  Beckett stands and grabs some scissors he brought from the medical room to me. I cut the cord. And then I hand him the baby, which he immediately wraps in a blanket and shows to Kai who strokes her little face with happy tears in her eyes.

  “She’s beautiful.”

  But then another contraction makes her focus again.

  “Okay, baby. You got this. One more time,” I say, amazed at how incredible my wife is.

  But this time, when she pushes, the baby seems to go further up inside of her instead of coming out.

  Fuck. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to help her. All I know is this isn’t supposed to happen. The baby is supposed to come out, not retreat inside her. And I know if we don’t get the baby out soon, that this isn’t going to end well.

  “Stingray, I need you to push harder. This baby needs more help than the first.”

  “I’m trying,” Kai cries back.

  I move to look her in the eyes. “Stingray, you can do this. I need you to take a deep breath and when you feel the next contraction push with everything you have.”

  She pushes harder than ever before, and finally, the baby descends down.

  I catch the baby, and Kai collapses.

  Baby number two cries immediately, and relief fills the room. I cut the second cord. And then wrap our baby boy in a blanket before helping Kai scoot back on the bed. I put our son on her chest, and Beckett puts our daughter alongside her brother.

  “They are so little,” she says.

  “They are perfect,” I say, wrapping my arms around them all.

  “Congratulations, Kai. They are incredible,” Beckett says.

  “Thank you, truly, for everything,” she says.

  He nods. “I’m going to go see about getting a doctor here to check everyone over.”

  “Thank you,” I say, choked up. I'm not sure we would have had a healthy delivery without his help and re
search telling us what to do.

  He nods and then leaves me alone with my new family. A family I’m already willing to die for. A family I will do anything to protect.

  22

  Kai

  “That one has quite the pair of lungs on him,” the doctor says.

  Enzo frowns at the doctor, not liking him to imply are our children are anything but perfect.

  “Are we finished?” Enzo asks the doctor.

  “Yes, everyone has a clean bill of health,” the doctor says. “You all did a fantastic job considering the circumstances.”

  “Kai was incredible,” Enzo says.

  “Do you have any names picked out yet for these little ones?” the doctor asks as he packs up his things.

  I look to Enzo. We both have some ideas, but we haven’t decided yet. And we wouldn’t be sharing the names with the doctor first.

  “Not yet,” I answer, holding our daughter closer against my chest.

  Enzo is rocking our son in his arms who has quieted down a little but is still chirping.

  “Well, I’m sure you will get it figured out soon. Please call me if you have any other questions or concerns,” the doctor says before leaving.

  “I thought he’d never leave,” Enzo says as he carries our son over to the bed and climbs in next to me. The baby is now quietly sleeping in his father’s arms now that the doctor has left.

  “He’s right though; we need to decide on names,” I say.

  “What are you thinking?” he asks.

  “I’m thinking we have a lot of people we’d like to honor when we name them.”

  He nods, looking solemn as he agrees with me. “I just don’t think I can handle calling our son Zeke every day. It will be too hard.”

  “I agree. We need to honor them, not have their first name be the exact same name.” I stare down at the daughter in my arms. “I’d like to name our daughter after Beckett.”

  “I’m not calling our daughter Beckett, or Beck,” Enzo says.

  I smile. “No, but how about a play on his first name, Eli? We could call her Ellie.”

  “Ellie, I like that,” Enzo says.

  I look down at my daughter, the name already fits. “Ellie Liesel Black.”

  Enzo nods. “It’s perfect.”

  Baby Ellie. She has dark hair, cute chubby cheeks, and her father’s eyes. But she’s already a momma’s girl, preferring to lay on my chest and fuss anytime her father holds her.

  “So what do we think for him?” I ask.

  Enzo studies our son closely. “How about Finn?”

  “Finn? I like it, but how does that honor anyone?”

  He grins looking at our son who is already Finn. “You won’t believe this, but Finn is both Langston and Zeke’s middle name. When we were kids, I used to yell Finn whenever I wanted them both to come or fight for my attention. I just had to yell their middle names, and they would both come.”

  I stroke our son’s cheek. “Finn, I love it.”

  “Finn Beckett Black. Beckett represents both Eli and my mother.”

  It feels right.

  Enzo pauses. “What about your father, though? Your birth parents?”

  “My birth parents were just a figment of my imagination. I know they existed. I know they loved me, but I never really knew them. Naming our child after one of them doesn’t really feel right. And my father, he wasn’t a proud guy. He wouldn’t have wanted a child named after him. He would have said it’s foolish to name a child after him. And plus, I’ll carry my father with me everywhere; I don’t need a name to remember him.”

  “Ellie and Finn,” Enzo says, testing the names together.

  Both babies look up at him with big eyes. They both seem happy with the names.

  Finn coos softly, being the more vocal one of the pair. He has light blonde hair, closer to Beckett in color than Enzo’s dark. But his eyes match my blue-green.

  Holding both babies, and seeing the connection Enzo has to them; I have no doubt they belong to us. Milo doesn’t even enter the picture.

  “My perfect family,” Enzo says, kissing each of us. “All mine.”

  His words mirror my thoughts.

  Enzo grabs his phone and calls Beckett to come in here.

  “You rang, oh, master?” Beckett enters and does a little bow like he’s our servant or something.

  I laugh.

  Enzo rolls his eyes.

  “What can I do to serve you, master? Would you like a scrumptious meal? For me to fill a bath? Does young master need a diaper change?”

  I keep laughing.

  “Shut up and come here, you oaf. I’m glad we didn’t grow up together, or I would have killed you. Your jokes suck, man,” Enzo says.

  “My jokes are awesome,” Beckett says, walking over to stare down at the babies. “How are my niece and nephew doing?” He grins at them then looks up at us. “You really need to name them; I’m tired of calling them, my niece and nephew.”

  I laugh. “That’s why you are here.”

  “Even though you didn’t win against me, we thought we would include you a little in the naming process,” Enzo says.

  “You’re letting me pick a name?” Beckett asks, shocked.

  “No, we already picked names. We wanted to introduce you to Ellie Liesel Black. Her first name is inspired by this guy we know who sometimes goes by Eli.”

  Beckett’s eyes fill with tears. “Ellie, it’s beautiful.”

  “And this is Finn Beckett Black.”

  “Dammit guys, I’m so tired of crying,” Beckett says as he breaks out into a full sob.

  I hand him Finn to hold, and he rocks him gently in his arm. Even though he no longer has his right arm, he has no trouble holding them, changing their diapers, or anything else the babies need. He’s a natural at being an uncle. After Beckett has had his fill of Finn, he swaps him for Ellie, who loves being held by her uncle the most.

  She coos softly as he holds her.

  “Thank you, guys. I don’t know what I did to deserve a part of both of their names, but thank you. I’m touched,” Beckett says.

  Both of the babies start crying, and I know what that sound means. They are hungry.

  “Mealtime,” I say.

  Beckett gives me back Ellie and then leaves. Enzo helps me get settled into breastfeeding, and then he stands. “I’m going to go talk to Beckett for a minute. Do you need anything?”

  “Nope, I’m perfect.”

  He kisses me on the forehead and then leaves to talk to Beckett.

  An unsettling feeling washes over me because I know what they are discussing—what to do about Felix. What to do about the games Enzo and I have yet to finish. What to do about the men who want us dead.

  Enzo promised to protect me and the babies. He promised he would do everything to save us. And the plan was to run until after the babies were born. Then fight.

  It sounded like a good idea at the time. But now that the babies are here, I can’t imagine Enzo and Beckett leaving me to go fight.

  These babies need both of their parents. They need their uncle, their friends. They need them all.

  I can’t lose any of them. Not Enzo, Beckett, Liesel, or Langston. I’m done losing people. I want us all to move up to Alaska or any other town they choose. I want us to buy every house on the street and live happily ever after.

  But listening to Enzo and Beckett’s hushed voices down the hallway, talking battle strategy, I remember I don’t always get my wish. The battle has to be fought, and the men are going to want me to sit this one out, for the babies’ sakes.

  I agree. I don’t want to risk the babies’ lives. I would never do that. But it’s going to kill me to watch Enzo leave, and to wait, not knowing if he’s going to live or die. Whatever we face, though, it’s coming soon. Sooner than any of us want.

  Felix thinks he’s stronger, smarter than the rest of us. But he’s never given birth. Never given everything you have for your children. He has no idea how strong and ruthless I have
become. No idea the lengths I will go to protect my children. Felix will regret the day he decided to mess with me or my family.

  23

  Enzo

  We got one month with the twins. One month to revel in our new role as parents. One month of peace. One month of happiness.

  And then one text message changed everything.

  “He found us,” Beckett says, racing into our bedroom.

  Kai is feeding Finn, and I’m rocking Ellie to sleep in my arms. He didn’t knock. He didn’t wait to make sure we were decent. He just barged in, and from the frantic look on his face, I know this is the moment our time is up.

  I wanted to be the one to attack. Be on the offensive. But every time I formed a plan with Beckett, I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t leave these babies without provocation. I couldn’t leave Kai. But it seems now is the time.

  Beckett crawls up our bed and lays down between Kai and me, holding out his phone so we can all read the text message.

  Felix has found us.

  Or at least, he found Beckett’s cell phone number.

  Felix: The final game is happening in one week. I’m giving you one week to prepare as a courtesy. I’m not a monster, after all.

  I grab the phone from Beckett’s hand and type furiously.

  Me: You are a monster. We won’t be coming. You can take the crown. We don’t want it.

  Felix: I tried. I can’t. Not without the final game. The men won’t accept me as their leader. I can’t get access to the money or weapons without the final game.

  Me: We aren’t coming.

  Felix: That’s too bad. I don’t usually like to kill children and pretty blondes but I will if you don’t show up.

  My mouth goes dry in panic. And then Felix sends pictures, and I about lose my shit.

  The first one is of Liesel, tied to a chair in a dark room. Mascara is running down her cheeks, and a gag is in her mouth. She was the first girl I ever loved, not in the same way I love Kai, but she opened my heart to the ability to love Kai. And now…now Felix will kill her if I don’t do something.