All Hail the King (Celestra Forever After Book 6)

by Addison Moore

  I make a face as I spot Ellis sulking in the corner.

  “You can come, too, Ellis,” I say. “You saw it all last time, anyway.” I hike up on my elbows as I look to Logan—my Logan, the love of my life with his comely features and that elongated scar running down his face. “Our family is about to grow, Logan. This baby is a piece of you and me. We made a life,” I say as tears run down my cheeks. “I love you so much.”

  He leans in and blesses my lips with a kiss. “I love you, too. This was a long time coming. I can’t wait to hold her again. I’ve missed her so much. And as soon as she’s here, I feel as if our family will be complete.”

  I press my lips tight as I nod, and sure enough another contraction hits and I let out an egregious roar.

  “Skyla!” Giselle hops up with her hand at her throat. “Don’t do that! You’re going to scare the baby.”

  I moan hard as my stomach begins to loosen again. “Believe me, Giselle. If I could scare this baby out of my body, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

  Ellis looks a little green around the gills as he does his best to not look anywhere near my body.

  “Harrison,” I bark. “Light one up. I need a hit.”

  The entire room groans in protest.

  Marshall reappears from the holy huddle he, Ezrina and Nev were lost in.

  “Out of the way.” He shoos Giselle from the foot of the bed. “Rina needs to set up camp, I’m afraid.”

  “Dude.” Logan kicks Ellis’ hand just as he’s about to obey my wishes. “She’s not smoking a joint.”

  “Well, I am,” Ellis grunts. “Good luck with the kid, Skyla. I’ll be back once you’re holding her in your arms. If you need me, I’ll be right outside this door.”

  Giselle grabs ahold of my right foot and begins to massage it rather aggressively as if she were trying to keep up with the Wicked Witch of West. “I’m not leaving, Skyla. I’ll help Chloe. I’m not afraid of the blood and the gore. In fact, I look forward to it. I’m not afraid to watch that big baby’s head bulge out of your backside and rip you up like a bloody flower. Mom says I don’t have to have a baby ever. I think she wants it that way, but I’m going to have ten. Ellis can’t wait to plant a baby in my tummy. We’re going to live across the street at the Harrisons’, and I’m going to have a servant take care of the baby at night just like Chloe.”

  I make a face at Logan. “We should heavily consider moving into the Harrisons’ house.”

  Laken pushes out a quiet laugh. “Well then, we would be neighbors. And selfishly, I would love that.”

  “Oh!” Chloe pipes up. “And we would be neighbors, too. You should totally do it. Morley and Olivia are hardly ever home, and you could easily lose all of your kids in that place. It’s every mother’s dream come true.”

  Another contraction hits me, quick and hard, getting to the nitty gritty without warning, and I spot Ezrina gloving up as I let out a riotous groan.

  Nev hauls over a bucket and a couple of blue mats, which Ezrina quickly lands under my bottom, making my contraction infinitely worse.

  “Logan.” I squeeze his hand as hard as I can. “Drugs. Now.”

  Ezrina has the nerve to stick her hand up my body, and I can feel her fingers doing their best to measure me.

  “Eight centimeters, fifty percent effaced. Still plugged.”

  “Well, then unplug the damn thing,” I grit it out like a threat. “And I don’t want to hear any of that bullshit you’re too late for the good stuff. So help me God, if you don’t give me something to take the edge off, I’m getting off this bed and hunting down Harrison in the nude. I don’t care if I have to haul my ass down the stairs and into the middle of this fright night.”

  Marshall belts out a laugh. “Goodness, Rina, don’t give her anything. She’s priceless tonight.”

  I suck in a hard breath. “You will die, Sector. I will find a way to end you should you mock me again. And now the onus is on you. Get the drugs in my body, or you will live to regret this.”

  His fiery eyes dim a notch. “Heathcliff, retrieve the serum.”

  “Oh, thank God.” I rock my head back as I look to Logan. “There’s a serum.”

  Logan grunts as he looks to Ezrina, “What’s in this serum?”

  “Viper’s venom.” She shrugs it off as if it were no big deal, and every illogical ounce of me agrees.

  “No,” Logan belts it out. “Not with my kid in there. Sorry, Skyla.”

  “Laken, Chloe, get Logan out of here.” I drop his hand as my fingers dig into the sheets, and I let out a shrill scream at my body’s hostile attempt to kill me.

  Logan’s chest bounces. “I’m not going anywhere, Skyla.”

  “That’s what you think.” I give him a menacing look that could peel the paint off the Sistine Chapel. “If you don’t fix this for me, I will shun you from this child for the rest of eternity.”’

  “Shit,” he mutters under his breath. “Giselle, go get Ellis.”

  “Wait,” Chloe snaps. “Nobody is getting high, and nobody is getting snake venom. I’m going to do that thing you did to me, Skyla, that made all of my pain go away.”

  Logan and I exchange a glance. We both know it was Rory who worked her magic on Chloe’s body. I wasn’t anywhere near the vicinity.

  Chloe gloves up and sticks her hand up that tent set up at the base of my thighs.

  “Oh God, she’s touching me!” I howl as another contraction comes on strong, and just like that, it stops cold.

  I stare up at the ceiling.

  It’s clear I have a very serious decision to make. Do I forgo the pain and continue with Chloe’s hand up my crotch, or deliver this child in abject agony?

  Logan shakes his head at Chloe. “No way, Chloe. Back away now or I’ll tear your head off. You are not ushering my child into this world.”

  “The hell she’s not,” I growl over at him. “Help me now, Logan, before another one hits.”

  Ezrina shoves Chloe to the side and sticks her own hand up there. “Very close. Heathcliff, administer the serum under her tongue.” She growls at Logan, “Not harmful to mother or baby. Just something to relax her. I took it myself.”

  “Ooh,” Laken purrs. “Was that the stuff you gave me? That was amazing, viper’s venom.”

  Ezrina lifts a brow, and Laken gives her a brief thumbs-up.

  I look to Logan. “Why can’t I have the damn viper’s venom? Laken had it, and little Wesley Cooper has practically rewritten the theory of relativity.”

  Laken laughs. “It’s true.”

  “No.” Logan is staunch in his cruelty. “We’ve got this, Skyla.” Logan gives my hand a squeeze with his eyes bearing hard over mine.

  I glare at Nev until he slips something into my mouth and I take it with vigor.

  “Under your tongue,” Ezrina instructs, but I say to hell with that and swallow. I need this poison in me now.

  Another contraction comes on and I let out a hair-raising scream, but Logan’s lips warm my ear and curb me for a moment.

  “Skyla, remember this?” A visual of that first day Logan and I met at the bowling alley comes to mind. I can see him there, the very first moment my eyes set over his and it was magic. And for some reason, I feel that magic, here, right now.

  “And this.” Logan shows me that first kiss we shared in Ellis Harrison’s pool house. That heated feeling that ricocheted off my bones hits me again and evicts the sting from my body, replacing it with better things. “This one?” It’s Logan holding me on the field at West—Logan and me in the butterfly room, the two of us getting married down at the Falls of Virtue. Our honeymoon comes in jags, his searing rock-hard body over mine, bringing me to ecstasy again and again. It was perfect bliss, still is.

  Logan talks me through three more contractions just like that one, and soon Ezrina instructs me to push. I try my hardest to bear down, but it feels as if my limbs, my every muscle has turned to jelly.

  “I can’t.” It comes out weak.

  “Buck
up, Messenger,” Chloe snips. “We don’t have all night.”

  Ezrina shakes her head. “You swallowed the venom. It’s too powerful to refute it.”

  “What the hell?” Logan growls it out, pissed, and I’m not entirely sure if it’s Ezrina or me he’s ticked at. And who the heck cares.

  “Marshall, give her a knife,” I howl. “You’ll have to cut it out.”

  “No.” Just about every voice in the room bellows it out.

  Marshall’s cheek flickers. “We’re not equipped, my love. The child has already lodged itself in the canal. There’s no turning back.”

  “Geez. Who invited you to the party?” I mutter.

  “And”—Ezrina lifts her chin—“push.”

  And push I do, one time after another, and just as I’m about to give up, Giselle lets out a yelp.

  “Oh, Skyla, this is my favorite part! Your bottom is blowing up like a water balloon. Oh, I see hair! Pretty, pretty bloody hair. Logan, come see!”

  I can’t breathe.

  So much pain.

  This is it. Emily’s vision is about to come to fruition. I’m done. I’m dying. And sadly, death is the most merciful option for me now.

  Logan is quick to abandon his post by my side as he flies down to the edge of the bed. Marshall’s ridiculous mattress is so big Logan might as well be in another zip code.

  Laken takes his place and picks up my hand. “You got this. Next push and this is all in the rearview mirror.”

  “Push!” Ezrina shouts just as Chloe pinches my foot so hard I’m certain she’s trying to amputate it, but for whatever reason, it spurs me on just so and I let out a roar as I squeeze every muscle in my jelly-like body.

  Marshall lifts a hand. “And we see its beautiful face.”

  Ezrina quickly does something down there, suctioning, I’m guessing, before grunting to Logan to be prepared.

  “Push,” Ezrina says a touch too calm, and that alone annoys me.

  I push with everything in me as Laken squeezes my hand and Chloe tries her best to gnaw my foot off. I feel a release, a quickening in my spirit as if something very precious has just dislodged from my body.

  Logan holds the baby up high, and a laugh gets caught in my throat as I see my sweet angel for the very first time.

  “It’s a—” he pauses, drawing the baby near to him.

  “It’s a girl!” I finish for him.

  Logan’s face is wet with tears. He’s so excited he can hardly speak.

  “Skyla,” he says sweetly. “It looks as if our baby girl has grown a few extra parts.” He lands the baby gently over my chest. “It’s a boy.”

  A quiet cheer breaks out as if they were uncertain if they should celebrate at all.

  “A son?” I give several hard blinks down at the tiny, glowing being.

  The sweet angel lets out a bleat of a cry and Logan kisses him sweetly before Ezrina quickly rubs him down with a towel.

  “A boy?” I laugh as I bring him closer and his tiny face looks up at mine. I drink him down like a fine wine, a moment in time to be savored—wisps of reddish blond hair, a perfect peach of a face, same eyes, same nose, same lips as his daddy. “Logan, he’s all you.”

  “I see you right there.” He caresses the baby’s sweet cheek as a tiny dimple depresses. “My God, he’s beautiful.”

  Marshall comes in close. “Well done, Ms. Messenger.” He lands a hand on the baby’s back and shares a few melodic words in a language I seem to innately understand. “May the blessings of the Lord be upon you, now and forevermore. May His favor hem you in front and behind. May you grow to be a mighty ruler of many.”

  I press those words over my heart as I nod to Marshall, a heartfelt thank you still buried in my throat. I can’t speak. Tears blur my vision as this tiny perfect being warms himself over my body.

  Ezrina and Nev busy themselves cleaning up the afterbirth, the bloody mess at the foot of the bed.

  Laken digs a cashmere robe out of Marshall’s closet and dresses me quickly, up top anyway. She covers me up from the waist down with Marshall’s enormous comforter in an effort to restore a modicum of decency to me.

  Chloe comes over and smirks. “You did it. The two of you are parents. And don’t start on that crap that you already were. I mean this in a different way. The two of you now exist in another person, one who would have never got a shot at this broken world without you. And don’t forget Marshall’s hand in it. I mean, let’s face it. The fact he twisted your nipples until you peed with excitement is what started this party tonight.” She smirks at the tiny being. “He’s beautiful. Welcome to the family, little guy. What’s his name?”

  “Yes.” Laken leans in and kisses me on the cheek. “What’s his name, Skyla?”

  Logan and I exchange a glance. “We hardly had a girl’s name pinned down, let alone a boy’s. Let’s name him after you, Logan.”

  He winces. “Maybe as his middle name.”

  Nathan and Barron blink through my mind. “How about your father’s name? Jack?”

  “It’s Jackson.” A smile flickers over his lips. “Jackson Logan Oliver?”

  “That’s beautiful.” My voice trembles as I press my lips to the baby’s preciously soft little forehead.

  Chloe groans, “Jack? Really, Skyla? Think wickeder, would you? But if you insist, don’t do anything crass like spelling it with an X.”

  I suck in a quick breath. “Oh, Logan, can we? Jackson with an X?”

  “Jaxson,” Logan enunciates. “I like that. It’s different.”

  “Thanks, Chloe,” I say as I brush my lips over my sweet son’s head.

  “You can’t thank me,” she growls. “You didn’t follow my advice.”

  “That’s how I knew it was the right thing to do.” My sweet angel closes his eyes as he burrows his body to mine.

  Chloe whips out her phone. “I’m sending a group text. Everyone is here. They might as well see the kid and get it over with.”

  “Tell Bree,” I say. “And my mom and sisters.”

  Giselle and Ellis come over and admire the precious little sweetheart. Logan helps Giselle hold him. Then Laken takes over, her own eyes filled with tears.

  “Skyla, he’s perfect.”

  “He is.” Logan takes my hand and presses a hot kiss over the back before landing one on my lips.

  “We did it.”

  “We did.”

  Ezrina and Nev pack up their things and the bucket filled with my bloody placenta.

  “Good work.” Ezrina nods. “I’ll be by in the morning to check on mother and baby and perform the circumcision if you wish.”

  “Yes, please.”

  Nev comes over and lands a sweet kiss to the top of my head. “And I’ll bring a box of your favorite donuts.”

  “Thank you.” I watch as they leave, and soon the room is flooded with every friend and relative we could ever imagine. Mom won’t let him go. She hasn’t stopped weeping tears of joy.

  “Skyla, Logan, he’s everything,” Mom whimpers. “My heart is full. Thank you both for this gift.”

  Mia gags. “Mom, she’s not giving him to you.”

  Melissa groans, “Of course, she is. Why do you think she’s still living at home? Skyla knows once she moves out the kids are all hers. This way she gets an extended visit with them.”

  Logan hikes his brows my way. “She’s onto us.”

  Tad mumbles something about another mouth to feed, another diaper to buy before pointing my way. “You’re lucky I’m a millionaire, kiddo. What the heck. Have ten or twenty. I don’t care anymore!”

  Mom lets out a yelp. “Oh, Tad, do you really mean it? We can start trying tonight. I hope we have twins. I don’t have time to waste.”

  I glance back at Mia and Melissa. “Mom? Who’s watching the kids back at the house?”

  “Ethan and Drake decided to sit this party out. But I wouldn’t worry too much. I left Ember in charge.”

  And sadly, I know Ember is doing a far better job than Drake
or Ethan could ever hope to do.

  Chloe rolls her eyes. “Don’t worry, Skyla. Gage and I will swing by. It’s time for us to get to bed soon.”

  Now it’s me rolling my eyes.

  Emma and Dr. Oliver barrel on in.

  Emma hovers over the baby in my mother’s arms and clutches at her chest.

  “Oh, Logan. He’s a miracle.”

  Dr. Oliver comes over and lands a kiss to my cheek “You did good. The both of you. If you don’t mind, I’d love to be a grandfather to this little angel as well.”

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I buck with emotion at the thought.

  Bree comes up and manages to pluck him from my mother’s arms. Emma takes him eventually, and finally my sweet precious son lands right back in my arms.

  Michelle, Lex, Nat, and Liam stumble in, reeking of alcohol.

  Lex leans in and makes a face. “You’re way ahead of yourself, Messenger. You haven’t even gotten your save the dates out yet. I’ll plan this wedding if I have to. This is Logan Freaking Oliver you’re marrying.” Her body bucks with a violent hiccup. “I’ll be by in the morning to take some newborn pictures for you. I need to go home and get my shit together.”

  Liam congratulates us before helping Michelle and Lex stagger out the door.

  The room begins to clear out, and Marshall is the last to leave.

  “Skyla, Logan,” he calls us by our proper names, and he does it ever so sweetly. “Stay as long as you like. This is your home, after all. Do as you wish.” He bows our way. “My heart is with the three of you.” He leaves and it’s just Logan and me and our sweet, sweet son.

  Logan takes off his shirt and I lay the baby on his chest as the three of us create a holy huddle.

  “My mother is a real comedian.” I shrug over at him.

  “Your mother wants us to have a big family. And we do. Three boys. Jaxson is going to have a blast with Nathan and Barron.”

  Tears come fast and hard as I give a little nod. “They’re going to be close, the way you and Gage once were.”