“My dad made a lot of shitty choices in his life…” He trails off, his hands moving down to my flat stomach. “But the best choice he ever made was bringing you to me.” He nuzzles my belly, laying me out flat against the couch, before sliding onto the floor so he can rest his head against my belly. He pushes my shirt up and presses kisses against the nonexistent bump where his child is nestled.
“Meeting you that night in the bar was because of him. I know it. I lost him, and that grief led me to you. When I read that letter, I wanted to hate him, but there was no way I could hate a man that gave me something as precious as you and our baby.”
Tears slip down my cheeks unchecked, and I don’t bother to wipe them away. I refuse to miss this moment with him.
“It was fate that I met the woman I would fall in love with, and that she is best friends with my half-sister. You saved us so much time, and you gave me something no one ever has before. I have all the money a man could want… I’ve had houses, cars, more women than I should have, but I’ve never had the love of someone like you. I’ve never had love that creates something, and for that I am forever grateful. I am so sorry for hurting you, Ava, and I will spend every fucking day for the rest of my life making it up to you.”
I can’t breathe or see, and a sob escapes me as Ryker cradles my belly, whispering sweet nothings against my skin. I’ve never felt so protected, so loved by a man like I do when I’m in his arms.
“I love you. I love you so much,” I cry, pushing up from the couch, taking his handsome-as-hell face into my hands and kissing the life back into him. It takes him a moment to kiss me back, but when he does, his hands are all over me.
I unbutton his pants and push them down, while he rips my clothing off me with little effort. In seconds, we’re both naked, and he’s entering me so painstakingly slowly it literally makes my body ache. I can feel every single inch of him moving inside of me, and as he moves in and out, he gazes into my eyes, promising me a thousand different things with nothing but his stormy gaze and sculpted-from-stone body.
I grip his biceps and beg him to take me harder and deeper, but he refuses, a boyish grin gracing his lips.
“I’ll fuck you like a man that’s obsessed later, but right now, I’m going to make slow love to you, exploring every single inch of this gorgeous body while claiming it with my own heart.” I almost weep once more as he follows through with his promise, making love to me in a way that seals our hearts and bodies together forever.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Ryker
When we pull up to Ava’s apartment a couple of days later, I’m nervous as hell, and I’m not really sure why. I’ve met Marie—maybe not officially, but I’ve seen her. I’m not really sure why I’m so close to having a nervous breakdown.
“I don’t want her to hate us for things that were out of our control,” Reed states, and both Remy and I nod in agreement. I’m glad I’m not the only one freaking out. Reed is normally the stoic, controlled brother, but today he’s just as nervous as I am.
“Yeah, it’s going to be awkward as hell if we can’t get her to talk to us,” Remy adds as we get out of the car and walk up the steps into the apartment complex.
“Are you guys as nervous as I am?” I blurt out the question, rubbing my sweaty hands against my jeans.
Reed smiles. “I’ve been nervous to meet her since I read the letter from Dad. When Ava said her name at the bachelorette party, I was so shocked she was there. I would have said something then, but I didn’t want to ruin Fallon’s night.”
I swallow down my anxiety as we make it up to their floor and eventually Ava’s door. Making things right with Ava was easy. We love each other. Plus, if need be, I can fuck her into submission and make her too weak to fight with me. It’s different with Marie. I can’t make her do anything, and that fact alone strikes fear in me.
Reed knocks on the door, and in seconds, Ava opens it to usher us inside. I wrap her up in my arms and kiss her. Her touch calms all my nerves, and it’s all I can do not to drag her back to her bedroom where we won’t be disturbed.
“Don’t be nervous,” Ava whispers in my ear as I set her back onto the floor. When I release her fully, I notice that the guys have made their way into the living room. I cringe, remembering the last time I was here and the state I left Ava in.
I have to move quickly to stand with my brothers. We need to present a united front. I don’t know why it feels like we’re about to go into battle. I mean, how much punch can this girl bring?
The moment we step into the living room, Marie looks up from where she’s sitting on the couch reading a book. Her eyes widen when she sees us, and I’m glad I told Ava not to tell her we were coming over. She looks so frightened, I’m sure she would have run if she was given a heads up.
Remy’s the first to approach her, an easy smile on his face. “Hey, sis,” he greets her with a smile.
Reed rolls his eyes at the greeting, but as I watch her, I can see her relax at his words. Knowing she’s just as nervous to meet us as we are to meet her helps.
Marie stands, holding out her hand to shake Remy’s, but he doesn’t take what she’s offering. He pulls her into a hug instead, his arms tightening when her shoulders start to shake. I look back at Ava, and she’s covering her mouth with one hand, tears filling her eyes. She blinks in an attempt to keep them from falling, and the soft cry coming from the woman Remy’s holding captures my attention once more.
She looks so fragile in his embrace. Especially with the way she’s clutching the sides of his shirt and shaking.
Reed and I lock eyes, and I know he’s thinking the same thing I am. We move, almost as one, to wrap her in our arms too, and the four of us stand in the middle of the room. The whole apartment is quiet, aside from Ava and Marie’s soft crying.
I can feel her trembling start to slow, and once she’s cried herself out, Marie pulls back from Remy slightly to look at Reed and me. There’s still fear in her eyes, but it’s nowhere near as strong as it was when she first saw us.
“I’m sorry,” she starts to stammer, but Reed shakes his head.
He looks at both Remy and me before he tells her, “There’s nothing for you to be sorry for. You had nothing to do with what our father did, or the secret your mother kept for so long.” Stopping to clear his throat, he blinks quickly, and I know he’s fighting back his emotions too. “I only wish Dad had told us before he died. You should have had a chance to meet him, to get to know what a good man he really was.”
That we might have to disagree on. Dad might not have been a master, but he wasn’t this great man either. He was just a man, a human being who made so many mistakes and never got the chance to rectify the biggest ones. He was human, and that was all that mattered.
Tears drip down Marie’s cheeks at his words, and Reed pulls her forward so she’s in his arms instead of Remy’s. “I hope you’re ready for what having three overprotective brothers is going to be like.” She tips her head back to look up at him, and one side of Reed’s mouth tips up in a smirk. “What? We didn’t get to be that way your entire life. It’s going to be a hundred times worse now.”
A giggle escapes Marie, and she looks around at all of us. “Great. Can we go back to not knowing each other?”
All of us laugh at that, and I look down when I feel a small hand touch my arm. Ava’s standing beside me, a bright smile on her face. She’s so happy, I swear it looks like a light is shining from within her.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and pull her into our little circle. She grabs Marie’s hand and squeezes. “I’m so happy for you, Mar. You went from being alone, aside from me and Gabby, to having three brothers and a nephew. Plus, in a few months, you’ll have another niece or nephew too.”
Marie squeals so loud I think all our eardrums burst. “Oh my gosh! You’re right!” She looks up at Reed and claps her hands together under her chin. “When can I meet your son?”
All I can do is look at her in awe. This
doesn’t even seem like the same woman I first met. Gone is the angry, pissed off and bitter shrew, and in her place is a bubbly, happy girl.
“You can meet him whenever you’d like.” Reed assures her, and the smile she gives all of us gives me hope. Hope that we can ease her pain, and hope that we can be the family she never had. I tuck Ava into my side and relish in the feeling of being whole once again.
I made mistakes, just like my father did…but unlike him, I’ll always make a wrong right if I can. With Ava and Marie, I’ll try my hardest to be the best man and brother I can.
Epilogue
Ava
Seven months later
Pain like I’ve never felt before lashes my body, each wave slamming into me with a force that the human body shouldn’t be able to sustain. Why does anyone willingly go through this? I bend forward, clutching my stomach just as Ryker enters our bedroom.
“Ava?” His voice breaks when he sees I’m in pain, and he rushes over to wrap his arms around me. “Is it time?” There’s no panic to his voice, and the fact that he seems to be as cool as a cucumber annoys me.
I turn my head slowly, almost exorcist style, to glare at him. “What do you think, genius?” I’m barely able to get the words out, my teeth are grinding together so hard. The contractions are getting worse and closer together.
“But…” he starts to say something, but thinks better of it and clamps his mouth shut.
Another pain shoots through my stomach, and before I can cry out in pain, I feel a gush of water between my legs. Again, why do women have babies? This is the most painful, humiliating thing I’ve ever experienced, and all I want to do is curl up in the fetal position—no pun intended—and cry.
Seeing the puddle between my feet mobilizes Ryker, and he pulls out his phone to call Reed. As soon as I hear him say, “Hello,” Ryker practically yells into the phone. “It’s time. Ava’s in labor.” I listen as Reed tells him they’ll meet us at the hospital, and watch as Ryker slides the phone back into his pocket.
“Really?” I growl.
He looks at me, his expression wary. “What?”
“I know you didn’t just call your brother.” My voice gets louder with every word, and by the end of the sentence, I’m screeching. Ryker winces, but wisely doesn’t admit it. We both know what he did, and I’m tempted to kill him where he stands. Or, at least, I would if I didn’t need him to get me to the hospital, like, ten minutes ago.
My wet dress and panties shouldn’t be something I’m worried about, but there’s no way in hell I’m sitting in the car all the way to the hospital like this. Ryker continues to watch me from a safe distance while I change, and when I’m ready, I turn to him.
“We need to go.” I try to keep my voice at a semi-normal volume, but between the pain and the water that won’t stop trickling, I’m at the end of my rope.
As soon as I say it, Ryker jumps into action. With one hand at my back, he uses the other to sweep my legs out from under me and hurries out of the bedroom. Thankfully, my hospital bag and the diaper bag have been packed and are waiting at the door since we took Lamaze classes two months ago, so all he has to do is reach down and let me grab it.
I hold it in my lap while he continues to carry me down the hall and into the elevator. I’m not sure he even stopped to lock the door, but right now, I can’t bring myself to care either.
The trip to the hospital passes in a pain-filled blur, and by the time we get there it feels like each contraction is beginning the second another stops. Thankfully, it’s the middle of the day and traffic isn’t completely terrible. If we got stuck in traffic, I’d be seriously worried this baby would be born in the front seat of the car.
Ryker pulls up to the emergency entrance and slams the SUV into park. I watch him as he walks around the front, his hands ripping through his hair in agitation, and I know he’s giving himself a pep talk before he opens the door. He’s doing his best to stay calm, which is a good thing because calm isn’t even in my vocabulary at the moment. I want to curse the heavens. There is no way in hell I’m doing this again.
I’m expecting him to open my door and help me out, but he walks inside instead.
Where the hell is he going?
I feel like an idiot when he comes back out, followed by an orderly pushing a wheelchair. The two of them help me out of the seat and into the chair, and as soon as I’m settled, the man in scrubs pushes me inside.
Ryker takes charge immediately, going straight to the check-in and telling the woman behind the glass that I’m in labor.
“How close are her contractions?” she asks, her tone bored as she types something into the computer.
He glares at her, not that she notices. “I’m not sure, but I think they’re pretty much continuous.”
The nurse looks up, the look on her face saying this isn’t the first, or fiftieth, time she’s heard a soon-to-be parent say this. “Right. First baby?”
“Yes,” he draws the word out. “Why does that matter?”
She sighs. “Because first baby’s generally take a while. I’m sure it feels like they’re not stopping, but trust me, they are.”
Okay. I’m going to punch this woman in the vagina. These contractions are extremely close together, and I’m starting to feel like I need to use the bathroom. She’s not paying a bit of attention to me though, so she has no idea I’m about to spend my first night as a mom in jail for assault. I bite my tongue, breathing through the pain.
After directing Ryker to the elevator and telling him how to find the maternity ward, she assures him she’ll call and let them know I’m on my way.
Frustrated, he takes over control of the wheelchair and pushes me over to wait for the doors to slide open. He mutters under his breath the whole time we’re going up, and as soon as the doors open again, he pushes me out and goes straight to the nurse’s station.
There’s a nurse there waiting, and when he yells at her, she smiles softly. “So, we’re having a baby today?”
She’s entirely too chipper. “Yes,” I grit out, “and if you don’t get me into a room in the next few minutes, I’m going to be having her in this hallway.” The pretty nurse’s eyes go comically wide, and she ushers us into the first empty room.
As soon as I’m settled in the bed, she moves to stand between my legs and snaps on a pair of gloves. “Let’s see where you are, okay?” I don’t even have the energy to nod. All I want is for this to be over. It hurts, and it sucks, and I just don’t want to do it anymore.
Thank God her fingers are small, because it feels like she’s shoving her entire fist up inside me and I know she isn’t. If the male doctor at my doctor’s office was doing it, I’d be screaming.
She stands quickly, her eyes even wider, which I didn’t think was even possible. “You weren’t kidding.”
I glare at her but don’t bother to say what I’m thinking, which is, “No shit, bitch.” Labor has made me an asshole, and it’s all Ryker’s fault.
The nurse rushes out to page the doctor, and as soon as we’re alone, I turn and tell him so. “This wouldn’t be happening to me if you knew how to wear a damn condom.”
Now his eyes are the ones widening, and he holds both hands up in front of his body. “Baby—” he starts, but I cut him off.
“Yeah, not wearing a condom. That’s what caused this baby.”
He flattens his lips, and I know he’s trying not to laugh at me. It only makes me more agitated. I go from being pissed at the world to crying and scared in less than a heartbeat.
“I’m sorry, I know I’m being a jerk. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I sob.
Ryker wraps his arms around me and squeezes. We stand like that, him murmuring sweet words into my hair while I cry, until the nurse comes rushing back in to get everything ready.
“The doctor will be here in just a few minutes. She was just leaving to get something to eat when I paged her, and is on her way back up.” She runs around the room, getting the warmer ready a
nd helping me move so I’m in the best position. “Okay, hon,” she says, feeling inside me again. “Push for me, but just once, okay?”
I do as she says, and she squeaks for me to stop. “No more pushing. That baby will be here before the doctor if you do.”
All I can do is stare at her. Does she know how hard it is to stop pushing once you start? She’s lost her damn mind.
Before I can tell her that, the doctor, my favorite one, comes in with a big smile on her face. She greets both Ryker and I before washing up and getting ready.
The next few minutes pass in a blur, and I’m glad I don’t really remember all the pain and the pushing. My next moment of clarity is when I hear my daughter’s cry. For such a tiny body, she has an incredible set of lungs.
They clean her up before handing her over to me, and as soon as I look into her beautiful eyes, I’m in love. I look up at Ryker, barely able to see him through the tears that are coursing down my cheeks. “Look at her,” I tell him, turning back to brush a fingertip across her chunky cheek. I can’t take my eyes off her, and now that’s she’s finally here, my heart is full, so full.
“She’s beautiful,” he whispers reverently. “Just like her mom.”
I wipe the tears from my eyes so I can get a better view of her face.
“I can’t believe we made something so perfect.” I see tears in Ryker’s eyes and pass the baby to him, watching the way his face lights up when he holds his daughter in his arms for the first time. My eyes stay glued to them both, as he holds her small hand with one finger, whispering something I can’t hear to her.
I sigh against the mattress and know life will never get any better than this for me. I’ve found the man of my dreams—well, actually, he found me—and together we made the best thing life can offer: another life.
“I love you, Ava.” Ryker’s voice cracks as he gazes over at me, those stormy blue eyes causing butterflies to explode in my belly.
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