We make our way straight out the back hand in hand and find everyone sitting around the outdoor setting, already a few drinks in. “Hey,” Cole smiles as he gets to his feet and welcomes us in.
“About time you guys showed up,” Charli says holding out a chick’s drink for Lex. “I need a drinking buddy. Rylee is being a loser and the others are already too wasted for me to play catch up.”
Lex laughs as she prances right over to Charli and scoops the drink out of her hands. “Well,” she says. “How could I possibly say no to that?”
The girls instantly fall into fits of giggles and I sit down between the boys. We get into light chatter and I can’t help but look over at Rylee. She’s laughing and having a good time with the girls, but there’s a sadness hidden in her eyes.
It doesn’t take long before the girls are begging for their dinner and we all hover around the grill and cook up a storm.
After dinner, I sit with Lex curled up in my side and her hand firmly in mine as everybody chats around us. “How are you feeling?” Lex asks Rylee as she grabs her attention and everyone’s around us.
Rylee shrugs her shoulders. “Alright, I guess,” she says as her eyes flick across to Jace who has been watching her all night. “I just miss her, you know.” At that, Jace averts his eyes, probably feeling like shit as he blames himself for driving Cami away.
“Yeah, I know,” Lex says, leaning forward and squeezing her knee. “It will get easier,”
“No,” she says giving Lex a tight smile before looking up at Cole who sits beside her. “In this case, it won’t.”
Lex’s eyebrows draw down in confusion, but it’s Imogen who responds. “What do you mean?” she questions, picking up on some hidden meaning.
“I just… I really needed her here for the next little while.”
“Oh?” Imogen questions curiously.
“Yeah,” Rylee says, reaching across and taking Cole’s hand in hers. “I’ve been holding out to hear from her, but it’s nearly been a month, and so far, I’ve got nothing. I really wanted her to be the first to know,” she adds, flicking her eyes up to Cole then back to the group. “But if I can’t contact her then I can’t tell her that we’re going to have a baby.”
Shock rocks through me as Lexi’s hand squeezes down in mine. “Holy shit,” I grunt as gasps and cheers come from all around me. The boys get up and clap Cole on the back while the girls scream and start tearing up together.
“How far along are you?” Lex asks her.
“I’m eight weeks, so two months.”
“What?” Caden grunts at Cole. “How the hell did you keep it secret for so fucking long?”
“Believe me, man,” Cole chuckles. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
“Hey,” Lex says quietly beside me. I look down at her and she nods off towards their back gate. I glance over just in time to see Jace sneaking through the gate and disappearing.
I take off at a jog after him and catch him just before he climbs into his truck. “Yo,” I say, stopping him. “What the fuck?”
“Tell them congratulations for me,” he says before moving to get back in his truck.
“Why don’t you tell them yourself. Where are you going?”
He lets out a breath and swivels around on his driver’s seat to face me. “I can’t be here,” he tells me. “It’s supposed to be the happiest time of her life and she looks fucking miserable because her best friend is missing her pregnancy. Cami is supposed to be here for her, and because of me, she’s not.”
“You can’t keep blaming yourself for this shit,” I tell him. “Cami could have done a million other things to give herself space. It was her decision to pack her bags and leave. You had nothing to do with that. So, you can either be a little bitch and drive away, or you can get your stupid ass back inside that party and congratulate your friend with a fucking smile on your face. He’s just told us he’s going to have a baby, and right now, he needs his friends to tell him what a great fucking dad he’s going to make because I’m sure the fucker is shitting himself.”
“Jesus,” he says with hands raised. “I’ll go back in, there’s no need to throw a tantrum over it.”
“For fuck’s sake,” I groan as he jumps down from his truck. “It’s like dealing with a fucking child.”
We head back into the party, and just like I had requested, the dickhead plasters a smile on his face and tells Cole that he’s going to be an incredible father.
By the time I get Lexi home, it’s well past two in the morning. The girls had stayed up, drilling Rylee on every tiny detail of her pregnancy so far. The second she started talking about sore nipples, I zoned right out and let them go.
I couldn’t help but keep my eyes on Lex though. I know her miscarriages were hard on her and I found myself wondering how she was handling the news of someone else’s pregnancy. I mean, I know she was super happy for them and the journey they’re about to take, but it still would have reminded her of everything she lost and what she struggles to have for herself.
She lays in bed beside me, yawning as she curls her arms around her pillow. “Are you alright?” I ask as I run my fingers up and down her body.
She lets out a sigh. “I want that so bad,” she tells me.
“I know,” I tell her. “You’ll get it, even if I have to live inside your guts to make it happen.”
“What?” she grunts as she rolls over to face me. “You want to have kids with me?”
“Yes,” I scoff as though it was a ridiculous question. “I want everything with you. I thought you knew that.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t realize that included kids.”
“I want it all, babe,” I tell her.
“But… now?”
“I mean, I’m not quite ready to share you with anyone yet, but if it happens now that’s still cool.”
“You realize that I may not be able to give you a baby, right?”
“I know,” I say. “But you realize that it doesn’t matter to me either way. We can try for a while and if it’s not happening and it’s still something that we want, then there are other ways to go about it. Whatever happens, you’ll be a mommy to a bunch of beautiful little kids.”
Tears well up in her eyes. “Are you sure?”
I can’t help but grin. “You’ve got to stop asking me that.”
She smiles back at me with a smile that takes my breath away. “Can we start trying now?” she questions as she slips her leg in between mine.
“Babe,” I tell her. “We’ve been trying since the very first time.”
Epilogue
Lexi
4 Months Later
I stand in the living room, a safe distance away from Gerald, as the realtor takes people through my home. My nerves are going wild and if it wasn’t for Luke keeping me grounded right now, I’d probably be running around the house, annoying the shit out of the realtor while giving all the potential buyers a rundown of everything I’ve done.
“Lex,” Luke groans as he steps into the living room behind me. “Get the fuck away from the window already. You’re probably scaring them all away.”
“I can’t,” I tell him, practically bouncing on my toes. “It’s like a sick addiction.”
I swear, I can hear him rolling his eyes. “Babe,” he says in a low, warning tone. “I’m going to count to three and if your ass is not sitting right here next to me, I’m going to let Gerald have you.”
I turn around with wide eyes but don’t dare move. “You wouldn’t.”
“You want to make a bet?” he taunts with a sparkle in his eyes.
“Usually, yes,” I say turning back to the window as another car pulls up. “Right now, I’m busy.”
“Have it your way then,” he says as he gets up from the couch, walks across to Gerald’s enclose, and starts pulling him out. “Three.”
“No, no, no,” I beg. “Please don’t. If the buyers see a big ass snake, they’ll never buy the place.”
He takes a step towards me. “Two.”
“Luke, no,” I say. “Don’t you come near me with that thing.”
Another step.
“Fuck.” I bolt out of there like my ass is on fire. He puts Gerald down to roam around the house and comes after me. I squeal as he quickly gains on me and within a second, he scoops me up into his arms. “No,” I say, beating on his chest. “Don’t feed me to your snake.”
“Then stay away from the window,” he challenges.
“I can’t,” I tell him.
“Why the hell not?”
“Take me over there,” I say. “I’ll show you.”
He lets out a huff, but nonetheless, takes me back over to the window. “What the hell is so exciting about standing here and watching people walk in and out of your house?”
“Just wait for it,” I tell him.
He pops me back down on my feet and places his hands on my shoulders. “What am I waiting for?” he asks after the shortest, impatient wait.
“God,” I groan. “You’re so impatient.”
“You act like it’s some big secret,” he tells me.
I roll my eyes but keep my gaze trained right out the window. “Here,” I say as another car pulls up. “Watch this.”
His eyebrows furrow as he watches the man get out of the car. “What am I supposed to be seeing here?”
“Watch the woman,” I tell him. “Watch the expression on her face.”
His eyes cut across to the woman who climbs out of their family car and looks up at the house. Her eyes soften and a smile pulls at the corners of her lips. She looks at the house as though she just found her forever home and the expression on her face is the exact reason I do this. “Shit,” Luke grunts.
“Did you see that?” I ask as he squeezes my shoulders.
“Yeah, babe,” he says. “That family is going to be our new neighbors.”
“Yeah,” I agree. “They are.”
We both stand here for a moment before I feel something slithering across my foot. “Fuck,” I scream before practically jumping straight up into Luke’s arms. How the fuck could I have forgotten about that damn snake having free reign of this place? “Please,” I beg. “Put him away.”
“Fine,” he says as his hand slides down to grab my ass. “But only because he’s far too innocent to see what I’m about to do to you.”
“If you put him away, I’ll let you do whatever the hell you want to me.”
“You got yourself a deal,” he murmurs before pressing his lips to mine.
A moment later he reaches down around me and lifts Gerald over my head before walking the two of us over to his enclosure while I do my best to cling to him with all my might so I don’t go toppling to the ground. “Shit,” I grunt as a shiver flutters through me. “I’ll never get used to this.”
“Yeah, you will,” he promises me. “He hasn’t tried to eat you yet.”
Luke readjusts me so he can get a better hold of me and walks up through to the kitchen. “Now,” he grins as he sits me on the kitchen counter and slides himself between my legs. “Where was I?”
He leans in and presses his lips to mine. “I believe you were just about to do whatever the hell you’d like to me.”
He shakes his head as his lips move down to my neck. “It’s your birthday, babe. Your wish is my command.”
Fuck yes.
And just like that, not a moment later, I lay as naked as the day I was born on our bed, legs spread wide apart with his head right there, feasting between my legs like it’s Christmas dinner.
I prop myself up on my elbows so I can watch the show and curl my fingers into the sheets. There’s just something so exciting about watching your man go down on you. I’ve never experienced something quite so arousing before.
He adds his fingers to the mix and I bite down on my lip as I throw my head back. Shit, this man knows his way around a woman’s body. I don’t want to think about all the other women he’s been with before, but damn, I need to thank them as all that experience he had created a sexual deviant.
I come with his tongue circling over my clit and I scream out. “Holy shit.”
I feel his grin against me before he crawls right back up my body and kisses me. He lay on top of me and instantly slides himself deep inside me.
I’m already desperate for more and it doesn’t go unnoticed as he thrusts himself in and out. “Fuck, babe,” he groans. “Just a touch is getting you hot.”
“I know,” I moan against him, completely overtaken by the insane pleasure. “The last time I was like this I was pregnant.”
“Fuck,” he rips himself out of me as though my pussy was threatening to bite his dick off. “Are you?” he questions, pulling his weight off my body.
“What are you doing?” I groan, trying to hook my legs around his waist to pull him back to me.
“Fuck that,” he says. “I can’t be up in there if you’re pregnant.”
“I’m not pregnant,” I tell him. “I think I’d know if there was a baby growing in my guts, so get back in here and finish what you started.”
“Go do a test,” he demands.
“What? Right now?” I ask, staring at him in disbelief. “I’m not pregnant.”
“Well, I’m not fucking you until I know for sure.”
“Damn it,” I groan as I flick myself off the bed and walk across the hallway to the bathroom. I close the door behind me and five minutes later, I walk out of there in complete and utter disbelief.
I make my way into the bedroom and sit on the edge of the bed with the piss stick in my hand as the shock tears through me.
“Well?” he questions as he comes over and pulls the pregnancy test out of my hand. He looks down at it before looking back at me in confusion. “What the fuck does two lines mean?”
All sorts of emotions tear through me, fear, joy, caution, but when I look up at him, a smile rips across my face as the tears begin to pool in my eyes. “We’re going to have a baby, Luke. We’re going to be parents.”
His face lights up as he drops the test to the ground, freeing both his hands so he can pull me to him. “Holy shit, babe,” he says with his lips on mine. I kiss him as he wipes my tears off my cheeks. “I fucking love you so much.”
He lays me back on the bed and slides back into me. “Happy Birthday, Lex,” he murmurs.
I smile up at him. “This is the best damn birthday I’ve ever had.”
----------
8 Months Later
“Fuck, Luke,” I groan as I suck in the gas that seems to not be doing a damn thing while the contractions rocks through my body and tears me apart.
I hold Luke’s hands and he allows me to squeeze the shit of them. “You’re doing great, babe,” he says with wide eyes. “Just a little bit more and it’ll be over.”
“What do you know?” I scoff as a tear runs down my face. “Have you ever pushed a watermelon out of your vagina?”
“You know I’d do it for you if I could,” he tells me.
This fucking sucks. This pregnancy has been horrible. I’ve thrown up every moment of every day, I’ve been in and out of the hospital, and the little princess even managed to crack my rib. But through all the shit that comes with growing a baby, Luke has been right there by my side.
He’s been nothing short of amazing and I know he’s going to make a great daddy. Hell, I think he’s even more excited about this than I am… well, I’ll find my excitement again, right after the contractions go to hell.
“Alright, Alexis,” Dr. Thompson says as she gets a good look at my lady taco. “Are you ready to meet this little girl of yours? It’s time to push.”
Panic surges through me. I knew this moment was coming. I’ve been preparing myself for it since I first fell pregnant, my only issue is that thinking about something is so very different from actually doing it. I mean, I’m about to push a fucking head through my vag.
It’s going to tear me in half.
Fuck. What the hell pos
sessed me to want to do this.
“Babe,” Luke says, giving my hand a squeeze. “Look at me.”
I do as I’m told and turn to look into those eyes that I love so much. “Stop freaking out,” he tells me with nothing but confidence shining right back at me. “You’ve got this.”
I let out a breath and he reminds me how I should be breathing. “I’ve got this,” I repeat.
“Damn straight, you do, babe,” he says before turning to Dr. Thompson. “Let’s do this shit.”
She smirks at his attitude and if this was any other situation, I’d probably be smirking too. Dr. Thompson has been incredible throughout this whole process, and I’m sure that if we ever decided to put my body through this torture again, she’d be the doctor we’d go to.
She has managed my hemophilia B like a rock star and done everything in her power to make sure I’ve had a safe pregnancy and an even safer delivery.
Time for screwing around is over as my legs get put up into the stirrups and the doctor gets comfortable between my legs.
The contraction comes and I suddenly have midwives all around me talking me through the process of pushing. I give it all I’ve got, and I swear, I’m literally tearing my body apart. The pain is like something I’ve never felt before. It’s nothing but excruciating, yet I’m still pushing, desperate to get this tiny little bubby out of me.
I push and push then take a deep breath, only to repeat the process over and over again until the sound of a baby filling air into her lungs completely settles me, even when she starts screaming the place down.
My world suddenly completes itself and all the pain I just endured is instantly forgotten.
Luke steps forward and cuts the cord before this tiny little angel is placed on my chest. My tears begin flowing as Luke looks down at us in awe.
“It’s a girl,” the doctor says with pride in her voice.
Emotion washes over me as I look down at this precious little girl on my chest. In an instant she’s my whole world and I feel as though my heart could explode with the feeling. “Hi, my little angel,” I murmur. “I’ve been waiting for you for a very long time.”
Luke: Rebels Advocate (Book 3) Page 18