“She’s going crazy,” I tell Ryan, pulling the material of my top close to my belly so he can see her movements more clearly. My whole belly shifts.
“She’s jealous,” he says with a completely straight face. “She wants a foot rub too!”
“No way,” I say. “It’s too good to share. She’s gonna have to wait until she finds her own man.”
Ryan scowls. “No man will be good enough for my daughter,” he growls.
I roll my eyes because he’s too funny. Then, before I have a chance to reply, I feel a strange pressure between my legs.
“Oh,” I gasp, looking down to see a dark patch spreading over the crotch of my maternity jeans.
“Fuck.” Ryan flinches, shifting back on the bench seat, looking completely terrified.
“Looks like the foot rub might have had more of an effect than we were anticipating,” I say, then laugh so hard my belly shakes.
“Right.” Ryan seems to have come to his senses and is suddenly in business mode. “Darryl” he bellows.
“Relax,” I say. “No need to give the man a heart attack. It’s gonna take a while for her to come.”
“Everything is arranged,” he says as though he didn’t hear a word I said. “The bags are in the car. The private room is booked.”
I roll my eyes again. “You’ve had a room reserved for me? For how long?”
“I booked it out for a month.”
“What?”
“I’m not taking any chances, Jessie. And I don’t want to hear another word about it, okay? If I can’t use the money I have to take the best care of you that I can, then what the fuck is it for?”
I lean forward and rest my hand on his arm. As much as I hate to waste money like that, I know that this is his way of bringing some control to a situation that is going to end up being mostly out of our control. He’d wanted me to have a C-section for the same reason, but I refused. If I can try to bring our daughter into the world in the way that nature intended, I will.
The drive to the hospital is a little tenser than I would have liked but that’s Ryan. His worry is palpable and it’s all I can do to keep him in touch with me and the baby. He softens when Abbey kicks him a little, and even more when I kiss him a little.
His hands seem to tremble more now. I wonder how much stress is going to exacerbate his symptoms. If it does, I’m going to make sure that I keep our lives as relaxed as possible for as long as I can.
It takes eighteen hours for our daughter to make her way into the world. For all that time, Ryan is by my side. He’s my rock through one of the most difficult experiences, but as Abbey is born all the pain seems to disappear.
Her first cry is so loud that the hospital staff all laugh. Her face is red and angry. Fists balled and legs flailing as they lift her from between my legs and take her to be checked. It’s only when she’s dressed and wrapped up that she seems to calm. This time it’s my hands that are trembling. In fact, my whole body shakes so much so that I don’t feel able to hold her. “You take her, Daddy,” I tell him. He doesn’t look sure. For such a confident man, these human moments of emotion seem to make him weak. In his arms Abbey looks tiny. She stares up at him as he whispers soft words of love and I know this child is going to hold his heart in her hands. He moves closer so that I can touch her soft hair but I’m still trembling too much. Ryan takes my shaking hand and presses it to his lips. “Thank you,” he whispers. “Thank you.”
Tears roll down my cheeks. This man. He doesn’t even know what he’s done for me. My broken heart is healed, my hope is restored and my future no longer hangs like a black void in front of me.
Over the months we have been together we have faced the loss of our lives before and welcomed the possibilities of our future. We’ve faced the difficult truth that Ryan is sick. We’ve become parents.
That night, in the Kitty Cat Club, the stars aligned to bring us together.
And a year later, they bring us together again, this time for life.
We say our vows with sand between our toes and the ocean lapping at our ankles, and when it is done I dance with the fading sun on my skin, reaching to the hidden stars with my veil floating out behind me and the man who had come to watch me dance, holding our daughter by my side.
About the Author
Stephanie Brother writes scintillating stories with step-siblings and bad boys as their main romantic focus. She's always been curious about the forbidden, and this is her way of exploring such complex relationships that threaten to keep her couples apart. As she writes her way to her dream job, Ms. Brother hopes that her readers will enjoy the full emotional and romantic experience as much as she's enjoyed writing them.
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Also by Stephanie Brother
AMAZON BESTSELLING HUGE SERIES
HUGE – A Stepbrother Romance
I didn’t mean to see it. It’s his fault for leaving his door open while he was getting changed.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014V6EWHK
HUGE X2 – A MFM Ménage Stepbrother Romance
There are rumors going around about my stepbrothers. Huge rumors.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D1Q6N28
HUGE X3 – A MFMM Ménage Stepbrother Romance
Imagine getting a chance to live out your filthiest fantasies. Would you take it?
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HUGE X4 – A MMFMM Ménage Stepbrother Romance
I’m thinking naughty thoughts about the best men.
It’s my sister’s wedding and I know I shouldn’t be fantasizing about the identical twins who are standing next to my brother-in-law-to-be, but I can’t help myself.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N287WAN
ESCAPE – A Stepbrother Romance
The last person I expected to see in a police interview room was my estranged stepbrother...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B013D07QKA
ARRESTED – A Stepbrother Romance
He’s a good cop, but a very BAD BOY…
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01EKP75ZI
HUGE 3D: A MFMM MENAGE STEPBROTHER ROMANCE (HUGE SERIES Book 5) Page 30