The Barnes Family Romances: (Books 1-3)

by Normandie Alleman

  As we taxied toward the gateway, the flight attendant who had spoken with me earlier got on the loudspeaker and asked the other passengers on board to please allow me to disembark first because my children were being born. A cheer rose from my fellow passengers, and I didn’t have to shove anyone. Once I got off the airplane and into the airport, I ran like no tomorrow. I didn’t bring much with me, so I didn't have any bags checked and I zoomed outside to get the first available cab I could find to take me to the hospital.

  Of course, traffic was a bitch. I had to chew the inside of my lip and dig my fingernails into my palms in order not to scream out my frustration at sitting still in bumper-to-bumper morning rush-hour traffic when we should be moving.

  But we finally made it to St. Andrew’s Hospital. I'd been checking my phone nonstop, and the only news I could see was some texts from Eden asking if I had made my flights. I tried to call, but no one answered. I texted back, answering Eden’s questions and then I texted that I was in Fresno and on my way. Hopefully those babies would stay inside her long enough for me to get there. When I finally rushed into the front doors at St. Andrews, my adrenaline was pumping so fast inside me I could barely make coherent sentences as I spoke to the lady at the front desk.

  I wanted to say, "My wife Eden Evans is here having my babies,” but she wasn't my wife yet. I made a note to self—Marry Eden. And I tried to figure out how to explain the situation.

  "Do you have a patient named Eden Evans? I believe she's in maternity. I need to see her. She's having my baby. I mean babies. Twins." I sounded like a complete idiot, but the lady at the desk must have been used to freaked-out fathers-to-be, because she gave me a patient smile and said, "Congratulations! Double the blessings. Maternity is on the seventh floor, just take the elevators right over there." She pointed to a bank of elevators over her left shoulder.

  I thanked her and practically ran toward them. I'm not sure if there was anyone else in the hospital or not. All I knew was I had to get up there and see those babies, make sure Eden was all right. I pressed the button and waited impatiently, shifting my weight from foot to foot as I waited for the doors to open. Finally, the light above the car to my left lit up, and I barely waited for an elderly woman to exit before I jumped in and pressed the number seven.

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  Eden

  The babies were safe and sound in the hospital nursery. I just fed them so I should be able to sleep for a bit. It had been a couple of hours since the surgery. My mother went to the cafeteria to get her and Nick a sandwich. Nick stood over me, clucking like a mother hen.

  “Are you sure you don’t need anything else?” he asked, pacing the floor.

  “I’m fine. I just need to rest. And you need to go to Boston.” Nick was in the running for the scoring title. Now that he was with the Fever, there would be no championship. Heck, they wouldn’t even make it to the play-offs, but there were two more games and if he missed this one, he’d be out of the running for the scoring title.

  “Fuck it. I can’t go. I’m not leaving you and the babies.”

  “But we’re fine.” It was true. Nick had made it in time for the birth. He’d gotten to the hospital just in time to gown and glove up and join us in the operating room. He’d held my hand until the doctors asked him to move so they could get started.

  It was bizarre having an operation while you were awake in a room full of people, and because twins are considered a high-risk birth, the room was crowded with everyone from pediatric specialists to anesthesiologists to extra nurses and a team for each baby once they were born. I guess the fact that the twins would be a month early had everyone on alert as well. Prior to the surgery Nick and I had been told not to worry, all the extra people were there as a precaution. They wanted to be prepared for anything.

  But everything had gone smoothly. Our son Albert was born at 10:35 a.m., and his sister Annabelle came one minute later at 10:36. According to Nick, he would hold that minute over her head for the rest of her life, the way Ivy did to Leo, because she was born two minutes ahead of him and she never let him forget it.

  Now that the babies were here and we were all healthy, I hated for Nick to screw up his chances at the scoring title just to sit around in the hospital room. There were only two games left in the season. He could hang around with me and the babies all summer if he wanted to.

  “Nick, I really think you should go to your game tonight. Your team is counting on you. We’ll be fine. The staff here has been great. We’re in good hands.”

  “I’m not leaving you! No way.”

  “But the Fever needs you. They’re counting on you.”

  “Too bad. They can fine me if they want. I need to be here with you and the twins.”

  “Baby, are you sure? We’ll be fine. They got you a plane and everything.” The Fever had reached out and tried to be super supportive of our situation. They’d sent a private plane to fly Nick back to Boston, and it was waiting, ready to go at the airport.

  “Nothing is more important to me than you and these babies.”

  “But the babies and I are fine. We’ll be here when you get back. We’re only talking about one day. Then you have two days off. You can come back and be with us.”

  He ran a hand over his face, struggling with the decision.

  “Go,” I insisted. “You’ll be gone for how many hours?”

  “Five for the game. Approximately two and a half hours each way for the flight. Let’s say twelve hours max.”

  “See? That’s like half a day. Just like if you were a regular dad who had to go to work. Then you can come right back. It’s no big deal, really.”

  “Are you sure?” He bent to kiss me.

  I kissed him back and squeezed his arm, the swell of his biceps rippling under my fingers. “Of course I’m sure. We’ll probably sleep most of the time you’re gone anyway. At least I will as much as I can. The nurses have all warned me how much sleep I’m not gonna get once I get home so I’m trying to rest up.”

  “That’s why I think you should rethink that offer Lucinda made to send us that baby nurse.”

  I didn’t like the idea of not taking care of my own babies, but I’d declined her offer before I knew I’d be having a C-section. “I’ll think about it. We can talk about it when you get back.”

  “Sounds good.”

  Nick made a few phone calls to firm up his plans with the Fever, and then he swooped down and kissed me goodbye.

  “The babies are asleep and I don’t want to wake them, so the next time you have them, will you give them a kiss from their daddy?”

  “Absolutely,” I said before falling back to sleep, deliriously happy that our little family was complete, and that Nick was the father of my two precious babies.

  ***

  The next few hours were a blur of sleep and being awakened to feed the babies, take medicine and have my vitals checked. That first night after my C-section, the epidural tube slipped out of my back while I was sleeping, and I woke up in tremendous pain. Ever since then, the pain held me in its grip and even though they had me on oral pain medication now, my stomach hurt like crazy.

  I pressed the nurse’s call button. “Can I please get some more pain medicine?” I managed.

  “Someone will be right there.”

  They gave me something a little stronger for the pain so I'm not really clear on when exactly Nick came back, but I know that when he did I woke up long enough to mumble, "Did you win?"

  "Yeah, we did."

  “That's great,” I said, and then I remember him squeezing my hand, and I fell back asleep. Then they brought the babies to us again and Nick helped me latch them to my breasts. I had a special pillow that allowed me to set one baby on each side, their little heads near each other, and their little feet sticking back up under my arms. The lactation specialists called it the double football hold. Nick thought the name was fabulous and he couldn’t stop talking about it. I loved it because it did the job, and I could feed both
babies at the same time. When one was finished, I would hand that one off to Nick for him to burp.

  "She's so tiny," he said, holding Annabelle, whose entire length was shorter than his forearm.

  I nodded. "Look at their tiny little fingers. It's amazing to meet these little people who have been living inside of me for months."

  "I know," he said, setting Annabelle back in her little bassinet and taking Albert from me.

  We had a few visitors. My mother had been here all day the day before, and I expected she would be back. She’d gone to a hotel to rest for a while and then she was going to buy each baby a car seat before she came back tomorrow. Dynassy had come by to see the babies, and she fell absolutely in love with them. Ivy and Leo were on tour in Canada, but had sent balloons. They were particularly thrilled to have another set of boy and girl twins in the family.

  "Is your mother planning to come see the babies?" I asked casually.

  "Yes, I expect her to come by."

  Because the twins were a month premature the doctors wanted them to stay in the hospital for a few more days just so they could monitor them. As sore as my incision site was, I was happy to stay for a few more days myself. I’d found getting up and down was a bitch, the site lighting up with a fiery pain every time I did.

  Nick was two points behind a player for the Magic in the race for the scoring title. He had one last game, and I made sure he went. Winning the scoring title could mean a difference of millions of dollars when he got ready to renegotiate his contract in the off-season. When he came back we’d be about ready to leave the hospital.

  He left the next morning, was gone long enough to play in the game and fly back. He scored forty-two points in the game, but the player he was competing against for the title still had one more game to play so we wouldn’t know for another couple of days if he won it.

  My new favorite thing was watching Nick walk around holding one of the babies, or both of them. The love in his eyes practically broke my heart it was so sweet. It was like the look he gave me when he told me how much he loved me.

  Things were so good that I didn’t mind the pain in my belly as much, and I couldn’t wait to get the babies home to Nick’s. We’d agreed to stay there until we found out where he would be next year, and wherever he went the twins and I would get a house there that would be our family’s home base.

  The afternoon Nick flew back after his last game, he came straight to the hospital, which was becoming his habit. He looked exhausted, and after about an hour, he fell asleep in the chair.

  When the nurse brought the babies in for a feeding, all the commotion woke him up.

  “Hey,” Nick said, stretching.

  “Yes?” I was nursing Albert and Annabelle, tucking their little feet under my arms and snuggling them close.”

  “Lucinda said she might come by this afternoon.”

  “Really?” I’d heard that before, yet she’d never made an appearance.

  “Yeah. She said she’s been wanting to come, but ran into some problems with her show. I don’t know the details. Anyway, I just wanted to warn you.”

  “Warn me?”

  “Never mind, just don’t be surprised if she shows up.”

  “Okay. But what about you? I think you need some sleep.” For all the rest I'd been getting, Nick had been doing the opposite. He was probably going on over thirty-six hours with no sleep, and during that time he had played an entire basketball game.

  "I slept a little on the plane."

  "How much?"

  "Maybe an hour."

  "That's what I thought."

  "It's okay, Eden. I am fine.” He took Albert and patted a soft burp out of him then he set him down in his bassinet before sitting down next to me on the side of the hospital bed. "Better than fine, actually."

  "I know what you mean. Physically, I feel like crap, but emotionally I am the happiest I've ever been."

  Nick laughed in that slightly hysterical punchy way that comes with lack of sleep, but it made me laugh too.

  "Yeah, I knew I was going to love these babies, but until I held them in my arms I had no idea how much."

  "I know, right? It's insane how precious they are to us already."

  "They fill two holes in your heart you didn't know you had until you met them."

  I nodded and reached my arms up for him to give me a hug. He leaned over me and took me in his arms, careful not to jostle my healing stomach.

  I must have dozed off because when I woke up again Nick was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room next to the bed sleeping. Part of me wanted to wake him up and send him home to get some sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to disturb him now that he was finally resting.

  But when the nurse came in again to check my vitals he started stirring.

  "Nick honey, I'm about to feed the babies again. After that, why don't you go home and get some rest?"

  “I don't want to leave you.”

  Nick really was being the best partner to me right now. I honestly couldn't ask for a better man to be with.

  "I am in good hands. If I need anything, all I have to do is press a button. You know what they keep telling us about bringing the babies home–it's going to be nuts, and we’re not going to get any sleep. So please, after you see the babies, and I feed them, go home and get a good night’s sleep then you can come back in the morning.

  "If you say so, but I'd rather stay here with you."

  "That's awfully sweet, but I need you rested when it's just you and me at home, okay?" I smiled to soften my declaration a little.

  "All right, but not till I see those beautiful babies one more time." A big grin spread over his face. I knew what he meant. I was simply head over heels for these tiny babies myself. They only weighed a little more than six pounds each, but the love I felt for them weighed much more than that. And they were so adorable, I could just sit and watch them sleep all day long. They were fascinating and adorable, these little products of our love for each other. My heart felt so full, thinking about our little family.

  After the babies were fed and whisked back to the nursery, Nick told me goodbye and went home for some rest. Dynassy was there and I texted her to be sure he ate something before he crashed. She texted back that she would order something for them both, and that she would come back with him in the morning to see me and the babies.

  Tired of sleeping all the time, I tried to watch some television. I scrolled through the channels until finally settling on an old Friends episode and I was watching that when Lucinda’s production assistant marched through the door.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  Eden

  Before Lucinda Barnes entered my hospital room, she sent in a production assistant ahead to ask if they could film the visit. When I said yes, she gave me a set of papers to sign, with a separate release for the babies. Nick and I had already discussed this and agreed it was okay. I asked for a moment to freshen up and had the P.A. hand me my brush and my small makeup bag. Fortunately, I’d taken my first shower this morning since I’d been in the hospital, so at least I was clean.

  I wouldn’t normally plan to be on television in this condition, but being a part of Nick’s family meant being filmed. A lot. So I figured I’d better get used to it.

  Next, the camera crew came in and set up a light stand and their cameras.

  They were followed by their star…

  Lucinda Barnes swept into the room, wafting a scent from her own line of perfumes. “Hello, Eden! Oh my God, you look incredible.”

  “Thank you.” I held up my arms and she leaned over and gave me a tepid embrace.

  “It’s so good to see you,” I lied.

  “I can’t believe you look so good only days after giving birth.”

  “You’re sweet. Have you seen the babies?”

  “Yes! They are adorable. Little Annabelle is the most beautiful child. I think she’s going to look like Dynassy—another Barnes beauty. And that little boy! Oh my goodness, Albert is
the spitting image of Ziggy. Reminds me of Nick when he was a baby. Funny, I don’t see you in them.” She leaned over and patted my knee comfortingly. “But don’t worry. Maybe they will be smart like you.”

  “Mmm. Yes. Maybe.” I strove to be polite, even as she insulted me on camera.

  She is your children’s grandmother, I reminded myself.

  “Oh, but I can’t believe I’m a grandmother. I’m much too young. Don’t you think?”

  “Of course. Do you know what you want them to call you?”

  She sat down in a chair the production team had pulled close to the bed just for this shot and leaned in conspiratorially. “I've given this a lot of thought, and I think I want them to call me Lulu."

  Alarm bells rang in my head. My mother, Mary Lou, had told me only the day before that she was going to have the grandkids call her Lulu. My blood ran cold as I pictured the fight between the two of them for the right to be the babies’ Lulu.

  I took a deep breath. I would have to talk to Nick about this one. There was no way I was going to be the one to tell Lucinda about this conflict while her cameras were rolling. So instead I said, "That’s a cute name for a grandmother."

  "I thought so too."

  She looked around the room. "Where's Nick?"

  "He went home. He was exhausted from not having slept for the past couple of days. You know he went back to play his last game. He just got back. It's been a whirlwind of excitement around here."

  "But he knew I was coming. I can't believe he wouldn't stay around long enough to see his mother."

  "It's probably my fault. I encouraged him to go on home. I'm sorry, Lucinda. He kept falling asleep in that chair all day long, and I thought he needed to be able to stretch out and get some real sleep at home."

  Lucinda tucked her chin. "But you said he left right before I got here. He couldn't have waited a few more minutes?"