Ever After

by Kat Mizera

  “I can’t believe we did this,” Zakk whispered, touching his daughter’s cheek. “She’s beautiful.”

  Tiff could only nod.

  “I highly recommend going to the hospital,” Elsa said softly. “I’m not a doctor, and although she seems fine, you should let the doctors look at her just to be sure. And you had a lot of tearing, Tiff—I think Dr. Diaz will want to do some stitches. Savannah is a big girl.”

  “I can wrap her up,” Tessa said quickly, “while you get ready.”

  “Okay.” Tiff knew they were right. She still didn’t want to go, but her daughter’s health was her priority now.

  “I’ll get you some clean under things,” Zakk whispered to her, kissing the side of her face.

  “Thanks.” She pulled up the sheet Elsa had draped over her as Toli got up and went to help clean up. “You guys don’t have to do that,” she called out. “We’ve got a cleaning service we’ll call.”

  “It’s fine,” Elsa smiled. “We’ll just put these towels—”

  “In the trash!” Tiff laughed. “I’m not washing them.”

  Fifteen minutes later they pulled up to the hospital at the emergency room entrance. Zakk went in to get someone so they could get a wheelchair. Tiff sat back in the seat, closing her eyes. She was tired but felt good and was happy to leave Zakk in charge of everything now. Tessa and Toli were right behind them, wanting to be there for them in case they needed anything.

  When they were finally settled in a room and Dr. Diaz had taken care of Tiff, Zakk sank into a chair next to the bed and looked over to where Savannah slept in a bassinette near them. Everything was right in his world now, with the love of his life comfortably dozing and their daughter nearby.

  Savannah made a tiny sound and Zakk immediately went to get her, cradling her tiny body in his arms. Well, she wasn’t exactly tiny, weighing in at nine pounds, fourteen ounces and twenty-three inches long. She was huge, and Dr. Diaz had been amazed that Tiff had been able to get her out somewhat easily.

  “You want her?” Zakk asked when he saw Tiff watching them.

  She nodded, taking the infant and staring at her with a little bit of awe. She had a thatch of blond hair on her head and her eyes looked blue, although she had a feeling they would turn green like Zakk’s. The baby’s lips were perfectly red and her tiny little nose was nothing but a button in the middle of her face. Touching her cheek with her finger, Tiff looked up and saw Zakk watching her.

  “She’s perfect,” he whispered. “I can’t believe she’s ours.”

  “Just wait till you’re up at three a.m. feeding her.” Tiff smiled.

  “That’s why we’re getting a nanny,” he said firmly.

  “We are?” She raised her eyebrows.

  “I decided this morning,” he said. “I’ll call the service today and get someone for tomorrow night. We both need our rest. I’m going to have to play Tuesday night and then we go on the road. I’m not leaving you alone and sleep-deprived, especially with a set of toddlers in the house. Not gonna happen.”

  “I love you,” she said softly.

  “I love you too.” He leaned over to kiss her, his eyes never leaving hers. His lips had just touched hers when laughter interrupted them.

  “You know that’s what got you into this mess?” Toli teased as he and Tessa grinned.

  “And I’d do it all again,” Tiff laughed.

  “So is the name definitely Savannah?” Tessa asked.

  “Yup.” She glanced at Zakk. “Should we tell them?”

  He nodded.

  “Tell us what?” Tessa asked, frowning.

  Tiff smiled. “Zakk and I wanted you guys to be Savannah’s godparents.” She swallowed hard, suddenly emotional. “We have a lot of close friends and we don’t want to make anyone feel bad but you guys are special…” Her voice broke.

  “Hey, don’t cry!” Tessa took the baby from her and handed her to Toli before sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling Tiff into a hug. “We’re good—we know we’re going to be her Auntie Tess and Uncle Toli. She’s going to love us anyway, so giving us a different title doesn’t matter.”

  “Toli is already very busy with godson,” Toli spoke in his heaviest Russian accent. “No time for little girls who will not be big, strong hockey players.” His eyes were twinkling as he teased her and Tiff swiped at her eyes.

  “I know, but I feel bad!” Tiff sniffled.

  “Why’d you have to make her cry?” Zakk asked, nudging Toli to lighten the mood. “Geez, Petrov, what’s the matter with you?”

  “She thought perhaps I would want a goddaughter,” he said lightly. “But I have no time for this.”

  “You’re a liar,” Tessa laughed.

  “I am happy to be Uncle Toli,” Toli said softly, holding the baby in the crook of his arm. “Or godfather Toli or whatever you want, but it’s unnecessary if it’s going to cause problems with others.”

  “I agree,” Tessa said, handing Tiff a tissue. “I’m already her mommy’s bestie, so I’m good with whatever you decide.”

  “No one is going to care,” Zakk said softly. “And anyway, it’s our choice, no one else’s.”

  “You’re right.” Tiff blew her nose. “I guess I’m overtired and super emotional right now.”

  “Which is why we’re going to leave and let you rest,” Tessa squeezed her friend’s hand. “We’ll see you later, okay?”

  “Call me when you get home so I can talk to the boys,” Tiff said, nodding.

  “Will do.”

  Toli handed Savannah back to her mother and they headed out.

  They were quiet for a few minutes, just watching the baby sleep, and Zakk reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small package and put it on the bed before taking Savannah and putting her back in the bassinet.

  “What’s this?” Tiff asked curiously.

  “You gave me the most beautiful thing in the world,” he said. “I got you something that will never be quite as beautiful as Savannah, but I hope you’ll think it’s close.”

  Tiff unwrapped the package slowly and stared at the name on the box. Harry Winston. Her eyes flew to his; Zakk made good money, but neither of them were the type to flaunt it and there was nothing moderately priced that came from a jeweler like Harry Winston.

  “Zakk?” Her hand shook slightly as she opened the box and then fat tears splashed onto her cheeks as she stared at the stunning diamond engagement ring that glistened up at her.

  “I thought it was time I did this officially,” he said softly, dropping to one knee beside the bed. “Will you marry me, Tiff?” He looked up at her with so much emotion in his emerald green eyes Tiff bit her lip to keep from bursting into tears.

  “Zakk, it’s too much!” she whispered. “It’s, it’s—”

  “It’s for the woman I love,” he said, smiling.

  “Oh, Zakk.” She nodded. “Yes! Of course I’ll marry you.” She reached for him and he got up, crushing her mouth with his.

  He slid the ring on her finger and she just stared at it.

  “I love it,” she said after a moment, holding out her hand. “It’s absolutely perfect.”

  “Just like you.” He glanced at the bassinet. “And Savannah.”

  She looked at him lovingly. “I’m so lucky to have you.”

  “I’m lucky to have you—I wouldn’t have Savannah and the boys otherwise.” He ran a hand across her face, smoothing back her hair. “You said you’d marry me when I asked last summer, but now that there’s a ring I feel like it’s official…can we set a date?”

  “Absolutely.”

  The Sweetest Things

  Las Vegas Sidewinders Book 7.5

  Prologue

  The only sound in the room was the steady beeping of the machines; heart rate, oxygen, and the occasional whirring of the blood pressure machine. Otherwise, it was quiet. Too quiet. In the early morning hours, even the hallway outside the room was bathed in silence, aside from an occasional whispered voice or the wheels of a cart
on the linoleum floors. The eerie sound of the sick.

  Karl Martensson watched his wife sleeping on the sterile hospital bed with a heavy heart. It had been four days and she still hadn’t awoken. Four days since his life had been turned upside down, since the birth of their fraternal twins, and since he’d gotten that horrible phone call. Four whole days that he’d had to sit here and watch his beautiful, vibrant wife dying.

  And it was his fault. Happy, sexy Kate, who’d never wanted to have children but had gotten pregnant because he wanted them so badly. He hadn’t pressured her, but he’d made it clear adopting wasn’t the same; he wanted his own kids, or at least one. Then they found out there were two. She’d laughed and laughed, appreciating the humor in it and excited about the fact she would definitely never have to be pregnant again.

  For what, he thought miserably. Now he might never see her smile again.

  A quiet knock made him look up and he saw his sister, Emilie, and their friend, Dante Lamonte. He stood, meeting them at the door and hugging his sister tightly.

  “Karl, you look exhausted,” she whispered, touching his unshaven face. “Have you eaten?”

  “I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his rumpled hair and honestly couldn’t remember when he’d last showered.

  “How is she?” Dante asked quietly, his caramel colored eyes dark with concern. Kate was his publicist and they’d become exceptionally close during a brief period when Karl and Kate had broken up. Now that they lived here in Las Vegas and were closer than ever.

  “No change.” Karl swallowed, looking back at the bed.

  “Have the doctors given you an update?” Emilie asked softly.

  “There’s swelling on the brain. It’s going down but they don’t know why she isn’t waking up.”

  “It was a lot of trauma,” Dante said, putting a comforting hand on Karl’s shoulder. “She’s tough—she’s going to pull through.”

  “Where are the babies?” Emilie asked after a moment. She’d been out of town for a few days and hadn’t seen them yet.

  Karl’s gaze snapped up and he frowned. “I don’t know.”

  There was an uncomfortable silence and finally she said, “What do you mean? You don’t know where your children are?”

  “I haven’t seen them.” He turned abruptly and went back to Kate’s side.

  “You haven’t seen them?” Emilie followed him after exchanging a glance with Dante. “Karl, what’s going on? Why haven’t you seen them?”

  “This is my fault,” he hissed, lowering his head. “If it wasn’t for me, she wouldn’t be here!”

  “She got pregnant because she wanted to,” Dante said firmly, standing next to his friend. “She got pregnant because she wanted—”

  “Because she wanted to make me happy!” Karl snapped. “Because deep down she was afraid I would leave her if she didn’t!”

  “Were you going to?” Emilie asked in disbelief.

  “Of course not. She’s everything to me!”

  “Kate knew that,” Dante protested. “She didn’t get pregnant because she thought you were going to leave.”

  “How do you know?” he snapped.

  “Because I talk to her almost every day,” Dante snapped back. “She was excited to get pregnant. She was traumatized by what happened to Trey and my baby, and again at Tessa and Toli’s wedding! She wanted to do something beautiful to erase those memories.”

  Their friends, Toli and Tessa Petrov, had gotten married last August and a psychotic teammate of Karl’s and Toli’s had shown up with a gun, shooting Toli in the shoulder and Kate’s best friend, Erin, in the chest. Though both had survived, it had been a stressful time for them.

  “She never wanted to be pregnant,” Karl said miserably. “She hated everything about it—weight gain, skin changes, hormones. She was miserable.”

  “She was not.” Emilie squeezed his hand. “Karl, she was so excited! She loved decorating the nursery and—”

  “Stop it,” he growled. “Just stop!” He clenched his fists at his sides, fury surging through him as he looked at Kate’s peaceful face. “I don’t want to hear any more about it.”

  “Mom is coming,” Emilie said after an awkward silence. “She arrives tonight. I’ll be going to get her. Shall we put her in a hotel or—”

  “My father just got here,” Karl interrupted, referring to the biological father he’d only recently gotten to know. “He’s staying at the house, so Mom should probably go to a hotel. I don’t know if she wants to see him.”

  “I think she does,” Emilie said softly. “But I can find her a room.”

  “Okay, whatever. Put her at a hotel close to the hospital. Do you need my credit card?”

  “I’ll take care of it,” Dante said quietly, pulling out his phone and stepping into the hallway.

  “It’s going to be okay,” Emilie said softly.

  “I’m having a really hard time, Em.”

  “I know.” She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

  “She can’t die,” he whispered against her hair, his heart breaking. “Em, if she dies, I’ll die too.”

  “She’s not going to die,” she said, tears filling her eyes as her brother’s tears began soaking the side of her face. “She’s going to be okay. She will. You have to believe it.”

  He sobbed in his sister’s arms and she stroked his hair, helpless to do anything to make him feel better. Everything else forgotten, she held her massive older brother as if he were a child; this was the most heartbreaking thing they’d ever gone through.

  1

  One Week Earlier…

  Kate Martensson put a beautiful silver picture frame on the dresser in the nursery and looked around with delight. Two babies, two nurseries, two baby showers, and twice as much everything. Though she didn’t love being pregnant, she’d never been more excited about anything than the prospect of having these babies.

  Last month she’d flown to Ohio so her mother could throw her the baby shower of the century at the country club. Since Kate and Karl had eloped, her mother felt slighted she hadn’t been able to throw a wedding shower for her and insisted on making it up to her now. Kate didn’t particularly like her country club background, but had been working hard to repair her relationship with her mother and this had been something important to her. In the end, it had been amazing; games and presents and friends she hadn’t seen in ages. Karl had come too—that had been her only condition—so it was co-ed and probably the most fun she’d ever had at a shower of any kind.

  Here in Las Vegas, her best friends Erin and Tessa had thrown her another shower last week and it had been epic. Just the girls, there were still more than fifty guests and they’d gone all out with five flavors of lemonade, champagne and a chocolate fountain. The gifts took more than two hours to open and it had taken both Karl’s and Toli’s trucks to bring everything home. A professional photographer had taken portraits of Kate with each of her friends that had been made into a special scrapbook where each of them hand wrote notes about life, friendship and children.

  Her life, she thought with a smile, was better than it had a right to be; she was the happiest woman in the whole world.

  Glancing up, she saw her handsome husband lounged in the doorway watching her lovingly. Wearing a suit because he was leaving on a trip, she gazed at him admiringly. Tall and lean, his athletic body was always a source of great delight to her. Six feet, four inches and two hundred and ten pounds of lean muscle, he was glorious to look at. With long, blond hair that fell to his shoulders, blue eyes, chiseled features and a sexy smile, she sometimes still had to remind herself he was hers.

  “Keep looking at me like that,” he said dryly. “And I might miss my flight.”

  “You can’t miss your flight,” she laughed, moving into his arms. “It’s the playoffs!”

  “I know.” He leaned down for a kiss and had to tear himself away. “I hate leaving you so close to your due date.”

  “Erin is right a
cross the street and Tessa and Tiff are a mile away. I have more back-up than I’ll ever need.”

  He chuckled. “But it’s not the same as me being here.”

  “Never the same without you.” She touched his face. “Four weeks, babe.”

  “Are you ready?” he asked, his arm circling her waist possessively.

  “I’m ready for them to be out!” She laughed. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready for two babies at once.”

  “My mother will be here once they come and you’ve got Emilie, Tessa, Erin and all the other girls ready to help.”

  “Not to mention the three months of nannies we got as gifts.” She shook her head. Her parents had paid for the first month, the owner of the hockey team Karl played for paid for the second, and her friend and client, Dante Lamonte, paid for a third.

  “You’re going to have help,” he said firmly. “You’re not doing this on your own.”

  “Of course not.” She grinned. “I have you.”

  He chuckled. “Yeah, the blind leading the stupid.”

  “I hope you’re the stupid one,” she teased.

  He kissed her again, loving the taste of her mouth and the way she smelled. He’d never imagined being in love like this, but Kate was everything to him. With her silky dark hair and sparkling brown eyes, he’d been attracted to her the moment they’d met at a dinner his buddy Drake had hosted when he’d first introduced everyone to his then girlfriend, Erin. Karl and Kate had fallen into bed that same night, and he hadn’t been able to get her out of his system since. Despite her belief she was fat, he thought she was perfect. Her curves made him hard every single day and he constantly fought with her not to lose weight; he loved her just as she was.

  Even now, huge at nearly eight months pregnant with twins, he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She’d been militant about exercise, yoga and tai chi until a few weeks ago when her ankles swelled to epic proportions. She still did tai chi every morning, but she was struggling and under her bright smile she was exhausted. Leaving her at this stage of her pregnancy absolutely killed him, but as a professional hockey player, he had no choice. It was early May and his team, the Las Vegas Sidewinders, was in the second round of the playoffs. They were the reigning Stanley Cup champions so there was a lot at stake. He was their starting goalie and they needed him, but Kate needed him too; he’d never been so conflicted about his career as he was right now.