Everlasting (Family Justice Book 6)

by Suzanne Halliday

  She kissed his chest. “Okay.”

  They lay quietly for a few minutes. Then she raised her head and said, “You have to feed me now.”

  He shook his head and snickered.

  “And then we have to go to the florist. We need to buy every lily and rose we can find. And the baby store. Oh! And can we stop and get …”

  He tickled her to stop the babbling. “We can make all the stops you want. And you can buy everything your heart desires.”

  “Thank you.”

  Her stomach growled. He jumped up, grabbing her silk robe from the foot of the bed to hand to her.

  “Come on, little Mommy. My kids are hungry. What do you say we raid the kitchen and see what we can find?”

  She took the robe, slipped it on, and then went running for the bedroom door before he could react.

  “I call dibs on any bacon we find!”

  Alex laughed as she sped off. He pulled on a pair of sweats and followed her.

  “Pound of bacon, coming up.” He chuckle-snorted.

  Tori stretched, yawned, and rubbed her face before cracking her eyes open. Sunlight was streaming into the bedroom. She reached out for Draegyn, but his side of the bed was empty. Swiftly sitting up, she pushed hair out of her face and squinted at the clock.

  Twelve thirty? Jesus lord! She threw back the covers, slid from the bed, and made a mad dash into the bathroom. The mirror told yesterday’s story. A wedding and a celebration followed by drama and a very long night.

  Yikes!

  Gathering her hair into a sloppy knot, she shoved it beneath a plastic cap and took the shortest, coldest shower on record. Then she broke every one of her mother’s staunchest beauty rules with a half-assed swipe of body lotion and face moisturizer while rummaging through her closet.

  Baby number two was a sweet bump that she couldn’t stop admiring. With Daniel, she’d expanded like a balloon overnight and had been terribly uncomfortable. This time, though, was much different.

  She pulled on a pair of stretchy yoga pants, made sure any visible panty lines weren’t too bad, and then settled on a ratty Justice t-shirt that Draegyn normally wore.

  Racing from the bedroom, Tori struggled with the t-shirt as she flew down the hallway. The elevator would take too much time, so she powered down the series of angled stairways to the first floor, taking two steps at a time.

  Having no idea what her downstairs would look like, she sort of expected a holy mess. Draegyn was great about taking care of Danny in the mornings, but he seemed brain-dead when it came to picking up as he went along.

  To her complete surprise, the kitchen wasn’t all that bad. Cheerios littered the floor where two high chairs sat side by side, but that was it. In the sink, she found more evidence and took a fast mom inventory. Her husband had coffee and his usual scrambled eggs. She knew he liked to think he had mad kitchen abilities, but the truth was he had one dish—scrambled eggs. That was it. Everything else was either a disaster or in need of rescue.

  Two toddler dishes were in the sink and a couple of sippy cups. On the counter, she found an open loaf of bread that Tori quickly wrapped and put in the bread keeper.

  Where was everybody? She put her hands on her hips and listened. Thinking she heard noise in the mudroom, she started down the hall, realized it was the washing machine, and then nearly fell over laughing.

  Mr. Mom was on duty today.

  An elevated shriek had her running to the back-door sliders. Tearing onto the deck, she stumbled to a halt and watched her hunky 007 man crawling around the yard with the boys and Raven. Dylan was hopping up and down, screaming, “Giddy up,” while Danny rode her husband’s back.

  When she slid open the doors and stepped onto the deck, Dylan saw her and came running. “Aunt Toto!” He scrambled up the stairs and flew into her arms. “Want my baby,” he yelled into her face.

  She hugged and kissed him and looked at her husband. “What did you tell him?”

  “Baby, baby, baby,” Danny hollered.

  “No name,” Draegyn assured her as he dropped on his ass, grabbed their squealing son, and proceeded to reduce him to a pile of giggles with a tickle attack.

  “Have we heard anything this morning?”

  “Lacey is stable. We can go see her later. I thought the best thing we could do for them right now was take care of Dylan. I gathered from Cam’s tone that Lacey needs calm. The months of anxiety took a toll. She was so sure something was wrong.”

  “Cam says there was a much finer distinction than that. She thought something wasn’t right. Somehow, she knew. But like he said, the good news is there was never any real danger. Cord wraps are common. The doctors are prepared. I do think, though, that he’s a little freaked out by how tiny the baby is.”

  He stood and put their son on his shoulders. Danny grinned and smacked Draegyn on the head. “Go, go.” Draegyn clamored up the steps like a pony then he bent over and dropped their toddler son on the deck. The two boys ran to the toy bin by the door and started taking everything out.

  “Have Parker and Angie arrived yet?”

  “Dunno. Big Daddy is all over that part of things. He’s in charge of the satellite phone. I’ve got enough to deal with.”

  Her husband wrapped her in his arms, twirling her around as the boys laughed and clapped.

  “Thank you for letting me sleep in.”

  “Six hours is hardly sleeping in.”

  Tori hugged her man. “Did you rest at all?”

  “A little,” he told her with a shrug. “My boy, ya know? I just want Cam to be happy. Thinking about that big lug and a daughter—well, it’s astonishing.”

  “Nice shirt, by the way,” she teased.

  He glanced down at his chest and smirked. The shirt’s Whiskey Pete’s logo proclaimed him a walking billboard for one Finn O’Brien.

  “The dumb fuck is wearing me down. Just when I’m sure he really is the biggest dickhead on the planet, he does something nice. Cam and I are willing to declare him Justice-adjacent.”

  She laughed and smacked his chest playfully. “Justice-adjacent? Well, I suppose it’s an uptick in status, so I won’t complain.”

  He grumbled in that adorably pigheaded way that never failed to make Tori want to throw him on the ground and do all kinds of nasty things.

  “Don’t understand why you ladies keep defending his stupid ass.”

  “Stupid ass!”

  They turned in unison and stared slack-jawed at Dylan, who was listening to every word.

  “Why?” Tori groaned. “Why does he always just pick up on the bad words? Lacey’s gonna kill us.”

  He kissed her forehead and murmured, “I’ve got this.” Whipping his phone out, her husband stooped down to the boys’ eye level and went through a farcical performance of griping about his stupid apps not working. Fascinated by the technology, both boys watched over his shoulder while he tapped and scrolled. Raven lost interest and wandered away.

  Swiping to a screen full of fake kid stuff, he held up the phone for them to see. “Hey guys,” he drawled. “Pick an app.”

  They all had a bunch of mock apps on their phones that led to nothing more than pictures of animals and nature. Heather gave them all a stern lecture about limiting technology with the kids.

  Danny squealed and stabbed his chubby finger at an icon, and just like that, ass was forgotten and the apps took center stage. Draegyn snicker-laughed and gave her a wink. The man was brilliant.

  She left him to it and returned to the kitchen. Her growling stomach let Tori know that Baby St. John wanted breakfast. It wasn’t until she had plowed through a bowl of cold spaghetti and sucked back an entire tumbler of iced black cherry herbal tea that she saw how peculiar her choices were.

  This baby had definite preferences—cold spaghetti? Oh, my.

  While she was cleaning up, Meghan called. Kicking the dishwasher shut with her foot, she reached across the counter for her phone.

  “Morning!”

  “Guess w
hat?” Meghan shouted into the phone by way of a hello.

  “What?” Tori smiled and released a very happy laugh.

  “It’s a girl!”

  “I know, right?”

  They shrieked with delight and spent a few minutes babbling excitedly and making all sorts of plans to spoil mom and baby. Though Lily Rose was less than a day old, they were already planning girls’ outings with junior pedicures and tea parties—things baby Lily would have Bella Mia to thank for.

  Bella was a new century female. She was all girl and let you know it while also being something of a tomboy. She spent hours with Draegyn in the workshop and had her own little workbench where she showed Danny how to make things. She also had the most adorable child-sized vanity—courtesy of Tori’s handyman hubs—where she practiced her girly routines. As the de facto leader of Junior Justice, she brought a lot to the table.

  “Hey,” she asked. Her tone became serious. “How are you feeling? You didn’t look so good at the hospital.”

  “I’m fine,” Meghan assured her. “Yeah, I had a few moments, but when taken against the whole day, I have no complaints.”

  Tori wasn’t convinced. For someone carrying twins, her friend should have been gaining weight to beat the band. But Meghan struggled and had a hard time maintaining an appetite. The babies emptied her—that was the way she described how it felt to have two growing inside her.

  “How’s the big guy? Alex hanging in there? Draegyn remarked how hard it was for them to see Cam so undone.”

  “He gave me a foot massage.”

  Tori had a good laugh. “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Just saying,” Meghan replied. “He needs to feel useful. You know him, Tori. When everyone else falls apart in a crisis, the Major steps up. It’s what he does.”

  “He’s my hero,” she muttered.

  “Same. And I’ll tell you a secret. Sometimes I make shit up for him to do just so he’ll leave me alone for five goddamn minutes.”

  Tori threw her head back and laughed so hard she nearly gave herself a nosebleed. “Oh, my god! Me too!”

  “What’s so funny?” a bemused Draegyn asked as he ushered the boys into the kitchen.

  She waved the phone by way of explanation and told him, “Meghan says Alex is a better husband than you are. He gave her a foot massage. I don’t remember you ever being nice to my feet.”

  “El gran pendejar,” he growled.

  On the phone, Meghan was laughing like hell. “Did he just call his boss a big wanker?”

  “Am I the only one around here who doesn’t understand Spanish?”

  “Aunt Toto,” Dylan called out. “Danny pooped.” He was making his yucky face and pointing at her grinning son. The bathroom humor was already strong with these two.

  Draegyn took control, loudly proclaiming his awesomeness so Meghan would hear.

  “I’ll handle diaper duty. Hear that? Now who’s the better husband? Huh?”

  She shooed him off with both kiddos trailing behind. “Listen, Red, I’d better go. Cheryl is coming by later to take Danny, and we’ll bring Dylan with us to the hospital. Let’s touch base in a few hours.”

  She ended the call and made sure the kitchen was in order before hurrying after one man and two babies. The past twenty-four hours with Parker and Angie’s perfect wedding juggled with Lacey and Cam’s surprise mini-drama reminded Tori that regardless of circumstances, life went on. You never knew where the day might lead, which was a sobering thought. But for every thrum of fear, there was an equal if not greater symphony of joy that made it all worthwhile.

  The sound of boyish giggles and her wonderful husband’s joking growl sent her feet flying as Tori’s personal symphony of joy drew her forward.

  Pinching her cheeks for extra color, Lacey worked her lips to smooth the balm she’d just applied and checked her appearance in a compact mirror. Satisfied, she snapped shut the vintage ladies’ accessory and put it on the table next to her hospital bed.

  She adjusted the front of the pretty pink and white bed jacket that magically arrived by messenger and smiled.

  Alex. He’d thought of everything. Not that her husband was a slouch in that department. She held up her wrist and admired a delicate bracelet of pink sapphires. He’d cried when placing it around her wrist—a thank you for the daughter she’d blessed him with. She’d started crying when he showed her a little gold necklace with the same pink sapphires adorning a dangling heart. It was for Lily Rose when she was old enough to wear it.

  Sitting up straighter, she shifted and adjusted. Excitement made Lacey’s heart race. Her son was coming to meet his new baby sister. She looked at the hospital bassinet across the room and smiled. She had a son and a daughter!

  “Knock, knock,” a voice called out. The door to her suite slowly swung open, and Cameron stuck his head in. “We have a visitor, Mommy!”

  Dylan jumped from behind his dad and appeared in the open doorway with both hands on his hips. She wasn’t sure if he was Peter Pan or Captain Hook, but he sure was adorable.

  “Mommy!”

  She threw her arms wide and yipped with joy. “Get over here, little man, and give Mama some love.”

  He smiled and leapt across the open space—she was sure his feet never touched the ground—and scrambled into her arms like a monkey after easily scaling the side of the bed.

  She covered his face with kisses while he giggled and kissed her back.

  “Ah-ah, Mommy.”

  Lacey melted when she felt the little pat of his hand as he spoke the adorable endearment that was so uniquely Dylan.

  Cameron stood next to them, his face shining with love. They’d made a magnificent human with their son.

  “So, little man,” she said. Scooting over a smidge to give him more room, she helped Dylan sit next to her. She wanted him to have plenty of room when he held his baby sister. “Guess what!”

  He looked at her. “What?”

  “You’re a big brother, Dylan. Look,” she said and pointed at Cameron wheeling the bassinet closer.

  He gasped and clapped his hands. “My baby?”

  “Yes! Here she is, Dyl.”

  Cameron lifted the tiny pink bundle, kissed his daughter’s face, and brought her to Dylan.

  He sat, wedging Dylan in place. She saw her husband swallow and knew he was overcome with emotion. Sweeping a hand up and down his back, she leaned forward and kissed his shoulder.

  It took a few seconds, but they both pulled it together. “Son,” he said after sniffing twice. “Meet Lily Rose. She’s tiny, so I want you to be very gentle and careful, okay?”

  Dylan nodded, his eyes glued to the pink mound. “Baby Lily,” he said with awe.

  Cameron lowered her into Dylan’s arms, and he held her on his small lap. The look of pure love and absolute wonder on his little face filled her with peace. Her husband sought her hand, and she happily gave it, squeezing his fingers in silent communication.

  Lily’s eyes fluttered open, and Dylan giggled. She stared up at her big brother, and Lacey wondered what sort of bond formed in those initial moments. Dylan carefully stroked her tiny face. Then he stunned them when her son looked at his father and said—clear as a bell—“Like Mommy.”

  Cameron almost crushed her fingers as he reacted. “That’s right, my boy.” He also stroked Lily’s face. “Just like Mommy.”

  Her heart flooded with joy. Contentment so profound she had to take a deep breath spread inside her till it burst free and filled the room.

  A movement caught her eye, and she looked up. There in the doorway stood a beaming Major and his camera-wielding wife. The delighted expression on Meghan’s face told Lacey her friend had captured the candid family moment.

  “Can we come in?” Alex asked.

  Dylan answered with an enthusiastic welcome. “Look! My Lily.”

  Cameron stood but stayed close to Dylan. He shook Alex’s hand and then the two hugged it out with back slaps and murmured words. She and
Meghan looked at each other with matching ‘Awww’ expressions.

  Meghan waved both men away and laid down some Lady Mama law. “Out of the way, you two. Let the pregnant lady by. I want to see my new niece.”

  Meghan bent over and kissed Lacey’s cheek. “I love you,” she murmured.

  Dylan handled the introductions. “Lily Ro,” he gravely declared when Meghan got close for a peek.

  “So you’re a big brother now, huh?” she asked Dylan. He nodded, and she ran her hands through his hair. “It’s a big job.”

  He nodded again, and when she touched Lily’s blanket to see more of her face, Dylan broke out an expression that the Cameron and St. John families used quite a lot with their rambunctious sons.

  “Go easy,” he said in a toddler’s admonishing tone.

  Meghan almost lost it with laughter. she looked at Cameron and snickered. “Gatekeeper much?” she joked.

  Cameron surprised the snot out of her when he screwed himself up all big and bad and assertively declared, “That’s how the Cameron men do. We take care of the women.”

  The Cameron men. Hearing him say it like that made Lacey want to squeal with pride. Her sad orphan boy had come full circle or done whatever inner work needed doing to get to this point. They were a family. The Camerons. He was the patriarch of a growing brood. For him, the family tree started right here. Everything that came later would be the product of his determination and their deep love for each other.

  Victoria and Draegyn were the next to arrive. They came right after the delivery of a roomful of rose and lily arrangements. Lacey missed not having Angie around—she was an integral part of their Justice Ladies crew.

  “Everyone else is champing at the bit to invade, but Cam is being a bit overprotective,” Tori told her when the boys went for a walk, and it was just the ladies.

  They were passing Lily around. She needed to hold her daughter every few minutes, so her friends only got small doses.

  “I’m okay with overprotective,” she told them. “Look, I’ll admit to you two that I’m relieved we had a successful birth. It wasn’t uneventful, but it did have a happy ending. But I’m still raw emotionally. All that worry and just feeling like poo the whole time.”