Hot tears streamed down my face as I read the letter a second time. My father thought he failed me? He wanted to be a bigger part of my life? I always assumed he took my mother’s side, not that he didn’t want to interfere. Thank goodness Stephen told him about Jaxon and the baby before he died. Did Alexis tell him if it was a boy or girl? There were so many unanswered questions running through my head and I was drowning in all the things my father left me with.
Jax looked up from the book he was reading to check on me. I shot him a wan smile and looked back down at my letter. His understanding eyes dipped back down to his book. This man could read me so well, with just a look he knew what I wanted or needed. Stephen was messing with his phone when I looked over at him.
He felt the weight of my gaze and looked up. I owed him so much for telling my father. The smile on his lips died as he noticed my tears. A frown crossed his handsome face. He unbuckled and came to sit with me. I lay my head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around me.
“What did he say?”
“You told him about Jaxon and the baby—“
“I’m so sorry, Vi. It slipped out; you know how nosey the old man was.”
“Stephen, stop. I’m happy you told him. He only would have known what the press said about my marriage and pregnancy if you hadn’t. I didn’t realize he even cared until I read his letter. It’s amazing how important I was to him, even if he didn’t always know how to show it.” I took a deep breath. “He told me I was relentless in the pursuit of happiness.”
“You are; you’ve let nothing keep you down or stand in your way. It’s something I admire most about you.”
“Thanks for telling my daddy,” I whispered, my voice full of unnamed emotions. Sobs wracked my body and his strong arms held me tight as I cried.
Jaxon pulled me close as he carried me off the plane. At some point I had drifted off to sleep. I needed the rest. Between pregnancy and stress, I had only managed to get a few hours here or there. My makeup artist would hate me tomorrow because I looked like crap. Dark circles graced my eyes and my chin had a new pimple she would get to cover. Jax glanced down at me and his eyes flashed surprise when he saw I was awake.
“Good morning, gorgeous.” His accent was thick from sleep and it made my blood sing. When Jax was tired his accent was always stronger. He said the same about mine and I knew it had the same effect on him.
“Hello, to you. How long did I sleep?”
“Not long, maybe an hour or two. Are you ready to go home, love?”
“I’m beyond ready,” I said laying my head back onto the headrest.
We pulled into the driveway and Jaxon’s entire body tensed.
“What’s wrong?”
“The last time I walked in there, you had left me. I was afraid that I would never get you back. I love you too much to lose you, Violet.”
I took his hand in mine and kissed his knuckles. “I didn’t give up on you; I was just scared. Things happened so quickly, I was afraid that you thought I tried to trap you.”
“I would never think that. No more secrets to protect one another.”
I nodded and put my forehead against his. His hand cupped my face. We were finally on the same page and I didn’t want that to change.
Bright spotlights blinded us as we waited for the producers to call us onstage. Jax gripped one hand tightly in his while his other ran soothingly up and down my back. This would be our first official interview as husband and wife. I was convinced that as some sick joke they would have Silver show up. Jaxon assured me he wouldn’t let that happen, but I still didn’t trust the network.
Filming wrapped up two days ago, and Jaxon and I decided we would do one interview to help fix the media circus around us. The paparazzi had been twice as bad since we came back from Georgia. Jax’s speech had made it onto several tabloid sites, and we could barely leave the house without being photographed.
The producer signaled us to go on. Jax threaded his fingers with mine and we plastered smiles on our faces before walking on the stage. We greeted the co-hosts and sat down for the torturous interview.
“Welcome guys. It’s great to see you again!” Her shrill voice hurt my ears. I tried not to wince, but my smile became a little more forced. She needs to lay off the coffee. “So this is your first interview as a married couple, right?”
Jax looked at me and squeezed my hand. “Yeah, it is. We’ve been so busy. Plus you know it’s no one’s business but our own.”
My lips twitched upward, but I managed not to laugh at his blunt statement.
“You guys kept some pretty big secrets, and for quite a while. Did anyone know what was going on?” The other co-host, a guy not quite as annoying as his counterpoint asked.
“Neither of us like being in the spotlight, so we decided that we would do anything possible to not be harassed.” I winked like I was letting him in on some big secret. If I played my cards right, this schmuck would be eating out of the palm of my hand in minutes. “Jaxon and I have both been hurt by the media before, so we decided that no one needed to scrutinize our relationship. Only close friends and family were in on the secret and even then we didn’t tell everyone.”
“That’s so romantic!” The shrill shriek hit my ears. “How long have you guys been married?”
Jax shot her a panty melting smile before he answered, “A while now. We still want to keep some secrets.”
Dumbass host number two started in and it was my turn. “So the baby, boy or girl?”
“We decided that we wanted it to be a surprised. The sex of a baby is one of the few true surprises you get in life, so we wanted to wait to find out.”
“So Violet, just how far along are you?”
God this woman was chipper. Was I this bad when I drank coffee? Mentally, I reminded myself to ask Jax later.
“I could be seven months, or I could be a week away from my due date.” I smiled at the Barbie lookalike while she blinked several times. Finally we steered the conversation back to how we met and about our first date. Within seven minutes, we were off the stage and ready to leave. Jaxon grinned at me.
“Seven months, really Violet? You could have gotten away with saying you were six months along,” he whispered in my ear.
Laughing, I whispered back, “Next time I’m going to be a week past due.”
Jaxon’s booming laugh filled the sound stage. Everyone around us looked at him like he was insane. His laughter was contagious and before long I had tears running down my face as I giggled along with him.
“Jaxon Garrett, I swear to God, you are never touching me again!” I screamed as yet another contraction consumed me. There was no focusing on something other than the pain. He squeezed my hand in reply, but wisely didn’t respond. My body was exhausted from hours of labor.
I woke up at two in the morning to go to the bathroom and found myself in a wet spot. Realizing my water broke, I shook Jaxon awake. The rest of our night had consisted of timing contractions and getting ready to go to the hospital. Everyone knew I was a control freak to the extreme, but for some reason I hadn’t packed a hospital bag. Poor Jax rushed from one side of the house to the other as I called out things we needed to bring.
We called Lexi and headed towards the hospital when it was time. Thank goodness she was in town. It seemed like every time we needed her for the pregnancy she was there. I was convinced she had a sixth sense about these things. Luckily, she even had the foresight to get full privileges. She had been granted them temporarily after Jax’s premiere, but it never occurred to me that it might be an issue.
Another contraction hit and I grabbed for Jaxon’s hand again. He reached over and wiped my sweaty forehead with a washcloth. I tried to smile at him, but the pain was too bad. We had decided that we wanted just the two of us in the delivery room, but I would bet money he regretted that decision now. It was probably a good thing because I’m not sure I would have been able to not scream at anyone else if they even took a breath. My pain level wa
s out of control, and I wanted this little invader out of me.
Lexi came in to check me to see how things were coming along. It was hard for me not to freak out that she wanted to do it again.
“Are you ready to have a baby?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, thank goodness. It’s time to push?”
“Yes, oh and by the way, next time I’m making you get an epidural. You’ve been really bitchy.”
“Shut the hell up and get this thing out of me.”
She chuckled. “You need to push with the next contraction, Vi. Jaxon, get ready.”
The next contraction came, and I pushed with everything I had. Jaxon squeezed my hand and amazement showed on his face as he watched me bring our child into the world.
“It’s a girl! You have a beautiful, healthy baby girl.” Alexis announced. “Jax, do you want to cut the cord?”
His complexion turned green, but he dutifully cut our daughter’s umbilical cord. Tears of happiness streamed down my face as Lexi placed her on my chest. Looking into her bright, blue eyes I whispered, “Hello, Harper. We’ve waited a long time to meet you.”
Jaxon wiped at his eyes and I was surprised to find them wet when I looked up at him. My big, bad alpha male was crying. His hand ran over her head. She grabbed his finger as he placed it in her tiny hand and he choked back a sob. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead. With the three of us there, life finally felt complete.
Taylor walked into the room and I grinned at her. She was bursting to meet her niece. Her face lit up when she saw Harper laying in the bassinet next to me.
“Can I hold her? I need to tell her about how awesome her Aunt Taylor is and undo all the lies you’ve told her already.”
I placed Harper in her arms and watched as she cooed to my baby girl. No matter what happened in her life, this kid would have some amazing people there to look out for her.
Stephen walked in a few minutes later, and dropped a bundle of violets on my lap. He kissed me on the forehead, then walked over to where Taylor held the baby. Jax chuckled from the recliner next to me.
“How soon we’re forgotten, my love.”
“No kidding,” I said dryly.
Stephen walked up behind Taylor and reached over her to brush his fingers over Harper’s face. The three of them looked like a perfect little family. I hoped I was seeing the future for my little sister and my best friend, but they had some major obstacles to overcome if it was going to happen.
“She’s perfect, Violet,” Stephen said.
“Thanks, we’re pretty happy with her.”
Jaxon squeezed my hand. “Just remember you said that when she’s crying at three in the morning and you haven’t slept in two days.”
“You’ll be getting up too. Don’t think I’m letting you get out of all the fun.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
He smirked at me and I stuck my tongue out at him.
“I’ll be over every day to help take care of her, so you can always sleep during the day. I don’t think I’ll ever let the little princess out of my sight,” Taylor said, her voice full of emotion.
“Thanks, Vi. Now she’s going to want to have a baby,” Stephen joked.
“Um, no. I’ll just be awesome Aunt Taylor for now.”
We all took turns holding Harper. Her tiny little noises had us all enraptured. She was absolutely perfect. Jaxon looked as awed as I felt, and every time I saw him hold her my heart fluttered in my chest.
Gage and Amanda came in a few hours later; both of them were amazed by Harper. Longing showed on Amanda’s face. She confided a while ago that she wanted a baby more than anything. Her thirtieth birthday was coming up in a few weeks, and it was weighing heavily on her. Amanda’s career was phenomenal, but she didn’t have a boyfriend or even any prospects on the horizon. A few weeks ago she told me she was considering either using a sperm bank or adopting because she wanted a baby so badly. The smile on her face hid her pain from everyone else, but I knew the truth.
Seeing Gage hold Harper was hilarious. He was overly concerned that he would drop her and Jaxon stood over him watching like a hawk. Apparently neither of them had been around babies very often.
“I think it’s awesome you guys decided to name her Harper,” Gage announced.
“Well the book already held significance for me, and it did bring me and Jax together. It just seemed right.”
“I already miss filming with you guys every day,” Amanda said wistfully.
“We start promoting the movie soon. Probably in the next month or two,” Jaxon said. “I’ll be happy to work with you guys again.”
“This is going to be the best movie of my career, at least personally. I loved working with you guys. Even if it doesn’t do well at the box office, it’s the best thing I’ve ever worked on.” Gage said adamantly looking down at Harper.
Jax sat down next to me on the bed and pulled me back into his chest. My body melted into his. He kissed the side of my head and Gage pretended to gag.
“Oh shut up. Hurry up and get a girlfriend and I can make fun of you,” Jax told him.
“Seriously, I would tell you guys to get a room, but I’m holding what happens when you do,” Gage joked.
I snorted a laugh. Jaxon frowned at him, but didn’t respond. Amanda just shook her head and took Harper from Gage before he said anything else to piss off Jax.
We talked about the next projects we had lined up and how we couldn’t wait until we were working together again. Gage was right about one thing, this movie would be the best of my career; not for what it achieved in sales, but because of what it had given me. My stomach tightened at the thought of us all moving onto new projects and not seeing one another every day. It was going to suck not having my new little family around. Soon, I would have to face reality, but for now I wanted to stay in our happy little bubble.
My body ached from exhaustion. Several more members of the cast and crew stopped by after Amanda and Gage left, so the nap that the nurses kept telling me I needed hadn’t happened. I lay Harper down in her bassinet only to be woken up a few hours later, by Jaxon’s mom trying to hold back sobs as she looked at her granddaughter.
Connor wrapped Jax up in a big hug and they quietly whispered to one another. It was overwhelming to see my husband and his twin brother together. My emotions were all over the place. I wanted to cry my eyes out while I watched the two men. God, I was so sick of crying. Sophia looked at me from over Alice’s shoulder.
“It’s nice to see them together, isn’t it? Jax misses Connor something fierce when it’s been this long between visits.”
“Connor feels the same way. He says that Australia isn’t the same without Jax, and he’s talking about moving back to the states.”
“He might be bored unless he’s acting.”
“True, but I miss my mom. Plus, Jax might like his brother being two doors down from his house when he needs to escape from a crying baby.”
My jaw dropped. “You guys bought the house down the way from us? We’re neighbors?”
“We closed on it yesterday and we are moving in as soon as humanly possible. That’s probably what they are over there whispering about.”
Connor looked up and winked at me. Tears pricked at my eyes again. I brought my hand up to my mouth, and I didn’t know if I wanted to laugh or cry. So I did both.
Snapping Harper into her carrier, I sighed. As happy as I was to be leaving the hospital, the hard part was just beginning.
“Are you okay, love?”
“Fine, I’m just sad we are leaving our bubble.”
“I know, love me too, but we have my mom, Sophia, Taylor, and all our other friends to help us out.”
“If I get overwhelmed I’ll just shove Harper at them and pull the covers over my head.”
“Sounds like a plan. Ready?” he asked picking up the carrier.
I looked one last time around the room and grabbed the diaper bag.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Lexi walked in with a wheelchair and I groaned. “Are you really going to make me leave in that?”
“Yes, even Cedars Sinai won’t break their rules for the famous Violet Montgomery. Jaxon tried, but no luck. His handsome face couldn’t work the magic he’s come to expect,” she said winking.
I laughed as he scowled at her.
“Alexis, you’re awful,” he said.
“Yes, but I delivered your beautiful daughter, so you will forever be grateful to me.”
Jax looked down at Harper and his face softened.
“Even if your Aunt Lexi delivered you, don’t turn on me Harp. She’s full of lies about your dad.”
“Harper, I love you so much. You mean the world to me and your mother. If it weren’t for you I’m sure I would still be trying to wrangle your mother into agreeing to marry me. She’s a stubborn one. I hope you take after her, but please don’t give us too much trouble growing up. We’ll encourage you to do anything. Our careers aren’t exactly conventional, so we would never try to hold you back.”
Tears pricked at my eyes as I listened to Jax talk to our amazing little girl. He had her swaddled up, and he was rocking her gently. I couldn’t tell if she was awake or asleep, but it didn’t matter. Something told me he would be telling her these things over and over.
“I hope you take after your mother. She’s so smart and beautiful. We need to encourage her to go chase after her dreams and get her law degree. Just don’t take after me and Uncle Connor; we were a lot of trouble growing up. Your Grams will tell you a million stories about how many grey hairs we gave her over the years. You can just ignore her, but don’t tell her I told you that.”
I covered my mouth to hold back my chuckle. Alice would’ve him strung up if she heard him tell Harper she didn’t have to listen to her. It took a lot to keep from laughing out loud thinking about how she would scold Jaxon.
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