The Rockers’ Babies
Terri Anne Browning
Copyright
The Rockers’ Babies
Written By Terri Anne Browning
Edited By Lorelei Logsdon (www.LoreleiLogsdon.com)
All Rights Reserved © Anna Henson 2014
This is a work of fiction. Any characters, names, places or incidents are used solely in a fictitious nature based on the author's imagination. Any resemblance to or mention of persons, place, organizations, or other incidents are completely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any other means without permission from the Publisher. Piracy is not a victimless crime. No individual/group has resale rights, sharing rights, or any other kind of rights to sell or give away this book. This is the author’s livelihood. Please respect her rights.
Other Books by Terri Anne Browning
The Rocker… Series
The Rocker That Holds Me
The Rocker That Savors Me
The Rocker That Wants Me
The Rocker That Loves Me
The Rocker That Holds Her
Angel’s Halo (Book 1 of MC Series)
Reese: A Safe Haven Novella
Reckless With Their Hearts (Duet with Anna Howard)
Acknowledgement
A lot of blood, sweat, and tears have been put into the making of The Rocker… Series. Not only mine but that of those who have helped make Emmie and the Demons get to where they are now. I would like to thank the bloggers who helped me, encouraged me, and continue to be some of my biggest cheerleaders. They truly are the backbone in the Indie world. Special thanks to bloggers Bitch Can Write A Book, Three Chicks and Their Books, and THESUBCLUBbooks for all of their support and love during the last year. You seriously ROCK!
Thanks to my BETA readers. I have a group of extraordinary women that keeps me sane and in line when I’m bringing Emmie and her guys to life. Ladies, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to help me. Love you so much.
Last I would like to thank Mike Browning, the other half of my soul. Without him none of this would be possible. He’s been my biggest fan, my greatest supporter, and my saving grace over the past year. Thank you for all of your support, love, and encouragement.
Dedication
To all of the Indie Authors. We dream, we create, we bleed our soul into every word that slips from our fingertips.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Emmie
I guess I really had taught Shane—and therefore the rest of my guys—a lesson when he had tried to throw Drake a bachelor party almost two years ago. So I had no one else to blame but myself. I kept trying to remind myself of that as I pushed Mia’s empty stroller through the amusement part.
Fuck, why was it so hot?
Of course, I had it better than my heavily pregnant best friend walking—waddling, really—beside me. Layla was seven months pregnant with twins. Even in the slight coolness of California’s normal October weather she was sweating and sucking down cherry ICEEs as if she were dying of thirst. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the heat or because she was addicted to those damned things since her cravings had started kicking her ass a few months ago.
Trailing behind me was an equally pregnant Lana, who in comparison to her older sister looked cool, calm, and radiant with her cute little baby bump. Her long black hair was shiny, her skin flawless and glowing, and her eyes a brilliant honey gold with all the happiness that seemed to blaze out of them. I wanted to hate her for looking so good when she should have been miserable like her sister was just now, but I couldn’t. I loved Lana fiercely and would never let my stubbornness come between us again.
I glanced back at Lana, and the man holding her hand as they walked slowly behind me. Drake looked a little bored but he was smiling at whatever his pregnant wife was murmuring as she pointed out a group of people standing in line to get their pictures taken with Shrek and Fiona. They looked good together, happier than I had ever seen them. Even as miserable as I was feeling just now, the sight of Drake so happy made me smile.
I turned my eyes back to the two men walking in front of me. Jesse was wearing a T-shirt that Layla had bought on our shopping spree through Universal the evening before. A Shrek shirt that said, “Just Another Bald Sexy Guy” in green. Beside him walked his adopted daughter, Lucy, who was eating ice cream on a stick shaped like Sponge Bob. Lucy held onto her dad’s hand as they led the way toward one of the rides she just had to ride today because we were going home in the morning. It was Nik, however, that my eyes couldn’t help straying toward. In his favorite pair of jeans that I had bought him five years ago that hung low on his hips and a light gray T-shirt that stretched across his chest making my mouth water. Damn, my husband looked yummy.
“Is that a good Popsicle, Mia?” Nik asked and I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. He was carrying Mia on his shoulders. Our daughter’s rainbow Popsicle was melting because she was more interested in watching everything around her than actually eating the cool, sweet treat that her Uncle Jesse had bought for her. Nik had sugary sweet gel in his hair courtesy of the Popsicle.
“It’s yummy, Daddy,” Mia assured her father as she took a tiny lick before turning her attention back to what looked like a vendor selling Despicable Me hats. She already had three, one of which was currently on her auburn head in such a precarious position that it was a wonder that it still remained there.
“I have to pee… again,” Layla muttered as she glanced around for a street sign that would let us know where the closest bathrooms were.
“We’re close to a restroom,” Harper assured her as she and Shane stepped around Drake with a new bottle of water for me.
I stopped to take a sip of the cool water, feeling my stomach roiling for the hundredth time in the last hour. It was my own fault, I kept reminding myself.
My guys had learned through Shane that bachelor parties were a no-go with their women. I had beat that into their heads with the way I had helped Harper and Lana when Shane had decided to throw a ‘surprise’ party for Drake right before he had married Lana. So what had Harper and Shane decided to do when it came time to celebrate their upcoming wedding?
Three days at Universal Studios.
Three. Freaking. Days.
I was sick of seeing Shrek and his gang. Last night as we had walked through Universal Studios with Halloween Horror Nights creatures walking the streets, I had even thrown up all over a Walking Dead zombie when he had tried to scare me.
Okay, so it was really whatever bug I had picked up, but it made me feel marginally better to blame it on the theme park and the many characters that went with them.
“Look, Layla!” Lucy’s excited voice called back to her sister/adoptive mother.
Layla smiled at the nine-year-old despit
e obviously being so uncomfortable. “You and Dad go on, baby.”
Jesse shot her a look of concern but she waved him on as Lucy tugged him toward the ride. “I’m fine, Jess. Take her.”
“Baby, I’m going to take Mia on this one,” Nik called back to me.
I swallowed my nausea and nodded. “Okay. Love you.” I glanced at Mia, offering her a smile. When my purple-mouthed baby smiled back, I blew her a kiss. “Love you, Mia.”
“Love you more, Momma.”
My heart melted as I watched my two favorite people on the planet walk away. It was hard to comprehend that they were both mine… As soon as they were out of sight my smile disappeared and I leaned my head down as I fought another wave of nausea. Sweat beaded on my forehead and upper lip. Thank gods we were going home in the morning.
“Okay, that’s it.” I glanced up at Layla. She had a hand on one of her curvy hips and a stubborn look on her gorgeous face. “You’re going back to the hotel. You can barely keep water down.”
I grimaced, trying to put on my game face. I could handle a little bit of nausea for a few more hours. “I’m fine.”
Harper stepped up beside Layla, and Lana came up to flank her other side. I mentally sighed, knowing that my girls were ganging up on me. “You’re pale and pouring the sweat,” Lana told me. “It’s not that hot out here, Em.”
My eyes went to Layla who was flushed from the heat. “Layla would disagree.”
“Layla is seven months pregnant with twin giants,” Harper argued. “She would be hot at the North Pole. You’re sick, Em. That bug that was going around Mia’s preschool is kicking your ass.”
“I’ll be fine.” I glanced over my girls’ heads to two of my guys standing behind them. Drake and Shane wore similar expressions of concern mixed with determination. “Tell them I will be fine.”
“The last time I saw you this sick you ended up in the hospital.” Drake’s eyes looked haunted as he remembered that scary night when Axton Cage had to take me to the hospital after I had passed out.
“Listen to them, Em,” Shane urged. When I remained silent, stubbornly wanting to hold my ground, he brought out the big guns. “The wedding is in two days. You don’t want to miss it if you get worse.”
I bit my lip. I couldn’t miss Shane’s wedding. The one day I thought would never happen was less than forty-eight hours away. I would never forgive myself if I weren’t able to take care of all the last minute things I knew would need my attention if I was still sick—or worse. My shoulders drooped as I relented. “Okay…”
“Come on. I’ll go back with you,” Layla offered, taking another long sip of her cool drink from the thick straw. “My feet are throbbing.”
“I want to tell Nik I’m going.” I wanted to see Mia’s face when she got off the ride. She was always excited to see me when she got off one of the many toddler-friendly rides.
Harper and Lana gently pushed me toward the park exit. “We can take care of Nik. And Mia.”
Harper lifted her camera, something that seemed like another appendage of hers. “I’ll even take a thousand pictures for you. You won’t miss anything.”
Layla
By the time we got back to the hotel, my feet felt like they were the size of watermelons. I dropped down on the closest couch as I entered the penthouse suite right behind Emmie. We had both penthouses, which took up the whole top floor, and that was a good thing since it had a total of eight bedrooms for the wedding party to choose from.
As I propped my feet up on the closest coffee, table I let out a relieved sigh and leaned my head back against the back of the couch. Just as I closed my eyes, I heard Emmie retching from the hall bathroom. Poor Em had picked up that horrible bug that had been going around Mia’s preschool. Both Mia and Nik had had it just the week before but it had taken longer for Emmie to get it. The bug had probably been too scared to infect that little spitfire and had waited until her back was turned before invading and conquering.
“Is she still throwing up?”
I opened my eyes to find Natalie, Shane and Drake’s sister, coming out of one of the bedrooms down the hallway. When I had first met this girl—whom I considered as much a sister-in-law as Emmie and Harper—I knew that she was going to make life more interesting. She looked so much like Drake and Shane who were the male versions of beautiful, and Natalie was drop dead gorgeous. Seriously, no one person had the right to look that beautiful.
Natalie had become Emmie’s assistant more than a year ago. Since Emmie had taken over as Demon’s Wings’ manager, Natalie had become a godsend, especially with Drake on the East Coast for America’s Rocker at least three months out of the year. I hoped that Emmie would hire at least one more assistant to take some more of the stress off her shoulders, but Em being Em, I knew she was going to do it all herself whether she hired someone else or not.
“Yeah. We had to make her come back and rest,” I told her.
“I hope she isn’t going to go out with us tonight. That zombie nearly went mental when she tossed her cookies on him last night.” A smile teased at Natalie’s lips as she dropped down beside me, tucking her feet under her as she turned to face me. “I thought Jesse was going to burst a gut he was laughing so hard.”
“I wish I had been there.” Lana and I hadn’t been able to go with them the last two nights. Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios wasn’t exactly the place for a pregnant woman. Lana had been pissed when she found out that she and Drake wouldn’t be joining everyone else for the fright nights of fun. She loved horror movies.
“You didn’t miss that much,” Natalie assured me, pushing her dark hair back from her face. “Axton drank too much and of course Linc was trolling for tail. I wish Dallas had been able to come earlier. I miss that bitch.”
A grin split my face at the thought of Dallas Bradshaw. That girl was hell on wheels and we had welcomed her into our strange family with open arms when Lana had been living with her and Harper back in New York. Dallas was supposed to join us today and go out with the guys tonight, but we had missed her over the last two days. The girl had been crazy busy over the last two years with nursing school and we had rarely seen her during that time. But now she was an RN and able to breathe again after the stress of the prestigious nursing school was behind her.
Natalie and Linc had flown out a few days early so they could have fun with us at Universal Studios, leaving their roommate to follow today since she was working at the busiest ER in all of New York until the end of the year. “I’m sure the fun will only begin once Dallas gets here,” I told Natalie with a wink.
“You know it.” When Emmie’s retching turned to dry heaves, Natalie stood to go check on her. “Em, this isn’t good.”
“I’m fine,” she called weakly through the door. “Just get me some lemons. That always helps.”
Yeah, those lemons did help. They had helped me through the worst of my morning sickness. Some mornings I hadn’t been able to even get out of bed until I sucked on a lemon…
I gasped and stood with some difficulty. Oh. Shit. “Em!” I exclaimed.
Something in my voice must have frightened Emmie because she rushed out of the bathroom as I hurried toward it. “What is it?” she demanded. “Are you hurting?”
I shook my head, patting my ever-growing stomach as I continued toward her. “I’m fine. No, it’s you that I…” I stopped and bit my lip, wondering if I was losing my mind and making something out of nothing. Maybe it really was just the bug that Nik and Mia had had.
“What?” Emmie demanded, looking pale. Her hands were trembling and I knew she was dehydrated.
Jesse had told me all about how sick Emmie had been when she was pregnant with Mia. They had been freaked out because Em wasn’t one to get sick easily. “Could you be pregnant, Em?”
Big green eyes grew even larger in that beautiful, pale face of hers. “What?” She shook her head and frowned. “No. No… I mean…” she broke off, looking stunned and even paler.
N
atalie was already heading toward her room. “It’s always a possibility. I mean, look at what she is married to. The way those two are always all over each other it wouldn’t surprise me. I’m going to go down to the shop and see if they have a pregnancy test.”
Fifteen minutes later Emmie was sitting on the couch between me and Natalie as we waited for the results of the three pee sticks in front of us. We had to wait three minutes and the wait was making Emmie shake. “I’m just starting to get closer to Mia,” she whispered. “And I’m so busy. So fucking busy. How will I handle another baby and Mia on top of all of the things I have planned for the guys? And Axton? We just signed a contract with OtherWorld.”
Natalie sent me a look over Emmie’s auburn head. This wasn’t the Emmie we knew and loved; this was the close-to-emotional-melt-down Emmie who I remembered from her post-partum days. Pregnancy fucked Em’s hormones up to the point that one minute she was fine and the next she was an emotional mess and the next she was about to rip someone’s throat out with her bare hands. I knew what those three pee sticks were going to say even before the timer on my iPhone started buzzing.
“I can’t look,” Emmie murmured and ran back to the bathroom.
Natalie picked up one of the digital tests as I did the same with the other. Flashing back at me was the word I knew was going to throw Emmie for a loop.
Pregnant.
Chapter 2
Lana
Drake was laughing.
I didn’t think there was a sound that could bring a smile to my lips faster than the sound of his sexy laugh. I turned my head, only half listening to Harper as she told me about the cake that she had picked out for the wedding in two days. My heart stuttered for a moment when I saw him. Gods, would it ever not do that just looking at him? Fuck, I hoped not.
He was standing in line with Mia in his arms as they waited for their turn to order popcorn and cold drinks. His hair was nearly as long as Mia’s was now, and I had to admit that I loved every sexy inch of that dark hair. I spent hours every day combing my fingers through that hair as he lay his head on my ever-growing stomach and sang “Sleeping Angel” to our little angel in my stomach.
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