“A burning down there. A very bad burning,” Britt yells.
The nurse pulls back the sheet and then I go a little dizzy. “That’s a lot of blood.”
“Crap!” the nurse says. Then she looks at Britt. “I need to get the doctor. Do not push!” She gives me the stink eye. “Don’t let her push.”
“Okay,” I say, but there’s not an ounce of conviction in the word.
She grips my arm and looks at me with a sternness in her face. “Don’t let her push!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
With that same look the nurse gave me, I look at my wife. “Britt, now you listen here …”
Her mouth goes into a circle as she lets out a horrible noise. “I have to push, Jason! I have to!”
Sitting on the bed, looking at her, I place my hand on her stomach. She looks at it like she’d like to rip it out of the socket and possibly beat me with it. “Britt, you can’t. Wait for the doc. Then this is all going to be done.”
“You don’t know, Jason. I need to push.” She closes her eyes and I snap my fingers in front of them to make her open them again.
“You look right here, baby.” I point to my eyes. “I got you. Do you hear me? You just keep your eyes right on mine. Okay, good. Now do you remember when we were in Bora Bora and you needed to listen to me about that shark?”
“There were two of them,” she says as she pants like a puppy who’s just run a mile.
“I know. And I got you out of the water safe and sound, didn’t I?”
She nods and grits her teeth. “And that dumb lady was giving us a biography lesson all the while.”
“Yes, she was,” I say as I watch sweat pour down her face. “And you were so brave. You are so brave, Britt. And you’re about to bring our son into the world. I’m so damn proud of you, baby. Do you know that?”
She looks like she’s about to cry. “And I’m damn proud of you, Jason. You’re the best husband ever. I know you’re going to take good care of me and Levi.”
“Garret,” I correct her. “Remember we decided on Garret?”
She groans a loud groan. “Ow! It hurts not to push!”
Her eyes close, so I touch her cheek and she opens them again. “But you have to wait. So when did Garret get thrown out?”
“A little while ago. I forgot to tell you. Levi is his name now.”
The machine next to her is going crazy as it records a very long contraction. I glance at it for only a second and see some high marks on the piece of paper. It has to be a bad one.
“Well, Levi is a great name, pumpkin butt.”
The door opens and the nurse and doctor come in. Both are pulling on gloves as they come in. The doctor says, “What do we have here?”
One look has her draping another blue sheet over Brittany. Several more people come into the little room and Britt looks at me with scared eyes.
“You got this, baby. You do,” I say then kiss her forehead.
“You can push, Brittany,” her doctor tells her. “With the next contraction, you can push.”
“Thank God!” she says, then her face goes red as she looks at me.
The way she squeezes my hand lets me know she’s having a lot of pain. But she just makes a loud groan and pushes hard.
“Okay,” the doctor says. “Probably two more, then he’ll be out. He’s a little bigger than I thought he was.”
The nurse mumbles. “Ten pounds, easy.”
I look at the doctor. “You said eight.”
She nods. “I did. That’s not the case, though.”
My hand is squeezed again and I look back to find Brittany going red again as she pushes. “You are doing so great, baby.”
Relief spreads across her face. “It’s almost over. I feel it.”
The doctor looks up with a smile. “Shoulders are out!”
The nurse adds, “One more push, Britt.”
My wife’s eyes go glassy as she says, “I love you, Jason. I always have and I always will. I love you more than you’ll ever know.”
“I love you more than you’ll ever know.” I kiss her hand as she goes red again and makes a growl. Then I hear a weird slurping sound, followed by a loud cry.
“He’s here,” I tell her. “You did it!”
The doctor holds up our son and I laugh like a crazy man as I see how big he is. Brittany’s eyes go huge. “That came out of me? I carried that little linebacker around inside of me.”
“You did,” I say.
I find tears falling out of my eyes and my nose is running and I’m crying as I look at our son as he cries, too. Then I look down at Brittany and find her crying too.
Seems we’re a bunch of crybabies!
BRITTANY
I’m not sure when I knew I loved Jason. It seems like I always did. There isn’t an exact moment in time that I realized it. He moved right on into my heart with such ease, it felt natural.
That’s how it was with our son, too. He seems to have always been a part of us. Like he was always there, lurking around somehow. Little Herbert is crawling now and finds his way all over the ranch house with ease.
We knew that was his name the moment he looked into our eyes. We said it at the same time, and I swear that baby smiled when we did.
Our little family is just beginning, but most of my fear is gone. There’s still some, but it’s not in the forefront of my mind. It’s back there in the recesses, where I’ll make sure it stays and doesn’t threaten our here and now.
Watching Jason follow our son around, I know we’re the two people who have his heart. That’s enough for me. That’s enough to keep me happy and feeling safe with what we have.
Sometimes things start out hard and end up easy. I suppose that was our course in this life. Whatever the reason, I’m glad we found each other again. And I am never letting him go.
I think we’ve found our happily ever after, after all.
The End
When Billionaires Collide
Billionaire Max Lane and gorgeous wife, Lexi, take a night away from the twins to enjoy one of Houston’s famous galas, The Tour de Champagne. As the gala benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, many people with great wealth are in attendance as well. Prior to performing, Aussie rock star and billionaire Kip Dixon makes his way around to sample some of the many champagnes and gourmet foods chefs from all over the world have prepared for the generous donators. One last mini quiche on a silver tray has Kip and Max both reaching for it, but they come up empty handed as the quick, and very pregnant, Lexi, beats them both to it. The men become fast friends, forming a tight bond as Max invites Kip to stay a few days at his mansion. Lexi finds Kip to be full of charisma and charm, yet extremely lonely, and offers him a bit of advice, leading Kip to think in a different direction.
Max
Pinks and yellows fill the sky as the sun sets, and I take my wife out on a much-needed date. Lexi waves out the window of the Jag at Zoey and Zane as they hang onto Hilda’s legs and whine about getting left behind. The two-year-olds seem to think they must go every time Mommy or Daddy leaves the house.
I reach out and run my hand over Lexi’s large tummy as she’s seven months pregnant now with our next child, a little boy we’re going to name Zakk. She’s pretty stoked to be only carrying one baby this time.
“Are you ready for a night of bumping elbows with some of the richest people in Texas?” I ask.
She smiles. “I’m ready to be eating some of the gourmet food from all around the world, prepared by famous chefs, if you must know the truth. I have my billionaire. I don’t need to meet anymore.”
“The Tour de Champagne benefits the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and all of Houston’s elite come out to donate. There may even be some stars there. I hope you don’t find yourself star struck by any of the beautiful people.” I move my hand and take hers in mine, lifting it up and leaving a kiss on top of it.
Her cute little nose wrinkles. “I’ve been around plenty of beautiful people; they don’t faze
me anymore.” She twirls a lock of her long blonde hair, which she had Cake curl for this event. The press will be there, and she wanted to look her best so she let our stylist fix her up.
I got a haircut, as I keep it short now. Lexi makes me keep it a little longer than I think is fatherly. She says she has to have something to hang onto every once in a while, the little vixen.
The twins have her blonde hair and my tan skin and green eyes. They’re a perfect combination of the two of us. Somehow, everything is all working out for us, finally!
The valet waits for us to pull in as I stop, and one of them helps Lexi out of the car. Even in her present state she moves with such elegance and she doesn’t even realize it. Motherhood has made her more confident. It radiates around her and makes her even more gorgeous.
As I catch up to her, I take her hand and place it in the crook of my arm. “Allow me to escort you, my lady.”
She giggles and kisses my cheek. “Too sweet, you are.”
The place looks fabulous and Lexi spots the first tray of food and smiles as she picks up a dainty little piece of I have no idea what and pops it right into her mouth. She makes a long yum sound and I know she’ll completely enjoy this evening.
Kip
My mates from the band didn’t want to come with me to the Tour de Champagne. They’ve not the money I have and the set I’m doing later on is acoustic, so I’m on my own this evening. Mum is a famous model from Australia and rich in her own right, and Pop is a famous eighties rocker from London and rolling in the green stuff. My parents are still together, somehow, despite the crazy life of models and rock stars. I’m their only child and as such, I’m pretty well off just by being that. I have my own band, and I dare say have made a tidy sum on my own as well.
The champagne and the grub make this little gig a real treat for me, plus, I don’t have to get all rock starred out for this elite crowd. The food is pretty decent and I haven’t had decent eats since we came to Texas on this American tour we’re on.
They seem to fry everything in this state!
I’ve gained a whole three pounds in the last few weeks as we’ve went from one big city to the next. Texas has so many large cities. It’s like its own country with how many places we’re stopping and playing at.
We have four days here in Houston to hang out before we trek over to some place called San Marcos to play a charity event at the college there. It's small potatoes compared to the arena shows we’ve been doing, and I hope I get to do a bit of hobnobbing with the locals.
I miss my home in Australia. Everyone is so friendly and down to earth. The people who want to be around me now are all on the take or so damn giddy about meeting me, they act crazy. The other entertainers are arrogant, most of them, anyway.
I detest arrogance!
No one seems to recognize me so far and I’m damned thankful for that. On stage, and for all my photos, I color my hair black and spike it up and wear more make-up than my mother does. When I’m out on my own, I wash the black stuff from my sandy blonde hair and leave the make-up and leather clothes at the hotel. Being this is a high-class event, I have on a very expensive Burberry suit I bought the last time I was in London.
I spot a mini quiche on a silver tray and there’s only one left and I find I must have a taste of that. I reach out to take it and another black-sleeved hand reaches for it as well. Pausing my action, I look up to see a tall man with dark hair and the greenest eyes I’ve ever seen looking back at me as we both say, “Sorry, did you want that?” We both give a chuckle as a woman with an ample belly and long blonde curls reaches between us and snatches the last quiche up and pops it in her mouth.
“Mmmm,” she moans. “Thanks, guys.”
I watch her move on to the next tray and smile. By the look on the other man’s face, I can see he’s a bit embarrassed, so I have to assume the woman is with him. “Is she yours?”
He nods. “Sorry about that. My wife is pregnant and seems to be very hungry.”
“That’s okay,” I say, and extend my hand. “I’m Kip Dixon. And you are?”
The man takes my hand and gives it a good stout shake, which I like in a man. “My name’s Max Lane. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Dixon. I’m a big fan of your music and so are my two-year-olds, who love to jump around to it.”
“Call me, Kip. May I call you Max?” I find another tray going by me and reach out and take a piece of whatever is on it and eat it. It’s sour, and I make a little face which has Max smiling at me.
“You’re a lot like my wife, just grabbing and popping food in your mouth without even looking at what it is you're about to eat.”
“What can I say? I like to live dangerously.” The tall woman he said was his wife, and who stole my quiche, comes back to Max’s side and smiles at me.
“Did I hear you say your name is Kip Dixon?” she asks.
I nod and get ready for her to go all wiggly legged and giggly over me. It’s what I do to women, unfortunately. She extends her hand very un-shakily and says, “I’m Lexi Lane, Max’s wife. What an honor to meet a man of your stature. You’re famous in our home for making our children turn into headbanging maniacs.”
I laugh and find her gorgeous and as I look at them both I realize I’ve seen them somewhere. And then it all comes back to me with some racy books I was reading a couple years ago as we rode around on our tour bus. “Sweet shit! You’re that woman from the dirty threesome book covers!”
A blush covers her perfect cheeks and I’m immediately sorry. “That’s me.”
“Damn! I’m sorry. I hate it when people go all silly kneed over me and here I am about to ask you to sign my chest,” I say with a slight laugh, only it’s very true. Those pictures and stories were very explicit, and I found myself fantasizing over this lady many a lonely night. Then I look at Max and remember them together on some magazine covers. “And you two did some other stuff together, right?”
He nods. “Those days are long gone. We’re just a couple of old fogies now that we have kids. Getting out this evening is the first time we’ve been out in ages.” He runs his arm around his wife’s waist and I find it endearing.
“So how long have you two been together?” I ask, and they both smile.
Lexi answers, “We’ve been married only about four years, but we were off and on for around two years as well, so I like to say four years and Max likes to say six.”
He kisses the top of her head. “I say six because we’ve loved each other for that long. It just took us a while to get things all straightened out, and this one here was a mess.”
She bats at his chest. “I wasn’t the only one, Max!”
He leans in and says quietly, “The first time we met, this one had on khaki slacks and a white, short sleeve button up shirt starched to the hilt and a fucking pocket protector. Her hair was in the tightest bun I’d ever seen.”
My eyes go up and down the gorgeous creature at his side. “No way!”
Lexi smiles and nods. “I was trying to look like an accountant and I think I totally pulled off the look, only pretty boy here wasn’t attracted to me until he got me into a teeny tiny bikini and made me let my hair down.”
Max interrupts her, “Even before that, I knew there was something about her. I could hardly let her go. The moment I took her hand in mine, it just kinda stuck to it. Then, when I saw the woman she’d been hiding in those too-big clothes, I knew she was the one for me.”
“Sweet story.” I pick up a glass of champagne as a server walks past us. “I don’t have one of those. I have one night stands and random hook up stories, but they’re not proper stories for mixed company.” I laugh and notice Lexi frowning.
“No one special, Kip?” she asks. “Don’t you get lonely? Don’t you have some girl you like to talk to, at least?”
I shake my head. “Nah, my mates in the band are who I talk to. I haven’t really met the girl who does it for me yet. Not that I can imagine any woman wanting all which goes along with me. It
would be hard to keep something going with my schedule and the crazy female fans would surely cause jealousy to show its ugly head.”
Max asks, “I know you played in Houston last night. How long are you in town for until you get shipped off to the next place?”
“We have four more days here before we go to someplace called San Marcos to play a small charity gig,” I tell him, and his eyes light up.
“You got anything to do with all that downtime?”
I shake my head. “Not a damn thing.”
“I invented this seat that goes in helicopters. You can actually move out of the chopper and hang in the air. A lot of people use them to kill wild hogs, which this state has way too many of. I have a chopper at home and the back forty is pretty hog infested. You wanna come and try your hand at shooting some?”
“Really?” I can’t believe he’s seriously inviting me.
“If you want. Hell, we have a huge place. You can stay with us, if you’d like to. My house manager, Hilda, can make you some authentic Mexican food and one day we can have a real Texas barbecue. You could invite your band, if you’d like to,” he says and I find the idea intriguing.
Some time with what seems to be like a real family. Time away from the band. God knows I need some of that. “You know what? I’d love to. I’ll rent a car and come out tomorrow afternoon.”
Lexi and Max smile at me and I think I may have found some new friends, some real friends that want nothing from me, save my friendship. How nice this may be.
Alexis
Tears fill my eyes as I chop up onions for Hilda, who is cooking up an authentic Mexican dinner for our guest, the rockstar Kip Dixon. I still can’t believe Max and him became such fast friends.
Kip showed up a little after lunch, his bag in hand, and will be staying with us for the next four days. Max is like a little kid, showing off all his big boy toys. The two are riding around in the chopper right now and the rat-a-tat-tat of the semi-automatic rifle Max has can be heard as they shoot out in the pasture behind the mansion.
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