What the fuck?
“Charlie!” someone calls and I turn to see Wood jogging towards me. “I’m driving you to the hospital.”
I must give him a puzzled look.
“Ms. Ronnie just called me and let me know Zoe was in labor. She wants me to make sure you get there in one piece.”
“Yeah - okay,” I say - distracted because I am realizing someone stole my damn truck. “We need to call the police on the way,” I say to him as we head to his vehicle.
“Why?”
“Someone stole my truck.”
“Charlie,” he says, laughing lightly as he comes to a halt at the driver’s side door. “Your truck wasn’t stolen; it’s at the office. You rode with me to the site.”
********
When we get to the hospital, I am ushered up to the maternity floor where I get changed into scrubs. When I walk into the delivery room, I realize that we have the same kind of set up that Isaac and Livy had when she had her baby. I see my wife on the hospital bed that is next to the queen bed we will share later.
Someone - perhaps a nurse - is talking to my wife and by the look on Zoe’s face, she is not happy.
“Zoe,” I say as I come up and take her hand, which she squeezes the shit out of. “What’s wrong Baby?”
I watch the nurse pat her other hand before she leaves.
“It’s bullshit!” Zoe spits out angrily. “They said I am past the point of having an epidural so I will be having a natural birth.”
And just as she says that, she grips my hand so tight that I wince. One of the monitors goes crazy as Zoe groans and tears pool in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I ask the nurse as she does something with the monitor so it is not so loud.
“She’s having a contraction,” the nurse says calmly. “Zoe will be ready to push very soon and your little girl will be here. I am going to go page the doctor now and when he arrives, we can get this show on the road.”
The minute the nurse leaves the room, Zoe starts cussing.
“I hate this shit!!! I want a damn epidural, but nooooo! I am past the point she says. Fuck her!”
I try not to laugh as Zoe continues to go off.
A few minutes later, Dr. Hanford, the nurse and a few other people in scrubs come into the room.
Watching my wife give birth is the most beautiful and terrifying moment of my life. I have no idea how I am staying sane watching Zoe scream and cry as she gives birth to our daughter. I feel wetness on my cheeks as I cut the umbilical cord and I can’t even speak when the nurse places my cleaned up daughter in my arms for the first time.
********
It’s almost seven in the evening and the room is quiet once again. Our parents and our friends have all come and gone and Zoe has fallen asleep. I gently pull the covers to her shoulder and kiss her cheek before going over to check on my little girl. She is in her crib and I can’t resist picking her up. She fusses for a few seconds before settling down. I cradle her soft, warm body in my arms and I walk over to the plush gliding rocker and sit down.
I look down at her and I am in awe of how tiny and beautiful she is. I set the rocker in motion as I stare at my beautiful little girl. I don’t know how long we sit there when the door slowly opens.
Elliot peeks his head in the room.
I motion for him to come in. He has a gift bag in his hand. He smiles down at Zoe as he passes the bed.
“Sorry I couldn’t be here earlier. I got here as soon as I could,” he says in almost a whisper as he sits down on the sofa next to the glider.
“It’s okay. The important thing is that you are here,” I say softly.
Elliot was away on business when Zoe went into labor this morning and he cut his business trip short to get here. Even though I told him he didn’t have to - he still came.
“I would like for you to meet your granddaughter, Carter Elizabeth,” I say as I place his granddaughter in his arms.
Watching the man who helped give me life holding my daughter - his granddaughter - does something to me. I have been holding onto so much anger towards my father and frankly, I am sick of the shit. I want….no - I need to let that anger go.
When we first reconnected, the anger was justified. However, now as time goes by, I realize that that anger has no place if I want him to have a relationship with Carter. Because if he is in Carter’s life, he will be in my life and being angry with him all the time will only put a strain on…everything.
Yeah, I know that it won’t happen overnight and that Elliot and I will probably never have the kind of father and son relationship that I want, but at least we can be friends.
“I’m going to go lay with Zoe for a while,” I say softly to my father as I stand from the rocker. “You stay and visit with your granddaughter for as long as you like.”
He looks up at me and his eyes are watery.
Fuck! Please don’t make this awkward.
I pat his shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Before I can move my hand, he places his hand over mine, squeezing it gently.
“Thank you Charlie,” he says quietly.
I just nod, swallowing the lump of emotion and walk over to the bed to be with my wife.
Epilogue
Zoe - Almost Three Years Later
I stand in the dining area in front of the big window that overlooks the back of the beach house and let my gaze roam. My lips curl into a smile when my gaze lands on the four individuals in the infinity pool located on the massive patio.
Two, soon to be three-year-old Carter is wearing water wings and dog paddling as Charlie walks beside her in the waist-deep water. My three-year-old nephew, Elijah is doing the same as Isaac walks beside him.
Both Carter and Elijah have been attending weekly ‘Daddy and Me’ swim classes back in Richmond. So far, they are world-class dog paddlers and both will start formal swim lessons next year.
I let my gaze return to roaming and I see four more individuals frolicking on the beach below - I presume Maddie, Ivy, Wood and Judah - since the beach below is private. We are on our annual group vacation and we have returned to a place we have been before - Barbados. We even managed to rent the same beach house that we rented back then too.
This year we are taking the trip earlier than our usual November date. We are vacationing in September this year because Livy would have been in her third trimester of pregnancy if we went in November. Something her doctor did not advise.
And speaking of Livy, she comes to stand beside me, still looking sleepy as she rubs her five-month baby bump - which looks more like a seven or eight-month bump since she is carrying twins.
“Good nap?” I ask as I bump her shoulder lightly.
She nods as she looks out the window. “Yeah, but I woke up starving.”
I chuckle softly. “I just made chicken salad.” I say. “It’s in the fridge if you want some.”
She gives me a quick side hug and hurries to the fridge.
I let my gaze wander back to the outside and I just feel happy.
Hell, I am happy!
As if on cue, another source of my happiness makes her presence known. Soft baby babbling directs my attention to the portable crib a few feet away from me. I walk over and my ten month old daughter, Riley, is awake from her nap.
I pick her up and she babbles happily, showing me the few teeth in her mouth. I cradle her to me for a few minutes, closing my eyes as I relish her sweet baby smell and her small warm body.
I kiss the soft, sandy-brown hair on her head and smile when I feel a familiar arm wrap around my waist.
Charlie.
“Hey,” he says softy kissing my cheek before kissing Riley’s head.
“Hey,” I respond back, turning towards him and seeing that Carter is in his arms, her head laying on his shoulder and she is almost asleep.
“You wore her out, huh?”
He gives me that sexy smirk that I still love - so much.
“Maybe,” he says. “Let me go change her clothe
s and put her down for her nap.”
“Okay,” I say as he turns to walk away, but I grip his arm.
“Charlie.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
He steps closer to me, before giving me a sweet kiss. “I love you too Zoe Baby.”
The End.
Thank you for reading Love & Happiness - Book 3 of the Sexy Secrets Series.
I would love to know what you thought about Love & Happiness. Good or bad, please feel free to leave a review!
Check out my Pinterest page (https://www.pinterest.com/nycolesbailey/) for visuals of how I see my characters and check out my website - www.nycolesbailey.com - to delve deeper into my naughty thoughts and to see what I am working on next.
Coming Soon
Too Soon? - Book 3.5 - a novella of the Sexy Secrets Series
Love Between Friends - Book 4 (and final) book of the Sexy Secrets Series
Happy Reading!
Nycole
Love & Happiness (Sexy Secrets Book 3) Page 16