Lakeside Hospital Box Set

by Cara Malone

  Mercedes laughed. “Okay, give me Sarah’s number and I’ll ask her. Thank you.”

  “Help me bring this beautiful baby into the world and we’re even,” Lily said.

  Labor proceeded slowly, just like Mercedes had predicted. Mercedes used her professional sway – along with Lily’s – to get her set up in a private delivery room, and then while she was making arrangements for her mother’s house, Lily called her own parents.

  Her mom had a minor meltdown, talking a mile a minute and telling her that she was with a client but she’d drop everything and come to the hospital immediately. Lily had laughed and told her to take a deep breath, then come when she was done with her meeting. It was going to be a while.

  When Mercedes came back into the room, she asked, “Should we call your obstetrician now?”

  Lily shook her head. She took Mercedes’ hands in hers and said, “When we first met, I was completely mortified at the idea of having my feet up in stirrups and seeing you between my legs.”

  “A lot has changed,” Mercedes said, giving her a wink and adding, “We could get some stirrups for at home if you want.”

  Lily laughed and batted at Mercedes’ shoulder. “I just meant that I didn’t want you to see me that way because you were so intimidatingly attractive in addition to being intimidatingly good at your job.” She paused as another small contraction knotted her belly, then added, “But now, I can’t think of anything more special than having my fiancée deliver my – our – baby. Are you up for that?”

  Her cheeks colored as she said the word our. She thought she was done blushing over Mercedes, but apparently the woman still had the power to overwhelm her. She waited with baited breath for Mercedes’ response.

  “I would love nothing more,” she said. She kissed Lily, then said, “But we should still call your OB – professional courtesy to explain why her services are no longer needed.”

  Lily agreed and Mercedes climbed into the bed with Lily, propping her upright and sitting behind her to give her a calming neck massage. They talked to Lily’s obstetrician, and then Mercedes’ hands worked lower over Lily’s back and spine.

  Lily melted into her and Mercedes said, “I bet your other doctors don’t have this kind of bedside manner.”

  “I better not see this on my hospital bill,” Lily teased.

  Her mom arrived within the hour. Even though she’d told her to take her time, that it would be hours before the baby came, she knew her mother had found the first excuse to cut her client meeting short and fly to her daughter’s bedside. Mercedes assured her that Lily’s labor was progressing well and all signs pointed to a healthy, uneventful delivery, but that didn’t stop Lily’s mom from flitting around the room like a hummingbird, looking desperately for things she could do to help.

  “Is your pillow soft enough? Too soft?” she asked. “Do you have your birthing bag or do you need someone to go to your house and get it?”

  “It’s right over there, Mom,” Lily said, laughing at her frenetic energy. “I started carrying it with me just in case over two weeks ago.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing that you did!” her mom said. “What about ice chips? I liked sucking on ice chips when I was giving birth.”

  “Sure, Mom,” Lily said with a laugh. “I’ll give it a try.”

  She left in search of the ice machine and Mercedes came to Lily’s bedside. “Are you ready for this?”

  “Giving birth or the world’s most enthusiastic grandma?” Lily asked. She joked, but her heart was so full in that moment, she could not have asked for a single thing to change. It was perfect. Then the smile fell off her face. “Oh my god. My water just broke.”

  “Let’s have a baby!” Mercedes said with a broad grin. Then she laughed and added, “And let’s get you some fresh sheets.”

  Lily gave birth to a beautiful, eight-pound baby girl with a full head of hair just after the clock ticked over into the next day.

  Her mother held her hand through the last of her exertions while Mercedes helped her bring their daughter into the world. Lily’s dad and brothers were napping in the waiting area, along with most of her Lakeside friends after they’d gotten off their shifts, and as soon as Mercedes and the delivery nurse got the baby cleaned up and swaddled, they placed her on Lily’s chest and she told them to bring everyone into the room.

  “Are you sure?” her mom asked. “You want all those people in here right now?”

  “Every single one of them is part of my family,” Lily said. “I want to share this moment with them all.”

  Her mom left and the delivery nurse hung back while Mercedes joined Lily at the head of the bed. She looked down into her daughter’s eyes for the first time, tears of joy cloying at the back of her throat. She was the most perfect baby Lily had ever seen, with a doll-like upturned nose and adorably chubby cheeks. When Lily ran the back of her finger over them, her daughter’s mouth twitched, seeking her.

  “She’s beautiful,” Mercedes whispered, stroking the baby’s hair. “What’s her name?”

  “I was thinking about Cadence,” Lily said. “There were a few different names I had in mind, but now that I’ve met her…”

  She trailed off as her daughter opened her eyes for the first time and stole her breath away.

  “Cadence is perfect,” Mercedes said, gently pushing the damp hair off of Lily’s forehead.

  “Yes, she is,” Lily answered.

  Then the room filled with a swarm of people. They all crowded around Lily’s bed and she beamed proudly at them. This truly was the moment she’d been waiting her whole life for, and she couldn’t believe how incomplete the picture had been when she imagined doing it without Mercedes by her side.

  “Everyone, this is Cadence,” she said, quietly as her daughter’s eyes fluttered shut again for the moment. Then she looked at Mercedes and added, “And we have some big news.”

  “You’re getting married!” Chloe joked, and when Lily just raised an eyebrow at her, she thought Chloe might faint from happiness. “Wait, are you serious?”

  “She asked me right before I went into labor,” Lily explained. “And of course, I couldn’t say yes fast enough.”

  She and Mercedes had already shared the news with her mom when she arrived at the hospital – and true to her nature, her mother had taken advantage of the dull moments in between contractions to start planning out the wedding.

  “It’ll be something small,” Mercedes explained, glancing down at Cadence as she said, “A family affair.”

  “When?” Chloe demanded, and Ivy nudged her with her elbow, amused at her enthusiasm.

  “I’m taking three months off for my maternity leave,” Lily said. “I think my mom would have a heart attack if we made her plan a wedding, even a small one, in less than four months, but we want to start our lives together as soon as possible, so we’re thinking about May.”

  “A spring wedding,” Alex said, pulling Megan into a hug. “That sounds lovely.”

  “So save us a Saturday in May,” Mercedes teased. “You better all be there.”

  “You couldn’t keep us away if you wanted to,” Jace said.

  “But for right now, we ought to let this new family get some rest,” Lily’s dad said, for which she was grateful. It was so nice to be surrounded by everyone she cared about in such an important moment, but her eyelids were growing heavy and Cadence had settled into a comfortable sleep in her arms. Bringing new life into the world was exhausting work. “Come on, everyone. Let’s get out of their hair.”

  Everyone took turns congratulating Lily and Mercedes and cooing over the baby, and slowly they filed out of the room.

  “So many weddings!” Chloe exclaimed as she and Ivy headed for the door. “First Megan and Alex, then Krys and Darcy. I thought for sure we’d beat Lily and Mercedes to the altar.” She put one hand on her hip and asked, “When is it going to be our turn?”

  “Babe, you’re already mine forever,” Ivy said just before they turned out of
the doorway and disappeared beyond sight.

  Lily’s parents were the last to go, and then Mercedes lifted Cadence out of Lily’s arms. She let out a small cry at being disturbed, then settled again as Mercedes rocked her. Lily watched in awe as the woman she loved cradled their daughter, and when Mercedes caught her looking, she asked, “What?”

  “I just can’t believe this is my life,” Lily said. “It’s perfect.”

  “Yeah, it really is,” Mercedes said. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you, too.”

  After a couple of minutes, Mercedes put Cadence in a basinet right beside the bed, then she came around to the other side of the hospital bed and crawled in next to Lily. “Are you in any pain? Uncomfortable? Do you need anything?”

  “No,” Lily said. “I’m great.”

  Mercedes snuggled in next to her, careful as she wrapped her arms around Lily and looked over her shoulder at their sleeping child. Lily’s eyelids grew heavy again and just before she drifted into blissful sleep, Mercedes whispered in her ear, “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you, Lily Thomas.”

  Epilogue

  Mercedes

  The wedding was on an unseasonably warm May afternoon. Mercedes and Lily had been perfectly content to let Lily’s mother take over most of the planning to get the event into gear, and when they arrived at the pavilion that she’d rented, everything looked beautiful.

  Mercedes was in a neatly tailored suit – white this time instead of her signature black – with Cadence tucked into a soft cotton sling against her chest that they’d bought especially for the purpose. She was still too young and spent too much of her time sleeping to be a significant part of the ceremony, but Mercedes and Lily decided that it was important for her to be right by their sides the whole time. This was a marriage of their new family just as much as a union between the two of them.

  On her arm, the most beautiful woman in the world walked beside her.

  Lily was wearing a flowing white dress that would have been perfectly in place at a beach wedding. It swirled around her legs and nearly reached the ground, and Mercedes had a hard time not admiring the swell of her breasts in that dress as they got ready together an hour before.

  “How did I get so damn lucky?” she’d asked as she zipped Lily into the dress and wondered if they had time for one last pre-nuptial tryst.

  “I’ve been asking myself the same question,” Lily had said, turning around and straightening the knot of Mercedes’ tie.

  The last couple of months had been a blur of feedings, nap time, diapers, wedding planning and happy exhaustion. Mercedes’ things had arrived from Seattle and she’d tried her hardest not to be neurotic about where they should go as she and Lily unpacked it all and made Lily’s home into hers, too.

  Dr. Ross had been more than happy to extend Mercedes a full-time job offer at Lakeside – he’d practically jumped at the chance – and she’d insisted on a three-month maternity leave to match Lily’s. In that time, she finished up her research with Dr. Knowlton long-distance and with the help of all her new friends as well as her sister, she’d gotten her mother’s house cleaned up enough that the sheriff agreed to let her keep living in it. The work there wasn’t done, but her mom was still seeing Dr. Silva every week and things had gotten a lot better – she even hosted the rehearsal dinner in her recently excavated dining room.

  Most importantly, there had been Lily and Cadence. The time was flying so fast and Cadence was showing her personality more and more every day. Mercedes could never decide what she loved more – watching Cadence babble happily in her rocker, or seeing the way Lily’s eyes lit up every time she picked up their daughter.

  Now they had just one weekend of maternity leave left. Lily’s Graft 3D machine was almost ready to be put into action and they were both eager to get back to work and embark on the next challenge – finding a balance between the family they’d built and the work they loved.

  “Are you sure you’re okay with putting off the honeymoon?” Mercedes had asked Lily as they got into the car to drive to the beautiful botanical garden that Lily’s mom had booked for their wedding venue.

  “The whole last year that I spent with you has been a honeymoon in my eyes,” Lily said as she tucked Cadence carefully into the back seat of the car. “I don’t need anything special, and besides – Cady’s so young, I can’t leave her right now.”

  “Okay,” Mercedes said, circling Lily in her arms. She’d quickly shed the baby weight and Mercedes was having fun exploring the new curves of her figure all over again. “But maybe in six months, or next year, as soon as we’re able to bear leaving Cady with your mom for a few days, I’m taking you on a romantic getaway. I’ve been itching to recreate that night in the hotel room in Phoenix – one of the best of my life.”

  “Me too,” Lily said. She pressed her body against Mercedes, her breasts meeting Mercedes’ in a way that was new and exciting. Mercedes felt a shiver of desire wriggle its way through her body and she squeezed Lily’s hips in a way that left no room for interpretation.

  I want you.

  Lily bit Mercedes’ lower lip teasingly, then pulled back and said, “We can’t be late to our own wedding. Let’s go.”

  “Okay, but can we leave early?” Mercedes asked teasingly.

  Everyone else had already arrived by the time Mercedes and Lily walked up the flower-studded path to the pavilion. It was a small crowd – just their immediate families and their closest friends – and everyone turned to beam at them as they made their approach.

  Mercedes leaned in and whispered in Lily’s ear, “We never did make it to the botanical garden in Phoenix. Your mom doesn’t know that story, does she?”

  “No,” Lily said. “She just always loved this place and said it would make a beautiful wedding venue.”

  “A happy accident, then,” Mercedes said, kissing Lily’s temple as Cadence squirmed happily against her chest.

  Jewel met them at the end of the makeshift aisle that split the pavilion in two, chairs on either side for their guests. Mikey and Faith were at her side and she reached out to adjust Mercedes’ tie.

  “Why is everyone always doing that?” she asked, letting her sister smooth the tie. “I know how to tie a Windsor knot.”

  “Nervous habit,” Jewel said with a shrug. “We just want you to look your best.”

  “Come on now,” Mercedes said with a joking grin. “I always do.”

  “You don’t have to convince me,” Lily said.

  “Alright, save it for the after party,” Jewel teased. “Are you ready to get married?”

  “I can’t wait,” Mercedes said.

  “Good, because I’ve got your ring bearer and your flower girl here,” Jewel said, turning Mikey and Faith around to face the front of the pavilion. They were a little bit older than the average ring bearer and flower girl, but Mercedes was thrilled that they’d been eager to take part in the wedding.

  “Do you remember what we rehearsed?” she asked them, and they nodded solemnly, taking their duties very seriously.

  Jewel went back to her seat and Megan stood up at the front of the pavilion. She’d gotten ordained so that Mercedes and Lily could have the wedding of their dreams, where every part of the ceremony and the reception was a labor of love from their friends and families. Lily’s mother planned the event, Megan would marry them, Alex and Sarah had worked together to put together a meal, and Chloe had baked two dozen cupcakes for the dessert, decorating them with the help of Ivy and her surgical precision.

  Mercedes’ mom got up and turned on the stereo, the soft melody of the wedding march slowly building until it filled the pavilion. Mercedes took Lily’s hand in hers and they walked down the aisle together, eager to make their beautiful family official.

  Read the final installment in the Lakeside Hospital series

  Sparks fly as a people-pleasing paramedic and a hardened ER nurse clash in the final installment of the bestselling Lakeside Hospital medical ro
mance series.

  Sarah would do anything for her friends. Whether it’s dog-walking, babysitting, or even planning someone else’s wedding around her demanding paramedic shifts, the word ‘no’ isn’t part of her vocabulary. But everyone cracks under pressure eventually, and Sarah’s breaking point comes one day when she’s delivering a patient to the Emergency Room and finds herself the focus of the nurse’s attention, instead.

  When a cute paramedic passes out in her arms, Veronica wonders whether there’s anyone left in the world who can take care of themselves. First her long-time girlfriend cheats on her, then she expects Veronica to comfort her about the betrayal, and now the paramedics are dropping like flies. She hydrates Sarah – and lectures her on not letting her friends take advantage of her – and tries to ignore the surprising chemistry that builds between them.

  Could this tender-hearted fool be the soulmate she’s been waiting for all these years? Unless Veronica can break her cardinal rule and give Sarah a second chance, their future is doomed to remain hypothetical.

  Preorder Mouth to Mouth now

  Sneak Peek: Mouth to Mouth

  Sarah Robinson’s vision went dark for a split second when she stood up inside the cramped space at the back of the ambulance.

  Was the world tilting sideways?

  It couldn’t be, because she had a 42-year-old woman named Maria lying on the gurney beside her who was clutching her chest and muttering a prayer under her breath about making it through this heart attack to see her daughter graduate high school next week. It was Sarah’s responsibility - her job - to make sure that happened, and even though her stomach had been growling and gnawing at her all morning, this was no time to feel faint.

  “Keep that oxygen mask on, Maria,” Sarah reminded her, nudging the plastic dome back down over the woman’s mouth. “We just pulled up to Lakeside Hospital and they’re going to take good care of you here.”