Save Me
Page 19
“Which one is he?” Nathan asks me, his face almost pressed to the glass outside of the nursery.
I point to Asher who’s sleeping while all the babies around him cry and want attention. “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”
Nathan laughs and slaps me on the back. “He’s absolutely beautiful. Congrats bro. You’re a daddy now.”
“Yeah. I can’t believe it.” And I really can’t. I know he was inside of Rachel for nine months, but I didn’t have much to do with that. Sure, I saw him on ultrasounds and I felt him when he kicked in Rachel’s stomach sometimes. But now he’s real, as in, he’s outside of her stomach now.
“Please don’t faint. Royal and Channing went to go get you some coffee.” I’ll need it. Everyone else got to sleep while we waited. Rachel was too drugged up to even notice what was going on. Well, until thirty minutes before she started pushing. She just sat up in bed and said let’s do this. Her father delivered and while I know that’s weird, he didn’t want anything to go wrong. He said she was a natural at it though. I kind of figured she would be.
“I’m not going to faint. I’m just overwhelmed. It wasn’t real to me until he was born. Now I’m like, what the fuck do I do?” I wipe the cold sweat off my forehead.
Nathan chuckles and puts his arm around my shoulders as we look over my kid. “You just be you. Isn’t that what you told Bess? That’s all you can do. Don’t force it or overthink it. Just go with instinct.”
I grin at Nathan, who has always been way too wise. “Thanks for being here man.”
Nathan clears his throat and smiles at me. “Wouldn’t be anywhere else. You have certainly taken me on an adventure.”
I shake the hair on his head before I turn back to the room Rachel is in. I walk in to find her sleeping, her mother beside her bed. “Ah, you’re here now! I want to go get a better look at my grandbaby!” Michele, which is Mrs. Sander’s first name, exclaims, getting out of her chair and fleeing the room.
“I never thought our parents could get any crazier. But, apparently, grandbabies make them act like toddlers again. I swear Mom and Lily were going to fight over who got to hold him first,” Rachel mumbles from the bed.
I walk over and climb up on the side of the narrow bed. She moves over a little bit but I don’t need much room if I lay on my side. I throw my arm over her stomach and nuzzle my nose into her neck. “You doing okay? You need anything?”
She shakes her head and smiles against my forehead. “No. You’re here now. That’s all I need. Well, and a healthy baby, but he’s being taken care of right now, so I don’t have to worry about that.”
“You were worried about me?” I ask, my face still shoved in her neck.
She nods against my head this time. “I thought you were going to get sick when you got a look at my vag.” She kisses my forehead now. “Don’t worry, baby, it’ll go back to normal. I swear. And we are lucky we only had one. I can’t imagine my moms vag after having twins.”
I laugh so hard I have to move my arm so I don’t jiggle Rachel around. “That is a visual I don’t need in my head.”
She laughs softly too before I cuddle back into her. I think we fall asleep because the next thing I know, my mother is waking me up and I can hear a very unhappy baby in the room. “Get up, Courtney. Rachel has to feed Asher.”
I shake the sleep from my head and get up out of the bed. The nurse goes to get him out, but I stop her with a hand on her arm. “Can I?”
She beams at me and nods. I gently pick the crying baby up and he instantly stops. His hazel eyes open and look right at me. “Hey little buddy. You ready for the good milk? Not that nasty shit your mother was telling me about?”
He, of course, doesn’t answer, but I don’t care. I walk over to Rachel and set him into her waiting arms. “Your daddy needs to watch his language around sensitive ears. Mommy might have to smack him.” She coos as she guides him to her breast.
There is nothing more beautiful than what I’m seeing now. My wife and my son. It’s more than I can handle and I feel a few tears drop from my eyes. I don’t even care so I don’t wipe them away. I’m not ashamed by the sight of my family. There’s nothing more important than the two people in front of me. I can cry all I want to.
Rachel looks up at me and smirks. “I always knew you were a softy. Come get up here with us. No need to stand there like a creepy stalker.”
There’s my Rachel, always a smartass. “Okay, G.”
I climb back on the bed where my wife feeds my son and I know I’m home. And nothing in this world will ever make me leave this home. Not a crazy bitch named Annabella. Not a brother I didn’t know was my brother. And, definitely, not an unplanned teen pregnancy. They are all I’ll ever need. And maybe a few more babies.
The End
Sneak look for Ashley and Victor’s story
“Kiss me,” Victor whispers against my lips.
“No.”
“Kiss me, dammit.” I want to smile because there is nothing sexier than Victor when he’s mad.
“I said no.”
“Ashley…you better freaking kiss me,” he murmurs, his honey eyes growing more intense with each refusal.
“N. O.” I spell out, knowing it’ll drive him even crazier. We play this game, you see. We have since we were teenagers. Victor’s the predator and I’m the prey.
“I’m going to take what I want. You know I am.” His voice gets sexier with each word that passes his lips.
Ever since I left him ten months ago, I stopped being the good little prey. Yeah, I started fighting back. “Take it. I’ll never give you what you want. I’m not your sweet little Ash anymore.”
He chuckles darkly, wrapping his arms around my waist. “You’ll give me what I want. You always give me what I want.” He nuzzles my nose and I can feel the sparks flying between us. “Now. Freaking. Kiss. Me.”
Kiss Me (Make or Break, #4)
Coming at some point this year. Hopefully early fall!
About the Author
I live in southern Arkansas with my husband and young daughter. There is also an insane Boston Terrier running around. I've always been a lone wolf and find my friends in books. I started writing at a young age and I haven't stopped since. Most days you can find me either glued to my laptop or my kindle. My first novel, This Beautiful Thing was an Amazon best seller for 11 weeks and a year later I'm still tickled to see people enjoy it. I may not be a huge seller but I have the best fans ever and I thank God everyday for every single one of them.
Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amanda-Heath-Author/366675930074785?ref=hl
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Dawn, Jessy, Shanora, Lisa, and Tamsyn who I would go crazy in this community without. Sometimes I feel as if I’ve walked back into high school but those ladies make it better. They don’t feed me bullshit or brown nose their way into my life. They are there with words or wisdom or laughter. Or they just plain talk dirty to me (cough) Dawn.
Ena who has set up all the release day blitz and blog tours for this series. She gets the job done and is a sweetheart. I’m glad there is someone out there like you who can make my life just that much easier.
Nicole Bailey gets a big thank you. I’ve had horrible luck with editors since I released my first book. It was a godsend when she emailed me offering her services. She does an amazing job. She doesn’t complain about my bad grammar and points out all my mistakes because I’m too stubborn to see them. You make my author world go around!
Finally to my husband who cleans our house and does our dirty dishes while I catch up on reading at the end of a long writing day. He doesn’t complain about it, he just does it. Plus he loves my crazy ass and that’s saying something.
I also haven’t forgotten all my loyal readers who read all my stories. I want to send a special thank you to Alexandra who sent her friend to Charleston to meet me at Indie Girl Con. Just hearing I helped you make it through chemo was enough to make me ugly cry. I’ve watched
my little cousin fight his way through that and I can understand your pain. Fingers crossed you don’t have to have anymore. Everyone else, I love your asses and I hope you stick with me to the end! <3