by J B Heller
I rounded the car and jumped in behind the wheel. I pulled out of the dingy parking lot and took the most direct route to the closest hospital. My tyres screeched as I pulled into the emergency parking bay. I ran around to get Mia and lifted her out of the seat just as a contraction hit. She curled over in my arms and cried out as I ran through the automatic doors.
A nurse approached with a worried look on her face. “She’s having the baby, but she’s not due for another three weeks,” I said.
The nurse nodded and spun around saying, “Follow me.” I followed her to the elevator reserved for the staff, and she hit a button. A moment later, the doors slid open and we were off again. We went past a nurses’ station and right into a birthing suite.
As carefully as I could manage, I lowered Mia to the queen-sized bed and placed her against the pillows. “You got this, baby. We’re here now, and it’s going to be alright.” I didn’t know if I was reassuring her or me, but we both needed it.
“How long have the contractions been going?” asked another woman who had followed us into the room.
I looked at Mia for the answer, but she shook her head and braced for another. “I don’t know. She was kidnapped and knocked around a bit, so I’m not sure. She hasn’t been able to speak to me yet,” I hurriedly explained. The other woman stood staring at me in shock. “Do something!” I yelled at her.
She shook her head and said, “Right, I’m sorry. I’m Timna, and I’ll be your midwife. I need to check if she’s dilated yet, and if so, how far.” She turned her attention to Mia. “Sweetie, I’m going to remove your pants now. I have to examine you.” Mia nodded.
I went to take a step back, but Mia’s little hand reached out for me, so I moved closer again and sat on the edge of the bed by her side. I slid one of my arms around her shoulder and took her hand with the other.
“You’re fully dilated. When you feel the urge to push, you can,” Timna said to Mia.
Mia’s beautiful doe eyes turned up to mine, and I gave her shoulder a squeeze. “I’m right here, Pretty Girl. We’ll do it together,” I said with a kiss to her forehead.
“When your next contraction comes, I want you to bear down and push. Can you do that for me?” the midwife asked Mia. Mia’s only response was again a single nod.
I watched as determination swept over Mia’s features. I knew she had it in her to do this, even under such god-awful circumstances. I helped her when she started to sit up, and I moved behind her body to help brace her. When the contraction came, she hunched forward and pushed with a deep guttural groan.
“Very good, sweetie. I can see the head. That’s really good. Just two more pushes, and I think we’ll have a baby. You’re doing great,” the midwife encouraged as Mia’s body fell back against my chest.
I smoothed her hair back off her face. “You hear that, baby? Just two more pushes, and you’ll be holding our little girl in your arms,” I said against her sweat-soaked neck.
“Boy,” she murmured, and I laughed.
I felt Mia’s body begin to tense as the next contraction began to build, and she pulled herself up again. Her whole body locked down as she pushed, and another deep, coarse groan was ripped from within her. She dropped back against me, panting when it eased.
“We have a head with lots of beautiful dark curls,” Timna announced. “Just one more push, and you’re done, honey.”
When the next one started, Mia was ready for it, having already shuffled up and taken hold of the backs of her knees, when it tore through her, she pushed with new-found determination.
When it was over she breathed a sigh of relief then sat up a little and looked down between her legs, tears filled her eyes. “Girl,” she whispered. Then a perfect tiny cry filled the room, and tears pooled in my eyes.
In my arms, I held the most beautiful little creature I’d ever seen. And sure enough, my baby was indeed a girl. Just like everyone except me had suspected. I gazed down into her big blue eyes and felt my love for her bloom in my chest. I never knew I could feel so much.
Kai sat behind me, holding my body upright and wrapped his arms around the both of us. “What should we call her?” I asked him.
“I like Belle,” he said. “It suits her perfectly, it does mean beautiful, after all.”
A big yawn stretched her tiny mouth, and it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen. “What about Annabelle? I’ve always like that name. You know the teacher who took extra time to teach me how to fight in school?” I asked him I felt his body grow tight, but he nodded. “Her name was Annabelle.”
“Annabelle it is, then,” he said with a kiss to my shoulder. “What about a middle name?”
I thought hard as I stared at my gorgeous daughter. I’d been positive I was having a boy, so I hadn’t given any earlier thought to girl names. Just then, there was a commotion outside the door to our suite, and Ivy came bursting through the door like a woman on a mission. I smiled at her and then my baby girl. “Ivy,” I said to Kai. “Annabelle Ivy Phillips.”
His arms tightened a fraction. “You’re going to give her my name?” he asked on a husky whisper. I could feel the emotions pouring off him.
“She’s ours,” I said simply. Because she was. Kai was her father in every way that mattered. And no paternity test would change that.
“She’s so big! Oh my god, look at all that hair. She’s so precious!” Ivy gushed completely missing the intense moment Kai and I were sharing.
“She’s not big,” Kai said “She’s only 6lb 3oz. That’s actually pretty small. You just had midgets,” Kai said to Ivy defensively.
“Huh, tiny you say. Tell that to my vagina,” I muttered. Both Kai and Ivy burst out laughing giving little Annabelle a fright, and she jumped in my arms and began to wail. It was a soft cry, and it made my heart melt. I cooed at her and swayed her ever so carefully in my arms, and she settled.
Sometime later, Axel showed up with his hand in a cast. “What happened?” I asked when I saw it. Had Trent hurt him?
Axel smiled and cleared his throat. “It would seem that a woman in labour possesses the strength of ten thousand men,” he said.
I had no idea what that meant. I looked at Kai, who was sitting shirtless in a seat beside my bed with Annabelle held against his chest as she slept. He lifted his shoulder, also having no idea what Axel was talking about. “I don’t get it,” I told him.
His broad shoulders slumped a little then he said in a soft voice, “You broke three bones in my hand.”
My eyes bugged out. I did that? Me? No, I couldn’t have. “Wh-what?”
He sighed deeply as he came to sit on the edge of my bed by my feet. “You were in the middle of a pretty nasty contraction, and I took your hand for some stupid reason. You squeezed the shit out of it, in turn, broke three of my fragile girly bones.”
“I, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean it. I don’t even remember doing it. Oh god, Axel, I’m really sorry.”
A devastating smile lifted his lips. “Don’t sweat it, sweet cheeks. The nurse who took care of me thought I was the best thing since sliced bread. Coming to the rescue of a pregnant chick and all.” He winked. “I’m taking her to a movie tonight.” Then he bounced his brows. “And who knows after that.”
I was mortified that I’d hurt him but even more so that he was using it to pick up. “That’s gross.”
He shrugged. “I’ve gotta use whatever I can get my hands on with these fuckers around.” He nodded towards Kai. “They snap up all the good ones before I even get there. Thank fuck they’re off the market. I might actually have a chance at finding a nice girl to make little Axels with now.”
Kai’s foot kicked out and made contact with Axel’s shin. “Watch your language in front of my princess.”
Axel bent over and rubbed his shin. “Jesus, fatherhood has shoved a stick up your arse, mate.”
Kai’s only response was a hard glare, and Axel lifted his hands in a placating gesture. “Alright, I’m sorry. I won’t curse around delicat
e ears.” Then he leaned over to get a better look at Annabelle. “Damn, she’s pretty just like her mumma, huh.”
Kai looked down on our baby with pride. “Yeah, she is.”
“Can I hold her?” Axel asked.
“No,” Kai shot back. “She’s mine. Get your own.”
Axel glared back at him. “I’m trying! But in the meantime, give me that baby.” He stood up and took a step towards Kai. “Come on, hand her over. It’s time for her to fall in love with Uncle Axel.”
I laughed, and Kai grumbled something under his breath as he carefully handed her over. Once she was securely in Axel’s arms, he instructed Axel, “Sit, you’ve got a broken hand. You’re lucky I’m even letting you hold her.”
“Fu— uh, I mean, jog on ya tool, I’m not going to drop such precious cargo,” he said while looking dreamily upon Annabelle’s sleeping face. “Damn, she’s beautiful. You better keep that gun licence up to date in her teen years, mate. I’ve got a feeling you’re going to need it.”
“Tell me about it,” Kai grumbled.
I laughed quietly, but they both noticed and shot me meaningful looks. “You laugh now, but just wait, you’ll see,” Axel said.
After Kai pried Annabelle from his arms, Axel left, all the while grumbling about Kai being a selfish bastard. I was tired and ready for a nap, so Kai asked the nurse to turn away any other visitors for the next couple of hours. And it was a good thing he did because Stella and Bray, Sloan and Dex, and Gabe all made an appearance but were turned away.
I slept like the dead for two straight hours. When I woke, I felt rejuvenated and wanted nothing more than to spend time with my little family. Kai had put Annabelle in the little bassinet by my bed and was lying next to me watching over us as we slept. “Hey,” I said as I woke.
He smiled down on me. “Hey, yourself.” Then pressed a kiss to my nose. “How you feeling?” he asked.
“Good actually.”
“Good because there’s something we need to talk about.” He paused. “Trent has been arrested for kidnapping. The cops are gathering the evidence to press charges as we speak. Gabe is handling everything, so you don’t need to worry about anything except making a statement when the cops come back later.”
I stayed completely still as he spoke. I hadn’t given Trent any thought since Axel had arrived at the apartment. Now it was all coming back, and I was faced with the horrifying prospect that if Axel hadn’t arrived when he did, Trent would have hurt my baby.
Pain ripped through my chest, and I grasped hold of Kai’s arm. “He was going to hurt her. He told me, he told me he was going to get rid of her.” I sobbed as he pulled me into his chest.
“He will never hurt you again. Do you understand, Mia? I won’t allow it. He isn’t going to get away with this. With your statement, the evidence of a struggle at our unit, as well as Gabe and Axel’s statements, he’ll be locked away for a long time.”
I nodded and held onto him for dear life. I owed this man so much. He hadn’t just saved my life all those months ago when he found me, but he’d saved my baby’s and taken her on as his own. I couldn’t possibly love him anymore if I tried.
CHAPTER TWENTY
THREE WEEKS LATER…
I had the best baby in the entire world I’d decided after Annabelle started sleeping through the night a week ago. She would have a feed at nine p.m. and then sleep through until five a.m. That counted as all night to me. It meant I got time alone with Kai and enough sleep that I could function semi normally.
Kai was by far the best man I had ever met, and Gabe and Axel weren’t far behind him in that department. Before I met them, I didn’t know that people could be this genuinely selfless. They had all come for me when Trent had taken me. None of them had given any thought to their own wellbeing. They’d just acted on instinct.
I now knew there was literally nothing Kai wouldn’t do for me. Including filling condoms with water and freezing them to soothe my sore who-ha. I’d needed five stitches after giving birth to Annabelle, and from what I’d read, I’d gotten off lucky.
Gabe had told Kai to take a few weeks off to spend with me and Bubba while we all settled into a routine. Today, would be Kai’s first day back at work since she was born. “Daddy will be home soon, baby. You be a good girl for mumma now. No more projectile spews, yeah?” he cooed to her as he walked to the door with her in his arms.
“I’m going to miss you, blossom,” he said. Then he kissed both her chubby cheeks and handed her back to me. “I’ll miss you too, Pretty Girl.” He winked and planted a swoon-worthy kiss on my lips before he closed the door behind him.
I sighed. “Your daddy is pretty amazing, baby girl,” I said as I carried her over to her swing in the corner of the lounge room. Ivy and the girls would be here soon to keep me company on Kai’s first day back at work.
Being a mother was hard, although I had gotten lucky with a particularly chilled out baby. But it was still nerve-racking. The first night she’d slept through, I’d nearly had a panic attack because she’d slept through her one a.m. feed. I didn’t know if I should wake her or leave her or what. I’d called Ivy, and she’d told me to leave her be. I did, and she’d done it every night since.
I got my special cushion and placed it at the end of the couch closest to Annabelle’s swing and lowered myself down onto it. I sat there, watching her as she drifted off to sleep while the swing swayed with a gentle rhythm, and thought about how much my life had turned around in the last year.
I’d been nothing and nobody a year ago. I’d had nothing of my own and no one who truly loved me. Now I had it all. Everything I could have ever dreamed of. A family of my own, a beautiful home, friends who actually cared about me, and a man who owned my heart and soul.
The sound of little girl’s laughter echoed through the door right before I heard the knock. “It’s open,” I called out, not being bothered to push myself back up off the couch.
Ivy let herself and the girls in. “Quiet now, baby Annabelle looks like she’s sleeping. You remember the rules—no waking sleeping babies,” she said sternly to the twins. They looked over at the swing and then back up to Ivy. “Yes, Mummy,” they said in unison.
I frowned. “When did they start saying that?”
Ivy smiled proudly at her daughters. “Not long ago. Maybe while you were in hospital?” She waved her hand. “It’s new, so no, you didn’t miss it.” She laughed.
“Where are my kisses? I need my kisses from my beautiful girls!” I said and waited for them to climb up to give me said kisses.
Gracie was on my lap in a flash and smothering my face with kisses. “Mia, baby Belle,” she said, pointing at Annabelle. I smiled wide nodding at her.
Then Tessie was at my back wrapping her arms around my neck. “Pretty baby,” she said also pointing at my sleeping cherub.
“Yes, I know, isn’t she lovely?” I said to them. “But we mustn’t wake her, or she will cry and get cranky with us,” I said. They both nodded together.
Ivy dropped a beach-sized bag of toys down beside the couch. “Here you go. Your toys are over here so you can play without waking little Annabelle.” The girls slid off the edge of the couch on their tummies and ran over to their toys.
“I need coffee,” Ivy declared. “You?”
“Oh god, yes,” I replied. Even though Annabelle was a fantastic sleeper, I was still dead on my feet most mornings since she would wake at five and stay that way until eight. It was now nine, and I hadn’t had a coffee yet. I needed the caffeine to wake me up today. Kai had been taking the morning shift, meaning after I fed her, he would take her out of our room and let me go back to sleep for a couple of hours.
He really was amazing. I sighed dreamily as I thought about all the amazing things about him. Ivy’s voice was like a bucket of cold water bringing me back to the moment. “Huh?” I said, not quite having caught what she was saying.
“You were thinking about when you get to have sex again, weren’t you?”
I blushed. “No.”
She smirked. “Yes, you were. I know that look.”
I looked at anything but her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Uh-ha, that’s why you’re blushing. Because you weren’t thinking about being able to rip his clothes off as soon as humanly possible.”
I gave up. “Fine, I was thinking about him naked. Happy?” I glared at her.
She ignored my glare and smiled knowingly. “Yep.” Then she placed a steaming cup of glorious caffeine on a coaster on the solid arm of the couch for me.
She made the best coffee ever. Seriously. I’d never met someone as serious about coffee as Ivy. And she’d rubbed off on me in a big way. I’d only been drinking coffee since I’d had Annabelle and only one a day at that, but throughout my pregnancy, Ivy had tortured me with the incredible aroma that would drift over to me from her side of the desk that we shared at McLeod Investigations.
The first one she’d made me could only be described as heaven in my mouth. It was that good.
“So you know you don’t have to wait the six weeks to get busy that all the books talk about, right?” Ivy said, pulling me from my coffee fog.
“I don’t?”
She shook her head, sending her shiny blonde hair over her shoulder. “Nope, you just have to wait until you stop bleeding. Then give it a couple of days, and as long as you feel up to it, you’re free to jump back on the horse. Or cock as the case may be.” She laughed.
I rolled my eyes. “You have problems, you know that?”
Her response was a shrug and, “You’ve met my husband.”
It was true. Gabe and Ivy were incredibly open about sex. It had taken some getting used to, but now I was glad for it. It made talking to her about girl stuff a lot easier. “So, how long did you guys wait?” I asked her.
“Four weeks. And it was pure torture. No lie. I mean, yeah, I was tired and exhausted, but I still had needs, you know? Like every time he’d walk out of the bathroom after having a shower and he hadn’t dried himself properly, I’d have to sit there just watching the water droplets roll down his back and over his—”