Player's Challenge
Page 18
“Now, now you insisted on a drug-free birth, Gemma,” Dr. Patel reminded her.
“I know…I know.” She gritted her teeth. “So when can I get this over with?”
“Let me go and suit up.”
“Really?” The cup in Gemma’s hand fell into her lap.
“You’re ten centimeters. So yes, we can begin.”
Gemma turned to Devin and he suddenly reminded of the teenager he’d fallen in love with.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too.” He dabbed at her brow with a damp washcloth. “Everything is going to be okay. This time tomorrow, we’ll be holding our son.”
“About the no sex thing,” she panted, beset with another round of contractions. “I didn’t mean it...I still want three…or four towheads…running around the house.”
Devin grinned, but inwardly he was shaking like a leaf. “It’s up to you, babe.” If this was their first and only child, it didn’t matter to him as long as he had her. Getting and keeping Gemma in his life had been such a challenge, he didn’t think he would survive if she left him or something happened to her.
Dr. Patel returned with two nurses in tow. All of them were suited up in blue hospital scrubs.
“We heard there’s a party in here,” one of the nurses crowed. Sporting a smile, she wheeled a hospital bassinet into the corner.
Gemma raised her hand in the air. “Party’s over here.”
The other nurse handed Devin a set of scrubs. “I love seeing you in your Croydon kit, so I can’t wait to see you in these.”
Devin hustled into the ensuite bathroom and changed. When he emerged, the pillows had been restacked behind Gemma’s back and she lay on her side in a fetal position. She glanced up and smiled. Tears glittered in her brown eyes.
“I waited for you.” She held out her hand to him and he grasped it. “Ready to do this?”
“From the moment I laid eyes on you.” Devin wasn’t exaggerating. He’d mapped out their entire future within the first five minutes of meeting her.
“I—” gasping, Gemma strangled his hand.
“Okay, Mrs. Spencer. Let’s slide down a little,” Dr. Patel instructed. “Place your feet in the stirrups.”
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to do this,” Gemma sniffed. She blinked and then tears started to stream down her cheeks.
Devin pushed her hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. “You can do anything, you set your mind to,” he encouraged. “You got me, didn’t you?”
Like he’d hoped, she giggled.
Twenty minutes later their son, sans hair and with features so much like Devin’s, but brown as a peanut entered the world kicking and screaming at the top of his tiny lungs.
Drowsy, fighting exhaustion, Gemma rocked Jackson Anthony Spencer in her arms. “He’s so beautiful,” she whispered.
Devin puffed out his chest, the pride rolling off him in waves. “He’s going to be a lady killer.”
“Just like his father.”
He leaned forward and kissed the tip of her nose. “Thank you for making me the happiest man in the world.”
Before she broke down into tears, she decided to bring up something that had been bothering her ever since they’d arrived at the hospital.
“Are you going to finally tell me what’s in the box?” Her eyes drifted to the large, beribboned package sitting beside his chair. “I hope it isn’t another baby shower gift. We have onesies streaming out of our ears.”
Sporting a devilish grin, Devin set the box on the bed. “Wanna trade?” he asked, arms held out for their son.
Not ready to hand her baby over just yet, Gemma shook her head. “You do the honors.”
Devin pulled on the chocolate-colored bow then lifted the lid. “I picked it up from the boutique two days ago. Can you believe I was on a waiting list?” He pulled out a kelly green satchel identical to the one he’d thrown out the window of his car almost two years ago.
Gemma’s mouth dropped open.
“I thought it only fitting I replace it. After all, it brought us together.” He placed the bag on her lap.
“You’re insane,” she said, promptly dismissing the gift.
“And head over heels in love with you.” He kissed her again, this time a long lingering one which had her already thinking about making more babies.
“I love you, too.”
Gemma almost wanted to pinch herself. With the only man she’d ever loved sitting beside her, and her son in her arms, life couldn’t be more perfect than this.
THE END
About the Author
Koko Brown is a quintessential erotic romance junkie who’s writing career began at the tender age of nine when she self-published and distributed a newspaper to her fellow classmates. Unfortunately, her principal put her out of business after one best-selling issue. Undaunted, she continued to write and read everything she could get her hands on until she published her first erotic novel in 2007. When not writing or reading, Koko loves to travel, shop in thrift stores, ride motorcycles, and serving as a volunteer.
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Table of Contents
Blurb
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Epilogue