Rage's Redemption

by Erin Osborne

  I continue to let her know where the contraction is until it’s finally over with. Then I finish the message before putting my phone away again. About the same time, a nurse comes in to let us know that I have to leave her side to get gowned up. This is not going to work for me. Since Skylar has been through this before, she’s knocking on the door.

  “I don’t mean to interrupt your time together, I just know that Rage isn’t going to want to leave you alone,” she tells us. “Would it be okay if I sit with her while you get ready?”

  “Are you sure?” I ask her.

  “Yeah. I’ve been through this a time or two,” she says a smile gracing her face.

  “Is that okay with you firefly?”

  “Yeah. Get ready so we can meet our son and daughter.”

  I give her a kiss and follow the nurse out of the room. Really, I don’t want to be getting ready while she’s in another room, but it’s going to take the least amount of time so I’m doing it. Skylar will know what Keegan needs while I’m not in there. I just hope that it doesn’t take too long to bring her in the operating room our babies will be delivered in.

  Keegan

  I know that Rage didn’t want to leave me alone, but he did it because he’ll always do what is needed for the safety of his loved ones. There’s no one he loves more than his children and then me. Skylar has been amazing in his absence though. She knows exactly what I need without me saying a word.

  “Are you ready to go?” Doctor Sanchez asks.

  “I’m more than ready,” I tell her honestly.

  The nurses that came in the room with her are busy getting everything ready for me to go. Skylar stays by my side through the entire process. Finally, they’re ready to wheel me to the operating room. She walks with me as far as she can before making her way back to the rest of our family.

  Rage is waiting for me and makes his way to my side as soon as he’s allowed to. He takes a seat on the stool by my head as they make the final preparations. He’s holding my hand and telling me how proud of me he is.

  “Keegan and Rage, I’m about to make the incision that’s needed to deliver the twins. Once I get it made, it’s not going to be long before they’ll be out. Here we go.”

  I don’t feel a thing as Doctor Sanchez does what she has to do. Before too long, I do feel a little bit of pressure though. Right after that, we hear the cries of our first baby.

  “It’s a girl!” Doctor Sanchez announces.

  With the curtain they have up, I can’t see a thing so I ask Rage to stand up so he can see our baby. He does as I ask, not that I could really stop him if that’s what he wanted to do. I can feel his body trembling and I know it’s from the anticipation of seeing our daughter and having our son born next.

  “It’s a boy!” she announces second.

  Tears are streaming down my face as our son and daughter are finally here. I can’t wait to lay my eyes on them and see their perfect little faces. Rage is standing by my side watching all of the activity like a hawk. He’s trying to keep his eyes on both babies at one time.

  Finally, they bring our daughter over to us and hand her over to her daddy. He’s immediately head over heels in love with her, it’s written all over his face. Next a nurse brings our son over and hands him to Rage. I’ve never seen a better sight in my life. We’re just missin one extremely important person to make this picture complete.

  I’m back in my room and trying to rest. I don’t want to close my eyes and miss a second with the babies though. Rage, seeing my dilemma, tells me that if I don’t try to get some rest he’ll have the babies taken to the nursery. I know he doesn’t want them out of our sight. So, I lay back a little more and close my eyes.

  I’m not sure how much time has passed, but I wake up to crying. Instantly I look around for my twins. Their daddy is changing one of them so that he can bring them over to be fed. Before he’s done changing one baby, the other one starts crying. So, I try to get out of bed to help him.

  “Don’t even think about it,” he tells me without taking his attention off the baby in front of him. “I’m almost done so you can feed him.”

  I sit back and take down the front of my gown so that I can nurse our son while he tends to his little princess. Kasey needs to be in here with us. As soon as I’m done feeding them, I’m going to tell Rage we need her in here with us. Everyone else can wait a few minutes, but we need our daughter with us right now.

  Our son eats, and I hand him back over to his daddy while he hands me our daughter. Just from looking at them now, I think we both got our wish. Rage wanted a daughter that looked like me and I wanted our son to look like him. They each look like both of us, but she looks like me and he looks like his daddy. The best of both worlds if you ask me.

  “Can you bring in Kasey please? I want a few minutes with just us before everyone else descends on us.”

  “I was thinkin’ the same thing.”

  Rage leaves and is back before I know it with our daughter in his arms. He takes her to the first bassinet and leans her over so she can see her baby sister. Kasey tells us how pretty she is before leaning over to see her brother.

  “Daddy, he looks just likes you,” she tells us. “And sissy looks just likes mama!”

  “You’re right,” Rage tells her, laughter in his voice.

  “Takes me to mama please?” she asks.

  He brings her over to me and carefully sets her down on the bed beside me. She leans on my shoulder and wraps one little arm around the back of my neck. I wrap my arms around her and hold her close. If there was any way for her to have been in here with us, I would’ve had her with us. I just don’t think she was ready for this though.

  While we’re spending some family time together, she tells us all about what she did while waiting to come in here with us. We’re both laughing at the description of the men pacing back and forth and talking about ‘grown-up stuff.’ Then she tells us that Alice brought lots of games, books, and puzzles for the kids to keep them occupied. I’m surprised they didn’t stay at the clubhouse, but they’re family so I’m glad that everyone is here.

  “What are their names mama?” Kasey suddenly asks me.

  “Well, your little sister’s name is Lyric Rayne. And your brother’s name is Tyler Jaxon.”

  “I likes those names,” she tells us. “Do I gets to tell everyone?”

  “Do you want to?” Rage asks her.

  “Please?” she begs, giving her dad those puppy dog eyes neither one of can ever turn down.

  “Yes. Let me go get them.”

  Kasey and I sit together and wait for everyone to get in the room. It doesn’t take long, especially for the women. They’re so impatient to see the newest additions to the family. Bailey is carrying boxes with her and I can bet I know what’s inside them. I’ve heard all about her taking over the giving of the outfits from her mom.

  Once everyone is in the room, Kasey wait’s until she has everyone’s attention before letting them know the names of the babies. “My new baby’s names are Lyrics Rayne and Tylers Jaxon.”

  The women all ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over the names while the men all offer congratulations to their brother. Everyone is gathering around the bassinets and I know that it’s killing Rage to have them so close to Tyler and Lyric. He’s doing a great job of hiding his reaction though. I’m so proud of him. I can only imagine how he’s going to be once we get home with all the kids.

  Epilogue One

  Keegan

  One year later

  THE LAST YEAR HAS BEEN AMAZING. It took us a little bit to get into a routine, but once we found one that worked for us, there was no stopping us. Rage has been the overprotective dad I knew he was going to be. There’s been a few times that I told him to go out with the guys or I was going to go out with the girls with all the kids. He left for a while so that he wasn’t hovering. I didn’t necessarily want him to leave, but he needed to get out with some grown-ups.

  I love that he wants to spend ti
me with his children to see them learn and grow every day, but we both need to get out of the house too. That’s been another challenge to overcome. Rage trusts everyone in the club with his life, but he’s hesitant to leaving Lyric and Tyler with anyone. He’d rather be there for everything than have help. I’ve helped him see that we need time away with our friends and time away together.

  Today is the twin’s birthday. Rage is out getting the last-minute things we need while I help the girls decorate the pond. Jameson and Anthony are helping us keep and eye on the kids while we get everything set up. Grim and Tank are with us making sure the grill is ready to go so they can start cooking soon.

  “Dada! Dada!” I hear Tyler call out.

  Looking up from blowing up the kids floaties, I fall more in love with my husband. He’s carrying the cakes we ordered over to the tables while paying attention to Tyler. He’s been followed by the twins as they’re curious about every little thing around them. Once he sets the cakes down, he lifts them both up in his arms and lets them see their cake. Lyric starts clapping her hands and laughing. Tyler is trying to get closer to his cake almost throwing his dad off balance. He’s definitely got Rage’s stubborn streak.

  Rage and our children find ways every day to make me love them more and drive me crazy all at the same time. I wouldn’t change my life in any way though. I have a wonderful and crazy family, including the extended family members, I get closer to the girls every day, and Sami and Whitney are becoming as close to me as cousins should be. My life turned out better than I ever dreamed possible.

  Rage

  I wouldn’t change the last year for anything in the world. It’s been crazy and hectic at times, Keegan has kicked me out of the house once or twice, and Kasey is teaching her brother and sister everything she knows. I’m in trouble for sure. Especially when all three of them gang up on me and pull out the pouty lips and puppy dog eyes. I can’t tell them no.

  After eating lunch, Tyler and Lyric couldn’t wait any longer to get their cake. We stripped them down and, after singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to them, we let them have at it. I’ve never seen such little faces covered in so much icing and cake. Both of them basically smashed their face directly into their piece of cake before picking up the parts that weren’t already stuck to their faces with their little fists. I have a ton of pictures of them and I know Keegan does too. Some of them will definitely be getting hung on the walls of the house!

  It’s time for the kids to open their gifts and we call them over from playing so they can sit in the shaded area by the pond. Keegan sits behind Lyric to help her out while I help Tyler. It’s amazing to see the excitement on their little faces as they open every new thing. Sometimes they’d rather play with the boxes, but we set them aside and move on to the next present.

  “Before we all go back to swimmin’ and playin’ games, Keegan and I have one more announcement to make,” I tell everyone after the last gift is opened.

  “We’re gonna have another baby,” she tells everyone.

  For a minute there’s stunned silence. I’m sure they weren’t expecting to hear that we were adding to our tribe so soon after the twins were born. We couldn’t be happier though. Kasey is so excited and already planning the next nursery. She’s got plans for a girl or a boy. I’m sure we’ll implement some of them, but we’ll figure that out when we get to that point.

  The club did vote to buy the two houses I wasn’t sure about. We decided that we would get more information about working with animals for disabled children and those would be the houses used for that. The women are ecstatic about being able to help in that way. They’ve even said they’ll take any, and all, classes that may be needed to help the most.

  Looking around the pond, I take in what has become my life. I have an amazing woman by my side. She’s the rock that holds our family together, the calm to my storm, and the light to my dark. Our children are learning and growing so fast. I want to capture each and every moment with them. Before we know it, they’re going to be grown and out on their own. The rest of my family is growing and becoming closer daily. We’re growing the club and finding new ways to help people all the time.

  Epilogue Two

  Pops

  I LOST THE LOVE OF MY LIFE almost two years ago. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her. If I know my Ma though, she wouldn’t want me to be miserable and spend the rest of my life missing her and what we could’ve had together with all the new additions to our family.

  I’ve been spending time with Alice, and she understands that I’m not ready for anything more than a friendship right now. One day I’ll be ready to move us past the friendship phase of our relationship though. Alice is amazing. She listens to me when I need to talk, we go out to eat and watch movies, she’s become a part of my club life, and everyone loves her. Honestly, she makes it hard not to care about her more than I already do.

  Today, we’re taking the kids to the pond to spend the day with them. A few of the kids have been talking about Ma, and others that we’ve lost along the way. So, Alice and I are going to talk about Ma and the life she led. I’m sure it’s going to be hard for Alice to hear about my wife, but maybe she’ll understand why I still love her so much.

  “Pops?” Jameson asks me as I set down the cooler I was carrying.

  “Yeah son?”

  “Are we talking about Ma today. I want to know about her.”

  “We are. Why don’t you guys sit down, and I’ll hand out the sandwiches Miss Alice made before I start.”

  All of the kids sit down while Alice helps me get everything else set up. There are sandwiches, chips, juice boxes, and cookies for dessert. As soon as all the kids have their lunch in front of them, I sit down and pull Alice down next to me.

  “I met Ma a long time ago at a pool. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on. That’s not what made me want to get to know her though,” I begin. “One day we were at the pool and an older lady was havin’ trouble settin’ her chair and stuff up. Instead of pickin’ on her and pointin’ fingers like her friends were doin’, Ma walked over and helped her get everythin’ set up. Then, she didn’t just walk back to her friends, she sat down next to this lady and talked to her. I swear, Ma sat there for hours just listenin’ to this lady talk. Several times I looked at this lady’s face and could see the pure joy radiatin’ off her. All she wanted was someone to talk to. Ma gave her that. It wasn’t just that day though. Every single day that lady showed up at the pool, Ma would sit with her.”

  I go on to tell the kids about finally getting Ma to go out with me. Our first date was a disaster because I was so nervous, and I didn’t think she’d ever give me a second chance. At the end of the date, she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. It was the best ending to a date I’ve ever had in my life.

  Jameson starts asking about how she was when his dad and aunt Bailey were growing up. So, I tell them funny stories about her playing pranks on the kids and the pranks they would play back. There was always some prank war going on in our house and sometimes I was afraid to walk in the door. I can see Jameson’s eyes light up and I know that Joker, Sky, and Cage are in for a world of trouble now.

  We spend the entire day talking about Ma, playing in the pond, running around, and just having fun. Today was a day that was needed by all of us. I’m glad that Alice was a part of it too. It shows that she’s more like Ma than I thought.

  I’m never going to replace my wife, but I will build a new life with Alice. She’s been hurt and broken too. We’ve both got pasts and together we’ll overcome all the heartache and pain we’ve both suffered through. Alice is patient, kind, caring, and I can feel myself falling in love with her. It may not be the same kind of love I shared with Ma, but it’s love none-the-less.

  Alice

  Since I’ve had Whitney working for me, and have been able to take more time off, I have been spending more time with Pops and other members of the club. I love spending time with the kids and getting to know all of
them. They’re personalities are shining through and you can see how strong every single one of these kids are already.

  Pops and I have spent time laughing, talking, going out to do things, and just getting to know one another. He has included me in every aspect of his life, but we’re still not ready to move on past getting to know one another. We’ve been through this song and dance before and there’s no need to rush anything now. The only difference is that he’s got kids and such a large extended family, and I have none. There were never any kids for me, my family is already all gone, and my husband was killed a very long time ago.

  I’m surprised that Pops wanted to include me today. This is his special time with all the kids to relieve their time with Ma and to get to know her better than they already do. I’m not sure if he wants me there as support, or if he just wants to spend time with me. Either way, I’ll be there for him and the kids whenever they need me to be there for them.

  As he talks about the woman that has owned his heart for most of his life, I don’t get jealous of their time together. Ma helped mold this man into the person that he is today. Pops is generous, caring, would help anyone in need, and wants to be surrounded by his family. I don’t know that he would be like that if it weren’t for the love he shared with Ma. So, hearing about how they met and the amazing person that she was helps me understand Pops in a way. It also lets me know why Bailey does some of the things that she does. She has taken over for her mother, and it truly is a gift to be able to witness the hold this woman has over so many people still to this day.

  I can honestly see myself and Pops spending what time we have left together. There’s no fighting over petty things because we’ve already been through most everything that a person can go through. All we want to do is spend time together and be there to lend support to one another. Will we grow to love one another? Possibly. I know I care deeply about Pops. I’m just not sure about how he feels, or what he wants from us. We’ll just take it a day at a time and see where it goes. As long as I get to be a part of his life, I’m good with it.