“What? What long-lost love? Percy doesn’t do love, Cleo. She does Mr. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday—”
“This man is one Percival loved very much and one she lost because they were both too foolish to see what was right in front of them. He comes for her now and it frightens her. But enough of that, we read you now, Luci. Ah yes, hmm. Ohhh, that is interesting.”
“What? What is it? Is my baby daddy green? Tell me he’s not green and hung like he could open wine bottles,” I beg.
Cleo chuckles in her husky, eerie voice.
“You are at a crossroads in your life, dear Luci.”
“No shit. I’m still trying to decide whether I want an epidural for the C-section, or to have the doctor knock my ass out completely, though at this point I wouldn’t take my eye off Dr. Sparks for all the gold in the Congo.”
“No.” She chuckles. “I see you standing at a crossroads, looking back even though you know forward is the only way to go.”
“What? That’s it, Cleo? Come on. I need more. I mean, ahem, I recently got some really bad news, and well, I was kind of hoping that you would help me with something that, uh, I need to know.”
Cleo just shakes her head covered in dreadlocks and smiles at me.
“You are not meant to know that yet, Luci, so no, the reading is done. Ladies, thank you for a wonderful reading and be well, yes? Oh, Dot? Your cashmere sweater? Percy accidentally put it in with the whites and it got ruined so she tossed it. Stop looking, hun, it’s currently going around the city on a hobo’s back.”
Dot gasps and I see her eyes go wide in a way that makes me chuckle. I’m still laughing as Cleo leaves and I turn to see Indie cross herself and shake herself a little.
“Damn, girl. That was some seriously freaky stuff. Seriously freaky.”
“Spooky,” Callie seconds, kissing baby Jack’s black shock of hair.
“My sweater.”
I ignore them. I was so hoping that things would go better and I’d have some answers.
Chapter Fifteen
Life’s a Beach
Cage
The morning has been one crisis after another as I tried and succeeded at rescuing a deal that I’d handed over to one of my juniors, only to discover that the fool boned the daughter of the man whose company I was looking to take over and reinvent.
It was something that I’ve been working on for a good year already and one I was excited about as the company started folding a little due to bad branding and an outdated way of doing business.
I did manage to rescue it, though, with a stern talking to my junior, Gideon, about being smarter and sneakier about his affairs.
At the end of the morning, after a few quick updates from the girls on Luci’s condition, I managed to get things back on track and Caruthers signed on the dotted line so I’m in a somewhat better mood as I kiss Callie and baby Jack as they pass me in the lobby and make my way upstairs.
I’m nervous and rethinking coming home so early as I unlock the door and walk in, my nerves strung taught as guilt eats at me.
“Cage!”
I panic at the cry and drop everything to rush to my wife, thinking a million terrible things all at once and ready to hit speed dial for the hospital.
“What! What is it? Are you in pain? Did your water break? Did you fall? I told you not to move from the sofa, baby!”
I come to a dead halt when she starts giggling and I look down to see a brilliant, joy-filled smile on her face. She looks radiant and whole and not in any way distressed, so I finally let myself breathe as I fall to my knees beside her, my hands going to her belly.
“I’m fine Mr. Paranoia. I just got excited when I saw these is all,” she says, turning her tablet so I can see what she’s looking at.
The page for a little baby boutique that I’ve already basically bought out meets my eyes and I look back up at her guiltily, withholding a wince when her eyes narrow and she glares at me.
“You got them already? Come on, Cage. At this rate there won’t be one freaking thing left in this city for me to buy the babies. Jesus, leave me one thing to give them.”
“Babe. You’re carrying them inside you, giving them life. And you get to feed them for months after they’re born. Throw a dog a bone already. Let me give my babies something before they start preferring you and your boobs later,” I wheedle, ignoring the pang of guilt that keeps festering inside me.
“Fine. You go ahead and buy it all, just don’t go overboard on all the stuffed animals. They freak me out with their beady eyes and constant grins.”
Her quirkiness makes me laugh and hug her close before I pull back and meet her clear gaze, my own eyes troubled.
“How’s my girl today?”
She surprises me by grinning so big her face splits and I definitely am not upset when she grasps my shirt and hauls me in for a kiss so sweet and passionate that my dick tries to respond.
“I’m good, real good. Me and the girls called Cleo and got her to come over and do a reading.”
“Oh yeah?”
Good answer, Cage, she’s still smiling.
“Yup. My first reaction was to just ask her about the whole…” She waves casually. “You know, thing, but she told me it wasn’t time to know. And then when she left and I thought I was going to start crying Indie said this stuff that got me thinking and I realized, it’s true. That got me to feeling so much better, Cage. So much better that I don’t think I even care anymore.”
“What?” I clear my throat and try not to croak again. “What did she say?”
“That I was being an ass for even asking who the father is when all along it’s been you. You’re the dad, I feel it in my heart and that’s all that really matters to me, Cage. That’s all that matters to me because I love you. I never stopped, you know.”
I feel as if my chest is about to explode with all the love, joy and guilt that hits me like a ton of bricks. My mouth is smiling, I can feel and hear myself laughing as I push closer and start kissing her face off, but the guilt is so overwhelming I can’t fully savor this moment I’ve been waiting for for months.
“Cage?”
Her voice is small and hesitant and I hate that she feels unsure of my response.
“How can you not know by now that I love you so much it’s like I live and breathe for you, Luci? I wake up and see you and I feel like life gave me the biggest gift I could have asked for. I see you and know that you’re mine and I still pinch myself that a woman like you could look at me and think I’m good enough.”
“Oh, Cage.” Her hands stroke my face as a watery smile trembles on her lips. “I never thought you’d really feel this way. At first I let you bring me here because I was so scared and the thought of being alone with all that fear, I just…you made me feel better, like it was all going to be okay just because you were with me. And then, as we got to really talking and knowing each other, I realized that I loved you still, only now it was worse because I didn’t just love the flirt or the man I saw beneath the flirt, I loved the whole package you never let me see before.”
“I’m so happy, baby, because honestly, it scared the shit out of me to let anyone in, especially you because what you thought and felt really matters to me.”
“But don’t you see? We’re the same, Cage. You’ve been hiding yourself behind the playboy. You think all this psychic loving, happy, optimistic happiness is the person I showed to the world? It isn’t. Even Percy was surprised by this me.”
“Why?”
“Because I’d never let them see me because I was so scared I wouldn’t fit in if they did. They’re terrible.”
“Yeah, no shit.” I snort, pushing closer, needing more contact.
She giggles and strokes my hair as she gazes off into whatever memories she’s seeing in her head.
“They were all so tough and ready to kick butt, even Dot with her quiet kindness. And there I was, a little nerd who enjoyed the mysteries of the universe and had two kooks for parents. I fit in
about as well as a fly in your soup. But I wanted in, you know? I adored them and the way they seemed to close ranks around each other and I just, I needed that closeness because I felt so alone.”
“So you became what you needed to be to fit in,” I say.
“I did. It was dumb and freaking unnecessary, I can see that now, but at the time I was ashamed to admit that my mom saw ghosts and believed in farming with her own poop. FYI, do not eat at my parents’ place if she’s doing squash.”
Duly noted.
“I’m really glad you can be yourself with me, Luci. It makes me feel like you’ve given me something special and just for us.”
I predict some heavy making out and petting sessions tonight, I hope, if she forgives me because I’m about to tell her everything.
Until she gasps and I see her face scrunch up just as she doubles over and starts panting.
“Cage.”
Chapter Sixteen
Welcome to the World
Luci
Cage grabs me up and just starts running. He’s freaking going nuts in the elevator as he juggles me against his chest with one strong arm and barks into the phone while kicking at the elevator panel.
Yeah. Total meltdown.
I’m terrified and ready to start bawling as another pang shoots through me and I feel a wet gush between my legs. It goes everywhere. All down my legs, and as Cage pauses and looks down at me wide-eyed, I’m guessing his ten-grand suit just got the brunt of my explosion.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry.” I sniffle, my hands rubbing soothing circles across my belly when all I really want to do is yell and punch something.
“Don’t, baby, don’t. Shh, it’s okay. It’s gonna be okay.”
We hit the lobby and I see people’s eyes go wide when they get a load of the mad giant charging through the space carrying a whale who’s no doubt looking on the verge of hysteria.
I can’t help it. I’ve never done pain well, and right now it feels like someone shoved a hot poker up my quam and all the way into my womb.
He dives for the door of the car waiting for us and pulls me into his lap just as the driver peels away, burning rubber like I have never seen him do before.
“Oh owwiiiiee.”
“It’s okay, baby, just breathe like that quack at that class told us to.”
I giggle because we went like one time and never again because that woman was hitting on him the whole time and he took great exception to it.
“Can’t you go any fucking faster?!”
Cage is losing it right now and instead of it scaring me, it’s having the opposite effect and soothing me in a way. Odd, I know, but as he continues to yell into his phone and clutch me to his chest as if he’s terrified to let go of me, I just feel safe and secure.
And sort of floaty all of a sudden.
It doesn’t even hurt anymore.
“Cage, honey, you can calm down. I’m okay. Don’t feel a thing anymore,” I whisper into his neck, burrowing closer to feel the heat of his skin on my cold face.
Cold? Why cold?
My words have him going nuts, and I think I hear him sob a little as he pulls me closer and starts rocking me like a baby.
“Don’t you do this to me, Luci.”
“Do what? Cage, stop yelling and breathe. It’s okay.”
It’s then that I feel another gush and see his eyes go wide. I smell it then and you know, I should always know that looking is not a good idea, but that’s me. I always have to look.
What I see explains Cage’s behavior.
I thought my water broke. Silly me, I think now as I look down to see his ten-grand suit will not be saved by dry cleaning.
There’s blood. So much. Everywhere.
“Oh dear.”
“Luci! Luci, baby, look at me. Look into my eyes, sweetheart. That’s my girl. You look at me, baby, and you fucking promise me you won’t do this to me. Please. I’m begging you not to do this to me.”
What’s he talking about? I’m not doing a damn thing.
“It’s fine,” I murmur when the car hops to a stop and Cage lunges for the door. Then we’re just running and it seems as if there are people everywhere, yelling and shouting for God knows what.
“They’re mine,” Cage says as he lowers me to a gurney and we’re moving.
“What?”
“The babies, Luci. They’re mine. I need to tell you before…”
“Of course they are, silly.” I smile, wanting to reach out and stroke his face but not able to because my arm just won’t move an inch.
“No, I mean it was my semen that got swapped out.”
***
Cage
I’m covered in blood from my chest all the way to my thighs and my hands have long since dried into crusty gloves of the blood that came out of my wife.
I can’t move, can’t find the will to care enough right now as my friends and our families all sit around me silently, some praying, others looking so terrified that I can’t look at them without feeling like I’ll crack and start yelling at the roof.
“Here drink this,” Woody says, handing me the flask he keeps in his jacket at all times.
My hands hardly register the cool silver of the flask, and getting it to my lips is pretty impossible considering I’ve been frozen in this spot since Jack and Woody got here and dragged me into the waiting room.
I haven’t said a word. I can’t because it feels like I’m frozen inside as I wait for something to happen. I’ve never been a big believer in anything really, not since I was a kid and learned only to believe in myself and the cruelty of life, but I am now or I can be as I pray to whoever is out there to please, please just let my heart keep beating.
“Cage, drink the fucking stuff and look at me, man. She’s going to be okay. The babies are going to be okay,” Woody insists, grabbing my hand and twisting till I’m forced to look at him.
“Luci is a fighter, man, and you know that woman. No way will she give up before she sees those babies, Cage.”
“She…” I pause and clear my throat as hope starts unfurling inside me, making my blood start pumping again. “She just told me she loves me. We were just…”
“I know, man. I know. Trust me, you’ll be finishing those sappy declarations when you’re elbow deep in babies. Have faith, Cage, you have to have faith or this won’t work.”
“I can’t lose her now. I can’t raise four kids without her. I won’t.”
I love them all and it’s not like I’d dump them. I just won’t be there, because if she goes I’m going with. I love my family, my babies, and even Luci’s weird-ass dad who seems a lot more canny than scatty behind those green eyes of his, but Luci…she’s my heartbeat, and if she’s not here I don’t give a shit about anything.
“You can, but thankfully you won’t have to. She’s going to be okay.”
“The blood, Woody, Jesus Christ, you didn’t see it pouring out of her. There was so much I felt it run through my pants into the seat. How can she live when it seemed to just pour right out of her?”
Woody doesn’t seem fit to answer as he looks down at my ruined suit and flinches. Yeah, I know exactly what I look like, and while I know I should go clean up, I can’t. I need a part of her near me, and right now this is all I have.
“Fred, bro, let’s go get you cleaned up. The girls keep looking over at you and freaking out, and Gruffy’s about to start crying. Please. Let’s get you cleaned up and then we can all go track down someone who’ll tell us what’s going on,” Jack says softly, his hand squeezing my shoulder in support.
“I don’t want to.”
I can’t move till someone comes in here and tells me my wife and babies are okay. Please, Jesus, let them all be okay, I pray as another thought hits me like a sledgehammer.
I could lose them, too. Oh God, don’t do this to me. Don’t take any of them. Luci will live, she has to, and so do each and every one of my little ones because I know that it will kill her if they don’t.
“I said fucking no! I’m not moving a Goddamn muscle till someone comes in here and tells me my family is okay, Jack,” I yell, my anger at the world rising.
I want to hit him, someone, anything right now to release the agony that’s building inside me. A hand lands on my shoulder and I look up to see Dyson Braxton.
“Go find him a change of clothes, boys, and give us a minute.”
Woody and Jack share a look but nod and leave us, no doubt relieved not to have to stay and deal with the brunt of my anger.
“Cage—”
“Don’t, old man. Don’t you give me some ‘think positive’ bullshit right now, because I may just lose it if you do,” I warn, trying and failing to shake him loose.
He’s a big bastard and stronger than he looks most days as he lowers himself beside me and lays a hand over my nape to keep my in place.
“I will because that’s just what you need, and if Luci were here she’d do the same thing after kicking your ass, boy. You think I’m not terrified? That little girl is my princess and while I may not have been the most emotionally available father, I have loved each of my babies with everything that I am.”
“Yeah? That why Luci always felt like she was an add-on her whole life?” I hiss, knowing that I’m wrong but needing something to get rid of these emotions.
“Boy, all this love and the certainty that you’ll die without her? I felt and still feel exactly that strongly about my own wife. You think it just stops when you have kids and levels out because you can spread all that obsessive, crazy love? It doesn’t happen. I should know, I’m still crazy for my woman and I’ll be even crazier for her when she’s ninety and doddering about.”
“Look, Dyson—”
“And I know that you’re sitting here thinking that you’ll die if she does and I don’t blame you. But here’s the thing. Those babies she’s given to you? They’re a gift you can’t throw away. She’s done an amazing thing to give you the family you need, and I won’t sit here and watch you forget them just because your heart is breaking.”
THE NAUGHTY ONES: The Complete 5-Books Series Page 22