Inked

by Mia Ford

  “Dinner is almost ready now. I’ll be in soon.”

  I stand and pace the room, trying to make myself feel better that way, but it doesn’t help. Each footstep is heavy and painful, but I keep on going. I don’t want to alert Isaac and have him worrying. He has enough going on right now. I’m very aware that I have already been a burden to him. I don’t want to make it worse.

  “Oh, Lexi, you don’t look good,” Isaac says as he sees me. “You look like you’re suffering.”

  “Suffering because I’m so hungry,” I laugh, making a joke out of it. “What have you made?”

  He brings in plates of something that smells delicious, so I take a seat, however much it hurts, and I start eating. It tastes amazing, but I can’t really enjoy it because the pain is getting unbearable. I have to really grit my teeth together to hide it from Isaac, although I don’t think that I’m doing a good job because he seems to be able to see right through me. He keeps darting terrified looks my way, with fear in his eyes.

  “You really look like you’re struggling, Lexi, I think we should go to the hospital.”

  “I don’t think I need to; baby Jane isn’t quite due yet…” But then the pain hits me so hard I can’t help but let a massive yell and bend forwards. “Oh shit, yeah maybe you’re right. It fucking hurts. It’s like…”

  It’s like my stomach is being turned inside out. The pain is off the scale. I can’t handle it. I push off the table and make myself stand up, screaming through the agony. It does calm down a little bit a couple of times, but then it hits again hard. I need help before my body actually falls apart!

  Fucking hell, if this gets worse, if it hurts more when the baby comes out, I don’t know how I will survive it. I haven’t ever felt anything like this, it’s so painful, its making my brain foggy.

  “I want to eat,” I laugh through the pain. “But I think we need to go.”

  Isaac takes my hand and he starts walking me towards the door, but before we get there, I let out a scream. I don’t know what it is, but I get a weird popping sensation down below. A sensation that leaves me absolutely soaking wet. It feels wrong, it’s something that I haven’t ever felt before, I don’t know what to do.

  I glance down and want to cry, this is dreadful, the last thing I need right now.

  “What’s wrong?” I yell. “I need to change my clothes. I’m all wet. I had an accident.”

  This is so embarrassing I want to cry. I can’t believe that I have actually wet my panties in front of the man that I love. I know that he won’t judge me, especially since I’m pregnant, but a humiliated burn runs through my body at the same time. It starts at the tip of my toes and works up my wet legs to my face.

  He will surely never be able see me in the same way again. No chance.

  “That’s your water’s breaking, you haven’t had an accident,” Isaac insists, not phased at all. “We need to get to the hospital now. I don’t think you have time to change. Let’s get you in the car.”

  “But I’ll ruin the car. I don’t want to get the seat all wet. You have such a nice car and I don’t want…”

  Isaac laughs and kisses me on the head. “You’re focusing on the wrong things here. I don’t care about the car. I care about my baby. Plus, if we don’t go right now, then you’ll have the baby in the car and that will be much more mess.”

  Those words are enough to strike the fear of God into me. I know that some people want a nice natural birth, but I want to be surrounded by doctors in case something goes wrong. I don’t think anyone dreams of having the baby in the car anyway! That’s a nightmare situation, and I don’t want to be in it. The idea sends a shiver racing up and down my spine. I need to get there right away. I can’t stand it.

  “Yeah, you’re right. I am thinking about the wrong things. Sorry, let’s go. Quick!”

  I allow Isaac to take me in the car, and he drives fast to get me to the hospital. Now that I know what the pain is, the contractions are hard to suffer through. I can’t wait to get to a place where I can be looked after.

  “You’re okay,” Isaac reassures me the entire time. “You don’t need to worry. I am here for you.”

  I can feel Jane here with me too, pushing me towards my new life, wanting the best for me, and I use that feeling as a driving force. I can do this, I can, for her. Whatever pain I am about to go through now, it’s nothing like she experienced, and she remained strong the entire time. I can do that too. I can!

  As Isaac parks the car in the hospital car park, he turns and holds my hand. I focus on him instead of the terrifying building in front of me where so many things have happened.

  “We can do this,” he tells me. “You can do this. I’m here for you, but this is on you. Just know that I believe in you. I know that you’re scared, but you’re the strongest woman that I know. I love you.”

  “I really love you too, and I appreciate all you just said, but I need to get inside. It hurts now.”

  “Come on then.” He grins. “Let’s go and have this baby already. Before I explode.”

  Everything from this moment on is going to be different, but in a really good way. Me and Isaac will become a proper family at last. There’s just one little terrifying mountain to climb first. But it will be worth it.

  Chapter Forty

  Isaac

  “Oh, my goodness, she’s so beautiful,” I half weep as my baby girl lies in my arms. “And it didn’t even take us that long to get her here. She must have been so keen to be born!”

  “Hey!” Lexi exclaims. “It might not have seemed like a long time to you… but to me…”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, I know you had a hard job.”

  “But she’s perfect, isn’t she? Little baby Jane.”

  The intense, boundless love that I’m experiencing is in her eyes too. There is such an intense bond between us now, that’s nearly overwhelming. We share something so powerful, nothing else matters.

  “Jane would love her, wouldn’t she?” I ask. “I can just see them together now.”

  “Oh, I know, they would seriously love one another, it would be incredible. Hey, have you contacted your mom yet? I know that she wants to come and meet baby Jane right away.”

  “Oh, you know what, that’s a good idea. I will do that now.”

  I pass Jane to Lexi and admire how cute they look together for a few moments before I pull out my phone and I fire off a text to Mom. I know just what she’s like, she will be here in a moment. She’s so eager to meet her grandchild. She’s been calling me all the time, wanting to know if anything has happened yet.

  “I don’t know why you’re looking at your phone,” Lexi teases. “You know that she won’t take time to message you back. She’s going to be far too busy getting into the car and getting down here.”

  I laugh and nod before taking a seat by Lexi. I want to hold baby Jane again, but she looks so lovely in her mother’s arms I don’t want to disturb them. Instead, I just watch them for a while, falling deeper in love.

  “Let me know if you want anything,” I finally say, remembering this isn’t a picture, but real life. “You’re kinda stuck in the bed, aren’t you? If you need drinks or food just let me know.”

  “No, I’m good right now. Happy to just be here with my baby girl.”

  There’s a sudden knock at the door that makes me jump. “Do you think that’s Mom? She’s quick.”

  As I open the door, I’m stunned not just to see my mother, but my father too. Everything freezes within me as I stare at him. Things are slowly improving between us two, but he hasn’t seen Lexi since that awful day. The day when he fired her and publicly embarrassed her. I don’t know how this is going to go.

  “Er… hi.” I step aside and glance back at Lexi, but she’s too consumed by intense love to care about my father and his possible bad behavior. “Baby Jane is over there if you want to go and see her.”

  Mom obviously rushes over to Lexi, hugs her, and takes Jane from her ar
ms. But Dad is different. He is stiff, probably really humiliated by his own behavior, so he stands in the corner of the room with his arms folded. But it only takes a couple of moments for me to see something shining in his eyes. Possibly tears.

  I part my lips, about to say something about this, but I stop myself at the very last moment. I don’t want to ruin this beautiful time. He might really change his ways around after this if I’m lucky… I’ve been lucky so far, so I don’t see why that shouldn’t continue. I feel like I might be today.

  “Do you want to hold her?” Mom asks Dad, seeing that look in his eyes. “She’s a sweetheart.”

  I glance at Lexi to see if this is what she’s comfortable with, but she simply nods. I guess with the life of her baby, nothing from the past matters anymore. All of that is gone and this is a new chapter.

  Dad eventually agrees and holds his arms out. He appears uncomfortable, as if this isn’t something that he knows how to deal with, but he soon settles as he realizes that Jane isn’t breakable… I had that same worry myself. It’s at that moment, the tears really begin to fall. He’s completely overcome with emotion. Baby Jane has unlocked all of the emotions that he’s always locked away and they’re coming free.

  I glance at Mom, then at Lexi. Everyone looks as stunned as I feel.

  “This little baby girl is lovely,” he finally gushes out, the strong stoic man that he normally is falling away. “She’s perfect. Well done, you two. You must be so very proud of her.”

  “We are,” I reply. “And I’m proud of Lexi as well. She’s done so well.”

  Dad looks at Lexi and he takes a step closer to her. “I’m sorry,” he tells her, sounding so genuine it’s impossible not to believe him. As he says it, I think this might be something that he’s been keeping inside for a while, but he’s only just been able to let it out. “I’m sorry for the way that I treated you, that was unacceptable. And my opinions as well. I have grown up a narrow minded and idiot. I shouldn’t have interfered and reacted like that. When I think about what I did to you… well, I’m incredibly embarrassed.”

  I suck in a deep breath and hold it. No matter how good Lexi feels right now, there is no guarantee that she will forgive Dad. I’m honestly not sure if I would if that was me.

  “It’s in the past now,” she says in a soft voice. “I would love it if we could just move on.”

  Dad nods slowly. “I would love that too. For Jane’s sake. She deserves a strong family around her.”

  A relief floods me. A knot in my stomach unties. I didn’t even realize that I was quite as worked up about it all, until it falls away. This is all that I want, our family all together at last.

  Mom takes Jane from my dad and I watch him hug Lexi. He’s accepting her at long last, and more importantly, she’s accepting him. That’s something I don’t know I ever would’ve dared wish for.

  “Isaac.” Dad turns to face me. “I don’t know why you haven’t married this wonderful woman yet. I know she might be too good for you, but you should still ask. Lexi is the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

  We all laugh in shock. Now this is a massive turn around.

  “Dad, I’ve wanted to marry Lexi from the moment I first met her…”

  “I don’t know if that’s true,” Lexi teases. “I was yelling at you when we first met.”

  I take a step closer to her and dip my hand in to my pocket to pull out the ring that I have been carrying around with me for weeks now, just waiting for the right moment. I’m pretty sure it won’t get more perfect than this.

  “Maybe so, but I’ve wanted to marry you for a long time, which is why I have this.”

  I pop open the box to reveal a stunning princess cut diamond. Lexi gasps and so does my mom, which makes me chuckle. I was hoping to get a reaction like this.

  “Lexi Tyler, you are the woman of my dreams, like my father said, the best thing that has ever happened to me, and now the mother of my child, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to marry you, to have you as my wife, to do whatever I can to make you happy. If you agree to this, then I swear to you, I will be the best husband and father that I can be. Whatever you need, I will do it, however you need me to love you, I will. Your happiness is my main priority. I love you so much, Lexi.”

  She smiles at me with such an intense joy in her eyes that I know what her answer will be… but I still have a little bit of anxiety in my chest. Just in case I’m wrong. Just in case I’m completely misreading the situation and she doesn’t want to move that quickly. I don’t think we’ll break up, but a wedding might be too much…

  There’s only one way for me to find out, and that’s to just ask her already.

  “So, what do you say?” I finally burst out the question. “Will you marry me?”

  “Yes,” she replies, not leaving me hanging for too long thank goodness. “Yes, of course I will. I would love to be your wife. I can’t imagine anything better.”

  I slide the ring onto her finger, deepening our bond and love even further and I leap up to hug her. Mom and Dad both cheer – but not too quietly so as not to disturb baby Jane too much – and they hug us in turn too. As my family surrounds me, accepting my new life as it is with a new career and new woman with our baby, it’s utterly perfect.

  I didn’t know that I was looking for a happy ever after. I wasn’t aware that this was exactly what I needed, but now I have it I will never let it go. It’s the most incredible feeling in the world, and it’ll only get better. Our future is bright, I don’t know exactly where it’ll lead, but I’m excited to find out.

  I hope you enjoyed your time with Lexi and Issac! If you are looking for a steamy Christmas romance, then do check out my latest bestseller and Amazon TOP 100 book, Her Perfect Gift. I have included an excerpt from the same in the following pages. So, keep reading!

  Excerpt

  No one knows the real man behind this face.

  Except for her…

  As a Hollywood star, I’ve got everything I want.

  The fame, the money, the women.

  But I still feel a void inside me.

  No one’s come close to being as special as Darcy.

  She used to be my neighbor.

  My obsession.

  The one that got away.

  This Christmas, I need to bring her back into my life.

  But she may not give me a second chance.

  The world calls me a player.

  Well, this player just got a woman pregnant.

  Darcy is about to be the mother of my child.

  …and the limelight might destroy our family.

  Will I lose her to my fame yet again?

  Seth

  December 19th

  “Well, hello there, Mr. Sexiest Body of the Year,” my agent, Sierra, teases me in a sing song tone of voice. “Honestly, there are so many women that would sell a limb to be sitting where I am right now…”

  “Oh, well aren’t you the lucky one.” I roll my eyes and let out a gravely laugh. “But unfortunately for you, you also have the job of managing every aspect of my life. Sorry about that, Sierra.”

  “Hey, it isn’t the worst thing in the world to manage the career of a super star Hollywood actor.”

  I smile to myself as she says that. I still find it a little strange to be seen as Seth: The Hollywood Guy, rather than little ol’ Seth Bishop who grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. Of course, this was my goal, I fought for it since I was old enough to know what fame and fortune was. So, to have my dreams realized is something else. I still need to pinch myself at times.

  “So, speaking of, you have a little gap in your schedule right now, which I would like to discuss with you. Because you have had a lot of options coming your way. My inbox is filled with scripts. Now, I know that you said you want to make the move out of action, but this one comes with a really good pay check, that I might even be able to negotiate to a bit higher because they are so desperate to have your name attached�
�”

  “No.” I push back the paper that she slides my way. “I don’t want any more over the top action movies. The plots are getting to be more unbelievable. I can’t stand it.” I can’t stop myself from sighing with irritation. “I feel bad for the stunt guys too. They do all of the hard work, putting their lives in danger, and get none of the credit. It’s crazy…” I can see that I’m losing Sierra, so I stop going down that road. “Anyway, that’s irrelevant. I want to work on something more serious, something with meaning… you know, one of those movies that people think about for a long time afterwards because it’s affected them.”

  “I hear you,” Sierra replies, through gritted teeth. “But this is a really good price tag. I think you should look at the offer. It will line your pockets, mine too if we’re being honest about it, and you know it, don’t you?”

  “But I don’t want to be type cast.” I shake my head hard, absolutely determined to stick to my guns. I know what I’m doing here. “I’m already there, but I don’t want to make it worse. This in my next move.”

  “You know, most actors stick to what they know,” Sierra continues, just as determined as me. “They find a place where they fit in the shark’s mouth and remain there, so they don’t get chewed up and spat out.”

  I chuckle once more. “I know that’s your opinion, Sierra, but I also think that you know you weren’t going to get a typical Hollywood guy when you agreed to work for me. So, this is what you need to help me with.”

  She snorts out a strange sound, half amusement, half irritation, but I know that Sierra doesn’t mind. I have helped to catapult her career in the exact same way that she has mine. We have been there for one another, which now means that we need to stick together during this transition where everything will change. I hope.

  “Okay, so I will turn everyone down, even though they are offering you a fortune, and I will continue looking for something that suits your new, very vague, needs. Moving on, I wanted to talk to you about Christmas.”