by BJ Harvey
She whispers something to Bry. He stands and helps her up to her feet. “We’re just going to take a—”
They don’t get two steps away from the couch before a geyser to rival Old Faithful erupts all over Mom and Dad’s hardwood dining room floor.
“Holy shit!” Jax says, eyes glued on the newly-formed puddle of clear fluid between my sister’s legs.
“You have got to be kidding me,” Ronnie whines, shaking her head as Faith looks down.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Looks like mini GI Joe or GI Jane will be coming first this time,” I add, the men in the group chuckling and varied expressions of exasperation being shot my way by the women except Ronnie and Gilly who both look at each other and burst out laughing.
Bry turns to Cade. “Any guidance, Dr. Carsen? ’Cause I’m running blind here.”
Cade whispers in Harry’s ear and then stands, patting his son on his back and looking toward Jamie and April. “Hey, Ax. Do you want to take Harry to the kitchen to raid Grandad Rick’s ice cream stash?”
“Yeah!” Ax says, jumping up and grabbing Harry’s chubby three-year-old hand. “C’mon, Harry. Nana Marcy has sprinkles too!”
Mission accomplished. Well done, Cade.
“Okay, Faith. Let’s get you comfortable again, and then you can call ahead to the hospital. Sound like a plan?” he says, the picture of professionalism.
Out of nowhere, April—our resident nurse—and Cohen and Skye all surround Faith and Bry.
“It definitely helps having this many medical personnel in the family, doesn’t it?” Faith says, dryly as towels are laid on the couch by April while Cohen and Skye set about cleaning up the floor.
Bry shakes his head. “Yeah, but what’s the saying about too many cooks in the kitchen?”
“I’d say she’s finished cooking, Bry. You know, with the overflow and everything,” my father calls out.
A wide-eyed Faith gasps loudly. “Dad!”
I look over at him, biting my lip so I don’t laugh myself. He shoots me a wink. “You’ve got all this to look forward to, son.”
“Note to self: Don’t make jokes when a woman is in labor.”
“Good advice,” Gilly muses.
“So, we’ve got two babies coming soon,” Marcy announces, clapping her hands excitedly.
Ronnie sighs melodramatically. “I can’t believe you’re going to beat me to it.”
“To be fair,” Cade says, “there’s no telling how long Faith may take, or how quickly Ronnie’s induction will take. So, honestly, the race is on.”
Everyone except Jax and Bry groans at that, because if there’s one thing we all know it’s how competitive the twins are.
As for the two imminent dads-to-be, they lock eyes and grin, uttering the same three words at the exact same time.
“Bring it on.”
Ezra
After Faith and Bry left to go to the hospital, the night was pretty much done. Gilly, April, Jamie, Axel, and I all stayed behind to help the parents clean up, and then we all went home, knowing that the next day was going to be a busy one with one sister in labor and another being induced.
Now it’s Thursday lunchtime, and Gilly and I are in separate birthing suites a few rooms away from each other. Mom and I are in with Faith and Bryant, with Gilly and April in with Ronnie and Jax. All of us are in text contact with each other.
“We should’ve just gotten Axel’s walkie-talkies. Then Gilly and Ezra could give everyone a running commentary,” Bry says with a smirk.
Faith snickers, her eyes tired, but her mood still upbeat and excited. “Ten-four, rubber ducky.”
I dip my voice low. “Live from Northwestern, we’re covering the birth of not one but two Cook babies. Not only could they be born on the same day, but their fathers are so determined to do everything together that they somehow voodooed their wives to be in labor at the same time.”
Faith tips her head to look up at Bry. “Are you magic, Bry?”
He lowers his face to hers and gives her a quick kiss. “Well, I’d definitely say there were some special skills involved.”
I gag loudly, earning a smirk from Bryant. “Dude, it’s bad enough knowing you had sex with her once to knock her up. I don’t need to be reminded of it.”
Faith bursts out laughing just as my phone vibrates in my hand.
“Think of it as a live birthing demonstration,” she says with her scientist hat on.
“I’ve got your back, Ezzy,” Mom says. “I’ll make sure you don’t see anything a brother shouldn’t see.”
Faith’s jovial mood soon disappears, her smile turning into a wince and panting as another contraction hits. The one thing I’ve realized in the past two hours is that I hate seeing my sister hurting. She’s nearing eight centimeters at last check, and they’re starting to come a lot closer together, but she’s determined to have a drug-free birth, so the pain is going to get worse before it gets better.
I pick up my phone to read Gilly’s latest update
Gilly—Ronnie’s contractions are coming hard and fast now. She’s nearing nine centimeters, and Jax is determined that his baby will be born before its cousin.
Ezra—Twins having babies on the same day. Who would’ve thought?
Gilly—Faith doing okay?
Ezra—Yeah. Eight centimeters and tired, but positive.
Gilly—I’m surprised you haven’t heard Ronnie cursing yet. She’s always had the mouth of a sailor, but during childbirth, she’s shocking, ha ha!
Ezra—And how’s my baby mama holding up? Do you need me to go get you some lunch?
Gilly—I’d kill for a double-shot cap right now, but if I have that, our son will be bouncing off the walls inside me all night. Although I could murder a muffin or something.
Ezra—Your wish is my command. What about a cup without the double shot with a whole lot of decaf?
Gilly—Thank you.
Ezra—Anything you need, anytime you want it.
Gilly—Well… when you say it like that…
Ezra—I’m currently in a room where my baby sister is going to give birth and WON’T let me leave while my niece or nephew is born, even though there’s a risk I might see a breast, or worse. I’m thinking anything sex-related is out the window today.
Gilly—I could change your mind and bring you back over to the dirty side.
Ezra—Behave, baby mama.
Gilly—Where’s the fun in that?
Ezra—See you soon.
Gilly—I’ll be the freaked out pregnant woman who’s NOT giving birth right now.
Ezra—Good to know.
Twenty minutes and a search of the hospital cafeteria later, I deliver the decaf cappuccino and a blueberry muffin to Gilly, who’s looking surprisingly more relaxed than I am. Just before I left Faith’s room, the doctor examined her—while I looked the other way—and announced she was one centimeter away from being ready to push. Cue tears of relief from my sister and a big sigh from Bryant, and Mom getting excited as she called my dad, who has been in the waiting room with the rest of the Cook family all morning.
“Hey,” I say, wrapping my arm around Gilly’s waist and kissing her lips. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
She shakes her head and tightens her grip around me, holding me close. “It’s only been a few hours.”
I steal another kiss, smiling against her skin. “I know.”
“Having buyer’s remorse yet?” she asks.
I shift back and frown at her. “No. Why would I?”
“Contractions, waters breaking, grumpy mom-to-be, nervous dad-to-be…”
“The room’s been pretty Zen, actually. Faith is all about trying to keep the space as calm as possible.”
“Even when a contraction hits?” Gilly asks, arching a brow.
I chuckle. “Well, no. Maybe not then.”
“Jax is determined to have their baby come first. I swear he’s like a drill sergeant. Or a football coach. I haven’t quite decided
which.”
My eyes soften. “And Ronnie? Is she doing okay?”
“Yeah. She’s a trooper. Because of the induction, she’s kind of gone from zero to sixty quicker than expected. But as soon as the epidural kicked in, she was in heaven.”
“And you? How are you feeling about all of this?”
“Terrified,” she says dryly. She runs her hands up my back to my neck, pulling my face down to hers again. “But it helps to know you’ll be there with me.”
I smirk. “You want me to be your drill sergeant?”
“You can be anything as long as you’re there with me.”
I touch my mouth to hers, our eyes staying open as we do it. “Anything, anywhere, anytime. Always.”
She opens her lips, and I deepen the kiss, not giving one single shit that I’m standing in the corridor of the maternity ward while making out with my pregnant girlfriend.
When we pull apart, her eyes are hooded, her cheeks are flushed, and her lips are satisfyingly swollen. I grin as I hold out her coffee and a white paper bag with her muffin inside it.
Her eyes crinkle as she smiles brightly up at me. “And you didn’t even spill it.”
“I’m a man of many talents.”
She looks me up and down, not hiding her thoughts. “And I look forward to experiencing them all again soon.” She lifts up on her toes, gives me a barely-there kiss. Then with her decaf and food bag in hand, she winks at me and opens Ronnie’s hospital room door, the sound of many, many expletives filling the air as she does.
“I better get back in there,” Gilly says.
“See you on the other side, baby mama.”
“Race you to the finish then?”
“Bakers always win,” I say with a wink.
“Cooks are better than Bakers, Ez,” Jax yells from inside the room, making me laugh.
“We’ll see, Ken. We’ll see.”
Thirty-two minutes later, Joelle “Joey” Cook was born to an ecstatic Jax and an exhausted—but very much relieved—Ronnie.
Three minutes after that, my baby sister, Faith, gave birth to Charlotte “Lottie” Cook and it was tears all around the room, knowing how long it took Faith and Bry to find each other again and get their happy ending.
I walk out of the hospital room in a shell-shocked daze, one I snap out of as soon as I see a tearful Gilly sitting in the chair opposite the door, waiting for me.
“Hey. Are you okay?” I ask, rushing to her side.
“We have… to… do that,” she stutters. “We’re so not ready.”
She’s not wrong.
“Then we’ll make sure we are ready. We’ve got time.”
She looks at me, and I see it—her absolute trust that whatever happens, we’re in this together. She pushes up off the chair, so she’s standing in front of me, her hands resting on my chest and sliding up till she’s cupping my jaw. “I love you, Ezra Baker.”
My heart stops dead in my chest before rushing back to life. With a growl I have absolutely no control over, I grab the back of her neck, dip my head, and kiss the ever-loving crap out of Gilly Eve Nelson.
“I love you too,” I murmur in between lip touches.
When we break free, I rest my forehead against hers, unable to wipe the wide grin off my face.
“So we’re doing this?” she whispers, her soft face gentling even more.
“Yeah. We’re definitely doing this.” Except when I say it, there’s absolutely a double meaning behind the words. And as soon as we leave this hospital, I plan to show her just how much.
As soon as we close Gilly’s door later that afternoon, there’s only one thing on my mind, and that’s getting her into bed.
Without a word, I grab hold of her and walk her backward down the hallway and through her bedroom doorway. One hand on her ass holds her to me as I drop my mouth to hers and kiss her like she’s the very air I need to breathe.
I don’t want to ever stop kissing this woman. And tonight, I’m going to take her to bed and make her mine in every way possible, reiterating how much I love her as I touch, taste, and feel every single inch of her body.
I turn around, so my back is to the bed, ending the kiss and running my lips along her jaw and down her neck.
“I’ve waited so long to have you again,” I murmur roughly.
She grabs hold of my biceps as I place open-mouthed kisses against her skin, sending shivers through her entire body. I run my hands down her sides, dipping under her top, caressing her bump and roaming over her stomach.
“Ez…” she moans, and I feel it like a jolt of heat going straight to my dick.
After placing one last kiss on her collarbone, I grip the hem of her top and pull it up and off over her head. Her hands drop to my shoulders as I dip my mouth to the curve of her breast, tracing the edge of her lace bra with my tongue.
While I’m paying the same attention to the other side, I snake my arms behind her back and release the clasp of her bra, dragging the straps along her arms and throwing it onto the floor. Cupping her breasts in my hands, I wrap my lips around her swollen nipple and roll it with my tongue, the breathy sounds coming out of her mouth loud and welcome, spurring me on.
“Baby,” she whispers roughly, her hands tugging me upward. I release her with one last deep draw before straightening and meeting her halfway. She crushes her lips to mine in a spine-tingling, cock-throbbing kiss to end all kisses, hitching her leg around my leg and grinding her core hard against mine.
I grip her thigh with one hand and hold her in place as I roll my hips against hers, knowing she can feel every rock-hard inch of me.
Easing back from the kiss, I press my mouth to hers, opening my eyes to stare into her glazed ones.
“Hey,” I whisper hoarsely.
Her lips curve up against mine as she giggles. “Well, hello.”
“You doing okay?” I ask, carefully lowering her leg back to the ground.
“I’d be doing a hell of a lot better if we were both naked,” she says with a challenging eyebrow quirk.
“I think we should do something about that then.”
Instead of answering, Gilly’s fingers go to the waistband of her low-riding jeans. With a flick of her wrist and the lowering of a zipper, she’s pulling them down her legs and kicking both them and her underwear away, so she’s standing gloriously naked and curved in all the right places in front of me.
While I’m frozen, taking everything in, Gilly’s hands go to work on my pants as I snap out of my lust-filled stupor and tear my T-shirt over my head. By the time I’m done, my jeans are gone, and she’s on her knees in front of me, her fist wrapped around my cock, and a devious smile directed up at me.
“Sweetheart, get back up—”
The first swipe of her tongue over the head of my cock renders me speechless. By the time she strokes her tight grip down my cock and takes the shaft deep in her mouth, my fingers are tangling gently in her hair, and I’m locking my knees to stop me from thrusting forward or sinking to the floor. It feels so fucking good, and it’s been so long that I swear this is the best damn blow job she’s ever given me—that I’ve ever had—in my entire life.
I lock my eyes on hers as she continues to move her hand, mouth, lips, and teeth up and down, the heat blazing in her gaze almost enough to send me head first over the edge of the cliff.
I’m already harder than I ever thought possible, and I need to make her come at least once before I make love to her for the first time as the us we are now.
But although I’m desperate to do exactly that, I want to take my time with her.
I take a step back until my legs hit the mattress. I move closer to the headboard, offering myself up for her. With hooded eyes, Gilly slowly moves to her feet before putting a knee to the bed and dragging her mouth up my legs, alternating sides, nipping the sensitive skin on the inside of my thighs before ghosting a warm breath over my jerking cock.
“I’m liking where this is going,” she murmurs before she runs her
tongue over my balls and along my cock from base to tip, wrapping her lips around the head and locking eyes with me before sucking hard. Her hands start to roam, running over my stomach, my chest, and back along my arms until she laces her fingers with mine, holding them down at my sides.
It takes everything in me to lie there and take what she’s doing to me, but when she releases my hands, grips my ass and urges me to lift my hips and push my cock deep inside her mouth, I quickly lose control.
I cover her hand with my own to stop her, gritting my teeth, and willing the pressure at the base of my spine to ease off so I can see to her again first. She looks up at me and arches her brow as she circles the head of my cock with the tip of her tongue.
“Get up here,” I growl before knifing up, hooking my arms under her shoulders and lifting her over me. I flip her on her back, bracing my weight to the side, easing the pressure on my dick as I try to fight the urge to grind against her leg.
Bracing my hands on the mattress, I press my body into her, touching my forehead to her temple and breathing her in. I love how responsive she is with her flushed cheeks, hooded eyes, and satisfyingly swollen lips.
“You ready for more, sweetheart?” I ask, slowly rolling my pelvis against her core.
“God, yes,” she pants, still catching her breath. She grabs my head with both hands and jerks my mouth down on hers, thrusting her tongue between my lips before rolling it around mine, earning a loud groan from me.
“Let it be stated for the record that I was enjoying your cock in my mouth,” she huffs with a smirk.
I grin. “There’s plenty of time for you to do plenty more of that later.” I dip my head closer to hers. “But I’ve waited far too long to slide inside you again and right now…” I roll my hips back and forward, gliding my pulsing length through her sex. “I want to feel you all around me.” I run my tongue along her bottom lip in much the same way she just did to my cock. “Wet…” I delve inside for a deep, hard, and fast kiss. “Hot…” I pull back my hips and reach down to position myself at her entrance, “and deep…” Then I slide so slowly inside her I have to grit my teeth to absorb just how fucking amazing it feels to be back where I belong.
