Maddox

by Lisa Helen Gray

  “Jasmine,” I scream, my stomach cramping as the squealing of tyres sounds from the road.

  In horror, I watch as the silver vehicle that is normally parked across the road, speeds up the street, heading right for my daughter.

  My screams are lost over the pounding bass music coming from the car.

  “No, stop!” I scream, freezing in fear as the car nears. I try to move, try to scream louder, but there is nothing but paralyzing fear.

  My body jerks forward when, suddenly, she’s swept up in a pair of arms. Water gushes from between my legs as relief consumes me. A sob breaks out as I reach for my daughter, keeping my eyes on Maddox for a moment.

  “I don’t know where you came from, but thank you. Thank you so much.”

  Jasmine cries into my shoulder and I lower us to the floor, clutching her to my chest. She’s okay. She’s okay. I press my hand over her chest, feeling her heart beating. “You’re okay. You’re okay.”

  “See, this is why we should have her,” Carol snaps, stepping closer. “Give us the girl.”

  “Who the fuck are you?” Maddox growls, just before he was about to turn and leave.

  “I’m her grandma, and she’s keeping her from me.”

  “From where I stood, it looked like you were keeping her from her daughter. Now, I suggest you leave before I make you leave.”

  “We don’t have an issue with you,” Karen begins, but Maddox steps forward, clenching his jaw.

  “Lady, it would seem you have more issues than the local paper. I don’t give a shit about those either, so do one and leave Amelia alone.”

  Carol, not happy with being told what to do, goes to say something, but Karen pulls her back, stopping her. “Let’s go.”

  “I’ll be back,” Carol warns, her intent clear. “You won’t get away with what you’ve done.”

  She wants to make my life hell.

  I’m about to thank Maddox once again, but his back is to me and he’s in the road, pulling the lad out of the car.

  A cry escapes me, and my grip tightens around Jasmine as pain shoots through my abdomen.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  MADDOX

  Dad finishes typing away on his phone before giving me his attention. “I’ve called in reinforcements.”

  “Dad, it’s a few jobs. I don’t need that much help,” I tell him, rolling my eyes. “Once you’ve helped with the carpet, you can head home. I’ll do the rest.”

  “I want to meet this woman Madison told us all about.”

  I snort, my attention going to the two middle-aged women on Amelia’s drive, both looking like they stepped out of an episode of Shameless, with their roots on show, their knock-off trainers, cheap gold jewellery, and torn jeans. And not in the fashionable sense. It looks like they’re blocking her path.

  Absently, I reply to Dad’s comment. “Madison thinks she knows everything.”

  “Madison said you couldn’t stop staring at this mystery woman.”

  Putting the truck into park, I turn to Dad. “Dad, don’t make this out to be something it isn’t. She’s pregnant and has a little girl called Jasmine. You know my rules.”

  His eyes harden a little. “Nothing wrong with being with a woman who already has kids.”

  I shudder, although there is no mistaking I don’t see Amelia the way I have other single mums. The scream that shakes the car has my stomach turning. I take a minute to look at Dad before racing out of the car.

  I know that sound.

  It’s the sound of fear. The same fear I hear whenever Lily has one of her nightmares or episodes.

  Fuck!

  I hear the car first. Kayne, one of the older kids who lives next door, has his music blaring as he races down the street. I watch as he leans down to grab something, and when he comes up with a can of Carling, taking a swig, fear runs up my spine.

  “No, stop!” Amelia screams.

  My feet are moving before it even registers. Dad tries to wave down Kayne, but it’s no use. Just inches away from hitting the little girl, I manage to swoop her up in my arms, getting her out of harm’s way.

  Tweedledee and Tweedledum step back when I rush Jasmine to Amelia. I avoid looking down at her wet scrubs and keep my gaze on her face.

  I think I’d piss myself too if my kid had nearly been roadkill. I’m not going to judge.

  There is a certain warmth that expands inside my chest when her gaze meets mine, boring into me. “I don’t know where you came from, but thank you. Thank you so much.” Her voice cracks at the end as she cuddles into her daughter.

  There’s nothing I can say in this moment. I feel like I’m invading on a moment between mother and daughter as Jasmine cries into Amelia’s chest.

  Anger runs through my veins when I think of what could have happened had I not been here. I turn to leave, to go to my dad, who is being blocked from one of the guys next door. His nostrils flare, and he looks moments away from exploding. The guy doesn’t know who he’s messing with.

  I’m not shocked to find the mum still sat in her green plastic chair, laughing uproariously as her son struggles to open his car door.

  About to show them how pissed I can get, I take a step towards them, but hearing, “See, this is why we should have her,” come from one of the women behind me, has me pausing mid-step.

  “Give us the girl,” she orders, like she has every right to.

  I growl low in my throat, and take a step towards them. I stand in front of Amelia and Jasmine, blocking them from view. “Who the fuck are you?”

  Shocked that I spoke, the woman scans me over, curling her lip. “I’m her grandma, and she’s keeping her from me.”

  Yeah, that bullshit isn’t going to fly with me. “From where I stood, it looked like you were keeping her from her daughter. Now, I suggest you leave before I make you leave.”

  If these two hadn’t been pulling Amelia’s attention away from Jasmine, then she would never have run into the road. I’ve only met them a few times, but I can say with one-hundred percent certainty that Amelia is a good mum.

  “We don’t have an issue with you,” the bigger of the two snaps, looking like she wants to take a swipe at me. Seeing pain etched on Amelia’s face, I take another step forward, gritting my teeth.

  “Lady, it would seem you have more issues than the local paper. I don’t give a shit about those either, so do one and leave Amelia alone.”

  I arch my eyebrow, daring the peroxide grandma to say something. She opens her mouth, but wisely, the mess beside her pulls her back, leaning in to say, “Let’s go.”

  “I’ll be back,” she warns, her intent clear. “You won’t get away with what you’ve done.”

  Hearing a commotion behind me, I quickly rush to my dad when I see a guy with a badly drawn dragon tattooed on his neck and chest come at him. Dad pushes him with such force it knocks the guy on his arse.

  Knowing Dad has it handled, I head straight to the car. I grab one of the lads by the back of his jacket and shove him to the side, out of my way.

  The door makes an awful groaning sound when I pry it open. Kayne stares up at me, his eyes not really focused. He looks high, his eyelids narrowed into slits.

  “You could have fucking killed a kid,” I growl, gripping his jacket and pulling him out of the car. Darkness courses through me when I smell lager on his breath. “You’ve been drinking.”

  Blinking up at me, the situation seems to dawn on him, and his eyes begin to widen. “Only a bit, man. I didn’t see her. She came out of nowhere.”

  I couldn’t hold back my reaction even if I wanted to as I take a swing at him. My knuckles crack open when they hit his lip piercing, knocking him back against the car. “I fucking saw her, and I wasn’t driving, arsehole.”

  “Hey, get off my son,” his mum yells, getting her lazy arse out of the chair.

  “Back off,” Max, my uncle, booms, swinging a baseball bat over his shoulder, looking like he’s on the set of a street gang movie.

  I groan.
This situation went from bad to seriously bad on an epic scale. I give my dad a side look, and he shrugs, his expression blank. Thankfully, my uncle Myles is here too, along with Maverick and Mason. If anyone can control Max, it’s them.

  Kind of.

  When I glance at Dad, silently asking him why they’re all here, he shrugs. “They wanted to meet her too.”

  Wankers.

  “Look, Granddad, get out of our face and out of our business,” the tattoo guy yells, throwing a drink all over my dad.

  Dad, calm as always, glances down at his shirt, his jaw clenched. When he looks up, his pupils are darker, deadlier, and I wince when he leans his head back, before bringing it forward, slamming it into the guy’s forehead, knocking him clean out on the floor.

  Max jumps, swinging his fist in the air. “And that is why you don’t fuck with a Carter.”

  When they go to go after my dad, the others step beside him. Maverick shakes his head, his lip curling. “Unless you want to be picking up your pride and licking your dignity off the ground, I suggest you all fuck off and go back inside.”

  A scream vibrates through the air, and I swivel around to the sound, finding Jasmine hovering over her mum, who is curled onto her side, clutching her stomach.

  I quickly turn to Kayne. “I’m not done with you.”

  His eyes widen, and he shakily lets go of my elbows, nodding. I run over to Amelia, kneeling on the ground next to her.

  “Did those bit—” I force a smile to Jasmine before clearing my throat. “Did they hurt you?”

  “Have you pissed yourself?” Max asks, glancing over my shoulder. When I go to push him back, he lets me, paling. “Oh my God, please tell me you’ve pissed yourself.”

  “Seriously? Accidents happen,” I snap.

  “M-my w-waters have broken,” she wheezes, sweat pouring down her face. Her expression tightens as she screams out.

  I lean in, whispering, “Is that code for you’ve pissed yourself? Because I meant what I said: accidents happen. I’ve not pissed myself before, but I’ve woken up after a night out and found I’ve pissed—”

  “I’m in labour,” she screams, her beautiful face scrunched up in agony.

  “Mummy,” Jasmine whispers, rubbing a hand over her mum’s head.

  Panting, Amelia forces a smile and manages to run a hand over her daughter’s head. “It’s okay, baby. We talked about this, remember? It means your baby brother or sister is coming.”

  “But you didn’t say it would hurt you,” she whines, bending down to the large stomach. “Stop hurting our mummy.”

  Realisation hits me, and I glance up at my dad, in a panic. “Do something!”

  He grunts. “What do you want me to do? Give birth for her?”

  “Oh God,” she groans, rolling onto her back. “I really need to push.”

  “Don’t push,” Max screams, pulling at the ends of his hair.

  “Let’s get her inside,” Maverick orders, and I nod, pushing one arm under her knees and the other around her back. She screams when I lift her into my arms.

  Jasmine slaps my leg. “Don’t hurt her.”

  Myles kneels next to her. “Do you know who we can call?”

  I ignore her reply, holding the woman in my arms tighter, feeling her pain like it’s my own. I can feel her entire body tightening with every scream she releases.

  Dad, grabbing the keys off the ground, heads up the path, before opening the front door for us.

  “What do I do?” I ask, standing in the middle of her living room. Apart from the television set and the sofa, everything else is still in boxes.

  “Lay her down on the floor,” Maverick orders. “I’ll go get some towels.”

  “Oh God, I need to push,” she strains out, the veins in her head popping out.

  Christ, that can’t be natural.

  “The paramedics are on their way,” Mason reveals, looking at me with a pale face. “He asked how many centimetres dilated is she?”

  “Dilated?” I ask, swaying slightly.

  “Yes, dilated,” Amelia screams, taking me aback.

  “No need to shout at me,” I yell, gripping my hair.

  She begins sliding her scrubs down her legs, and frantically, I crawl back, staring at her in horror. “This can’t be happening right now,” she groans, before a noise, so loud and so feral, escapes up her throat.

  Jesus. This is something out of an exorcist’s movie.

  “Put them back on,” I cry out, but she kicks them off, going for her boxer shorts next. “God, no.”

  “Close your fucking legs,” Max snaps, covering his face up.

  “Will you get out,” she screams. “I don’t need this right now.”

  “You don’t need this,” he screams, thumping his chest. “I don’t need this. I came to see who my nephew had the hots for, who my niece said was different from the others. I didn’t come for this. I’ve been through this before. I still have nightmares.”

  I glare at my uncle. “For the last time, I do not have the hots for her.” Taking a calming breath, I then ask, “Isn’t birth meant to be beautiful?”

  He points at Amelia, narrowing his eyes. “Does that look beautiful to you? Does it? Because I’m telling you now, my boy, they fucking lie.”

  “Why don’t we go and find some toys,” Myles orders gently, steering Jasmine out of the room before glancing over his shoulder. “Her mum is on the way.”

  Face covered in sweat, her cheeks and neck bright red, Amelia glares at me, panting heavily. “I’m giving birth, and whether I like it or not, I’ve got you. Now I need you to look and tell me what you see.”

  She sounds so rational, so at ease, like she’s asking me to look in the fridge. I’m far from rational right now. In fact, I feel like I’m slowly losing grip on reality.

  She is giving birth.

  To a baby.

  And for some reason, I’m the one situated between her legs, ready to catch the fucker.

  My pulse races as Maverick comes back in with a pile of crème towels, placing one over her lap.

  “I can already tell you what I’ll see. A vagina.” I try to find an excuse to get out of this but there are none. “Isn’t birth meant to take hours?”

  “Please,” she begs, pushing at her boxer shorts.

  Fuck!

  Max steps forward, slicing his hand across his neck. “Don’t do it.”

  I had pictured this moment in a completely different setting and scenario. I never imagined the time I got her naked would be because I was waiting on the tiny human to exit her vagina.

  Manning up, I grip her boxers, sliding them down her thighs whilst keeping my gaze averted from that area.

  Her warm hands grip my wrists when I get past her knees, and I panic, thinking I misheard her, until she screams in my face, straining below.

  “I never wanted to go through this again,” Max whispers shakily, as I quickly place the boxers beside us.

  “You aren’t going to be there for Hayden?” Maverick asks.

  Why are they all acting like this is normal? Can they not see what is happening right in front of them?

  “Do you want to go grab a beer while you chat?” I grit out.

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Max murmurs, heading towards the kitchen. Calling back, he yells, “And Hayden loves me. She understands the pain I went through when she was brought into this world.”

  “He’s deluded when it comes to his kids,” Maverick mutters to Mason.

  “Are you okay?” I ask softly, helping her lie back down on the pillows someone placed behind her back.

  “Do I look okay?” she barks, before grimacing. “Sorry.”

  “If there is any time to forget pleasantries, this would be it.”

  She begins to cry, her fingers sinking into the carpet. “It wasn’t meant to be like this. None of it.”

  Maverick taps Mason on the shoulder. “Why don’t we step out?”

  I go to leave, but she pulls me back down, grunting
. “Don’t you dare leave me.”

  “I won’t, I swear it,” I promise, but there might be a chance I pass out before it’s over.

  Max walks in, swaying in the doorway. My gaze goes to the cake and fork in his hand. “Um, she doesn’t have any beer, so I’m, um, going for some air.”

  “Put that cake fucking back,” I snap.

  He growls, clutching the plate to his chest. “I eat my feelings when I’m anxious. Fuck off.”

  I glance over at Dad, who begins to sneak out behind him. “Don’t you dare leave me alone in here.”

  He arches his eyebrow at me. “I’m just going to see if the ambulance is here.”

  That lying bastard.

  “Dad! Dad!” I yell, but he’s gone, leaving me alone with her.

  “Can you see anything?” she asks, straining as her body tightens. She seems to be weakening, but I’m grateful she’s no longer screaming. Slowly, with each one, she was breaking me.

  As soon as the ambulance comes, I can leave.

  “Why don’t we wait for the paramedics?”

  She moos. Actually moos. Or what sounds like a moo. Straining so forcefully, I have to lean over to wipe the sweat away before it runs into her eyes.

  Face red and bathed in sweat, she scowls. “Fucking look, Maddox, now.”

  Snapping to attention, I can’t help but look down, and what I see has bile rising in my throat. “Oh fuck.”

  “What?” she asks, straining once again.

  I squeak when something bulges from out of her vagina before popping back in. Are all vaginas this big?

  “Oh my God,” I squeal.

  “What is it?” she screams, before concentrating on pushing.

  Now that I’m looking, I can’t look away. “I think I see the head. I hope it’s the head. It could be anything. I mean, there’s a lot going on down there right now.”

  She tries to laugh but it comes out gurgled. “Does everything look okay?”

  My breath hitches a little. “Compared to what?”

  She pants out, “Just tell me what you see.”

  I look again, only seeing specks of blood, clear fluid and a lot of angry skin. “Do you really want to know?”