“Priorities are important,” Aidan said, gently caressing her belly as she laid her head against his chest and closed her eyes.
“They really are,” she murmured, smiling when he leaned down so that he could kiss the top of her head.
“You were wrong,” Aidan said after a slight pause.
“About what?”
“He wasn’t the love of your life.”
Chapter 36
“What did we talk about, woman?” Lucifer demanded as Melanie tried to get comfortable on the lounge chair that she’d been ordered not to move from, but her back was killing her.
“She’s going to kill him one day,” Rebecca said, sounding thoughtful as Melanie gave up trying to get comfortable and settled for watching as Lucifer’s mother glared at him.
“Probably,” Melanie agreed, biting back a wince when more pain shot down her back. Maybe she should go inside? she thought only to immediately dismiss the idea when she remembered that Caitlyn was still in there.
“Everything okay?” Rebecca asked, sending her another curious glance, something that she’d been doing since they arrived a few hours ago.
“Everything’s fine,” Melanie said, forcing a smile as she did her best to ignore the cramp tearing through her back.
“You’re not a very good liar,” Rebecca reminded her with a heavy sigh as she glanced around the large backyard filled with Bradfords, her family, and friends and sighed again. “Where is he?”
“Who?” Melanie asked, deciding that it was time to curl up on her side.
Yup, definitely time to lay on her side, she thought as the next cramp stole her breath.
“She’s right. You are a bad liar,” Joey, who’d joined them an hour ago only to promptly bury her nose in a book, said, not bothering to look up from her book as she turned the page.
Shawn, the teenage boy sitting on the ground between them playing Minecraft on his iPad and Joey’s BFF apparently, asked, “Why is she hitting him?” making them frown as they looked back at Lucifer.
“That’s gonna leave a mark,” Rebecca said, sounding bored as they watched Mary throw one last hamburger bun at Lucifer before storming off.
“This isn’t over, woman!” Lucifer called after his mother only to curse under his breath and turn to run when she abruptly stopped, turned around, and-
“That’s definitely going to leave a mark,” Melanie said, sucking in a breath when the next cramp tore through her back, making her really regret her decision to lie to Aidan and tell him that she was fine. When she felt the warm hand wrap around hers, she glanced over to find Shawn holding her hand as he stared down at the iPad in his lap and decided that she was definitely going to have to steal him because she could always use an extra BFF.
“I’m getting Aidan,” Rebecca said, moving to do just that only to sigh heavily and drop back down on her chair when Melanie said, “Don’t. I just overdid it this morning. It’s just a backache.”
Mary and Lucifer had worked so hard to throw them a baby shower and she didn’t want to ruin it. She also didn’t want to give Aidan another reason to fuss over her. Over the past week, he’d been fussing over her, taking care of her, and glaring, god the glaring was going to get him killed, every time she so much as lifted a finger to do anything.
Which was why she’d been forced to get up in the middle of the night so that she could rearrange all the baby clothes they’d picked out last week because she knew that he would never let her do it. At least, that’s how she’d explained why she was up at two in the morning to him when he found her sitting on the floor, surrounded by baby clothes, crying incoherently because they were all so cute. She was actually hoping that they could forget that moment ever happened, Melanie thought, biting back another wince.
“What are we supposed to do then?” Rebecca asked when another cramp tore through her back.
“Just…just distract me,” Melanie said, slowly exhaling.
There was another heavy sigh and then, “Fine. We’ll gossip.”
“I love gossip,” she felt the need to point out.
“I know you do, sweetie,” Rebecca murmured, joining her on the lounge chair so that she could reach over and take her other hand in hers. “Where should we start?” Rebecca asked, sounding thoughtful as Melanie forced herself to open her eyes so that she could consider their options.
When she saw the incredibly hot guy, and yes, he was somehow hotter than Aidan and Roger combined, that had stopped playing touch football with the rest of the Bradfords so that he could sit down and play tea with the cutest little girl that Melanie had ever seen, she nodded in his direction. “What’s his story?”
“Devin Bradford,” Rebecca said with a heartfelt sigh as a little boy walked over and dropped himself across Devin’s lap. “Single father of two, twins Dustin and Abbi. He owns Bradford Creations. They make furniture with secret compartments and specialize in creating hidden rooms. From what I heard, he doesn’t date and has absolutely no plans on changing his mind until the kids are adults.”
“Really?” Melanie asked, digesting that piece of information as she shifted her attention to Aidan’s brother, Garrett. “What about him?”
“He’s systematically torturing our neighbor out of revenge,” Joey said without bothering to look up.
“Hmm,” Melanie murmured as she shifted her attention to her right only to wince when she spotted Adam walking towards her and-
Gasped as she released the hands trying to comfort her, grabbed hold of the edge of the lounge chair, and screamed the only thing that she could think of as excruciating pain tore through her stomach.
*-*-*-*
“I think they’re planning on killing you,” Arik said, not really sounding like he cared as Aidan stood there, biting back a sigh as he tried to figure out something to say to them only to decide against it when Melanie’s brother Lucas, a Marine who was on leave so that he could be here for Cody’s birth and the seriously pissed off man that had explained in minute detail what he would do to him if Aidan even thought about hurting his sister, narrowed his eyes on him.
“They really do,” Duncan said, helping himself to the platter of sandwiches and not really sounding all that concerned.
“Not that you could really blame them,” his father said as he helped himself to the brownies as Aidan gave up trying to smooth things over with Melanie’s family and shifted his attention to Kenzie, who was in another glaring match with Roger. Neither one had said anything for the past hour, they just…glared.
“That’s getting creepy,” Connor, his cousin Rory’s husband, said as he helped himself to another brownie.
“It really is,” Trevor agreed as Reed grabbed the platter of vegetables and placed them back in the refrigerator with a murmured, “Joey can’t tolerate the sight of celery without getting sick,” making Aidan frown because-
“There you are!” came the announcement that had Melanie’s family muttering, “Jesus Christ,” and Aidan looking for the closest exit.
“What can I help you with, Caitlyn?” he asked only to bite back a curse when she plucked the plate out of his hand and began filling it.
“You shouldn’t have to do that. This is your day,” she said with a teasing smile that had his family sending him curious looks and her family shifting their glares to her.
“I’m fine,” Aidan said, grabbing another plate with a forced smile and started filling it with all of Melanie’s favorites, again.
“I was actually hoping to get a chance to talk to you. I-”
“Aidan!” came the pain-filled scream that had him dropping the plate on the floor and shoving his brothers out of the way so that he could race towards the back door with Melanie’s brother on his heels.
He shoved the back door open and-
“Aidan!”
He spotted Melanie curled up on the lounge chair where he’d left her, holding onto the side as she bit back another scream. He was across the lawn in seconds and-
“Drugs!”
Melanie demanded only to follow that up with, “I’d really like some drugs now!”
“I know you would, baby,” Aidan said with a sad smile, pushing her hair back as he placed his hand on her belly.
“T-take him out, Aidan,” she said on a pained gasp as she closed her eyes, blindly reached down, grabbed his hand, and-
Made him realize that it was time to move their asses when she forced him to bite back a grunt of pain when she squeezed his hand, hard. He waited until she was done before he leaned down and whispered, “Let’s get you out of here,” as he kissed her cheek.
There was a sniffle, and then, “Yes, please.”
“I’m going to pick you up now, okay?” Aidan said softly as he reached down and-
“I never fucking touched her!” came the announcement that had them all looking back towards the house as Kenzie stormed out of the house with Roger right behind her.
“Wait, I changed my mind,” Melanie said, licking her lips as she moved to sit up only to gasp in pain.
“Time to go,” Aidan said, picking her up carefully and headed towards the driveway as Kenzie stormed off in that direction as well with a, “I don’t care!”
“We need to talk about this,” Roger said, grabbing her arm to stop her and-
“Seriously. I-I’m good. Let’s just stay here and see where this goes,” Melanie said, sounding really fucking hopeful and making him chuckle as he leaned down and kissed her.
“Please?” Melanie said, watching as Kenzie yanked her arm free and-
“Stop walking away from me!” Roger snapped, which was followed by Kenzie giving him a one-finger salute as she headed towards her truck and-
“Goddamn it, Kenzie, I love you!”
“Seriously. I’m good. Just put me down anywhere,” Melanie said, absently gesturing towards the lawn as every Bradford within shouting distance watched Roger’s every move.
“You can’t keep walking away from this, Kenzie!”
“Watch me!”
“You’re my wife, goddamn it!” came the shouted announcement that had Aidan sucking in a breath as he watched his sister go still and-
“I am begging you, Aidan. Just put me down so that I can…oh, god,” Melanie mumbled on a pained gasp that was followed by, “Her water just broke,” from his father, who moved ahead of them so that he could open the car door for them.
“No,” Aidan said, glancing over at Reese as Roger’s words sank in and when they did, he headed towards his one-time best friend as every Bradford followed suit.
“Someone tape this!” Melanie said as Aidan carefully shifted her in his arms so that he could place her in the car. “Or take notes! Really good notes!”
Chapter 37
“She’s fully dilated,” the nurse by Melanie’s legs informed Roger as he leaned down so that a nurse could place a band-aid over his eyebrow that was probably going to need stitches as another nurse finished helping him with his gloves.
“How are you holding up, Melanie?” Roger asked as Aidan stood there, torn between killing the bastard who’d fucked his sister over and begging him to do something to make this better for Melanie.
There was a pained gasp, and then, “I’d really like some more drugs.”
“I don’t think he can wait any longer,” Roger said, shooting her a sympathetic smile as he took his place in front of Melanie as the nurses double-checked to make sure that her feet were locked in place in the stirrups as a team of nurses prepared for the arrival of their son.
“That’s what I thought,” Melanie bit out, gasping as another contraction tore through her as her hand tightened around his.
“What did Kenzie say?” she asked Roger, making Aidan’s lips twitch despite the fact that he was scared out of his fucking mind right now.
“You mean before or after I was welcomed into the family?” Roger asked dryly.
“Both,” Melanie said, nodding.
Chuckling, Roger shook his head, “She still won’t talk to me.”
“Can’t really blame her,” Melanie said, laying her head back as she squeezed her eyes shut.
“No, I can’t,” Roger murmured absently.
“Did you explain Missy?” she asked, making Aidan frown.
“She doesn’t care,” Roger said, gesturing for the pediatric team to get ready.
“You couldn’t let Reese marry her,” Melanie mumbled only to wince, tighten her hand around his, and gasp in pain.
“No, I couldn’t,” Roger murmured in agreement as Aidan reached over and wiped away another tear as it rolled down Melanie’s beautiful face.
“I-I’d really like this to be over now,” she mumbled around a choked sob.
“It’s almost done, baby. I promise,” Aidan promised her as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers. “In a few more minutes, we’ll be holding our baby boy.”
“Can I have more drugs? Because I’d really like some more drugs,” Melanie said, gasping in pain.
“I think it’s too late for that,” Aidan said, brushing his lips against hers one last time before he found himself saying, “You’re so beautiful.”
“Oh, my god…am I dying?” she asked, panicking and making him chuckle.
“No, you’re not dying,” he assured her with another kiss.
“Then why would you tell me that at a time like this?” Melanie demanded, throwing the sheet covering her bent legs a terrified look that had him sighing because he should have fucking known that she would make this difficult.
“Did I ever tell you that you’re a brat,” Aidan asked, chuckling.
“Did I ever tell you that I actually kind of hate you,” Melanie asked, blinking up at him.
“Is that because of the whole crippling pain thing?” he murmured thoughtfully.
“It might have something to do with that,” she admitted, making him smile.
“And if you weren’t currently experiencing the joys of childbirth?” Aidan asked, watching Roger out of the corner of his eye, hoping to distract her from the pain until it was time.
“I’d probably still hate you.”
“Is that because I wouldn’t let you stay and see what happened next?” he asked, watching as Roger sent him a nod, letting him know that it was time.
“Well, I mean, it might have something to do with it,” Melanie murmured only to gasp in pain and tighten her hold around his hand.
“It’s time,” Roger announced right around the time that Melanie began shaking her head.
“No, no, no, no, I changed my mind. He can stay where he is,” Melanie mumbled with a whimper that broke his heart.
“It will be over before you know it,” Aidan lied to her as the nurses moved to help her sit up.
“I-I really don’t think I can do this,” Melanie mumbled.
“You’re going to be fine,” Aidan promised her as Roger said, “I need you to start pushing now.”
“I would really rather not do that right now,” Melanie said, sending him a pleading look that nearly fucking destroyed him.
“Cody needs you to push,” Aidan told her, holding her hand as he watched her.
“O-okay,” she whispered with a firm nod as she licked her lips and screamed as she tightened her hold around his hand while a contraction tore through her body.
“Okay, take a deep breath and get ready for the next one,” Roger said as Aidan stood there, unable to look away from Melanie as she struggled to get through the next contraction.
“You’re doing great,” Aidan told her as he kissed her forehead.
“Almost there,” Roger said as Aidan stood there, praying that she made it through this only to close his eyes and release a shaky breath when he heard his son cry a few seconds later.
*-*-*-*
“He’s so sweet,” Mary said with a watery smile as she leaned down and kissed Cody’s forehead.
“Your five minutes are up,” Lucifer said, gesturing for her to hand him back over.
“No, it’s not,” Mary said, smiling d
own at her newest grandchild.
“It is. I counted,” Lucifer said, once again gesturing for her to hand the baby over.
“Ethan?” was all Mary had to say apparently to get her son to grumble something under his breath and return to his spot by the wall where he stood, glaring at his mother.
“He’s so cute,” Melanie’s mother said, smiling hugely as she reached down so that could run her hand over Cody’s peach-fuzzed head.
“You did great,” Rebecca said as she climbed onto the bed next to Melanie and-
“We’ve decided that we’re going to try to have a baby!” Caitlyn announced with an excited squeal and a huge smile, drawing everyone’s attention and-
“I’m pregnant,” Rebecca said, quickly drawing everyone’s attention back to her, earning a murderous glare from Caitlyn and a hollow, “What?” from Lucifer.
Nodding, Rebecca said, “I’m pregnant,” as she gave Melanie’s shoulder a squeeze as she did her best to bite back a smile.
“Oh, my god! Another grandbaby!” Mary said with a huge smile as everyone began congratulating Lucifer and Rebecca.
Well, everyone except for Caitlyn, who continued to glare for another minute before she stormed out of the room. Adam watched Melanie with that same unreadable expression that he’d had on his face since this all started as he pushed away from the wall and went after Caitlyn, who was probably already in mid-tantrum because she hadn’t gotten the reaction that she wanted.
“Are you really pregnant?” Melanie whispered only loud enough for her best friend to hear.
“Well, I mean, you really didn’t give me much of a choice, did you? I can’t have my godson grow up without his best friend, now can I?” Rebecca said as Lucifer made his way to Rebecca’s side and leaned down so that he could kiss her as he said, “God, I love you,” while Melanie found herself looking at Aidan again.
He hadn’t said anything since Cody was born, and to be honest, it was actually starting to scare her a little. Maybe she was overreact-
“Everyone get out,” Aidan said quietly as he looked at her, but it was enough. Within minutes, everyone that had come to see the baby was gone and-
Irresistible (Neighbor from Hell Book 11) Page 18
