Stone Rules (A Mitchell Sisters/Stone Brothers Novel)

by Samantha Christy

  Skylar nods.

  Mason asks, “What am I missing here?”

  Skylar looks at Griffin and he smiles. She says, “We were going to wait until you delivered to tell everyone, but I guess now is a good time. We’re pregnant!”

  Everyone in the room cheers again. Everyone but Baylor. She looks at her younger sister in utter disbelief. “You have got to be kidding me,” she says.

  “What?” Skylar asks.

  “I’m not drinking champagne either,” Baylor says.

  “Oh my God!” Skylar squeals as they run to embrace each other.

  “So, last month at the club, you knew?” Baylor asks Skylar.

  “Yup. You?”

  “Yup. When are you due?” Baylor asks.

  “May 22nd. You?”

  “June 3rd.”

  They both turn to look at Piper and then the rest of our gazes follow. Piper holds up her hands. “Don’t look at me,” she says. “I’ll drink the whole damn bottle.”

  Mason comes up behind her and wraps her in his arms. “Now will you consider it?” he asks.

  Piper cranes her head back at him and then looks at all the faces in the room. “Are you all seriously peer-pressuring me into getting knocked up?”

  Everyone laughs, including Piper. “Okay,” she says. “I might be willing to consider it.”

  Mason lifts her into the air and spins her around. Then he says, “Let’s go home and consider it right now.”

  She swats him. “I think I’d like to hang around until my niece or nephew makes an appearance.”

  Mason looks at Charlie. “Do you think we could hurry this along?”

  Dr. Chavis comes into the room, smiling at the festive atmosphere. “I hate to break this up, but somebody is about to become a party crasher,” she says, walking over to place a hand on Charlie’s belly.

  Everyone comes over to kiss Charlie and wish us well. Bruce Mitchell shakes my hand, pulling me into a hug. “Welcome to the family, son.”

  I can barely control my emotions when I see my mother crying happy tears over the video stream. I know she never thought this day would come. The day when she would see her son experience pure joy again. I tell her we’ll call her back after the baby arrives. Then I shut the lid to the laptop and turn around to face my bride.

  She too is crying, because she has removed the ring and is reading the inscription. “Rule number eighteen—forever isn’t long enough.” She looks up at me, eyes glistening. “I love you so much.”

  I take her in my arms. “Right backatcha, Mrs. Stone.”

  “Charlie Stone,” she says, pondering over the name. “I think that has a nice ring to it.” She frowns and I wonder if another contraction is starting. “I just wish we could have said vows and stuff. There is so much I want to say to you.”

  “We will have sixty or seventy years to say all the things we want to say to each other,” I tell her. “And believe me, the vows I want to say to you, are for your ears only, Tate.”

  Her eyes snap to mine and she smiles. She smiles big.

  “That’s the one?” I ask.

  She nods. “That’s the one,” she says. “That’s always been the one.”

  Dr. Chavis clears her throat. “Is there anyone we need to be calling?”

  I know what she’s asking, but I don’t let the thought put a damper on this incredible moment. I shake my head. “No. Everyone who is supposed to be here is here.”

  Dr. Chavis smiles. “That’s what I thought. Now let’s have this baby, shall we?”

  Chapter Forty-six

  I look down into the baby-blue eyes of our day-old son. I’ve counted every finger and every toe a hundred times. They are all still there. And they are perfect. He is perfect.

  Charlie comes up behind me to catch me staring again. She wraps her arms around me. “All babies have blue eyes, Ethan. It doesn’t mean anything.”

  I nod my head. I know that. And I know that whatever the test says and whatever happens, he will be as much my son as Cat was my daughter. But I was hoping for some kind of sign. Blonde hair maybe; or his second and third toes being slightly webbed together as mine are.

  But Eli is completely bald. He’s the cutest bald baby I’ve ever seen. I love it when his little face scrunches up right before he cries. I love it when he grabs my finger and holds onto it for dear life. I love it when I watch him feed from Charlie’s breast. I love it when I look at him and think of how it felt to hold Cat in my arms.

  I’m only human, though, and I know if he’s not my biological son, it will devastate me. I won’t love him any less. I won’t be any less of a father to him. It shouldn’t make any bit of difference in the world. Except that I know it will.

  I stare at him, unable to pull my eyes away from this little miracle swaddled in the hospital blanket they wrapped him in. I have the car seat all ready to go. I’ve long since loaded all of the flowers, cards and teddy bears into the trunk of my car. And Charlie is getting his going-home outfit out of her bag.

  I almost dread leaving the hospital. It means we have to go home and face reality. The reality of us not informing Thompson. The heartbreaking task of being forced to do it now. The consequences of what will come after.

  But when I look down into Eli’s face, I know it was all worth it. Watching him come into the world; sharing that moment with Charlie; having her become my wife. Nothing and no one can ever take those moments away from us.

  “Let’s get him changed,” Charlie says. She picks him up out of the hospital bassinette and lays him on the bed. I help her as we carefully, and somewhat awkwardly, remove his blanket and try not to break him as we dress him in his very first outfit.

  I’m working on getting his little legs into it, while she works on his arms. She gasps, putting a hand over her mouth to muffle her cries.

  My heart slams into the front of my chest. I quickly look him over to see if he’s hurt and to make sure he’s still breathing. “What is it?”

  Through her tears, she says, “I didn’t notice it before. Oh my God, Ethan. Why didn’t we notice it?”

  “Notice what?” I ask.

  She holds up his tiny left arm, pointing to the underpart of his bicep. I squint to see what she’s showing me. As it comes into focus, my heart stops and then starts again. The rug I thought was coming out from under me is now securely in place under my feet. The future that was uncertain is now entirely ours to navigate.

  Tears stream down my face, matching those on Charlie’s when I see his birthmark. The tiny brown marking that to me still looks more like a fingernail moon than a banana. But I realize now might not be the time to argue the point.

  Charlie touches my left arm, running her fingers over the very same place the birthmark is on my skin. “He’s yours, Ethan. He’s yours,” she cries.

  I reach over and pick up my half-dressed son. I hold him securely in my arms. I place kisses on his soft bald head. I thank God for giving us this sign. “He was always mine,” I tell Charlie, leaning down to kiss her.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been as happy as I am right now. Right this second.” She touches Eli’s cheek.

  “Get used to it, Tate. I plan on making the two of you happy every day for the rest of our lives.”

  The nurse comes in asking if we’re ready to go.

  “Just about,” I say, wiping what’s left of Charlie’s tears.

  While Charlie finishes dressing Eli, I send a text to Skylar, letting her know we’re on our way. She and Baylor and Piper have been decorating the penthouse for our arrival. And Skylar has been there all day, cooking enough meals to last us two weeks. I smile knowing my son will never know a family without love. He will never know parents who wouldn't die for him. He will live a life surrounded by cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles.

  Before I put my phone away, it pings with an email. When I see who it’s from, the only thing I can do is smile. It’s not the reaction I would’ve had ten minutes ago. Ten minutes ago, if I’d seen this email con
taining the results of the paternity test, I would have fallen to my knees, praying the results would go our way. But now, even before I open the email and see the results, I know what they will say. I also know that both Charlie and Zach have gotten the same email.

  Charlie finishes securing Eli into the car seat. “Check your email,” I tell her.

  She gives me a strange look. “Now?”

  “Yes, now.”

  She pulls out her phone and opens up the email. Fresh tears stream down her face as she reads it. She throws her arms around me and hugs me. “It’s over. It’s really over,” she cries. “He’s out of our lives.” She looks up at me with red eyes. “I’m so sorry I put you through all this, Ethan.”

  “I forgive you,” I say, knowing there is nothing to forgive. “But I’m the one who’s sorry. I never should have pushed you away back then.”

  She puts her hand on my chest, right over my tattoo. “I forgive you, too.”

  I smile down at her. “It feels good, doesn’t it?”

  “What?” she asks.

  “Forgiveness,” I say.

  She looks over at Eli, now fast asleep in the car seat. Then she looks back at me. “I think I’m ready,” she says. “I’m ready to talk to my dad again. Maybe we could have him over to meet Eli.”

  I nod, holding back more tears because as a father, I know just how much that will mean to him.

  “Come on,” I say, gently picking up the car seat. “Let’s take our son home.”

  She gathers her overnight bag, but before we leave the room, she stops, turning to me. “There is one stop we need to make on the way.”

  I look down at our day-old son, wondering what on earth could be so important. “Where?” I ask.

  “I want to introduce Cat to her new brother.”

  If love were tangible, I would be suffocating in it. This woman never fails to surprise me. She never fails to become even stronger than she thought she could ever be. She never fails to make me love her more deeply than the moment before.

  I look down at my son in one hand, and then I take Charlie’s hand with my other. “Let’s go, Mrs. Stone. Let’s go see what amazing things life has in store for us on the other side of that door.”

  She smiles. Then she opens the door and we walk through.

  The End

  Glossary

  Stone’s Rules

  Rule #1 – Don’t get involved with clients

  Rule #2 – Don’t take out a woman who won’t eat

  Rule #3 – Don’t talk to arrogant strangers

  Rule #4 – Don’t play with fire if you don’t want to get burned

  Rule #5 – Be nice to little old ladies

  Rule #6 – Don’t play your hand too soon

  Rule #7 – No public displays of affection

  Rule #8 – Wrap it before you tap it

  Rule #9 – A promise is a promise

  Rule #10 – If you don’t have anything, you have nothing to lose

  Rule #11 – All good things come to those who wait

  Rule #12 – Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do

  Rule #13 – Some things are just meant to be

  Rule #14 – Forever

  Rule #15 – Money doesn’t always make life easier

  Rule #16 – Carpe diem

  Rule #17 – Whatever happens, happens

  Rule #18 – Forever isn’t long enough

  And let’s not forget about Charlie’s

  Rule #69 – Give and you shall receive

  Coming in 2017 – Chad’s story

  Stone Promises

  If you’ve enjoyed Stone Rules, I would appreciate you taking a minute to leave a review on Amazon. Reviews, even just a few words, are incredibly valuable to indie authors like me.

  If you want to read more about the Mitchell sisters, click this link to get started with Purple Orchids, book one of their series. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UHPKXMS

  To keep up with my releases, see cover reveals, and get a chance to read ARCs, please sign up for my mailing list here: http://www.samanthachristy.com/contact.html

  Acknowledgements

  All good things must come to an end. It’s hard saying goodbye to the Mitchell sisters, but I’ve had so much fun introducing you all to the Stone brothers. I hope you will love them as much as I do and want to stay with them through their journeys.

  This book was difficult to write. Charlie’s story was traumatic, and although this book is purely fiction, I know there are people out there who have suffered similar pasts. My heart goes out to you. May you have the strength and courage to find the peace that you deserve.

  Thank you to my editors, Ann Peters and Jeannie Hinkle. You’ve been with me since the beginning—for all seven books. I keep expecting you to tire of me, yet you keep coming back for more.

  To my beta readers, Tammy Dixon, Laura Conley, Heather Durham and Angela Marie: you guys each have different qualities in a beta reader that all seem to come together and make my book a better read. I couldn’t do this without you.

  The life of an author has many ups and down. My family gets to celebrate my highs with me and support me through my lows. None of this would be possible without them.

  about the author

  Samantha Christy’s passion for writing started long before her first novel was published. Graduating from the University of Nebraska with a degree in Criminal Justice, she held the title of Computer Systems Analyst for The Supreme Court of Wisconsin and several major universities around the United States. Raised mainly in Indianapolis, she holds the Midwest and its homegrown values dear to her heart and upon the birth of her third child devoted herself to raising her family full time. While it took time to get from there to here, writing has remained her utmost passion and being a stay-at-home mom facilitated her ability to follow that dream. When she is not writing, she keeps busy cruising to every Caribbean island where ships sail. Samantha Christy currently resides in St. Augustine, Florida with her husband and four children.

  You can reach Samantha Christy at any of these wonderful places:

  Website: www.samanthachristy.com

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SamanthaChristyAuthor

  Twitter: @SamLoves2Write

  E-mail: samanthachristy@comcast.net