Freeing Calder: Seas of Seduction 2

by A. E. Murphy

  “I can’t fucking take it anymore,” I cry as another pain slowly ebbs to a dull but powerful ache. It has been thirteen hours. Fucking thirteen HOURS of absolute hell. This baby isn’t shifting. It’s never going to happen.

  I sob into Calder’s shoulder while resting on my knees because I’m uncomfortable no matter what yet this seems the most comfortable of all the positions.

  “You can do it,” he tells me, rubbing my back. “You’re nearly there. He’ll be here before you know it.”

  “You’re lying,” I snap, burying my face in his neck.

  Another contraction rips through me and I clench down and moan through it. Not overly loud, but enough for it to tingle in my own ears. I breathe my gas and air as Bonnie rubs my back.

  “You’re doing so well,” she tells me, having softened up to me hours ago. She was a bit uptight at first but I somehow won her over in between calling her a cow and begging her to knock me out. She laughed it off. “So, so well. You’re incredibly brave.”

  “No, I’m not, if I had the choice to pass this on to him right now I totally would.”

  She laughs as Calder chuckles.

  “I’d take it from you in a heartbeat, Rain.” Kissing my temple, he shifts and helps me lie down. She wants to check me again. I get a little bit excited because it might be good news this time.

  “Nine,” she informs us, sounding as excited as I feel.

  “Can I get back up? I don’t want to be on my back.”

  “Of course you can.” I move back onto all fours, using Calder as my grip. Having my eyes shielded by his neck just helps somehow. I can feel his pulse and hear him breathing. I can also squeeze him until he’s hurting for doing this to me. It’s a small victory in this crappy situation.

  “What about in the bath?” she asks suddenly. “It’s deep enough. You might be more comfortable in there for these last stages.”

  I’ve been in and out of the bath this entire time. It really does help with contractions.

  “Okay.”

  I hear her move to the bathroom and then hear the taps spray water into the tub. They both help me over to it once it’s full and stepping into the hot water is such a relief. It’s not a massive difference but it does help, and I can hold the bath the way I have been holding Calder. Now he has free movement and can help the midwife when it comes to catching the baby.

  These last few contractions are the worst but they’re nowhere near as bad as the pressure I feel when it’s time to push. It’s such a horrific ache and I start to panic. The pain seems to increase by ten and life around me blurs with my screams as Calder presses his forehead to mine. He’s urging me on, telling me to do it, yelling at me to push.

  I’m in agony. Fucking agony.

  And then finally, finally, it stops. The pain, everything stops. I feel him slide from my body and just like that it’s done. I sob from the relief. It’s been such a long day.

  “Turn over, quickly now,” Bonnie says, her voice full of emotion as the ringing in my ears subsides.

  Calder helps me manoeuvre my leg so I don’t kick the baby, that would be bad, and as soon as I’m relaxed back in the bath he’s placed on my chest. She rubs him down but he doesn’t cry. He doesn’t move at all.

  He feels lifeless on me and it’s the most terrifying feeling in the world.

  “What’s wrong with him?” I ask, holding his rump as she cuts the cord and then takes him away from me as quickly as she placed his gunky little body on my chest.

  Calder squeezes my hand and kisses my temple. “You were amazing, so fucking amazing.”

  “Why isn’t he crying?” I ask loudly, she’s in the other room, I can hear her talking to my son whose face I didn’t get to see properly. He had a spiral of dark hair on his round head. That’s all I saw. And the fat rolls on his legs. “Bonnie?”

  She keeps talking and neither Calder nor I breathe until finally he screeches so loud my heart jumps into my throat. For a moment there I feared the worst.

  I burst into tears, and when I look at Calder, there are tears shining trails down his cheeks too. We kiss desperately for a moment until she brings him back to me and kneels so I can see him.

  “He’s perfect, Rain, he’s absolutely gorgeous,” she tells us, laughing despite the tears coming from her eyes too. Tears which she wipes on her bicep.

  He’s bigger than I thought he would be and he looks so much like Calder I can tell already. It’s in his brows and the wrinkle of his nose as he wails.

  “I’m going to hand him off to his daddy who is going to keep him warm while I take care of you now, okay, Rain?”

  “I’m fine,” I say and I’m not lying. I feel amazing all of a sudden. I’ve been hit with a major dose of adrenaline.

  “Not yet you’re not, we need to birth the placenta.”

  I look at the murky waters I’m in and cringe. “Really?”

  She hands our son to Calder who takes him eagerly and I have to admit, the feelings I’m getting from seeing the way he’s looking at his son are enough to keep me placated.

  “If you can lift your butt a little for me,” Bonnie asks and I do so.

  Calder smiles at our little boy, who has finally stopped wailing, and more tears fall from his eyes. “He’s amazing. So amazing.”

  “Do you have a name for him yet?” Bonnie asks as she massages my stomach gently, as though feeling for something.

  “Poseidon,” Calder replies and Bonnie looks as horrified as I did the first time I heard it.

  “I get to name the next one,” I tell her and we share a smile. I feel the urge to push again and start to panic but she calms me and does her thing. Seconds later that’s dealt with and she takes our son as Calder helps me from the bath.

  I get dry and get dressed and waddle over to the bed feeling twenty pounds lighter than I did yesterday morning.

  “Can I hold him now?” I ask quietly and finally my boy is in my arms and my man is by my side.

  He really is so perfect. His face is so squishy and cute, I can’t stop kissing his little eyebrows.

  “Do you love him?” I ask Calder because I love him so much, I need to know that he feels the same.

  “I don’t think love is a strong enough word to cover how I feel for him.”

  I turn my head and kiss him again and when we both look back down, vivid green eyes are looking straight back at us. I know he can’t see much more than our silhouettes, but I hope he knows we’re his parents and we’re going to give him the best life we can.

  “I hear you. Love definitely isn’t a strong enough word.” I kiss his little eyebrow again and adjust him on my chest.

  “Time to feed,” Bonnie says softly.

  I look at Calder. “Go let everyone know we’re okay. My brother will be panicking.”

  He’s been back at least a dozen times since I went into labour. It was so long and tiring.

  I feel mentally and physically drained but I’m also buzzing with excitement that my little guy is finally here. Thankfully he latches on okay and I feed him until he sleeps. Calder returns during this and I can see he’s desperate to hold him, so as soon as I’m done, I follow Bonnie into the bathroom for another bath. This one is purely to wash myself.

  When I return, I get dressed in my favourite fluffy pyjamas as I wonder where the hell Calder has gotten to with my kid.

  “Want me to find them?” Bonnie asks.

  I shake my head. “No, you’ve done enough for me today. You should sleep.” I move to her and hug her tight and she returns it with one arm. “Thank you so much.”

  “No problem,” she replies and we share a smile. “But maybe now you can have a word with your husband about letting me go home.”

  My blood runs cold. “I’m sorry, what?”

  “Yeah, he said you didn’t know and wouldn’t be happy if you found out.” She neatens her bun in the mirror on the wall in the bathroom and I lean against the doorjamb and wait for her to continue. “I was tricked into believing I�
�d be having lunch with Geoffrey mid-shift, an old acquaintance, and instead I was picked up, tossed onto a boat and brought to the ship.”

  Calder’s voice sounds from behind me, it’s wary and deep. “You’ll be taken back as soon as possible and paid handsomely for your time.”

  I gape at him but his eyes don’t meet mine. I’m trembling with anger. “You kidnapped her?”

  He shrugs. “I did what I had to do to ensure your safety.”

  I look at Bonnie. “I am so sorry, Bonnie.” Then I glower at Calder. “Are you kidding me? She could have been here for weeks.”

  When he doesn’t reply I move to take my son from him who is dressed in a white and blue sleep suit. He looks adorable and his little nappy against my hand feels so crinkly under the fabric, but also soft. I press my lips to his soft hair that has dried already. He smells like new baby. I love it.

  I give Calder another glare. “You will fix this, you absolute dick.”

  Calder looks at the woman over my shoulder. “I promise I’ll return you as soon as I can.”

  “Right now?” she asks. “I have a life, I have patients to get back to.”

  “Not right now, but soon. Meanwhile Geoffrey has set up for you a very comfortable room.”

  I look at the woman who looks to be either on the verge of tears, or on the verge of throttling the man I love.

  “Go,” I say to her kindly. “Get some rest. We’ll figure this out.”

  She sniffs haughtily, grabs her bag from the ground, and stomps from the room.

  The second she’s gone I turn and kick Calder in the shin. It does little more than make him grunt.

  I want to stay mad but I don’t want to ruin this moment and Calder is Calder. He’ll send her home, I’ll make sure of it. I trust him that much. “Where did you go?”

  “Your brother wanted to meet him.”

  “What did he think?”

  “That we should call him River because he’s so handsome.”

  I laugh loudly, startling the little bundle in my arms. When he opens his mouth and lets out a wail that pouts his lower lip we both immediately coo over him like the little prince he is.

  “Boy’s got a pair of lungs. He’s going to be an excellent diver one day.”

  The thought of letting him anywhere near the water makes me feel sick but I’ll never push my personal fears onto him.

  “It’s finally over.” I place him on the bed and lie next to him. My fingers push at my squishy belly and I can’t deny my frown.

  “You miss it?”

  “Kind of. It’s all here now.” I stop myself from crying when Mum comes to mind, and then Niall. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment for months.”

  If I’d stayed I’d be at home with him right now, cradling my son, wondering what Calder would think of him.

  “Would you be upset if I called Niall?” I ask and Calder tenses. His breathing stops too. “I don’t want to ruin the moment, but I promised him I’d call when I had him.”

  “What the fuck, Rain?” His smiling eyes are now hard and angry. “You’re bringing another man to our bed, to our precious moment… your ex, no less?”

  When he puts it that way I kind of wish I hadn’t said anything. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just feel bad after our last conversation.”

  Niall didn’t take the breakup well. I called him a couple of weeks ago to try and patch things up but he got upset, begged me to come home. We spoke again the next day when he was calmer, but he still stood by his plea for me to return. I guess he loved me more than I thought, and I feel terrible. I promised to stay in touch per his request and double promised that I’d call when Poseidon was born.

  The name is growing on me.

  “Forgive me?” I ask, reaching over to touch Calder’s face.

  He leans over the baby and kisses my lips. “Always. But don’t call him again.”

  “I’ll send him a text and that’ll be it.”

  Nodding, seemingly appeased, he rolls onto his back and lifts Poseidon to his chest.

  “Sleep, babe, who knows when he’ll be up again for his next meal.” Calder opens his arm to me and I snuggle into his side, my face inches from my baby’s. After a minute of silence, as I’m drifting to sleep, Calder declares, “I can’t remember ever feeling so happy.”

  “Me neither,” I reply tiredly and snuggle deeper into his side. “I love you.”

  “I love you more.”

  “But you really have to let that poor woman go home.”

  “I know. I’ll get it sorted.”

  Smiling, I kiss his pec and then my son’s nose and try for sleep one more time.

  epilogue

  “Get back here, you little bugger,” Larry yells and a familiar-sounding giggle comes from the trees as heavy footsteps follow lighter ones.

  “Poor Larry,” I say softly and press my fingers to my lips.

  Calder looks over at my brother who is currently dragging Lake on one leg, and Oceane on his other. Our twins, a boy and girl who were born two years and three days after our eldest son Poseidon. The twins were born on land in a hospital. I fortunately didn’t need a C-section but they both needed some aftercare. Thanks to Calder’s ties and the amount of money he made from the treasure, he was able to line a few pockets and get us citizenship into Mexico.

  I dread to think what it would have been like had he not been able to do that with the twins.

  I place my fingers against Adonia’s name that was carved into this magnificent tree long ago and whisper a quiet thank-you to her. I constantly thank her for the man she created for me. My love for him knows no bounds and nor does his for me.

  Even after all these years together we still love each other as deeply as we did when we returned to one another.

  It’s why we’re here today, marking our one-year anniversary since we married on the most beautiful beach in Mexico. It was a private affair for the most part, just immediate family, closest friends, and our children. I’ve never felt as beautiful as I felt that day, or the day he asked me which was not too long after the birth of Poseidon.

  I’m still not used to that name, so I call him Donny. Calder hates it and I know he’ll hate it when he gets older too. Not that I care. I pushed him out of me so I at least get some rights to his name. I got to name Lake at least. Calder named Oceane. He’s got a thing for fucked-up names and decided he gets to name the next one if we choose to have any more. That’s a hard no for me.

  “What’s on your mind?” Calder asks, dipping his head to press our foreheads together. “You seem distant.”

  “I’m present, just thinking about how happy we are.”

  Grinning, he slants his lips over mine and spins me around. “Good.”

  We both startle when an empty coconut shell hits Calder on the back of the head. My lips pinch together and his eyes blaze when he turns to face the little brat that threw it to begin with.

  “Can’t catch me!” Poseidon yells, turns, flashes his little butt after pulling down his pants, and then runs so fast I hardly catch the movement.

  “Breathe, babe, you wanted him wild… You said all good pirates are born wild.”

  Calder shakes himself off, inhales deeply, and then he too is gone, chasing after the curly-mahogany-haired boy that loves to test him every second of the day.

  I look at my brother who now has one of each of my mahogany-headed twins on each of his biceps. He’s roaring like a lion and spinning them around as they cling on and scream so loud I’m surprised my ears aren’t bleeding.

  “Who wants snacks?” I call and they both drop and instead of being normal kids and running around the pool of water to get to me and the bag of snacks, they instead decide to dive headfirst into the water and swim my way before taking their packed sandwiches with soggy fingers.

  Calder taught them to swim before they could crawl, all of them. He was insistent on it and I let him get on with it. He has a relationship with the water that I’ll never understand and he wants to
share that with his kids.

  Poseidon already goes spear fishing with him in the ocean, though he has yet to catch anything. There’s never a more terrifying moment than those times when he disappears beneath the surface of the sea, nothing but a thin rope connecting him to me.

  I leave Calder to hunt down Poseidon and sure enough he returns with the little rebel hanging over his shoulder.

  “Sit down,” he says to our son who immediately does as he’s told. Wild or not, none of them mess with their daddy when he puts his foot down.

  “Now,” Calder says, yanking me up to my feet, making the kids groan their annoyance when sand falls from my body and onto them.

  “Watch my bread, Mummy,” Oceane snaps, her tone sassy. “God.”

  I ignore her and push my chest against my husband’s.

  “Where were we?” he asks, his eyes glinting with mischief.

  I press my lips to his. “Right here, together.”

  “Always.”

  Jami Kehr, you are amazing. I don’t say it enough. I wish more people in the world could be like you.

  Judy of Judy’s Proofreading, thank you for not only fixing my books but for helping to fix me too. I’ve learned so much from you and I’ll never forget that.

  Siobhan, my sister, thank you for being my rock when I needed you. Mum and Papa Rue too. Your consistent support is so humbling and keeps me grounded and so happy.

  To my readers for being there every step of the way. I hope this book captured you as well or even better than my others.

  And last but not least…

  To everyone who believed in me this year, thank you.

  To everyone who didn’t, fuck you.

  <3

  A. E. Murphy is the queen of sarcasm and satire, she likes long walks in the park, as much as ice cubes like to chill in a roasting oven. She’s effortlessly independent and so good at adulting it’s unfair on the rest of the world. She only napped twice today and has only avoided the dishes for three days before making the child slaves do them this morning.

  Winning! Her favourite hobby is writing, her worst hobby is reading through that writing. Also, she has two three cats that carry toys to the top of the stairs and drop them down so they can chase them. They do this repeatedly in the middle of the night. Who cares if she has work the next morning? Not the cats, that’s for sure. And if it’s not the cats doing the waking, it’s the toddler crawling into bed with her and pulling individual hairs from her scalp with pudgy little fingers for comfort.