With a grin, I kept running yelling, “JACKSON TOLSEN AND SEAN O'MALLEY, I LOVE YOU!”
As I came upon Jet’s room, I looked into the room and saw a figure lying in the bed. It cost me. I wasn’t watching where I was going and when I hit a solid wall of muscle I bounced off, fell back on my ass, the rail clattering loudly, and I felt the cuffs dig into my wrist. Which made me cry out because I seriously thought it tore skin.
I laid back and felt the pain in my ass. When I looked up and saw the ER doctor walking slowly down the hallway shaking his head, I rolled to the side. And that was when I saw Fin had been the one I ran into. He was looking down at me with a grin, and then Sean stepped around him, and I sniffed.
“Baby,” I said. “I just wanted you to know I love you and Jet.”
Sean knelt on the floor and said, “I think you could have just waited until you got here.”
“Oh, well...I kinda stole Jet’s truck, too.”
“Mr. O’Malley?” I heard the doctor say, and I rolled my eyes.
“Sean, this is Dr. Vāgēna. Did you know that is his name? I mean every time we have been in the ER he has taken care of one of the family, and I never knew his name.”
“That is Vay-geena, Dr. Richard Vay-geena! It is a long a and e!”
Falon stepped around Sean and grinned. “That gives a new meaning to go fuck yourself, right?”
Fin groaned. “Asshole, go help Ma, she tackled that nurse and she and Sonia are scrapping with the security guy.”
Dr. Vāgēna bent over and snapped. “I had wonderful news to tell you, but now I don’t think so. I am banning you all from this hospital.”
“You can’t do that!” Reilly said. “And why is one of my girls naked and handcuffed to a bed rail? What in the holy hell is going on here?”
“I can, too. You are banned,” the doctor yelled.
Ms. Maddie stepped behind the doctor and waved her hand. “No, they are not. The President of the Board of Directors will never allow it. Now, what is going on?”
The doctor threw up his hands and stomped back down the hallway.
“What about my happy new?” I yelled.
“Guess you will have to come back to the ER to get it? I can’t go around yelling out patients’ diagnoses in the hallway. There are rules...”
“Please, so help me if you say HIPPA. Just say it, these people are my family.
“Of course, they are. Make an appointment with Dr. Mansfield. You will need prenatal vitamins, you are pregnant.”
Chapter Twenty
Jet
I grinned and laid back against the pillow on the hospital bed. Brit currently had her face buried in Sean’s chest while he grinned at me.
“Maybe we can have her recreate that moment since, you know, you were unconscious. I swear when I heard her yelling she loved us, it didn’t matter she was handcuffed to a fucking bedrail and had the entire hospital on lockdown, the world just stopped. But, sweetheart, nothing compares to the knowledge you are carrying our baby. Ranger said the department has a pool already on what will happen when you deliver. Right now, bets are good that you will knock out the doctor who is delivering. I bet that you would use the word ‘fuck’ more than twenty times.”
“Put me down for having a car chase to the hospital. I feel like I missed all the good shit. Hell, I didn’t even hear you screaming up and down the hallway. The nurse running in here and throwing herself across the bed screaming she was my human shield because of a crazy woman in the hallway, is all I remember. The poor thing, I think they let her go home for the night, she was stressed the fuck out. When she came in this morning, she brought me a shamrock. She said I needed the luck and it was blessed from Ireland and shit. I swear they are gonna make a plaque for us to put on this room. You know, kinda like the hotel room at the Stanley Hotel in Colorado where Stephan King wrote The Shining. People will pay extra to be in this room,” I said and grabbed my ribs when I laughed. “Oh shit, that hurts.”
Brit groaned and said, “Please, for the love of God, stop talking about it. I am mortified. We can laugh about it like fifty years from now when our son marries someone crazy.”
Sean chuckled, “Honey, kinda hard not to talk about it. I mean, you’re pretty much the talk of the police department, the security department, the physicians in the hospital, all the nurses. You are practically a movie star you’re so well known. I think one of the news stations is going to put it on the ‘What’s Funny in Your Neighborhood’ segment. I think it was one of the officers who sent that shit in. He had his body cam going the entire time. You should feel special. The doctor made security take pictures of the entire family so we could be put on the watch list. He said if the family had one more outburst, he was banning us from the hospital. Of course, Ms. Maddie already made a few calls, and the Board of Directors is making us sign something about liability, but it is cool. Hell, the President of the Board made a bet on the family getting into a brawl in the ER next. Pretty sure he is gonna win that bet considering our track record, but hey, we can always hope.”
“Oh my God!” Brit whispered and closed her eyes. “I can’t believe they did that. I explained to everyone the situation. I mean, it was really the officer's fault, all he had to do was call you and it would have all been sorted. I really don’t see why I am the one being punished here. He should be the one apologizing, not me. I have bruise marks on my wrist, and they are making me pay for the bed in the ER. Do you know much those are?”
I took her hand and pulled her close to the bed, then moved over a little bit and grimaced at the pain. But to have her lying next to me, I would suck it up.
After I woke up and was checked out, they moved me out of the ICU to a regular room. Brit and Sean had argued loudly and let them stay in my room through the night. Even though the painkillers they gave made me fall in and out of sleep, it had been nice to wake up and see them in my room. I vaguely remembered Briggs coming in and telling us that when the agents went into the warehouse, they’d only found the bodies of the manager and Aristov. He seemed to think Harm and I would have been in the same boat if Harm hadn’t grabbed me up and carried me out after I collapsed.
Shit, I owed the man big time for that one. Aristov’s body was with the coroner because one, they wanted to know what the man had been on. Two, they’d be able to tell what he died from—the heart attack they were pretty sure he had, or the bullet that had been put into him. I didn’t need to know the result on that one. I’d killed him, and I wasn’t going to regret it or let it ruin the happiness Sean and I have found with the woman beside me. As far as I was concerned, the Russian was responsible for the loss of life. I’d just been lucky enough to win.
“Honey, I for one am glad you told everyone you loved us. That is worth all this shit. The baby is a bonus. But, yeah, I am happy you finally said the words. And fuck the rest of those people. We all know Dr. Vāgēna is really pissed because Falon went to the front desk and had him paged like ten times using the name ‘Dr. Vagina’ so he could hear the doc come out of the ER and yell ‘It is pronounced VAY-GEENA! Long a and e! The damn man needs to learn how to take a joke, and Falon has made sure everyone knows not to bring him to this ER if anything happens to him. He thinks the doc will try to kill him.”
“Mel was so pissed at Falon when he tried to convince one of the nurses from the delivery floor to show them the video of a birth. Freaked Mel the hell out and she is vowing to make sure a week before she is due to get an epidural. She doesn’t want to feel anything. Falon wanted to know if he could make a video, which pissed Mel off even more, and she threatened to divorce him and marry Chad Macon. Then Falon turned around and took my phone and threatened him in a text message. Chad wanted to report it to the police. It took me two hours to settle him down. Which is another thing we need to talk about. You need to make sure my name is taken off the police blotters for the day. You know how the departments are, the gossip,” Brit said slowly. “What if when our kid grows up, someone tells him what I did
? He will have to live with that stigma. I made my kid a target for bullying even before he was born. I already suck as a mom. He is gonna hate me. What am I going to do? Do you think Olivia and Sonia will give me lessons on parenting? Shit, forget it, look at Falon, never mind,” Brit cried, and I shook my head.
“Come on, sweetheart, think of who we are talking about. The O’Malleys are kick ass. No one is gonna mess with our kids, they wouldn’t dare. And don’t hold Falon against Olivia. She totally had no control over him. He’s so different from the others, I believe he was hatched from a demon,” I said firmly.
“O’Malley’s?” Sean said softly, and I looked at my best friend, the man who showed me what it meant to be a family. The man who gave me something he didn’t realize was so important. I smiled, and then tilted my head. Brit looked between us.
“Um, honey, they will be Williams’.”
I shook my head. “Oh, hell no, they will be O’Malleys, just like I will be an O’Malley, if it’s okay with Sean and his parents that is. My parents are assholes, so it doesn’t matter to me.”
Sean grinned and said, “I can already answer that. My mother and father would be thrilled.”
“Still laying here with the last name Williams. Now I know that is not really traditional, but I feel like children should share the last name with their mother. I mean, I love you guys, I can’t imagine life without you, but it still is a fact, anything can happen,” Brit said slowly, obviously trying not to start a fight, which was unusual to say the least, since she argued with us about everything from the first time we met her. However, it didn’t matter how fucking softly she said it, there was no damned way Williams would be our kid's last name, none. I stared at Sean who looked like he was going to explode, and before I could intervene and head him off, Sean opened his mouth.
“Do you love us? Or have you been lying to us for the last month or so? Just so you know, it doesn’t matter what the fuck you say,” Sean snapped, and Brit looked up.
“Well, that is a stupid question since I think we just went over that. Of course, I love you,” Brit said sassily.
“What the fuck do you think we are doing here then?” Sean exploded, and Brit jerked to stand and confront him, but I held her tight.
“Honey, he is right. What do you think we are doing here? Hell, our first night together we married you. How much more of an indication do you need? Honey, we are in this for the long haul, and I hate to tell you, but our baby will not be born before we have a ring on your finger making it official,” I said, and Brit looked at me with tears in her eyes.
“Really?” she whispered, and Sean threw up his hands.
“Do I need to run through the hospital asking you to marry us before you understand what we are doing here?”
Brit sniffed and growled, “How am I supposed to know what you’re thinking? I mean, come on, I am not a mind reader.”
Sean sighed and leaned forward. “As soon as Jet gets out of here and we can go to a jeweler, we are making this official.”
“You haven’t asked,” she said, and I rolled my eyes.
“You are a pain in the ass, do you know that? I am laying in a hospital bed, and Sean just said we were buying you a ring. Where in there do you think you have a fucking choice?” I said, and she looked at me. “We are not asking, we are telling you that you are marrying us. End of story.”
“Well, I’m sorry, we have had a few things going on here. I mean you are in the hospital, Zoey is about ready to pop, we have been staying in a safehouse, and to top it all off, I am hormonal. Do you know what it’s like to crave Del Taco cheesecake bites? I mean, they’re like a million miles away but it doesn’t matter, that’s all I want.”
“What in the hell are those?” Sean asked, confused at the sudden change of topic.
“They are from the west coast, a chain store. I used to eat them all the time, and now that I’m pregnant, I am craving them, and it is driving me nuts. They’re caramel and sweetened cream cheese, wrapped in a tortilla and deep fried. In other words, they are a slice of heaven. I know they are bad for me, but I don’t care,” Brit admitted.
Sean knelt next to the bed and took her hand, “Honey, I will get you whatever you want as long as you say you are on board with our plan. House, marriage, baby—in that order.”
I gripped Brit’s hand, and when she turned and looked at me, I said, “Sweetheart, we love you, you know that. We want nothing more than to make you happy for the rest of our lives.”
Brit nodded and whispered, “I know, and I love you, too. So, of course, I am on board with your plan!”
“FINA-FUCKING-LY,” Reilly said from the door loudly. I turned and saw Olivia and Reilly with Sonia and Anthony, and in back of them the rest of the family. They were all grinning.
“Shit, has security been notified?” Sean laughed and shook his head. “Not sure they’re ready for all of us to be back here.”
A nurse pushed her way through, and said with exasperation, “There are seriously too many of you. Now, Dr. Vāgēna is on his way to check on you, if all goes well you will be given your walking papers. If I were you, I would send your family to the lobby to wait, because if he sees you, he is liable to have an aneurysm. I was coming in here to make sure you called someone for a ride, but obviously, you won't need that.”
Olivia stepped into the room and glared at the nurse. “Seriously? Do you live under a rock? This boy is an O’Malley, we take care of our own. Bring it on. There are too many of us to push around.”
The nurse straightened up, and she said, “I am well aware of who he is, and I am also well aware of who you are. That being said, I am out of here before something happens. I do not want to be blamed for you guys doing something stupid.”
“Good, then go and get everything sorted so we can take our boy home,” Olivia ordered, and I groaned, they were going to ban us from this place. I knew it.
“Josh and Angelique are on the floor above you,” Sonia said softly. “How about I go up and get them moving, that way we can all leave at once.”
Brit sat up and beamed at Sonia, “They’re letting Josh go, too?”
Anthony Sr. stepped forward and said, “The doc already gave him a clean bill of health. He starts seeing the physical therapist next week and a regular therapist the following. He has been pretty down since he woke up, and he knew Angelique was scared for him. He just got caught up in something and didn’t know his way out. Plus, his memory is sketchy. Angelique said he is having nightmares but not remembering them when he wakes.”
Cal stepped in and nodded, “I’ll go with you, Mace is already at the house supervising the workers. We moved in last night. And, Brit, we moved your stuff over to the other brownstone for the time being.”
Sean turned and nodded, “We are staying until it’s done.”
“Well then,” Olivia said moving around the room. “Looks like we got a wedding to plan, well a few. Who knows, maybe more than that.” Olivia looked at Cal when she said the last part, and I wanted to laugh at the look on Cal’s face, but my ribs ached. I wasn’t taking any chances on them keeping me another day.
Sonia nodded, “Yes, I don’t know how we’re going to do this. The way we are going, we will have a wedding a week.”
Olivia smiled and clapped her hands, “I know, right? Between the weddings and the baby showers, thank goodness Michael made us all that money.”
Reilly chuckled and said, “How about Anthony and I take our girls down to the cafeteria while you’re getting things sorted. By the time we get back, we should be ready to roll.”
Brit grinned, and Zoey said from the hallway, “Please, I kinda missed my mid-morning snack, and these little ones are not patient. I’m craving something sweet and gooey, so I hope they have those monster-size cinnamon rolls. Ohhhh, or maybe the pecan caramel ones, those sound good, too. If they have both, I’ll take one home for later. I’m sure we’ll be back here before the babies are born to get my fix.”
“That settles
it,” Reilly said and helped Brit to her feet and led her out of the room. “Mama, get these boys settled right quick. Anthony, come on, Petal and Brit have never made it to the cafeteria, they have new people to scare.”
“I don’t know why that man has been so bossy lately. You would think he was named General the way he’s been barking out orders,” Olivia grumbled, and I shook my head.
Yeah, being an O’Malley came with some huge perks—the family, of course, but also the day to day fights, arguments, and general loving they gave. They didn’t know because they had always had it. The Roarks, the Macaroys, and the O’Malley’s, they were something unique, special. I watched as Olivia moved around and started ordering people around.
“Michael, you and Reese get Jet some clothes, the shorts he wore are gonna be thrown in the trash. Fin and Tony, make sure everyone is ready for Jet at the safehouse, there should be at least four or five days of meals that Ms. Maddie cooked being brought over. Make sure they can get in the door. Now, since Cal went with the Roarks, Bry and Reed, you can go and get all the prescriptions sorted and sent to the pharmacy, if we use the one here it will make it quicker. We can just stop and pick them up on the way out.”
I looked at Sean who was leaning against the wall with his legs crossed at the ankles, and he arms crossed over his chest, and I grinned and shook my head.
“Go with it, if you work against a force of nature, you will lose,” Sean said.
Olivia stopped and glared, “What are you talking about?”
Sean pushed off the wall and unfolded his arms and walked to his mother and grabbed her in a hug. He kissed the top of her head, and said, “Nothing, Ma, thank you.”
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