“Yes,” I breathed and held my arms out for the beautiful little bundle swaddled in pink.
I tried to remember to hold up her head as I gazed down at the beauty in my arms. She was so tiny.
Tiny, yet perfect.
Just like her mother. I walked back to where they were helping Jenna into a sitting position. After fifteen hours in labor dark circles now rested below her eyes, but that didn’t stop them from lighting up as I got closer.
“Now I understand what everyone means about dads with babies being seriously sexy.”
“Oh, you only think I’m sexy with Mia in my arms? I doubt that or she wouldn’t be here.”
The nurse behind me snickered as Jenna rolled her eyes. “Good point.”
“Are you ready for her, Mama?”
Jenna held out her hands and I placed the small bundle in her arms.
My family.
They were beautiful. I stood there mesmerized as Jenna rocked Mia, running her finger lightly along her cheek. And when Mia opened her mouth and let out the most adorable little wail, my heart melted.
After Jenna finished feeding the baby, they moved us into a room on the second floor. She was able to get a shower while I held Mia.
Jenna gingerly climbed into bed. Exhaustion was written in every line of her face.
“Get some sleep, love. We’ll be here when you wake up.”
She opened her mouth, most likely to argue, and I shook my head. “Remember what the nurse said. You probably only get two hours between each feeding.”
A yawn left her lips. “Okay. You’ll be here when I wake up.”
“Yes. But I want you to sleep. You know everyone will be back tomorrow wanting to see her.”
We managed to convince them to go home when it got later in the night and Jenna hadn’t had the baby yet. Jenna snuggled down onto the pillow and closed her eyes.
When I was sure she was settled in, I pulled out my phone and snapped a quick picture of Mia.
Me: Mia Grace Marshall 6lbs 7oz
I didn’t expect anyone to be awake since it was after two in the morning, but my phone buzzed almost immediately.
Sawyer: Fuck, she’s beautiful. Congratulations.
Mari: Congratulations! I’m coming to see that beautiful baby tomorrow.
I laughed. When Jenna began to fidget, I turned it to silent. I’d check all the notifications later. Right now, I wanted her to get as much sleep as she could.
I took a seat in the recliner in the corner and held Mia tight to my chest. I never imagined my life where it was now. When I thought about having kids, I imagined my family being there. It was hard to think the baby girl in my arms would never know grandparents or any family really. Well, not in the sense you’d expect. We had plenty of family surrounding us. Mia would have aunts and uncles who may not be related by blood, but sometimes blood wasn’t there for you. Whether it’s because they didn’t want to be or in mine and Jenna’s case because they couldn’t be.
The bassinet they’d wheeled into the room sat next to Jenna’s bed, but I found I couldn’t put her down. Not yet. Except for the mane of thick brown hair, I’d say she looked exactly like Jenna.
“You’re beautiful, Miss Mia, just like your mommy.”
The tiniest little fingers wrapped around my finger and held tighter. Tighter than I expected her little grip to be.
“Don’t tell Uncle Sawyer how strong you are. He’ll expect you to take after him and play the drums.”
Mia and I sat in that chair and watched the sky lighten as the sun got ready to rise. When she began to fidget in my arms, I knew it wouldn’t be long before Jenna’s brief nap would have to be over.
I stood and laid her on the changing table. Diaper changed, I walked back and forth across the room, rocking Mia. If I couldn’t just give Jenna a little longer to sleep. She looked like an angel as she slept. The most selfless woman who asked for nothing in return for the love she gave. And I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.
Holy shit.
My feet faltered in their tracks. Where had that thought come from? I had no idea, but I also knew the truth of it all. I wanted to marry Jenna. In the last few days I’d convinced her to quit her job, move out of her house, and we’d had a baby. Asking her right at the moment probably wasn’t the best idea. Some way, somehow, I’d find the right time.
Mia’s little mouth split and I braced myself.
“Shh,” I whispered, but it didn’t work.
Within a few moments, a cry left her lips. I laid her back in the bassinet and changed her diaper, but the cries continued. Mia was hungry and she wasn’t having any of Daddy’s diversionary tactics.
I turned to Jenna, whose eyes had snapped open. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She shook her head and forced herself into a sitting position. “It’s okay. I guess she’s hungry.”
“Yeah. I tried changing her diaper, but it seems she just wants Mommy.”
A yawn left Jenna’s lips as she reached out to take the squirming little bundle out of my hands. The crying had only grown louder as we talked.
“What time is it?” she asked as she settled Mia in her arms.
“A little after five.”
“How long do you think we have until everyone shows up?”
I laughed. Even as exhausted as I was, I could see Mari beating down the door the minute the clock struck eight. “About three hours. There’s no way Mari won’t be here when visiting hours start.”
“I thought you said she liked sleeping in.”
“She likes babies even more.”
“Very true.”
After Jenna finished feeding Mia again, I laid Mia in her bassinet, pressing a kiss to her nose before standing. “Time for you to let Mommy and Daddy get some sleep before your crazy aunt and uncles get here.”
Mia seemed to cuddle down into her bed. When I turned around to talk to Jenna, her eyes had slipped closed. I walked back over to the recliner, and settled in, falling asleep almost instantly.
I opened my eyes the next morning to the soft cries coming from Mia’s crib. Stretching, I stood from the chair and walked over to the bassinet. I scooped her into my arms and brought her over to the changing table before waking up Jenna. It was slow going, but I managed to get the dirty diaper off and the clean diaper on without too much of a mess. Jenna looked so peaceful sleeping and I felt guilty waking her up, but Mia’s cries were growing louder.
I hadn’t even reached the bed when Jenna’s eyes fluttered open and she looked at Mia cradled in my arms. She wasted no time sitting up and gesturing for me to pass her over, which I did. It was nice to see that Mia had a healthy appetite. Not long after Jenna finished feeding Mia, there was a light knock on the door. I looked up and found Mari standing with balloons in one hand and flowers in the other. Behind her stood Cole with bags in both hands. I peeked around them and saw Sawyer, Reagan, and Jackson. A few seconds had passed when Monty stepped around the corner.
Mari made a beeline through the door and to the baby. “She’s beautiful,” Mari gushed.
“Want to hold her?” Jenna asked.
Mari’s eyes lit up and she nodded enthusiastically, holding her arms out. “Yes.”
Cole dropped the bags on the other chair and went over to stand near Mari. She took Mia from Jenna’s arms. The guys surrounded her and the little bundle.
“You did good,” Sawyer said, holding a finger out for Mia to hold on to.
And it was in that moment I watched our family fall head over heels in love with Mia.
CHAPTER 38
Heath
A soft cry came from the hall. Jenna had gone to lie down for a nap a little bit ago. Mia had gotten better at sleeping longer at night over the last few weeks, but Jenna was still getting up at least once during the night to feed the baby and I wanted her to get as much sleep as she could. She fed her less than a half an hour ago, which meant Mia just didn’t feel like sleeping.
Quickly,
I made my way to Mia’s room before she woke up Jenna. I’d secretly turned off the monitor in the bedroom for that reason. I opened the door to Mia’s bedroom and her soft little wail filled the room.
“Are you trying to wake up Mommy?” I asked, walking across the room. At the sound of my voice the crying seemed to slow to a stop.
When I peered over the edge of the crib, Mia’s eyes were wide-open, glancing around. Most likely looking for where my voice came from. I leaned down and scooped her into my arms.
“Shh…Mommy’s sleeping and we’re not going to wake her up. How ’bout we go visit with Uncle Sawyer?” That suggestion made the crying stop completely.
I wondered if she actually understood a word I was saying. A part of me wanted to believe she did. I carried the small bundle down the hall and into the living room where Sawyer lay on the couch flipping through the channels. He immediately moved into a sitting position when I stepped out of the hall that led to my wing of the house.
“Mia? What are you doing awake?” he cooed.
“I asked the same exact thing.” I took the seat next to him and placed my arm on the armrest to help support her head. “I didn’t want her to wake up Jenna.”
“Still not sleeping through the night?”
I shook my head. “But she’s getting better. I’m just glad she’s not waking you guys up in the middle of the night.”
Sawyer laughed. “If she had lungs that powerful, she’d be giving Mari a run for her money.”
I chuckled. “That’s so true.”
“How’s Jenna feeling? She sounded like she’d gotten more sleep last night.”
“She did get more sleep last night, but I think all the nights are starting to catch up with her. She’s used to long days, but when she slept it was straight through the night. Getting up in the middle of the night is worse than pulling an all-nighter.”
“I can’t even imagine.”
I sighed, deciding to voice out loud the one thing I hadn’t been able to shake from my head since the day Mia was born. “I want to spend the rest of my life with her.”
That caught Sawyer’s attention. “You mean more than living with her and having a child together?”
“Yeah. I want to marry her.”
“Holy shit. You ready for the next step?”
“More than you know. She’s everything I could have ever imagined.”
Sawyer smiled. “Good for you, man. I’m happy for you.”
“Now I’ve just got to find the ring and the right moment. What about you and Reagan? You guys ever talked about kids?”
Sawyer nodded. “Yeah, but not for a while. Someday we’ll get married. For kids, we have to jump through hoops either for adoption or a surrogate. Either way, we both agree we don’t have the time for that stuff right now.”
“Speaking of Reagan, where is he?”
We weren’t required to be in the studio to record new material for a few weeks, and Reagan very rarely worked in the office on Fridays. There were still a couple of songs to record for our new album, which we’d have to do soon with how popular “You See Right Through Me” had become. The studio hadn’t wasted any time releasing the song and seeing the look on Jenna’s face every time it came on the radio made the sleepless nights writing the song worth every minute.
Sawyer shrugged. “Not sure. The studio called earlier this morning asking him to come into the office.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Please tell me Monty didn’t pull some kind of crazy ass shit since we’ve been off. I mean, it’s only been a week.”
“God, I fucking hope not.” Sawyer glanced over at me. “We have a few weeks to get those last songs finalized. He’s supposed to be working with Jackson to finish them up.”
“You know he’s probably bitching that we aren’t helping him.”
“Yeah, well, if we try to help, he bitches that we’re doing it wrong.” Sawyer rolled his eyes.
I sighed. “Hopefully, he finds a way to work whatever is making him an ass lately out of his system.” Monty had always been the fun one. Always the one who you hung out with if you wanted to have a good time. But not lately. Something on the tour had set him off and none of us had been able to figure out what it was.
Mia’s eyes started to fall closed. I thought about putting her back into her crib, but I was afraid she’d start crying again. Besides, I liked letting her nap in my arms. The way her little chest rose and fell with each breath.
“I fucking hope so.”
“Probably shouldn’t be using that language in front of the baby.” We glanced up to see Jenna smiling and leaning against the wall leading from the hall.
Sawyer smirked. “With her father’s mouth, there’s no way she doesn’t know the entire dictionary of curse words by the time she’s three.”
“That’s so true,” Jenna said, taking the seat next to me. “She didn’t want to sleep again?”
I glanced down to see Mia completely asleep in my arms. “Nope, she just didn’t want to sleep in her crib.”
Jenna quirked a brow. “You’re going to spoil her.”
“Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?”
Jenna smacked my arm with the back of her hand. “You know what I mean, smartass.”
“Now who’s cursing in front of the baby?”
Jenna rolled her eyes and cuddled into my side. “What are we watching?”
“Honey, I’m home.” Reagan appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. A large handled black bag in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other.
“I can see that.” Sawyer gestured to the stuff in Reagan’s hand. “But what’s with the champagne?”
Reagan lifted the bottle. “That is because we are going to celebrate tonight.”
“Could you be a little more specific?” Sawyer asked. “We can’t read your mind.”
“Ass,” Reagan said, coming around the front of the couch. “The list of nominees came out today.”
Sawyer and I both froze. Jenna picked up on the change in atmosphere immediately, her gaze moving between the three of us. “What does that mean?”
Reagan smirked. “It means that the nominations for the Zetta Awards just came out and they’re wondering if they’ve been nominated for anything.”
“Don’t be an ass and just tell us,” Sawyer snapped, his eyes practically bulging out of his head.
I couldn’t agree more. If I had been able to find my tongue, I would have said the same damn thing.
“Two nominations…”
Reagan was fucking with us and I wanted to strangle him, but Sawyer beat me to it. He leaped from the couch and grabbed Reagan’s shoulders. “Stop being a tease and spit it out already.” Sawyer lowered his head and whispered something in Reagan’s ear. Reagan’s eyes blazed and he swallowed hard.
“Umm…” Reagan loosened his tie. “What was I saying?”
Sawyer smirked, knowing he’d won. “Two nominations. Which ones?”
Reagan gave his head a shake. “Best New Artist and Best Song.”
“Hell yes,” Sawyer yelled.
I sat up and froze again when Mia squirmed in my arms. She was great at sleeping through noise, but too much movement would wake her right up. “Which song?” I asked when she settled.
He walked over and looked between me and Jenna, slipping Mia from my arms. “‘You See Right Through Me.’”
“Yes,” I screamed, leaping from the couch. “Holy fucking shit. Yes!”
Jenna wrapped her arms around me, jumping up and down with me. “I’m so proud of you.”
“Let’s pop the champagne.” Sawyer held up the bottle.
“I’ll get the glasses,” Reagan said and handed Mia over to Jenna.
The picture they made was so beautiful it took my breath away. “I’m going to put her in her crib before things get too crazy.” Jenna laughed as she walked toward the hall. “I’ll be right back.”
Jenna disappeared down the hall and Sawyer pulled the paper off the bottle, popping the t
op. The liquid began pouring from the top and down Sawyer’s hand. Reagan made it back with the glasses just in time. He poured four glasses and passed them out. Jenna had reappeared from the hall and took hers in hand.
Reagan lifted his glass first. “To hard work, amazing songs, and family,” he said with a wink.
We clicked our glasses together and drank down the champagne. Reagan had also picked up dinner for the night. Even though he invited Mari, Jackson, and Monty over, they all planned on celebrating alone tonight with a big band celebration tomorrow. The food and champagne were finally gone along with a bunch of beers and I was feeling really good. Life had only gotten better since meeting Jenna. As the night grew later, I wanted to celebrate alone with her. Reagan and Sawyer had gotten closer and closer on the couch as the hours passed. There was no doubt in my mind they wouldn’t miss Jenna and I if we retired for the night.
She’d gone to feed Mia one last time before bed a little bit ago. I kept my gaze on the hall, knowing she’d be back at any minute, and I was going to beat her to the punch. Footsteps reached my ears. When I looked over at Sawyer and Reagan they were no longer paying attention to a thing in the room, their mouths connected and their eyes closed. I hopped up to meet her before she made it to the living room. Grabbing her hand, I spun her around and pulled her back down the hall to our bedroom.
The moment the door shut behind us, I pushed her up against it and captured her mouth, needing to taste every inch. I pulled away breathless. “I think it’s time for us to celebrate. Just the two of us.”
She gripped the bottom of her shirt and pulled it over her head. “I like the sound of that.”
I sank my fingers into her hair and kissed her. I slipped my tongue into her mouth as I guided her to the bed. Her legs hit the bed and we both fell down onto it. I braced my arms to keep from crushing her. Sexy. The only word that came to mind as I stared down into her deep green eyes. Desire poured through me and I needed to taste her on every part of my tongue. With our gazes still connected, I slid down her body, griping the hem of her yoga pants in my hands and pulling them down her legs.
I sank my tongue deep into her navel, tracing a path from there to her core. The muscles of her legs tightened as I traced my tongue around her clit over and over again. She held tight to the back of my head, begging for more.
Cover Me (Jaded Ivory Book 3) Page 28
