by C. A. Harms
I’d never met a more loyal and supportive man. And he was mine―ours.
Tears sprung to my eyes as reality hit me. “Jade.” I refocused on Isaac and for a moment he looked terrified.
“We’re about to meet our son.” Tears fell from my eyes. I’d been so focused on the pain and frustration that I’d not let it all sink in until now.
“We are.” He smiled at me, his own eyes shining with unshed tears. “You ready?”
“I am.”
Everything from that point moved pretty quickly. Once they found out my water had broken we were immediately placed into a labor and delivery room, a monitor placed on my belly.
All I knew was that whoever it was that invented the epidural, I wanted to kiss them because the second it started flowing and the pain eased, I was in heaven.
Isaac’s mom, Isaac, and Ruby were in the room with me. If I was being honest, I wanted my brother, but since taking the chance of him seeing my hoohah was not at the top on my list, that thought was out the window real fast.
Ruby was the closest thing besides Isaac and his mom that I had to family. She was the sister I never had and I wanted to share this with her.
When the time came to push, and it felt like it came so fast, I gripped Isaac’s hand and gave it everything I had.
At the mention of dark hair being visible, he peeked over my legs and I saw it coming fast.
His face paled, his eyes widened.
Five, four, three, two and…one.
“And he’s out!” Ruby giggled as Isaac crumpled to the floor. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who saw it coming. Of all people to snap a photo of him crumpled on the floor, it was his mother. “So we can show this little man how Daddy spent the last minutes before his birth.”
Have I mentioned how much I adore his mother?
Isaac
“He’s beautiful.” I nodded my head at my mother’s words. Speaking was impossible, my throat was on fire, at least that’s what it felt like. My emotions were through the roof. “He looks just like you did when you were a baby.”
I looked from my son to the woman sleeping soundly in the bed before me and again I was blown away. “I’m a father,” I whispered as my vision clouded with tears. “She gave me that.” I thought I loved her before, but it was nothing compared to now. She was amazing, she was a rockstar.
“I’m so proud of the man that you’ve become.”
I closed my eyes, knowing already that what I felt was uncontrollable. I gave in and let the tears fall.
Leo Matthew Marshall.
Leo was my middle name, also my father’s name. Matthew, after his Uncle Jay, it was an easy choice to make. From this moment our life began, we were responsible for this little miracle, we were to protect him and teach him all the ways of life. I would always be someone he could count on. I would protect him and give both him and his mother everything I could.
“Is he awake?” Jade’s raspy sleep-filled voice broke through the silence and I looked up to find her looking at me, a sweet smile on her face. She’d only hours ago gone through one of the most exhausting moments of her life, but through it all she was fierce. Now here she lay, looking more beautiful than ever before.
“No.” I stood and my mother excused herself to give me and my family a little time together.
Sitting down at her side, I kissed her forehead and watched as her eyes drooped.
“Are you sure you want to move to New York for the next year?”
“You act like we’ll be alone.” The smirk on her face makes me laugh. As if my mother would let us out of her sight. “I’ve told you, where you go, we go.”
“But what if you and Leo are enough? What if this internship ends up being the worst mistake?”
“I think we both know that you’ve wanted this, and I want you to have everything you’ve ever dreamed of.” I loved this girl so much. “Are you ready to start your life with us?” I don’t reply with words, but instead press my lips to hers as we hold our son close.
I had never been ready for anything in my life more than I was ready for this journey with them. They were my world, and there was nothing I wouldn’t do for them.
Nothing at all.
Bonus
Xavier
“Every year…” I looked around the group from one person to another. “No matter what we’re doing, where we are, we meet up. For a weekend, or even a week, no excuses.”
Each person nodded in agreement. Some of the girls held onto their guys, curled in tight. Others cooed over Leo, who was now three months old.
It was crazy how far we’d come, the changes that had taken place, the men we’d grown into.
“We’re family,” I added. “That doesn’t change now that we’ve graduated and are all moving off to different locations. We stay in touch.” I’d tried not to get choked up but I loved this crazy bunch of fuckers. Morgan placed her hand on my chest over my heart and immediately I covered it with my own. The rock on her finger poked the palm of my hand and I felt my chest tighten.
Damn, I couldn’t wait to marry her, to start the rest of our lives together. I’d never felt the kind of love I felt for her and it seemed to grow more intense with each day. I’d marry her today if she’d let me, but I understood the need to plan a wedding. With my mother, her mother, and Marcus, it had gone from a small intimate ceremony to some major event, and my girl loved every second of it. That made the measuring for a tux and the hours of cake tasting and place setting arranging worth it. Her smile was my daily goal, and her laughter, it was the greatest sound.
I was sunk, my beautiful lady. She was my everything.
Morgan
“Are you sad?” I crawled over Xavier’s lap, placing one hand on each of his shoulders. Immediately his hands went to my hips and slipped me closer. I knew today, saying goodbyes to more than half of the men he called his brothers, felt like losing his family. Hell, I was gonna miss the girls like crazy too.
I’d never really thought of having sisters, or friends so close that I referred to them as my sisters. It was always me and Marcus, and though he could for sure be a drama queen, he was all I needed. Girls were bitchy and dramatic, I hated drama. But that wasn’t the case with Blake, Palmer, Emelie, Ruby, and Jade. I adored them.
Blake and I would remain here, but the rest, they were moving on. It was hard.
“A little,” Xavier finally responded as he kissed along my jaw. I was so distracted by the feeling that I’d forgotten I’d even asked him a question. “This helps.” I felt his smile against my neck.
We’d met in the most unconventional way, and I gave him a run for his money at the start. I’ll admit I was, and still am, a very stubborn woman. I liked what I liked, I had a devotion to my family that outranked anything else, and I was emotional. I could get fired up at the drop of a hat, and if you mess with my brother, game on. But Xavier wiggled his way into my heart and soon thereafter he was comfortably seated into my soul.
A place I knew without a doubt he would always be.
Elijah
“Hell no, woman.” I stepped in front of Blake and squared off. “Get your ass back inside and put some damn clothes on.”
“I have clothes on, you gorilla.” She pushed against my chest and I didn’t even flinch. “Move.”
“Not until you cover that ass.”
She looked down at herself, twisting from side to side before looking back up at me. “Are you crazy?”
“If you think I’m gonna let you walk around with half your ass hanging out of your shorts, then woman, you are the one that’s crazy.”
We got the keys to our apartment today, and after loading up the moving trailer with her stuff and my own, we’re about to head over to claim our new place. Our first place together and the beginning of our new life. Though half the time she’d slept at the fraternity or me at her place with Marcus and Morgan, this would be ours. The place we’d make dinner together, the place we’d decorate, and the place where I could g
et her naked in every corner without the fear of anyone seeing what’s mine.
“I’m not changing.” Crossing her arms over her chest, she narrowed her eyes and challenged me. I loved it, my fiesta firecracker, always trying to outwit me. She should know by now that when it comes to her, I wouldn’t give, not even a little. She’s mine, and I didn’t share what’s mine.
In one quick move I had her tossed over my shoulder and as she kicked and screamed, I carried her back inside where I set her on her feet and guarded the door. I ignored the curious stares of Marcus, Morgan, and the knowing smirk on Xavier’s face. “I’ll stand here all day and night until you change your damn shorts.”
“Elijah!” Blake stomped her foot and I smiled, which only pissed her off more. “You are impossible.” With a huff she spun around and marched toward the bathroom before slamming the door behind her.
“Stay right there.” Marcus turned completely around in the chair and stared up at me. “I’m enjoying the view, big boy.”
“Menace.”
“Sexy, Brute.” He winked and it’s then that both Xavier and Morgan broke out in laughter. The guy was impossible, but he too was part of my family.
Blake
I stood in the entryway of the kitchen staring around the space I now called home. One slow, calming breath after another, I tried my best to hold back my emotions.
This was my home, the place I would share with a man who had given me more security and had managed to make me feel safer than I ever thought I would.
Eli was complicated, but in the best kind of way. He adored me and I knew this, he didn’t try to hide, not with anyone. There were times when I should have been embarrassed by his caveman tactics, but honestly, I loved them. His possessiveness, his demanding tone, it’s thrilling. I’d never been happier, he’d given me that.
“What’cha doing, baby?”
He stepped up behind me and slouched so that he could wrap his arms around me from behind. Immediately I leaned back into him, welcoming his warmth.
“Just looking.” Giving thanks, wondering how one person could be this happy.
“Something wrong?” He was always trying his best to give me everything imaginable. Just another reason why I adored him so much. My happiness gave him happiness.
“Everything’s great.” Turning around in his arms, I curled my arms around his neck and pulled him down so I could kiss him. “I love you,” I whispered against his lips, “and I love our new place.” Truth was it wasn’t the apartment but more of who I shared it with that made it a home. I’d live in an abandoned building with no electricity if it were Elijah that kept me warm at night.
“I love you too.”
He held me tighter, I welcomed the comfort he provided and knew that we were just beginning. From here it would only get better.
Clayton
“Hey bud.” I leaned down and kissed the top of his head. He was so engrossed in the cartoons on the television that he didn’t even flinch. “Where’s Mom?”
Being back in my hometown, near my parents, had been great. Emelie had been amazing during this entire transition and I knew it was partly due to her best friend Palmer being here too. They’d fit right in, making themselves at home, making friends with the ladies and turning heads with the men. I’d be jealous if I didn’t already know without a doubt that Emelie was mine. She couldn’t get away even if she’d tried. Her and Ethan are my everything, my world. No way in hell I’d ever let either of them go.
When Ethan didn’t answer me, I moved further into the small apartment where we were staying until our place was complete.
Both my brother and I were given a piece of land on our parents’ property. The girls wanted to build on the line closest to one another and have a joining deck. Hell no! So after a lot of discussion and a few heated arguments, we’d all agreed that we would go with the center of each piece of land for placement of the homes and on the property line we’d put a large, covered gazebo with a huge swing in the middle. A place the girls could call their own.
Moving into the bedroom, I found it empty, and knew that Emelie wouldn’t leave our boy alone. “Em,” I called out and heard a muffled response.
Tapping on the bathroom door, it gave and opened slowly.
Emelie was leaning back against the side of the tub with a cool washrag pressed to her mouth. She looked up at me and narrowed her eyes. “You did this.”
“Did what?” I attempted to move closer and she held up her hand to stop me. “Babe.”
“Don’t babe me.” Waving her hand, she moved to the toilet and started to gag. “You are never getting near me again!” Again she gagged.
“Em…” I refused to let her push me away, so I moved in quick, holding her hair back, and wiping her forehead with the cool rag. “What’s going on?”
“What’s going on is that I’m pregnant, you ass.”
The world stopped, my head felt hazy, and fuck it, if I didn’t feel like yelling out Hell yeah, only I knew in her current state that would be a mistake.
But she was pregnant, with our kid.
No fucking way I couldn’t be happy about that.
Emelie
Super sperm! There was no other explanation. So fine, I missed one damn pill. But really? Pregnant? Some women went years taking the pill, much like me, and then had to be off for months and months before they could get pregnant. I miss one pill and bam, I’m knocked up.
We’d just started building a house. My job at the hospital was going great and Clayton and Corbin had taken over their uncle’s contracting company and things were crazy. Add a new baby to the mix and I’d be spinning out of control. Ethan was a handful, and now an infant.
I was insane, we were insane.
“Can I please be fucking happy about this?” I looked up at Clayton through narrowed eyes to find him with a face-splitting grin. “Because I’m not gonna lie, babe, this is the best news, and I’m ready to call everyone I know to tell them.”
I sat back on my ass, again using the side of the tub as support, and stared at him.
I wanted to tell him that his happiness was annoying but I can’t. The thing was, Clayton was an amazing guy and an even more amazing father to our son. It didn’t matter that Ethan did not share his blood, you’d never know. He slid right into the role as his father and my son loved him fiercely.
I had no doubt that he’d also be just as amazing with this baby.
I couldn’t take away his joy, even if on the inside I was in a bit of a panic. Last time my pregnancy and the birth of my son didn’t go so well. I knew that was partially what was leading to my current panic. But things were different now, I knew this.
“I’m flying high, babe!” He was practically bouncing with joy.
“You’re impossible.” A smile crept onto my lips and playfully I gave him a shove. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me toward him and wrapped his arms around me. “And you’re beautiful.”
“I hope this one is a girl so she can help me torture you.” He chuckled and I knew right then everything was gonna be okay.
Corbin
Standing back looking at the large A-framed house that in a few short months I’d share with my girl gave me a sense of peace.
I still had times when the struggles I went through resurfaced and I was reminded of the night I held my friend in my arms. I saw his face, and the face of his daughter. Then that feeling of suffocating hit me.
Then I pictured Palmer.
So much sass, she challenged me daily and I fucking loved it. She didn’t take my shit, but gave it right back instead. And she was all mine.
The sound of tires crunching over the gravel drive gained my attention and I looked up just in time to see Palmer coming to a stop. The sun had begun to set and the beams of her headlights highlight the property. I watched in amazement as she climbed out and looked at the home before finding me watching her.
My girl was a knockout.
“You planning on staying out here all night
? Or you coming home?” Sauntering over to me with a smirk, she stepped in front of me and I wasted no time pulling her closer.
“Why, you missing me?”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m hungry and we’re supposed to go over to your parents’ for dinner.
“Can we tell everybody tonight?” I’d been dying to share the news for over a week now.
“We agreed to wait.”
“No, you told me we needed to wait, but I wanted to put it up on the fucking scrolling banner in the center of town.”
“You’re ridiculous.” She laughed and I kissed the corner of her mouth.
“I’m just happy, babe.” Because of this beautiful girl I was floating on cloud nine. Two days after arriving back home I asked her to marry me in a crowded dining room of my parent’s restaurant. With half the town present she made me sweat for too fucking long before she finally said yes. Now this…life was sweet.
“Are you sure you don’t want to wait a little longer?”
“I want everyone to know.” It was killing me.
“Okay.” Palmer kissed me and I fought the urge to drag her inside and pin her to the wall so I could have my way with her. “We can tell them tonight.”
Finally!
“How much time do we have before dinner?”
“We were supposed to be there ten minutes ago.” Her voice was scolding but her body, it was telling me something else. Gliding my hands over her back, I cupped her ass and pulled her hard against me.
“You might want to call them and tell them we need fifteen more.” I started walking her backwards toward the house as I licked along her jaw before tugging on her earlobe with my teeth.
