Anna Avery pulled a plush white robe about her body, which practically swallowed her petite form. “Dallas, let me explain.”
“No, you don’t have to do that,” he said, trying to hide his smile, despite Alicia’s warning nudge not to say anything. “He’s in a robe; you’re in a robe. Last I recall, neither one of y’all was in massage school.” His eyebrows lifted as he asked, “So y’all getting back together?”
Anna pinned her gaze on the woman beside Dallas. “Alicia.”
The tone made Alicia flinch. Dallas quickly took her hand in his. “Yes, this is my wife. Alicia Alexander.”
Anna stopped walking, but Paul nodded his approval and moved forward, extending his hand to Alicia.
“Welcome to the family. I’m Paul.”
Alicia took Paul’s hand, and he enveloped her in a hug. As he released her, he said, “I’ve heard so many wonderful things about you.”
Anna’s gaze narrowed on Alicia, and she cleared her throat, causing everyone to look her way. “You married her?”
“As fast as I could,” Dallas replied, not liking his mother’s attitude. “I’m taking a page from my father’s book. He said next time he would sweep you away and marry you and to hell with everyone else.”
Anna’s head snapped to Paul. “You said that?”
“I sure did,” he answered. “If I had taken you with me that night, we would’ve been too far away for your father to stop us. Then he just would’ve had to deal with it.” Paul draped a finger across Anna’s cheek before he leaned in to kiss her lips. “I loved you then, and I love you now. The minute John wises up and signs the divorce papers, I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“Wises up? What do you mean by that?” Dallas asked.
Anna turned to him. “Your fa—” she corrected herself, “John is fighting the divorce. I filed it the day after you took me to the hotel. I called Paul to let him know that I was bringing the last of your things from that house,” Anna said. “We talked, and when I told him what happened, he wouldn’t let me leave.”
“He wouldn’t let you leave or you didn’t want to leave?” Dallas asked with a chuckle.
She looked at Paul and gave him a sheepish smile. “Both.”
Paul put his arm about her shoulders and pulled her to him. He leaned down to kiss her forehead, and Dallas said, “I would say get a room, but I realize we’re in your house. So on that note, we’ll just catch y’all some other time.”
“You don’t have to leave,” Anna protested with a pointed look at Alicia.
“Yes we do. Especially if y’all don’t have on anything under those robes,” Dallas joked, to which Paul grinned.
“Alicia,” Anna said to the silent woman next her son. “I’d like to have a word with you.”
Alicia’s chin lifted, a flash of defiance in her eyes that made Dallas stiffen. “I prefer we didn’t right now.”
Anna’s gaze lowered to Alicia’s belly. “You’re carrying my grandchild?”
“Yes.”
Dark brown eyes narrowed to slits. “Isn’t that a little dangerous at your age?”
Paul frowned, putting a warning grip on Anna’s upper arm.
“And you wonder why I don’t want to have a chat,” Alicia said. Dallas could tell she was trying desperately to be respectful. “I’m not for anyone making me feel guilty about what I feel for Dallas.” Alicia looked to her husband. “I’m ready to go home.”
“Alicia, wait.” Paul said. He then turned Anna so that she faced him. “All those years, you deprived me of having the two things I wanted most—you and my son. So Dallas, who loves just as hard as I do, is in love with this woman. It doesn’t matter if you don’t approve or don’t understand. Look at all the time we’ve wasted. You can’t condemn our son to the same fate.”
A full range of emotions crossed Anna’s face before she looked to Dallas, then at Alicia. She gave Paul’s hand a gentle squeeze and said, “You’re right.” Her gaze was much softer when she spoke to Alicia this time. “I apologize.” Anna looked at her son before asking Alicia, “Please stay and have lunch with us so that we can begin to get to know one another.”
Dallas swept a look at his father, who quickly shook his head, causing Dallas to say, “Ah, no. We were about to—”
“Yes, we’ll stay,” Alicia cut in, taking in the pleading expression on Anna’s face.
Dallas shrugged and only smiled at the look of complete frustration on his father’s face.
Chapter 41
Monday, August 12—11:55 a.m.
Dallas entered the locker room of the sports center, toweling off after his hot shower. Basketball season was all set to start in a couple of months, so he was gearing up by keeping his mind and body in shape. The workout with his assistant and personal trainer had gone well, and he looked forward to getting home for whatever lunchtime surprises Alicia had in store for him. It had been two months, now, and he was the happiest man in the world, and though he still had to field some negativity from time to time, things were going pretty well.
And not only for him. His mother and father were vacationing in Hawaii, while still waiting for John to come to grips that there would be a divorce.
He hadn’t seen Tori, though he hadn’t sought her out. He knew that she’d moved out of his condo when he’d received the keys in the mail, though she hadn’t sent a note or anything.
That concerned him a little. He knew that Tori could be vindictive and he was just waiting, wondering if this was the calm before the storm.
Dallas checked his watch and realized he needed to hurry. He never liked to be away from Alicia a moment longer than necessary. But before he could stand from the bench, Marlon, his new assistant, crashed through the doors, locs slapping his back, and panting as he said, “You have to get to the hospital right away.”
Dallas jumped up from the bench and grabbed his gear. “Alicia?”
“She’s in labor.”
Dallas froze. “The doctor said they could come earlier than nine months, but not this early! She’s at 36 weeks!”
“Babies come whenever they feel like it,” he said, giving him a toothy grin. “. Ask me how I know.”
Dallas didn’t ask him a thing as he jumped into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt.
“Want me to give you a lift?” Marlon asked.
“That’s all right. I drove here.”
“Yeah, right.” Marlon grabbed the rest of Dallas’ things and placed them in his duffel bag. “I’ve seen the way you drive in an emergency.”
“Good point,” Dallas countered. “But I’m not trying to fold my legs into your little Lego mobile.”
“Aw, that’s cold man,” Marlon said, frowning. Then he perked up. “I can drive your car.”
“And what’s the real reason you want to take me to the hospital?”
Marlon chuckled and followed him from the locker room.
* * *
Twenty minutes later they arrived at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Dallas was immediately ushered into the birthing center. “How is she?” he asked the slender brunette RN who greeted him at the doors.
“She’s doing all right,” she answered, cornering the end of the hall so they could make it to the other wing. “But the babies are giving her a hard time. Her water broke, which is her body’s way of saying that she’s ready for them to come. But they’re asleep and not even trying to budge.”
“Stubborn. Just like her,” he mumbled, causing the nurse to smile. “So what’s the doctor going to do?”
“He’s going to give it another thirty minutes, then we’ll have to go in and get them.”
“A C-section?”
She nodded, her solemn expression matching exactly how Dallas felt. “It might be too dangerous if we wait.”
Dallas walked into a hospital room with cream walls, pink and blue accents that was supposed to give the place a cheery feel. What Dallas saw from the threshold didn’t make him feel so cheery. A group of people in white coats
surrounded Alicia’s bed. Some of them looked too young to be doctors.
But then, his wife saw him and she lit up. Dallas though, frowned. “What’s with the tribe?”
“I’m trying to figure that out, too,” Alicia said smoothly, eyeing each of the nine people around her. “This is their second time here. I’m about to charge admission.”
Everyone chuckled, but Dallas leaned in to the doctor, asking, “Don’t they have a private room?”
The doctor followed his gaze to the small group of students and said, “This is a teaching hospital, Mr. Alexander.”
“Yeah? Well they’re not going to learn anything on my wife.” Dallas pointed to the open door. “Take the tribe somewhere else.”
“Dallas!” Alicia frowned at his tone.
“I don’t want everyone looking at you like that.”
“If they’ve seen one,” Doctor Webb countered, “they’ve seen them all.”
“Well, they’re not going to see hers,” he quipped, shooing the rest of the people from the room. “Get to stepping, people.”
The doctor shook his head, but Dallas gestured for him to hit the door, too. “And you can go with ‘em, ‘Chief Looks-a-lot’.”
“I’ll be right back,” Doctor Webb said to Alicia, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide the fact that she was uncomfortable.
The moment the doctor and nurses cleared the door, Dallas took a seat next to the bed. “How you doing, baby?” he asked, leaning in to plant a kiss on her cheek.
“As well as could be expected.”
“You in any pain?”
She shrugged. “A little, the breathing exercises are helping, but mostly I’m just tired.”
“The doctor told me that they might have to …”
“I really don’t want that, but whatever’s best for the babies.” She looked up at him, and he could see the worry lurking in those green depths. “Dallas?”
“I’m right here, baby,” he whispered, kissing the back of her hand. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Promise me … that if something happens to me, you’ll take good care of them.”
“Baby, don’t talk like that!” he admonished, putting a tighter hold on her hand, hoping it would reassure her. “Nothing’s going to happen to you. I forbid it.”
She smiled.
“We’re going to raise them together,” he added. “Love them, teach them how to dribble and shoot free throws before they can crawl.” Dallas gave her sheepish grin. “You know, normal stuff.”
“Normal stuff?” Alicia laughed and shook her head, but she was smiling and it set his mind at ease.
The monitors were holding steady and Dallas reached out to switch off the news. “No more of this,” he said, “it’s depressing.”
She nodded. “Alicia stroked a hand across her belly. “I never thought I would be somebody’s mother,” she said. “It’s frightening if you think about all the weird things going on in the world. It’s so unsafe for children these days. And here it is, I’m about to have not one, but two. What was I thinking?”
“You were thinking that you loved me.”
She laughed a little before she moaned. And then, she groaned. “Baby,” she said. “You better get the doctor in here. I think it’s time.”
Dallas ran to the door, called out, and moments later, the team was back in the room. After a quick exam, the doctor flipped the sheet back down and said, “This mother’s ready to rock and roll!”
“What does that mean?” Dallas asked.
“I don’t think we’ll have to do that C-Section.” Doctor Webb signaled for the crew to speed things up. “Let’s get her in the delivery room.”
The hospital team went into action. The IVs were hooked onto the clip at the end of the bed, and they rushed down the hall.
The pair of green scrubs they gave Dallas didn’t quite fit, but it didn’t matter as he tried to stuff himself in as best he could and followed them into the delivery room.
Alicia reached for his hand, and he held onto it, worried when he saw the numbers on the monitor start peaking into the higher digits.
The team moved with fluid synchronicity as they performed a number of maneuvers that seemed to keep them away from the delivery bed for longer than Dallas preferred.
“Well, people,” Doctor Webb said, rubbing his latex-covered hands together. “It’s show time.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls,” Alicia joked, causing the good doctor to laugh.
“Depending on what time of night it is.” He angled himself onto a stool at the business end of the birth process. “Let’s get these little rascals out into the real world.”
“If they knew what I know, they’d want to stay inside,” Alicia quipped, continuing a series of breathing exercises to keep calm.
“Yes, I think they got that message loud and clear. That’s what’s taking so long. Sleeping while you contract and dilate! Hmph. Of all the nerve.”
Alicia laughed, but Dallas couldn’t find humor in any of this. He was worried for no reason he could name. Alicia’s pleas for him to promise that he would take good care of the children echoed in his ears. He tried to push the thought away and focus on the doctor’s actions.
Doctor Webb had a pudgy hand positioned on Alicia’s belly.
“Would now be a good time to ask for those drugs?” Alicia croaked.
Doctor Webb shook his head. “We’re a little bit past that. On a scale of one to ten, how bad is it?” Doctor Webb asked. His worried tone matched exactly how Dallas felt.
“It’s hitting fifteen, but I’ll live.”
Alicia tightened her hand on Dallas and he asked the doctor, “You can’t give her anything?”
“It won’t take effect in time for this.”
“But she’ll need it after, right?” Dallas protested. “She n—”
At that moment one of the babies’ heads crested and Alicia hadn’t even gotten to the push part! On a few whimpers of pain, Dallas’ son slipped into the doctor’s hand, and a heavy wail was his protest at being taken from obscurity and into a light-filled world with a bunch of strangers suddenly touching him, cleaning him, weighing him and fussing over him.
Dallas craned his neck to where the nurse was clearing the fluids from his son’s nose. “Is he all right?”
“Did you hear the lungs on this little fella?” she teased, placing a tiny blue cap over his soft silky hair.
Dallas nodded and couldn’t help but smile. His son was definitely making his feelings known. Moments later, the nurse placed the baby in his arms, gesturing for him to move away from the bed. Dallas refused to release Alicia’s hand. She smiled up at him. “Dallas, are you crying?”
Dallas shook his head, but he could barely see the bundle in his arms because the very tears he denied blurred his vision.
His son, by the woman he loved. He was so overwhelmed with joy. “All of his fingers and toes. And he has your eyes,” he said to Alicia as he angled the baby so she could see him.
“Hold up, people,” Doctor Webb said, signaling for the nurses to come over. “Baby number two is hanging on the rim. Probably trying for a lay-up instead of a straight shot.”
“Man, stick to your day job,” Dallas shot back at the man’s lame attempt at basketball humor, which caused everyone but the good doctor to laugh.
“What are you going to name him?” the nurse asked.
“We talked about a lot of things, but it’s time to put a lock on something. Paul after my father and Michael after yours?” he asked, looking down at Alicia.
“That’s a good compromise,” she conceded, and he leaned in with a towel to dab the sweat that peppered her forehead.
Baby number two came soon after, but she wasn’t as ticked off by the process as her brother had been. She calmly looked up at the nurse and yawned as if totally bored by all the commotion.
“Oh, yes,” the blonde said. “This one’s going to be quite the character.”
Alicia looked up at
Dallas and he smiled.
Though her voice was filled with exhaustion, she said, “India Anna Marie Alexander.”
“Three names?” he croaked. “Why not just Anna Marie?”
“You know why.”
“I’m still going to take you. I always keep my promises, baby.” He kissed her forehead. Amid romantic sighs from the females in the room, the nurse extracted their son and placed him in Alicia’s arms, then placed India in Dallas’ hands.
He crooned a lullaby to his daughter. “Daddy’s going to buy you a diamond ring ...”
“Dallas, you are not spoiling them like that,” Alicia wearily said.
“Okay, I won’t,” he said, giving her a sheepish smile and that famous lift of his left eyebrow.
“We are not spoiling them.”
“I said okay,” he whined. But no one, judging by the smiles in the room, believed him one bit.
Chapter 42
Monday, September 30 - 7:23 p.m.
Six weeks had passed and Alicia had never felt so complete in her life. She’d just laid the babies down for a nap and this would’ve been the perfect time for her to catch a quickie herself. But all she could do was stand over their bassinets and stare. She’d probably stay right there until they woke up again since her greatest pleasure was being with them.
It was hard to believe that she had created these two human beings. She and Dallas. There was no way that life could get any better.
Then, the doorbell rang and she frowned, checking to make sure that the sound hadn’t awakened her babies. When she saw that they didn’t even stir, she rushed from the room, taking the baby monitor with her. And she dashed to the door before whoever was outside rang the bell again.
She swung the door open, and then stood there with surprise.
“Hi, Auntie,” Tori said softly.
“Hi.” That was her automatic response, but inside all kinds of wheels were turning. She and Dallas hadn’t heard a word from Tori since he’d left her at the altar, though Alicia suspected that she’d returned to Chicago to her dysfunctional parents. She hadn’t reached out to any of them, not even her James. That was a crew of crazies that Alicia didn’t need in her life and around her babies.
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