by Raine, Alice
‘Sorry, babes!’ He giggled, pulling me into a side hug so I could still feed Will, but also rest my head briefly on his shoulder.
‘Talking of best men,’ I started hesitantly, drawing Kenny’s interest. ‘My collaring with Nathan is next month …’ Kenny knew all about the ceremony after I’d blurted it out in a panicked phone call to him a few months ago, but I’d never got around to asking him to be my assistant. ‘I can’t have bridesmaids, or best men, but I was really hoping you’d come with me as my assistant beforehand to keep me from freaking out?’
Wiggling his eyebrows, he grinned from ear to ear. ‘It would be my absolute pleasure, Stel. The date’s already in my diary.’ Giving me another squeeze, he let out an amused chuckle. ‘Check us out, both settling down! Who’d have ever thought it, eh?’
Who’d have thought it indeed? Especially given Nathan’s history, but it was really happening. He was mine, and he seemed intent on it remaining that way.
Just then, I heard the sound of Nathan and Tom making their way back towards the lounge, still engaged in what sounded like a serious technical conversation. It seemed the two of them had certainly hit it off.
‘Sometimes I feel so lucky to have found him that I still can’t believe it’s real. I have to pinch myself,’ Kenny whispered as they re-entered the lounge, looking relaxed and content. Nathan’s gaze was still skimming all around the room, and I could tell from the slight bounce in his step that he was in a really good mood.
As they approached, Kenny stood up and moved to the free sofa so he and Tom could sit together. Tom looked from me to Kenny with a playful, narrow-eyed look. ‘My ears are burning. Have you been talking about me?’
Kenny faked shock, clutching his chest in the overly dramatic way that only he could pull off. ‘Of course not!’
Raising an eyebrow, Tom took Kenny’s hand and looked at me for an answer, so I giggled and shrugged guiltily. ‘Maybe just a little, but it was all good, Tom, don’t worry.’
‘Glad to hear it.’ He wrapped an arm around Kenny’s shoulder. The two of them exchanged a satisfied smile and my heart gave a little squeeze at just how good they looked together. It seemed that my friend had finally found his happily ever after, too.
‘Get used to it with these two, Tom. I’m always the focus of their conversation when I’m out of earshot,’ Nathan murmured, flashing me a wink.
‘That’s because you’re just so fascinating to talk about, my dear,’ I teased, waggling my eyebrows at him, which caused Kenny to stifle his spluttered laugh.
When I thought about it, my words were totally true. Nathanial Jackson might be the love of my life and the father of my child, but he was the most complex, multifaceted man I’d ever met. He could be dominant, gentle, troubled, and carefree all within the space of just a few hours. It made him utterly fascinating to me and was why I loved him with all my heart.
Chapter Thirty Two – Rebecca
The babies were being awkward this morning; whatever position I lay in wasn’t good enough for them. My ribs were killing me and they had been wriggling away and kicking me since before five a.m., when I had given up on sleeping and moved me and my gigantic bump downstairs.
Nicholas had dragged himself out of bed to keep me company and was sitting on the sofa beside me reading the news on his iPad. He looked lovely, with a serious case of bed head, a night’s worth of stubble, and still wearing his blue pyjama bottoms and a white T-shirt. I might be almost through my nine months of pregnancy, and about as large as a mountain, but I could still appreciate how lovely he looked when he was relaxed and ruffled like this.
The twins chose that moment to initiate another round of kicking and I sighed and rubbed at my belly. I already felt like a beached whale, but now I was a beached whale with a football match going on in her belly. Marvellous.
As a lovely addition to the twins fighting in my stomach, I’d also had a return of my Braxton Hicks contractions – only a few in the last hour, so it wasn’t too bad really, but they were adding to my discomfort.
Finally giving up on my idea of a restful morning, I sighed and chucked my Kindle aside. ‘I can’t get comfortable today. I think I’ll have a walk round for a bit. Maybe make a cup of tea.’
No sooner were the words were out of my mouth then Nicholas was on his feet and holding his hands out to help me up. A month or so ago he’d have been trying to make me stay put while he made the tea for me, but luckily, after a few firm reminders that I could still do things myself, he’d managed to cut back on some of his coddling, and we now had a nice balance going.
Considering I was the size of a beach ball, I did accept his offer of assistance, and let him pull me gently to my feet. As I steadied myself on his forearm, I felt the most peculiar popping sensation between my legs, followed by a sudden warming wetness.
Uh oh.
I still had just over two weeks to go until my due date, so surely that wasn’t what I thought it was? Wincing, I tried to press my legs together as another gush of liquid escaped and soaked into my leggings. I sighed heavily. ‘The tea might have to wait.’
‘Why? Are you feeling OK?’ Nicholas asked, frowning at me in concern.
Knowing how overprotective my man could get, I didn’t want to freak him out, but there really was no gentle way of putting this. ‘My waters just broke. I think maybe the babies might be coming.’
I’d expected him to freak out, melt down or go into panic mode, but my husband did none of those. Instead, he looked slightly wide-eyed, then nodded calmly.
‘OK. Hospital it is, then. Do I have time to change out of my pyjamas or shall we just go now?’
I had no idea, but I didn’t feel like the twins were about to make an imminent arrival so I shrugged. ‘I’m fine. Change, and I’ll text Karen.’
Nicholas dashed off upstairs and I waddled my way to the hall and slid down onto the stool by the coat rack just as another contraction hit. I’d thought they were Braxton Hicks earlier, but I guess maybe these were the real deal.
I pulled up the number to Karen and fired off a message. I got an almost immediate response telling me she’d meet us at the hospital, which helped relax me somewhat. ‘Can you grab me some clean underwear and another pair of my yoga pants, too, please!’ I called up to Nicholas. I might be about to go into labour, but the feeling of being soaked between my legs was horrible. That immediately made me think about other horrible sensations I would be having between my legs shortly, but I quickly pushed them away, deciding not to think about the pain until it actually kicked in.
Breathing in the way I’d been instructed by Karen, I had just got through the worst of my current contraction when Nicholas came jogging back down the stairs in jeans, boots, and the same T-shirt as earlier.
‘Just as well we packed the hospital bag early, eh?’ he said, waggling the holdall at me, then holding out his spare arm to help me up. ‘Right, let’s go, baby momma.’
‘Nicholas!’ I gasped, wanting to hit him for using that bloody stupid nickname, but at that moment another contraction started and so instead I grabbed his arm and almost dragged him out of the front door.
Nicholas
Holy fucking shit. Rebecca’s in labour! I’d read in so many of the pregnancy books how important it was for the dad to stay relaxed when the labour started, but fuck me if it wasn’t literally taking every shred of my self-control to remain calm.
Calm on the outside at least. Inside my head, I was a complete mess. It felt like a tornado was whipping up to top speed and throwing my entire life into an absolute mess of panic.
So many questions were fighting for space in my brain that I could barely think straight as I led Rebecca out to the car and got her safely belted in. Would we make it to the hospital in time? Was it a problem that she was going into labour early? Would she be OK? Would the babies be OK? Would I know what the hell to do to help her? Would I be a good dad …?
And breathe.
I needed to calm the fuck down, so I focused on the task o
f driving to distract me. Ignition, gear, throttle, pull away.
Thankfully as it was Saturday and still early, the drive through London wasn’t bad at all, and in just ten minutes we had arrived at the hospital, where Rebecca was taken inside in a wheelchair.
All I can say is thank fuck for Karen. Over the next God knows how many hours she was bloody incredible: calm, cheerful, and so totally in control that she really put me to shame. I checked my hands on several occasions throughout the day, and each time found them trembling, presumably from the adrenaline rushing around my system, but there wasn’t even a hint of a tremor in Karen’s cool demeanour.
Becky was amazing, too. Dealing with the pain and intrusive check-ups without a complaint, and still managing to smile even as the day wore on and she surely must have been feeling completely exhausted.
I’d just got back from a rushed trip to the toilet when the hold she had on my hand began to tighten. As I looked down I saw her face had paled and she was showing signs of tension around her eyes. ‘Are you OK, Becky?’ I whispered.
Instead of an answering smile, this time all I got was a tight-lipped, ‘Mmm-hmm.’
She was clearly struggling, and that made me feel so useless, not to mention helpless. A second later, she threw her head back and yelled, her face contorting with pain and her brow soaked with sweat.
Fuck, this is unbearable.
Nathan had tried to prepare me for this moment, warned me that I would feel like I was losing control over everything, but nothing, nothing could have prepared me for this. My skin went clammy and cold, and my heart was absolutely attempting to beat its way out of my chest. God only knows how Rebecca was feeling.
Karen popped her head up from her latest check-up and she grinned at us both. ‘Looks like twin number one will be making an appearance any second now, Rebecca. You’re doing so brilliantly. Keep up that breathing until I tell you to push.’
Oh God. It was really happening. Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe properly and I started to wheeze aloud.
In one of our “pre-birth” coffee meet-ups Nathan had also told me about his breathing techniques, and how he had needed them during Stella’s labour to stop him from freaking out. He’d called them his calming countdowns. I wasn’t sure if I was too far gone in my panic for it to work, but as Becky crushed my fingers and yelled out again I decided to give it a try.
Five, four, three, two, one …
Chapter Thirty Three – Stella
The house was calm and peaceful this morning; William was still asleep after his morning feed, I had done the bits of consultancy work I needed to, and Nathan was down in his office finishing off the final paperwork for a deal he was completing.
I was feeling decidedly horny, too. I don’t know if it was just that I had more spare time while I was still on maternity leave, or if it was the time in my cycle, but I’d been craving Nathan even more than usual over these last few days.
When I wandered down to his office, I found the door slightly open. So I put on my best sultry expression, positioned myself leaning against the doorframe in what I hoped was a sexy stance, and used a finger to push the door open.
As the door swung wide I saw Nathan wasn’t in his usual position in the chair behind his desk, but was instead sitting propped against the front of it while talking on the phone. His gaze immediately sought mine, a chunk of blond hair falling over his brow as he ran his eyes briefly over my body. His expression shifted towards desire before he joined his gaze with mine and raised an eyebrow in amusement.
Hmm. His long legs were crossed at the ankle, navy trousers sinfully snug in all the right places, and the grey shirt he had on made his blue eyes appear even lighter than usual. He looked almost good enough to eat. Perhaps that’s how I could start things off. He might not order me to kneel for him when we were in a scene, but he certainly never complained when I dropped to my knees for him and slid his zip down.
‘See you soon. Bye.’ Nathan hung up the phone, placed it on the desk, and folded his arms as he continued to stare at me. ‘Well, I have to say that’s a very promising expression on your face, Stella, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to save that idea for later.’
Eh? Nathan was turning down sex? In what universe did that ever happen? Even if he was busy, he never, ever turned down the chance of a quickie, so this was decidedly strange.
My attempt at a sultry expression quickly morphed into confused disappointment as I straightened from the doorframe and crossed my arms defensively.
Nathan laughed at my pout, stalking across the room and hunkering down before me so that our eyes were level. ‘You know I’d love to, baby, but we have somewhere to be.’
When I’d looked this morning, my diary had been free for the entire week, so I had no clue what he was talking about. ‘Where?’
‘I just spoke to Nicholas. Rebecca went into labour, and they think the twins are due any moment now.’
‘Oh my God! Why didn’t you just say that?’ I squawked, trying to work out my dates, and realising that she was at least two weeks early.
‘I was enjoying the sultry look on your face,’ Nathan replied with a wicked grin. ‘Anyway, I just called Marion and she’s on her way to watch Will for us so we can head to London. Apparently, Rebecca is doing really well, but I think Nicholas would quite like some support.’
‘Let’s get ready, then we can leave as soon as Marion gets here.’
Chapter Thirty Four – Rebecca
I knew there were two small faces gazing up at me, but my eyes were so full with tears that all I could see were blurry pink blobs. The tears had started as soon as the first baby had arrived, and now I literally couldn’t seem to stop them. I think they were happy tears, or possibly tears of relief because the pressure on my ribs had finally been released, but whatever the cause, they flowed endlessly.
‘Right, everyone is cleaned up, so I’ll give you four a bit of time alone,’ Karen announced, before quietly leaving the room.
I wanted to thank her again for everything she’d done during the birth because she had been utterly incredible, but I was so drained and emotional that the words wouldn’t form. Hopefully I’d manage to get a grip on myself soon, then I could say it when she next came in. I suspected Nicholas was crying, too, because I had heard several quiet sniffles next to me. Not that he’d want me to know, I’m sure.
Nicholas gave a louder sniff and then, after fiddling with a box of tissues, he began to wipe at my eyes for me. Gradually, as he cleared my vision, I started to get control of my tears. Then, finally, I could see my man leaning over me with his super shy smile. The one he reserved just for me.
‘I’m so proud of you, Becky,’ he said gruffly, before dropping his gaze and looking down into my arms. Following his gaze, I sucked in a breath when I finally got a proper look at our babies. They were so perfect!
Expertly wrapped in white blankets by Karen, they looked like little matching dolls, both with chubby pink cheeks, a spattering of dark hair, and dark eyelashes fanning on their cheeks as they slept.
‘Would you like to hold them?’ I asked softly, still slightly shocked that we had twins. Obviously, I’d known I was carrying them for the majority of the pregnancy, but seeing them both here really brought it home to me.
We had two babies. Two.
‘I’d love to … I’m a bit scared I might hurt them,’ he confessed quietly.
‘Tell me about it! They’re so tiny,’ I joked, not that they had felt tiny when they were coming out. ‘Just make sure you support the back of the head, and I don’t think you can go far wrong.’
‘I can’t imagine how any parent could ever hurt their child.’ Nicholas murmured the words so softly that I wasn’t sure he’d meant to voice them out loud. But I heard it, and my heart just about broke for him and the childhood he’d endured.
With ultimate care, Nicholas picked up the twin closest to him, scooping them into his arms and cradling the back of the head before gently rocking his arm
s and gazing down with utter awe.
‘So now they’re here, do you want to stick with the names we planned?’ he asked.
Considering it for a second, I nodded. ‘ I still think they’re good choices. What about you?’
‘Yeah, Benjamin and Holly. Except maybe we can shorten his to Ben? They look too small for long, formal names.’
‘I like that idea,’ I whispered as I watched Nicholas linking his little finger through the tiny fingers of our baby. He shook his head in amazement and grinned at me, his eyes shining with moisture again. ‘Her fingers are so small … or maybe his fingers?’ Suddenly frowning, he looked at me in concern. ‘Is it just me, or can you not tell the difference between them either yet?’
I had no clue which was which. Both were wrapped up tight so that only their faces showed, and they were so new that their skin was pink and wrinkly, giving no indication at all of which was Holly and which was Ben.
I giggled, then gently pulled the swaddling open so I could see which twin I had. ‘Well, judging from the anatomy I can see this is definitely Ben,’ I observed with a giggle. ‘Hey baby,’ I cooed, wrapping him back up and pulling him higher in my arms to snuggle him.
‘Holly,’ Nicholas murmured, seemingly lost in his own world as he gazed at his baby girl, then gasped as she briefly blinked her eyes open. ‘Hi there, I’m your daddy.’
I was so exhausted and emotional that his softly spoken words were all it took to make me sniffle again, but thankfully I was distracted from a full breakdown by a quiet knock at the door.
‘You OK for visitors?’ Nicholas asked, still gently rocking Holly in his embrace.
After taking a deep breath and wiping away a lone tear, I smiled and nodded to Nicholas, who carefully carried Holly to the door. He pulled it open to reveal two huge helium balloons bobbing away – one blue and one pink – and glimpses of a very excited-looking Stella behind them.
‘Oh my gosh, he’s so tiny!’ she squeaked, dragging Nathan into the room and looking at the baby in Nicholas’s arms while grinning broadly.
