I sit and wait. I pace the floor and wait. I pull my hair and wait. I ask questions and wait. Time feels like it’s standing still, but every time I look at the clock, the hands are moving. Before I know it, Bennet is rushing into the emergency room with Maddie behind him.
“How is she? Is she okay?” Maddie asks, eyes wide and full of panic.
I shrug. “I don’t know. They won’t tell me anything yet.”
“This is bullshit. Stay here. I’ll find something out,” Bennet says, rushing to the desk.
I fall into a chair, and Maddie sits at my side. She takes my hand in hers, but she doesn’t say that everything will be okay, because nobody knows if that’s true or not. She doesn’t talk at all; she just lets me know that she’s here, waiting with me.
Bennet is at the counter for a long time before he finally comes back and sits beside Maddie. He leans forward so he can see me. “It looks like the placenta detached. Dani will be fine. They have her stable, but the baby had to be delivered early, and it’s still up in the air if she’ll make it through the night.”
My eyes pop up and lock on his. “She? I have a daughter?” I ask, feeling overwhelmingly happy. Dani and I decided not to find out the sex of the baby, wanting it to be a surprise.
He smiles. “Congratulations.”
“When can I go back and see them?” I ask.
“The nurse said they’re cleaning Dani up and they’ll come and get you when she’s in a room. The baby will be kept in the NICU. And if she makes it, she’ll probably be living here for several weeks until she’s full term.”
I lean back and take in all the information he’s given me. Dani is fine. I have a daughter. She’s early, but she’s here. And she’s healthy. She’s just a little early. And as long as she fights, she’ll be fine. I know I haven’t met my daughter yet, but if she’s anything like her momma, she’s a fighter. She won’t give up.
It feels like it takes forever, but finally, a nurse comes out to get me. Bennet and Maddie want to give us a little time to ourselves, but they promise to wait for me in the lobby. The nurse leads me down several long hallways, and then into a dark room. All I can hear is the machines running and the sound of her breathing. I sit at her side, and her skin is pale. She has dark circles under her eyes, and she looks thin, too thin. I wasn’t ready to see the baby bump gone yet, but I guess that’s out of our control.
I reach out and take her hand in mine. Her eyes flutter open, and she offers up a sad smile.
“How is she?” she asks.
“I haven’t seen her yet, but I’m told she’s healthy, just too little. She’s in the NICU. How are you?” I ask, brushing her hair away from her face.
She nods. “Not sick.” She smiles weakly.
“She’ll be fine, Levi. We had a little talk,” Dani says, smile fading away as sleep tugs at her.
“She’s a fighter,” I tell her, kissing her hand. “I’m going to go check on her and let you rest, but I’m not leaving. I’ll be here when you wake up. Okay?”
She nods, not bothering to open her eyes.
I stand and make my way out into the hallway. I walk up to the nurses' station and ask if one of them could take me up to see my daughter. I’m taken up to another floor and lead through more long hallways until we enter a big room that’s filled with dozens of tiny little incubators. There are four nurses on this floor, and one of them walks directly up to me.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, I was hoping to see my daughter. She was just born.”
“Your name?”
“Levi Finlay,” I reply, suddenly feels afraid and nervous.
“Oh, your baby girl is right over here.” She leads me to the corner closest to the nurses' desk. “She’s so little. I wanted to make sure I kept an eye on her.”
I look down into the clear case and see my daughter for the first time. She’s so tiny, smaller than any baby doll I’ve ever seen. Her skin is bright pink, and she’s only wearing a tiny little diaper that’s probably is meant for a baby doll.
“She’s beautiful,” I cry, unable to hold back the tears.
The nurse nods. “She is. She weighs four pounds. How far along was the mamma?”
“Thirty-four weeks,” I reply. “What’s all these tubes?” I ask, motioning toward the tubes that seem to be all over her small body.
“It’s respiratory support. Because the baby was so early, her lungs are sticking together and still underdeveloped. This will be a long, uphill road, dad, but hold in there.” She rubs my arm and walks away to check on the rest of the babies. I can’t do anything but sit down and watch her. She doesn’t move, her eyes don’t open—I don’t even know if they can open—and she doesn’t make a sound. I hate seeing any baby this way. She wasn’t ready to be born yet. Why did this happen? Why does she have to be born into a world where the only thing she can do is fight to live?
Just watching as her small chest moves up and down makes me cry. I want to touch her, hold her, and tell her that everything is going to be alright, but I can’t. All I can do is watch as she figures it out on her own, and root for her from the sidelines.
I watch as they feed her through a feeding tube, and then head back down to talk to Bennet and Maddie.
“How are they?” Maddie asks, sitting up when I sit down beside them.
I nod. “Dani is good. She’s resting. The baby, she’s so tiny. She only weighs four pounds. She’s probably no longer than my hand.”
“But do they think she’ll pull through?”
I nod. “They can’t say for sure. And there’s no way of knowing if she’ll have health issues in the future because of this. All we can do is sit with her and pray that everything will be fine.”
Bennet pats me on the back. “Everything will be okay, Levi. We’re going to take off so you can be with Danielle. Call if you need anything.”
“Thank you for coming,” I say, shaking his hand. “You’re more than just a boss. You’re like my best friend.”
The handshake turns into a hug. “I do consider you a friend, Levi. Now, go be with your family.” He releases me, and I walk back down the long hallway.
I walk into Dani’s room and sit at her side. Her eyes open and lock on mine. “How’s our girl?”
I smile. “She’s doing great,” I tell her, not wanting to worry her anymore by telling her how tiny she is.
“She’ll be okay, Levi,” she whispers.
“How do you know?” I ask, leaning forward.
She shrugs one shoulder. “I just do. I’m a mom now. We know things.” She giggles. “Come on. Let’s go to bed.” She scoots over and rolls to her side. I climb up behind her and wrap my arm around her. She’s not as small as she used to be, but she’s not big and round like she was earlier today either. I hug her close and breathe in the scent of her hair. Just being able to touch her, talk to her, smell her, and feel her heat, it comforts me, and before I know it, I’m drifting off into a deep, deep sleep.
24
Danielle
Time passes quickly, but also slowly—how that’s possible, I don’t know. Sitting in the hospital day after day, it feels slow. But the moments when I get to see Leah, time passes quickly. Levi and I have almost moved into the hospital since we both refuse to leave without her for any period of time. Each day, we watch her grow and grow until she’s the size of a newborn. We watch her hit milestones, like opening her eyes, drinking from a bottle, and crying.
Those first few weeks were the hardest. The only way we could touch her was through a hole in the box. The first time I got to hold her felt like it would be ingrained into my memory forever. I cried tears of joy when I held her, when her eyes met mine. Levi did too. We sat in the hospital for weeks, neither of us leaving for work, to eat, or to sleep in our own bed. We eat nothing but hospital food and whatever our friends bring us. We shower in the hospital. We sleep in the hospital. We make friends with the doctors and nurses, and it feels like we’re in our own little world.
/> Finally, the day arrives when we get to bring her home. I load her up into the car seat while Levi pulls the car around. We have bags and bags to load up of my clothing and his, and we have a lot of stuff from the hospital for Leah: diapers, clothing, and formula. I’ve also been pumping and mixing it into the formula until I make enough for her to do without the formula completely. I never thought about being a mommy before, but now I can’t imagine not being one. For Leah, every milestone she hits, it feels like a milestone for me. I fight right alongside her. I never thought I could be so proud of someone, but already she’s teaching me more than I’ve taught her.
When we make it home, Levi carries all the bags up while I carry Leah in her car seat. We walk in and sit down. I unbuckle her and hold her to my chest as Levi sits next to us.
“How is it possible that she’s so perfect?” I ask.
He smiles. “She’s the best parts of me and you. Of course she’s perfect.”
“Who’s been here?”
“Bennet and Maddie came and took care of the place while we were gone. They made sure the dishes were clean, the trash was taken out, and they even stocked the fridge. You want anything?”
“A bottle of water, please,” I say as he stands and moves toward the kitchen.
He grabs two bottles and moves back to the couch. “Bennet even found a construction company that can build the house.”
“That’s great,” I say with a smile as I lay the baby on my lap.
The only thing we can do is stare at her, watch as she sleeps.
As the day goes on, everyone pops in and out to check on us and to see the baby. It’s a fun-filled day of being with our friends and each other while we celebrate the day our daughter got to come home. Everyone brings baby gifts, food, or flowers. By the time it’s time for bed, we’re all worn out from our busy day.
With each day that passes, the more lucky and thankful I feel. Leah is developing into a normal, happy, healthy baby. She continues to grow and learn. If you didn’t know our story, you’d never have thought she was born early with such an uphill battle to thrive. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks turn to months, we all seem to settle into a new normal.
Levi goes back to work, and I stay home with Leah. With her rough start at life, I don’t feel like she’s ready to let go just yet. And I don’t mind staying home with the baby instead of working. Levi likes to call home on his lunch to check in and see how his girls are doing, and he likes the thought of one of her parents being with her at all times.
Bennet and Levi have designed the new home and have had the construction company start on it. They broke ground a few weeks ago, and the framework is already done. Levi keeps me updated on its progress, but I haven’t seen any of it yet. I think he likes the idea of surprising me. He asks me questions from time to time, like yellow or blue, and hardwood or carpet, but I haven’t seen the plans or any materials. We decided to paint Leah’s room a soft mint green instead of the traditional pink, but we plan on using rainbow accents, so it’ll still look like a little girl’s room. Everything about our future looks bright, and I couldn’t be happier when I sit back and think about it.
Dani has also started taking some classes online to further her education. After being at home all this time, she wants to work at home full-time, and I like the thought of her having her own business and working the hours she wants while still being available to Leah. She’s still searching for just the right thing, but in the meantime, she’s getting a degree in business management.
Since we’ve added to the family and are building our dream home, I’ve picked up clients here and there to represent as side work. I’ve even been thinking about opening my own firm—Bennet even agreed to invest as long as I keep him on as a client. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do on that aspect of things, but it’s nice knowing I can go in any direction if or when I want to. Right now, all I want to do is focus on my family and our new home while working a job that I love with my closest friends.
When the workday is over, I drive home in a hurry to see my girls. I walk in the unlocked door and find Dani on the couch, breastfeeding Leah. Dani looks up at me and smiles. “Look, she’s latching correctly,” she says, eyes and voice full of excitement. This is one thing most premature babies have in common; they’re unable to latch and nurse correctly. We’ve been working with her for months, trying again and again.
I smile as I walk over. “That’s great. Look at her going to town,” I say as my eyes go wide with shock. You’d think the kid had never been fed before. She is kneading her breast with her tiny hands, hoping more milk comes out, and she’s turning her head from side to side, getting aggressive.
Dani laughs. “She overslept and missed her five o’clock feeding. So she’s good and hungry.” She looks down at Leah, running her fingertip over her cheek. “Aren’t you, Leah?”
Leah grunts but doesn’t let go.
I laugh and place my hand on Dani’s leg. “What sounds good for dinner?”
“Hmmm, I’ve literally been dreaming about Chinese food.”
“Okay.” I get up and grab the menu. I sit back down at her side.
“I want some fried rice, egg rolls, and egg drop soup.”
I laugh and dial the number on the menu to place our order.
I go to shower and get out of my work clothes, and when I come back, Leah is sound asleep in her rocker, and Dani is laying out the food on the coffee table. She looks over at me with a smile. “Hey, ready to eat? I just found a new movie on Netflix that we can watch.”
I walk over and pull her against me, cupping her cheek with the palm of my hand. “I love you,” I whisper, leaning in for a kiss.
“I love you too,” she replies, pushing me down onto the couch and crawling up into my lap.
Her hands wrap around my neck as our kiss deepens. Her hips begin moving back and forth against mine, causing parts of my body to come alive with need. I lift my hips slightly, allowing her to grind against more of me. She lets out a whimper that makes my dick jump with excitement.
“God, I miss us,” she breathes out against my lips.
“Dinner can wait. I’m hungry for something else,” I say, picking her up against me.
“But the baby. We can’t leave her alone.”
I freeze and think quickly. Since we’re unable to leave the room, I move us around to the back of the couch and lower her body onto the floor. “There, now she can’t see us, but we can still hear her,” I say with a smile as I pull her shorts down her legs.
“God, I need you.”
“You have no idea,” I say as I push deep inside her.
She wraps her arms around me and pulls me down, hugging me close, loving me, never letting me go.
My life is different from what I thought it’d be, but it’s better in every aspect of the word. I never thought I’d get this lucky, but I thank God every day for the love of my life and the miracle that is my daughter.
Thanks for reading My Best Friend’s Ex!
***
If you loved My Best Friend’s Ex then check out Best Friend’s Baby
* * *
Waking up married to my best friend in Vegas,
laughable.
Finding out I'm pregnant...
Not so much.
* * *
Grab Best Friend’s Baby HERE!
How to NOT fall in love with your best friend in 3 easy steps.
1. NEVER sleep with him.
2. DON'T wake up married to him in Vegas.
3. DEFINITELY don't get pregnant with his baby.
* * *
It’s not Trent’s fault I couldn’t keep my damn legs closed every time he looked at me,
I was the funny best friend who harbored the secret crush,
And he was the hottie on campus all the ladies wanted to bang…and did.
Poetic isn’t it?
* * *
The distance I’ve put between us over the years was exactly what I needed,
>
Until I see that panty-melting smile,
And feel his rock hard body against mine.
FML.
* * *
No strings.
No Feelings.
Yeah right…
I’ve got one chance to convince him to give our marriage a chance,
One week before he leaves the country,
And seven days to convince him to play daddy.
Copyright © 2020 by Alexis Winter - All rights reserved.
* * *
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
1
Mia
“COME on, Mia. Please?!?!” Danielle whines into the phone. Just listening to her high-pitched voice makes me roll my eyes. “Everyone is going. And it will be our first time away from the baby. You know what that means—lots of drinking and dirty, dirty adult time.” I can practically hear the shit-eating grin she’s wearing right now. By dirty, dirty adult time, she meant she was going to get hammered and screw her husband while the rest of us pretended not to notice their disappearance.
“I don’t know any of your friends, Dani. Don’t you think that would be a little awkward—me hanging out with your friends when we all know you and Levi will stay locked in your room the entire time?”
His Every Desire (Contemporary Romance Box Set) Page 55
