Skin to Skin

by J. M. Stone

  He wasn’t far off with that look.

  She rounded on him, eyes wide and teeth gritted. “By God I will be married before this child comes out of my vagina, Jackson Beckett Matthews!”

  Holy shit!

  Daisy, Allie’s mom, gasped. “Allison Anne McCormick, don’t you yell at him like that! I don’t care if you are giving birth, you will be nice to the father of your child or you’ll answer to me. Now I may be an old hippie, but girlfriend, I brought you into this world and I WILL take you out!”

  Jackson, my mom, and I all gaped at Allie’s mom. Maybe I’m wrong, but isn’t there an unwritten rule that you keep the woman in labor happy and let her be a raging bitch? Apparently not according to Daisy…

  But instead of getting pissed, Allie grinned at her mom, all traces of anger melting away like they’d never even been there. “Ehhh, I guess giving birth to your child before you’re married is overrated anyway, right Mom?” she asked.

  Daisy just grinned back, her eyes sparkling with love and humor. Jackson just looked scared. I didn’t blame him; Allie was switching emotions faster than a hooker drops her panties for a bill.

  I spent a few more minutes in the room, watching my family with a sense of pride and satisfaction. Sure, there was an ache deep in my heart that I would never get to be the one in that bed, giving birth to my child. But I’d come to terms with that, for the most part. It was seriously bittersweet, though, to imagine what my child would have been like…

  A commotion at the door drew our attention.

  “MA’AM! You can’t go in there! Especially not with that!” a strident voice said sternly.

  Nanny’s crackly, gravelly voice cut her off, getting louder as she pushed through the door into the room. “Oh, piss off. This is my granddaughter’s room and by God, I can go in if I want. And don’t you pay no mind to my flask, you nosy rosy. It ain’t for my girl. It’s for that pasty-looking thing standing by her bed. Seems like he might be one ‘a those that falls over when it gets down to the dirty stuff in here.”

  She cackled and Allie waved off the stout, gray-haired nurse trailing behind her grandma, shooting scandalized looks at Allie. “She’s fine, I promise,” Allie said.

  The nurse gave a curt nod and said, primly, “You really should be resting, Ms. McCormick. You’re doctor won’t want all these people in here.”

  “Thank you, nurse, but I can speak for myself, and Allie can have as many people in here as she wants, as long as she’s comfortable.”

  An imposing woman with striking features stood behind the nurse, her trim figure covered in a white lab coat over bright, cheery scrubs. The nurse turned and stammered, “Dr. Merrick, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know you were on the floor already. I was merely-”

  The doctor nodded. “I know, Clarice. You’re free to go.”

  The nurse scrambled out into the hall, cheeks flaming, but I’m guessing it was more in anger than remorse or embarrassment.

  “Well, Allie,” the doctor said, smiling widely at her patient. “Let’s see where we’re at, shall we?”

  I excused myself, patting Allie on her shoulder and smiling at everyone else, before heading out into the waiting room with everyone else. More time passed and people started leaving to go home. Jenna went first, but only because she got a phone call from home, something about a Barbie, a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, and the dishwasher. Then Ben, Emma’s dad left, followed by Calland and Leah. Jan, Emma’s mom, left around midnight, taking Nanny and Poppy with her, but not before making us promise to call them as soon as the baby was born, no matter what the time. Eventually, only my mom, Allie’s parents, Daisy and George, Emma and Luke, and Brandon and I were left.

  I curled up on a sofa in the waiting room beside Brandon, listening to Luke try to bribe Emma into going home so she could get some rest. She wasn’t having it though. The last thing I heard was her emphatic, ‘hell no!’ and his long-suffering sigh before my eyes closed and I was out.

  “Hey, Auntie Chloe.”

  My brother’s voice broke into my dream and I blinked up at him from where I’d been asleep with my head on Brandon’s chest. My brow furrowed in confusion and then the light popped on.

  Jackson grinned at me and I grinned back, jumping up and wrapping my arms around him. He hugged me tightly and I could hear the sob break free from him, buried in my hair. We held each other for a moment, crying together, but they were the happiest tears that could be cried.

  He pulled back and cradled my face in his hands, wiping away my tears. He then looked around and spread his arms at all of us. “He’s here!” he hollered, his face jubilant.

  Brandon and Luke both crashed into him and they all shared a hearty-back thumping hug before Emma made her way to him and he hugged her carefully, smiling down into her beaming face.

  “He’s so beautiful and perfect,” Jackson said. “You guys can come meet him in just a few minutes because they’re cleaning them up and everything, but Allie wanted me to come tell you. I’m going back in, but I’ll send someone out to get you guys in a minute, okay?”

  He started to walk away but Emma stopped him. “Jackson…you’re not gonna give us any details?” she said incredulously.

  He just smile and walked off.

  I bit my cheeks, trying not to laugh at her expression. Poor Luke just shook his head and looked to the sky, probably asking for divine intervention.

  Fifteen minutes later, we were introduced to Liam Joel Matthews, born at 4:32 a.m., weighing seven pounds and eleven ounces, twenty-one inches long….

  And he was perfect!

  Chapter 17

  “Why the hell did I agree to this?” I moaned, shoving another snoring dog off my chest.

  He grumbled and chuffed before the snoring commenced once more. Two other snores sounded from other parts of my bed and I wanted to cry. I was tangled up in the blankets, unable to move because they were weighted down by sleeping canines, each of which had slept on top of me at one point or another throughout the night.

  I had Doug, DJ, and Grady at my house, watching them for a couple of days. I’d offered this because Emma had gone into labor last night, and…I don’t know why I had Grady, too. Glutton for punishment, I guess.

  I’d offered to keep the boys for Luke and Emma when they’d called to say she was in labor because no way in hell could Allie do it, and Emma’s going to have crazy amounts of family up at the hospital with her. Allie was upset that she couldn’t be there, but she’d just give birth to Liam barely five days ago. So last night when I went over to get Doug and DJ, Grady had been sitting with them on the front porch and looked so sad when I’d put them in my car that I just took him, too.

  I’d stopped over at Allie and Jacks’ house to grab his crate (and see the baby, of course), and really didn’t even ask. I just took their dog.

  Now here it was, almost three in the morning, and I couldn’t sleep without getting smothered by labs.

  Brandon was at the hospital and so, for the first time in a while now, I was alone. Or, alone as I could be with said smothering dogs.

  My cell phone rang from the bedside table and I grappled for it, struggling against the covers and dogs surrounding me so I could answer it. “Hello?” I said breathlessly, hoping I caught it before it stopped.

  “Chloe?” Brandon said quietly, almost reverently.

  “Yeah,” I answered, just as softly.

  “I’m holding my niece. She’s so beautiful…”

  “Awww…” I sighed, my heart melting at the complete and utter devotion in his tone. “How is she, how’s Emma? Everything good?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Emma’s a champ.” He paused and then continued conversationally, “I saw her vagina. Walked in right as she started to push coming back from the cafeteria and, let’s just say that’s a side of my sister-in-law I never wanted to see. All red and angry…”

  “Brandon! She was giving birth, cut her some slack!” I cried.

  “Huh? No, her face! Her face was all r
ed and angry. Jesus, I didn’t stare at her vagina…what kind of perv do you think I am?” he asked indignantly.

  I sighed. “So, did they finally settle on a name?”

  I could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “Yep. Her name is Everly Jane Crimshaw.”

  “Jane?” I asked, my heart melting even more.

  “Yeah. They chose Jane because Jan is Emma’s mom’s name, and well, because they wanted to name her after you, too. She talked to Allie about it and they both agreed that it was fitting because you’ve been such a great friend to them both. So, yeah. Everly Jane.”

  Emotion clogged my throat and tears stung my eyes as I was hit again by the fact that I was so damned lucky to have friends and family like them, people that opened their arms to me without hesitation. It felt great.

  I cleared my throat, realizing Brandon was waiting silently, patiently on the phone for me. “How much did she weigh?”

  He chuckled. “She’s a heavy weight. Weighed in at eight pounds, two ounces, bigger than Liam! They’re about the same length, though.”

  A tiny little mew sounded then, and Brandon cooed to the baby nestled in his arms. “Shh…let’s go see your momma, ‘kay?” Then to me, “Chloe, I’m gonna take her back over to Emma and I need to hang up. I’ll call you back in a little bit, okay? Are you okay there by yourself?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Give Emma and your brother hugs from me and tell them congratulations. I can’t wait to meet her!”

  “Alright, sunshine. I’ll call you later. Love you.”

  He hung up before I could say anything more.

  I laid back in the bed and sighed, glancing at the dogs who were…well, they weren’t sleeping anymore. They were all three sitting up, staring at me like they were waiting for me to tell them what Brandon said. So I did.

  “She’s here, Doug, DJ…your furless sister is finally here.”

  I laughed when their tails wagged and then Grady jumped from the end of the bed smack onto my chest, knocking me down and licking my face exuberantly. I pushed him off and, realizing I probably wasn’t going to get any sleep, asked if they wanted to go outside.

  Immediately, three wiggling, bouncing bodies lurched off the bed and danced around me as I got up and headed to the back porch to let them out. I stepped out the back door with them, standing on the cement at the edge of the grass and watching them run around the yard like mad, marking everything they could.

  The wind blew and, even though it was summer now, this early in the morning there was a chill in the air. I rubbed my arms briskly with my hands to help ward off the cold. I jumped, whirling to look at Doug when he let out a low, menacing growl, his hackles rising as he stared at the fence.

  It was dark and it was a six-foot privacy fence, so I couldn’t really see anything; but that didn’t matter. Fear skittered up my spine as DJ and Grady, even as young as they were, turned and crept toward Doug, their hackles raised and twin growls emanating from their throats as they joined him watching the fence. I took that as my cue, not waiting for anything else to happen. I could feel the wrongness sweeping through the air, my instincts screaming that someone was out there and the dogs had alerted me to their presence. Shivers raced down my body as I turned and fled into the house, calling the dogs sharply to me as I ran.

  They followed immediately, the pups just a bit quicker than Doug, who gave one last, warning growl and a sharp bark before he came in. I locked the door to the screened-in porch, then double bolted the door to the inside of the house before resetting the alarm that I’d disarmed to let the dogs out.

  Back in the safety of the house, I made my way through every room, checking the doors and windows to make sure each and every one was secured. Doug followed closely at my heels, but the pups sat stoically on the couch, side by side, their heads tracking Doug and I as we came and went through the room.

  Finished with that, I headed back into the living room and carefully hooked my finger into the blinds, moving one slat down just enough to peek outside. The street was empty, no movement anywhere. The dew on the grass glistened in the street lights, but beside that, there was nothing to see. Then, my breath caught as something moved in the darkness by the neighbor’s garage. I let it loose on a shaky laugh as a cat trotted out of the shadows and meandered down the driveway and onto the sidewalk before disappearing into the night.

  The dogs had all settled completely by this point, so I padded back to my bedroom and climbed into bed to try and get whatever little amount of sleep I could. This time I was grateful to have the three dogs cuddling close to me, no matter that I barely had any room on the mattress and couldn’t move once more. Finally, I drifted off to sleep curled on my side, Doug lying against my back with his head on my pillow, Grady curled into my stomach with his head on my side, and DJ curled up behind my knees.

  Sunlight filtered around the curtains when I cracked my eyes open, yawning and stretching as I tried to wake up. I sat up when I realized I could move freely in my bed, my eyes darting around the room, searching for the dogs. When I didn’t see them, I rolled out of bed and strode from the room to figure out where they were.

  I skidded to a halt in the living room when I noticed Brandon asleep on the couch on his back. He looked super uncomfortable, not only because he’s too long for the couch, but because Doug was sprawled out on top of him. The other two dogs were sleeping on the other furniture; one on the armchair, and one on the loveseat. Their tails wagged lazily as I shook my head at them.

  I let Brandon sleep, but to do that, I had to leave Doug where he was. I was afraid if I tried to get him down, his paws would hit some…vital areas, and for sure wake him up. I glanced at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen as I made myself a cup of coffee, surprised to see that it was almost noon. I was curious as to what time Brandon had gotten home, and why he hadn’t come to bed.

  A muffled curse broke the silence of the house as I stood looking out the kitchen window while I drank my coffee. I sat my cup down and moved into the living room, giggling when I saw Brandon trying to struggle out from under Doug’s pretty significant weight. His struggles excited the pups, so they were jumping back and forth along the couch on the floor, and every time they got within licking range, their tongues darted out and swiped whatever part of Brandon they could get.

  I finally called them off when Brandon gave me an evil look, laughing as the three of them pranced off into the kitchen, I’m assuming to empty the bowls I’d just filled for them.

  “So nice of you to help me,” Brandon said wryly as he sat up.

  He stretched and I was distracted by the tanned expanse of gloriously hardened flesh showing where his shirt had ridden up. I could see his muscles working under there, tensing and flexing as he moved around.

  His sleep-roughened voice reached my ears. “There you go staring again, baby. Need to get that camera out soon.”

  I flushed. “Smart ass,” I mumbled, looking away from his smirk.

  He got up and moved away from the couch, stopping at my side to enfold me in his arms. He tipped my head up and kissed my lips briefly before he headed off down the hall, nonchalantly scratching his ass as he went.

  I rolled my eyes. Typical male.

  He came back into the living room, holding out his phone. He waved it at me when I didn’t take it right away. “Thought you might want to see a picture of Everly.”

  “Oooh! I do!” I snatched the phone from his hands and thumbed through the photos. “She’s so freakin’ adorable…” I sighed, smiling at a beautiful picture of Luke sitting beside Emma, his arm around her as she held the baby. They made such a gorgeous, happy little family.

  “I talked to Jackson and he said that we can bring Grady back home and see Liam for a bit before we head to hospital to see Everly again. It blows my fucking mind that we have two babies in the family now. How does that even happen?”

  Brandon’s face was bewildered. I knew what he meant, but I couldn’t help but tease him. “Well, you see, there�
��s a daddy and a mommy; the daddy puts his penis in the mommy and his spermies come out and mix with the mommy’s egg, so the baby is then planted in the mommy. It just so happened that TWO mommies and daddies got down in Sexy Town around the same time, and so the babies were born very close together.”

  “Is that how it happens?” he said sarcastically when I was finished.

  I nodded, definitely being a smart ass.

  He lunged at me, catching me around the waist and flinging me over his shoulder. I squealed with laughter and shouted as he smacked my ass, as usual. “Since you want to be such a smart ass this morning…” His words cut off as he jiggled me on his shoulder.

  “Oh, yeah? And just what are you gonna do to me, ya big, bad meanie?” I goaded.

  “You’re asking for it, sunshine,” he growled.

  “You going to punish me?” I asked, my tone lowering mischievously.

  He chuckled, palming my rounded ass cheek and squeezing it roughly before smacking it again. “Not right now, I’m not. But I won’t forget you egging me on like this, woman. Just wait til tonight.”

  He carried me into the bedroom, set me on my feet, and gave me a gentle push toward the bathroom. “Shower, now!”

  I saluted him smartly and dashed into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind me when his eyes narrowed and he took a menacing step in my direction.

  A little while later, Grady was safely back with Allie and Jackson, I’d had ample cuddle time with the cutest little nephew in the world, and we were on our way to the hospital with a huge pink teddy bear and a bouquet of flowers in tow.

  I eyed the bear as we crammed into the elevator, shaking my head in exasperation at Brandon. “You could have left that at their house, you know.”

  He hugged it tighter to his side. “Nope. I wanted her to have it now.”

  “Brandon, that thing is huge! It’s going to take up half of Emma’s room.”

  He didn’t reply, just shifted it so that the leg of the thing nearly knocked me backwards. I glared at him and he just shrugged, but I could see the sly smile playing about his lips.