by Unknown
“It’s too soon,” Liv gasped as Neal carried her inside and carefully set her down on a long, comfortable sofa near a large boulder and hardwood fireplace.
“Your phone,” Neal said as he paced anxiously before her. “We need to get in touch with your physician.”
Even in pain, Liv offered him a sheepish expression that worked to calm him just long enough to groan at her. “You little fool,” he hissed. “What a time to walk around without a phone.”
“I’m sorry!” she whined with a mix of remorse and pain. “I just said it’s too early, didn’t I?”
Instantly, Neal was on his knees before her; the Doberman seated at the open balcony window whining and yelping in sympathetic misery.
Still on his knees beside the sofa, Neal reached for the phone on the coffee table behind him and dialed as he stared with concern at Liv. “Stevens,” he growled. “We’re in big trouble here.”
“We?” Jake asked and then laughed. “Don’t tell me you two finally found each other. Damn, that took forever!”
“Not now,” Neal growled. “It’s Liv, and I think she’s having labor pains.”
Thunder rumbled across the sky, forcing Neal to turn and face the window wall overlooking the water. “It figures,” he groaned and turned to face Liv again, holding her hand while she fell back in pain and rubbed her stomach.
Jake promised to be at the B&B within a half hour, and Neal tossed the phone on the coffee table. “What do you want me to do?” he asked. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”
“Charlie . . . horse,” Liv gasped before crying out in pain. Neal frowned at her legs and quickly reached behind both shins, gritting his teeth after Liv screamed as he started to rub her right calf.
“Is it the baby?”
Neal’s brows rose at the sound of Anise's soft voice, and then he turned to gaze in the direction of the staircase. Anise appeared before Xalan did, and she smiled with delight as she hurried down the steps and to the sofa. Neal gazed up at the gorgeous woman in silent amazement, and then he saw the huge body of her husband behind her.
That the man towered over her and everyone else always managed to amaze Neal, but before he could spend any time dwelling on that fact, Liv whimpered and Neal forgot everything else but her.
“May I?” the princess asked before she gently set a palm over Liv’s stomach.
Neal had a better view of Xalan now, and the brooding man stood in jeans and a royal purple button-down shirt that appeared painted to his muscular frame. Burly arms folded at an expansive chest, the alien kickboxing legend kept his narrowed glare fixed on Neal.
Neal swallowed a lump of wariness, wondering if he would end up going another few rounds with the man when Anise rose up with a delighted titter. She smiled at her scowling husband and told him it wouldn’t be long now before the earth child arrived.
“Wife,” Xalan snarled. “Do you even know how they give birth on this planet?”
“Of course I do,” Anise argued, but then she smiled the minute her eyes met Neal’s. “I expect you to reassure her she’s not premature. The doctor miscalculated, which isn’t an uncommon thing on earth.”
Neal took a deep breath and stared at Liv. Smiling, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, quietly assuring her that she would be fine and that he would be with her to the very end.
Anise instructed Xalan to help Liv up to one of the bedrooms on the second floor, and when Neal started to protest; wanting to do the job himself, a single glance from the giant was all it took for him to concede defeat. There was no time to sulk when Anise took him aside and asked if he thought Liv would mind if she offered her services.
“Ma’am?” Neal asked, perplexed and wishing he could be with Liv instead.
“I think Liv would want to experience as much of the birthing process as she can bear,” the smiling beauty said and gazed into Neal’s mesmerized eyes with her own wide-eyed wonder. “Where I’m from, women don’t deliver a live body. We gestate for about four months, and then . . .” she appeared suddenly shy, startling Neal without her realizing it. “Well, we go into what humans might call a coma, at which time the fetus leaves our body. It reappears inside an incubator of sorts, where the placenta hardens to keep the unborn child protected. After three more months, the placenta breaks open, and –.”
“No way,” Neal breathed, able to smile now.
Anise nodded while glancing in the direction of the staircase. Then she raised her huge, green eyes to Neal, turning him into a simpering fool. “While I spent time here on earth, I learned a great deal about the human aspect of childbirth. After studying the two forms, I’ve devised a foolproof and painless way for human women to deliver. You see, over the years Xalan's people have had to look elsewhere for women to help sustain them, and one of those places was here on earth.”
Neal nodded, still grinning like an idiot. “I know,” he admitted and told her a brief version of what he knew about Wade. “How do you know she’s not premature? Liv said something about that right after she started having pains.”
Anise set a hand on his arm as a way of reassuring him it wasn’t necessary to worry. Stunned, he glanced at that soft hand before eyeing the princess.
“I could sense the child’s real age, size, and even its health.”
“No kidding,” Neal managed. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
Anise smiled as she shook her head. “I can’t spoil that for you or Liv. What I can do is help her to relax and unwind so that the birthing process is much smoother than you might expect. I’ll need Liv’s permission, though. Yours as well, of course.”
Neal gestured to the stairs and smiled as he let Anise pass him by before they both started up to the room where Xalan sat guarding over Liv’s health and comfort.
Just outside the bedroom door of Liv’s temporary room, the Doberman rose from his perch at the approach of Neal and Anise. He smiled as he watched them enter the room, and then he laid back down, panting and behaving calm.
Xalan dropped into an upholstered armchair near the bed and scowled at Neal. Neal pretended like the giant wasn’t there and kept his gaze fixed on Liv while remaining focused on everything that Anise said.
At the mention of Trooper Stevens, Xalan growled with added annoyance. Neal started to glance his way when Xalan swiped a hand across his chest. Neal gaped out a window at the sudden storm. Lightning continuously flickered across the dark sky, hailstones and heavy raindrops pelted the window, and loud thunder crashed every few minutes.
Neal offered a smart-ass smirk, and Xalan snorted with smug indifference before narrowing his gaze at the man responsible for Liv’s discomfort. “When this is over,” he warned in as threatening a tone as he could with Anise in the room.
“Yeah, yeah,” Neal grumbled and raised a dismissive palm while staring at Liv. “You’re going to kick my ass.”
“Stupid ass,” Xalan corrected, sighing as he reached for a fashion magazine on a nearby table. Crossing a long leg over a knee, he pretended to be interested as he flipped through the glossy pages.
“Wife,” Xalan said. Anise sat atop the bed beside Liv, and when she turned to face her husband, he wiggled his brows at her while holding out the magazine to show her a tall, thin woman in a white bikini.
“Oh you,” Anise grumbled as she smiled with a good amount of superiority. “How many times have I tried to recreate some of the fashions from this planet only to have you raise the roof in that loud, complaining voice of yours?”
Xalan sat forward and shook his head. “This is for me,” he said while tapping the magazine. “You put this on and then do a pole dance in the privacy of our chambers.”
Clicking her tongue, Anise returned her attention to Liv. Xalan's eyes narrowed at his wife’s back, and a soothing smile curled the edges of his dark mouth. When he caught Neal eyeing him, Xalan cleared his throat and sat back in the chair to resume browsing through the magazine.
“Dead man,” Xalan grumbled. “This is why I want
ed to take little one back home with us, wife. We wouldn’t be sitting here right now watching her go through unnecessary pain on account of this jackass human.”
“Xalan,” Anise scolded, though to Neal’s ears, it was more of a soft murmur that made his skin chill with delight. “I’ll have you know there isn’t a woman alive who doesn’t rejoice at a time like this. It’s a proven fact that once the baby arrives, all of this is simply forgotten. Earth women are especially strong.” She eyed her glowering husband, smiling even though Xalan kept his angry gaze on Neal. “Stronger, sometimes, than the men.”
“They do seem to have a much higher threshold for pain,” Neal admitted, laughing under his breath at Xalan's derisive snarl. It didn’t matter anymore that the giant was dissatisfied with him and his human tendencies. Neal sat beside Liv and held her hand, used a cool cloth to wipe the perspiration from her forehead, and he massaged her tailbone during each of her contractions. She finally needed him and he was finally useful to her, and that was all that mattered.
Eight hours later, and as Xalan slept in the chair, Neal watched in fascination as Anise slowly swirled her palm above Liv’s protruding stomach. Liv had fallen into a deep sleep after the princess had whispered something in her ear, and now Anise was quietly asking Neal to cover Liv’s stomach with a large towel. After spreading apart Liv’s legs, the princess smiled demurely at Neal, offering an out if he wasn’t prepared to stick around for the birth.
Shaking his head, Neal remained at the front of the bed holding Liv’s hand in his.
“Do what you have to do, and let me know if you need any help.”
The towel covered Liv’s legs, hiding from Neal’s eyes the live birth of his first child. He stared at Anise as she smiled, mumbled words that made no sense to his ears, and just a few minutes later, she held a towel-wrapped, pink newborn before Neal’s wide eyes.
“It’s a girl,” the princess informed and hurried to the bathroom to clean the baby.
Xalan snorted awake at the sound of a baby’s cry, and after blinking a few times, he sat forward with a loud groan, stretching his long arms and yawning.
“Is it over?” he asked and tossed aside the magazine before he rose from the chair. He smiled as he watched Anise emerge from the bathroom holding the tiny bundle, and as she started toward Neal, Xalan stood between them to get a first look.
Anise smiled up at her husband, and despite the softness of his usually hard features and the adorable way he cooed at the newborn, she reminded him that he was being rude again.
“This is Neal’s child, not yours.” Anise stepped aside and smiled as she started toward Neal, handing him the baby. “She’s beautiful and perfect in every way. It will be awhile, though, before we’ll know who she really favors; you or her mother.”
“It better be the mother,” Xalan warned, setting his hands atop his wife’s shoulders to hold her against him.
Neal smiled through a blur of tears at the tiny creature that gazed up at him through big, uncolored eyes. She had fat, rosy cheeks like her mother and hardly anything in the way of a nose. Liv’s nose was small while Neal’s was long and slightly pointed. The infant wriggled free one arm and latched onto one of her father’s fingers, making him laugh.
“I don’t know for sure if she’ll take this hard,” Anise informed Neal, “but, she won’t be able to breast feed.” Anise glanced at Liv still asleep in the bed and gazed at Neal with slight hesitation. “It isn’t the end of the world, of course, but some earth women and even women from my planet take it to heart when that occurs. If you would be kind enough to keep reassuring her that it isn’t her fault, I would appreciate it.”
Neal nodded, but he had only half-listened, still gazing at the baby and still overwhelmed by the flood of unexpected emotions now crowding him and making him feel strangely new and different. He grinned at the princess, “I can’t believe I never wanted a baby. What was I thinking?”
“That’s your problem,” Xalan grumbled. “You don’t think, ace.”
“Oh, but he does,” Anise countered. “He thinks too much, don’t you, Mr. Hendrix?”
Smiling shyly, Neal nodded and kept his focus on the infant. “Isn’t she supposed to cry?”
Xalan grinned that time, and after gently patting his wife’s bottom, he quietly reminded her to take care of Liv.
Gasping softly, Anise returned to the bed and removed the placenta before whispering in Liv’s ear. Moments later, she awakened to find Neal kneeling beside the bed holding their baby.
“I owe you another apology,” Neal said and kissed Liv on the nose. “If you don’t mind, Liv, I’d like about ten more of these. Girls and boys.”
Liv giggled, reaching out to take her baby in her arms and shed tears.
“Six pounds, eight ounces,” Neal informed. “Eighteen inches long, ten toes, ten fingers, and according to the princess, exceptionally healthy as well.”
“I hope you thanked her and Xalan for me.”
Neal nodded, “They’re great to have around sometimes.”
Liv laughed, knowing what a hard time Xalan gave Neal and adoring him for being such a good sport about it.
“You’re not upset, then?” she asked. “About the baby, I mean.”
Neal shook his head and kissed her on the lips. “You made me realize I was wrong not to want to become a father. Now it’s my turn to make you realize it’s wrong to keep avoiding our relationship.”
“I won’t,” she insisted, shedding tears and encouraging Neal to lie with her on the bed. With the infant nestled between them, Liv kept an arm about Neal’s shoulder and cried. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “I’ve been silly this whole time. I missed you so much, Neal. I want to be with you always, and if the world ends up finding out, I’ll try really hard not to freak out and do something stupid.”
Neal laughed quietly and pressed his lips to her forehead. “That won’t be necessary. The plan is to move my equipment into your house, set up shop there, and grow old with you. Deal?”
“Deal,” Liv said and smiled, gazing at her daughter. “What should we name her?”
Neal was silent for a time, and then he patted the hand Liv had set on the sleeping baby’s chest. “What was your mother’s name?”
“Anna,” Liv replied. “Your mother’s name is Marie, and I wanted to honor Sherry if I had a girl.”
Liv moved her head to meet Neal’s gaze. He smiled at her. “It isn’t too uncommon for a child to have three names, is it?”
Liv furrowed a brow, and then she gazed into Neal’s smoldering eyes again. “The acronym spells Sam. Do you like Samantha?”
Neal nodded. “I love it.”
“Samantha Hendrix,” Liv said and touched the tip of her daughter’s nose. “I asked her to grow up to be more like you, Neal.”
“Don’t you dare,” Neal growled. “She’ll be every bit like her mother, or we’ll end up like the estranged father-daughter pairs in sit-coms.”
Liv giggled, and then she kissed him, gazing at him with love and appreciation. “I’ll always love you, Neal.”
“Does this mean we’re really together now? It isn’t hormones talking right now, is it? A week from now you’ll regret this?”
Liv shook her head, smiling shyly. “I think I’m through living with regrets, Neal. For the first time in my life I really know what I want, and I have you to thank for realizing you’re worth whatever hell I might suffer by being with a man like you.”
“I know far too many Hollywood types who go decades without the paparazzi ever knowing or publicizing the better half of the relationships. You’ll be that better half Liv, because I’ll make sure your privacy is well guarded. Trust me.”
“Would you still like me to sing for you?”
Neal fell back with a quiet gust of laughter, thinking she was talking about having sex. Gazing at her with a weak smile, he said, “Won’t we have to wait a few months before being able to make love?”
Liv slapped his arm, startling him, and w
hen he turned his head to face her, he blushed to see her smiling at him. “No, silly,” she groaned. “I’m talking about your recording contract deal. Is it still negotiable?”
Springing up on an elbow, Neal stared at Liv in disbelief. “Seriously? You’ll do it?”
Liv smiled shyly and nodded. “I think it might be fun to work with you.”
“It’s for a video game,” he explained. “Wait til you see the animation, Liv. I think you’re going to be pleased to be a part of this project. I’ve already finished a majority of the tunes, but there are three songs with lyrics, and one of them is in Japanese. You’re perfect for the part.”
Liv giggled at his enthusiasm, but then she began to smolder with love and slid an arm about his neck, drawing him to her for a warm, lingering kiss. Gazing into his eyes, she whispered, “We’re perfect for each other, Neal. The kiss sealed our fate nine years ago and proves you and I would be together some day.”
“I’m never wrong,” Neal cooed, kissing her again before she could argue with his arrogant yet accurate deduction.
THE END
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