Surreal (Divine Trilogy #3)

by R. E. Hargrave

  Their love was secure.

  CHAPTER 35

  “Erin.”

  A whispered breath tickled the shell of her ear, and she groaned. Jayden’s arm tightened over her waist, coaxing the sleepy woman back into her slumber.

  “Erin, please.” A mangled grunt followed the cold touch upon her shoulder.

  Erin opened her eyes, and Jayden sat up behind her with an alarmed, “What’s going on?” She reached for the lamp switch, yanking the sheet up to cover her bare breasts when the light flooded the room to reveal a sweaty, ashen-faced Natalie at their bedside. The clock read 3:18 a.m.

  “I think we need Dr. Ellison. I’m so sorry—”

  “Stop that before you get started, lass. You’re having a babe, there’s not a thing to be sorry for. Give Jayden and me a couple of minutes, and we’ll be on our way.”

  Behind her, Jayden was already talking to Holly on the phone, his voice still slurred a bit by sleep.

  “Okay, thank you. I—I’ll go wait by the door. My bag is—” Natalie’s words were cut off when she grabbed her abdomen and cussed through what had to be one hell of a contraction.

  Erin glanced over her shoulder at Jayden in concern. Covering the phone, he mouthed at her to go. Not caring that she was bare-assed naked, Erin threw the covers back and hurried past the younger woman—who was leaning against the bed, hands gripping the duvet while she made funny noises and shapes with her mouth. Erin rushed to the closet and pulled on some panties, skipped a bra, then grabbed a pair of capris and an oversized T-shirt.

  Jayden was still sitting in the bed, covers over his lap, when she came back out tugging the shirt down into place; Erin showing her bits to Natalie was cool, but Jayden wasn’t big on flashing his willy just for the sake of it. She needed to get Natty out of the room.

  “Come on, sweetie. Let’s start making our way down.” Erin put her hands on Natalie’s arms to help her stand back up. When she was sure the girl was okay to move, she turned to Jayden, “See you downstairs in a few?”

  He nodded, and Erin led Natalie away. Five minutes later, they were throwing open the front door and heading out into the cool early morning.

  “Alright, lass. Let’s go have a babe!” Erin chirped when Jayden pulled around in the Towne Car.

  Natalie’s skin took on a strange greenish hue right before she curled forward to throw up in one of the potted palms.

  *~*~*

  Jayden cringed while the car screeched to a stop harder than he’d intended. He really hoped his eyes were deceiving him, that the girl hadn’t just deposited copious amounts of stomach acid on his expensive tree.

  With a frustrated huff, he climbed out and came around the car to help the girls get in. Taking in Natalie’s sweaty brow and pained expression, he at once felt remorse for his attitude. It was a fucking porch decoration—not a living, breathing human.

  Make that two humans. Oh, god. The ground wavered in front of him, and out of nowhere Jayden felt nauseous. Soon, a tiny miniature person would be taking its first breath of fluid-free air. A crushing absolute certainty descended on him in that moment.

  He wanted this with Erin.

  Jayden burned with the urgent longing to spill his seed deep inside of her, leaving it to create that ultimate representation of their love. To see their child draw its first breath would be . . . he couldn’t even describe what it would mean.

  “Jayden. Yoo-hoo . . .” Erin’s hand touched his forearm. “It’s not the time for daydreaming. We need to get Natalie over to Baylor. Now.”

  Her voice was tinged with alarm, but it took him a few seconds to realize it. By then, Micah had come out of his apartment to see what the racket was. The next thing he knew, Jayden was in the backseat with the girls, Micah having relieved him of driving duties.

  Sitting next to the girls, he felt helpless. Natalie’s usual bouncy curls had become limp with sweat, and she looked miserable. Beside her, Erin looked the picture of calm. He marveled over his fiancée’s grip on the situation while she gathered Natalie’s hair up into a messy ponytail and began rubbing the girl’s back with her free hand.

  A contraction must have hit, because Natalie let out an ear-piercing scream that sent chills racing up his spine. Darting his eyes to Erin, he got what he needed when she lifted her emerald eyes to meet him—and smiled.

  “Remember to breathe, Natty, just like we practiced in class.” Erin slipped into coach mode, transforming into the powerful woman he’d glimpsed back in April, when she’d held the crop.

  Jayden relaxed, and soon enough Micah was dropping their small party off at the doors of Baylor University Medical Center. Once they’d gotten the girl admitted and were waiting for the nurse to take her back to labor and delivery, he grabbed Erin and kissed her.

  “What was that for?” She giggled.

  “Because you amaze me every fucking day, Erin. And you’re beautiful . . . so I couldn’t resist.” He hugged her to his chest after she asked if he was okay. “I’ve never seen a woman in labor firsthand, and it’s a bit alarming, honestly. But at the same time, realizing that in the next few hours there is going to be this new little person is making me want to get going on our baby plan.”

  Her eyes misted over, and he worried that right then had been the wrong time to bring it up, but all around them activity buzzed. Before he could say anything else, her fingertips were slipping from his as she backed away from him, waiting to turn and follow the nurse to Natalie’s room until she’d reached the threshold. God, she was perfect, and he was oh, so lucky.

  For the first few minutes after the doors closed, Jayden stood there with his hands in his pockets, unsure what to do. He had no idea how long this was supposed to take. Trying to be subtle, he looked around the waiting area for some kind of chart to offer an estimate. All he saw were pictures of babies and cross-section diagrams of pregnant bellies. On a whim, he pulled out his phone to call his mom and ask, but noticed the time. Four a.m. was way too early to call.

  “Sir.”

  Jayden turned around. In all the hustle of check-in, he’d forgotten about Micah.

  “This could take a while. Do you want to sit or maybe go get some coffee?” Amusement twinkled in Micah’s blue eyes.

  “Yeah, coffee sounds great. Let me tell the nurses’ station in case Erin comes looking for me.”

  One of the nurses gave Jayden a beeper and told him they’d page if he was needed. Feeling better about leaving after that, he and Micah headed out to find coffee. They eventually located the cafeteria after getting lost twice. Damn hospital was like a labyrinth—he couldn’t fathom how sick and medicated people didn’t end up in supply closets while trying to navigate the place.

  For the next couple of hours, they sipped on the less-than-stellar coffee while catching up. Shawn and Micah were working out well, and that pleased Jayden to no end. They were both good people and deserved happiness in their lives. Especially Micah. Jayden was proud of the man his young assistant was becoming and gave himself a mental pat on the back for getting Micah out of the boys’ home. An errant thought crossed his mind—before too long, Micah would be moving on, and it would be time to give a new kid a chance to make something of his life. However, for the first time in all the years he’d been helping out the orphans, he had to think about Erin and what it could mean bringing a stranger into the fold. Which led to him realizing he also had to think about Natalie and the baby she was about to deliver, since he was hoping they were going to stay on at the Villa. It was unconventional, but he had a family to think of now. Maybe Natalie could take Micah’s place in a year or so, when the baby was older?

  The ancient beeper went off, rattling on the table top and making Jayden jump and spill the coffee he’d just topped off for the fifth time. His heart started thundering in his chest with the unceremonious adrenaline dump into his system.

  “Shit, Micah. I gotta go. I’ll call you—”

  “Go, Mr. Masterson. I’m fine. Can you find your way back?”


  Jayden was already retreating when Micah’s question gave him pause. He ran the maze of halls and turns through his head, and once confident he could do it, nodded and left. Wanting to run but satisfying himself with a vigorous walk, he reached the maternity ward and marched up to the counter. The nurse manning the station was on the phone and held up her finger, indicating it’d be just a minute.

  He couldn’t stand still, shifting from one foot to the other and wiping his sweaty palms down the front of his jeans. The ridiculousness of the situation didn’t escape him. He was acting like he was about to be a first-time dad and it was Erin was beyond those doors. Fuck that . . . when, if, they were able to have one of their own, Jayden was going to be by her side for every second of it.

  Right before he felt her, he sensed her. Her shorter form pressed into his back, hugging him tight. Erin let go, and he turned around. The exhaustion in her eyes worried him until his gaze dropped to her vibrant smile.

  “How is she? Is the baby here? What—” Erin’s light laughter cut him off.

  “Natalie is resting. They’ve taken the baby down to the nursery for cleanup and observation since his APGARs were a tad low. Oh, Jayden, he is so beautiful.” She kissed him and pulled back with a giggle that ended with a snort, “The wee lad has red tufts of hair. I guess Dominick wasn’t a natural blue head, after all.”

  Jayden didn’t understand everything she’d just said, but her demeanor was a hundred percent positive so he smiled with her. “Can we see him?”

  “Aye, we can.” She took his hand and led him through the mysterious doors, down a hall, and around a corner before they stopped in front of a large picture window. On the other side were rows of small cribs, most of which were empty, but there were a few with tiny bundles. “He’s right over there.”

  Jayden followed her finger to find the crib holding Natalie’s son. One of the attending nursery workers noticed where Erin was pointing and went over to pick up the boy and bring him closer to the window. However, he was only half paying attention to them because he’d been distracted by the placard on the crib identifying the baby.

  NAME: Matthew Aaron Brown

  DOB: 2014 JUL 09

  SEX: M

  HT/WT: 21 in / 8 lbs 7 oz

  Natalie had named her child after them, and he had no idea how to process the emotions the gesture was bringing to the surface. Honored didn’t even begin to cover it. He looked over to Erin, who was watching him, her own tears threatening to fall. There was no reason not to embrace her in that moment, so he did. Jayden put her in front of him so he could lean over and hold her from behind, their fingers clasped over her belly while the pair of them watched the yawning little boy on the other side of the glass.

  ~*~

  Half asleep, Jayden rolled over to wrap around Erin, except she wasn’t there. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to see in the dark room. Her pillow was still indented, and her scent lingered. She hadn’t been gone long.

  With an accepting sigh, he got up to pull on some pants. He was pretty sure he knew where he was going to find her. The same place she’d gone practically every night since Natty and Matthew had come home from the hospital two weeks prior. After a quick stop in the bathroom, Jayden made his way to the kitchen to fix some hot cocoa for the girls, then headed to Natalie’s room.

  As he passed the den, Erin’s soft whispers stopped him. Peeking in, he watched her. The soft moonlight from the bay windows silhouetted her small frame in the over-sized glider chair. One leg was tucked beneath her, the other stretching to the floor where she used her foot to push off and create a gentle swaying motion. Her attention was on the blanketed bundle in her arms.

  Though he didn’t understand the words, he recognized her Irish brogue and assumed she was singing a childhood lullaby to Matthew. Jayden soaked in the vision for a few more moments before approaching the pair. He couldn’t ignore what a great mother she would be, if given the chance.

  Jayden leaned over to give her a kiss and hand her one of the hot cocoas. “Why are you in here, sweet girl?” he asked in a quiet tone so as not to wake Matthew. “Shouldn’t you be letting Natalie do the mom thing and bond with her little champ?”

  She sipped the drink and gave him a tired smile. “I couldn’t sleep anyways, too excited about marrying you tomorrow. So I offered to take him and let her rest.”

  “Erin, I know you adore him, I think he’s pretty awesome myself, but tomorrow is your big day. You should be resting. Besides, you’ve taken the night shift every night, it seems.” He nudged her leg, asking her to scoot over and make room so he could slide in next to her, then put his arms out to take the baby in exchange for the cocoa.

  Bending forward, she tucked the edge of the blanket back from Matthew’s face. “But look at him, Jayden. I might not be sleeping, but there’s something so relaxing about just holding him.” She ran a finger down his cheek. “I know it’s probably not healthy, but I really am enjoying spending the time with him.”

  “My concern is that we aren’t giving Natalie enough room to do what she needs to do. I don’t know what that is exactly. It just feels like she’s withdrawing more rather than getting involved with this whole mommy thing.”

  Erin sighed and leaned back, taking another sip. “Her body has just gone through a huge ordeal, it’s only natural she’s tired, right? We told her we’d help. Besides, having the little guy around has been a great distraction from all the wedding nonsense.” She gave a light laugh. “Thank you so much for bringing in Samantha to help and getting your mom to back off. It made all the difference in the world in these last weeks.”

  Jayden made a pfft sound at that. “At the end of the day, it’s our wedding, not hers. She gets that. At least, now she does.” He winked. In his arms, Matthew stirred and his face scrunched up seconds before his bum warmed against Jayden’s arm. “Did he just shit his diaper?”

  Rolling her eyes, Erin stood with a laugh. “Here, let me get him cleaned up and put him back down in his bassinet. I’ll be along shortly.” That time she bent down, kissing Jayden on the top of the head for once, then scooped up the boy and disappeared down the hallway, the soothing lullaby coming from her lips once again.

  Jayden finished off her cocoa, took Natalie’s untouched cup back to the kitchen, and headed back upstairs to wait for Erin.

  CHAPTER 36

  Erin stared, awestruck, at the woman before her. What she saw conjured images of expensive, French porcelain dolls—the kind of dolls that were crafted from the finest materials and assembled with the most skilled fingers.

  Champagne-colored chiffon clung to the woman’s torso, almost hiding the swell of her breasts, and cascaded down to her ankles in a flowing skirt. The copious amount of her crimson hair had been fashioned into three converging French braids, with the tails arranged into a pretty knot at the base of her neck below her left ear. Miniature red silk orchids and black pearl-tipped pins were nestled in the knot. Her makeup had been applied with an artistic flair to enhance her flawless skin, her green eyes were accented by purple and silver shadows that gave a smoky effect, and her full lips were painted a deep, glossy crimson. A matching set of champagne, bronze, and black pearls with diamond accents hung from her neck, ears, and wrist—a gift from Jayden for her ‘something new.’ The overall look was, in a word, stunning.

  Erin was finding it hard to believe it was her reflection staring back at her from the glass. She was afraid to move, worried that the vision would fade and she’d wake up. A soft cough pulled her from her self-perusal. Using the mirror in front of her, Erin looked over her shoulder.

  “Hi, Da,” she whispered, afraid she’d start crying if she tried to speak aloud, and turned around.

  “Hello, iníon.” He seemed to be choking on his words as well. “My goodness, but you look like a princess, Cat. I feel like I missed watching you grow up. When did you become a woman?”

  Heat crawled up into her cheeks at his compliment. “Thankya, Da. And you’re here now, so don�
��t think about the sad times of the past. We have a great future ahead of us, full of happiness. I just know it.”

  Woody nodded his head. “Aye, I think ye might be right about that. I have to say, while I haven’t known Jayden long, and he is more than a bit older than you—”

  “Da!”

  “Let me finish, Cat.” He chuckled. “That man has been nothing but upstanding. He’s come through on more than one occasion, and I couldn’t imagine someone with better intentions in their heart than Jayden has toward you. So, um, are you ready to do this?” The old man’s nerves were showing more than the young bride’s.

  Before Erin could reply to her father’s question, Paige bounded into the small dressing room. “Of course she’s ready!” chirped her Matron of Honor extraordinaire. Her crimson chiffon dress was done in a similar Grecian style to Erin’s, but with less fabric so the skirt wasn’t as full as the bridal gown.

  “Except for her ‘something old.’” She shot a wink over at Erin’s dad. “Which I believe you are taking care of, Mr. O’Chancey?”

  “Paige, I’ve told ye to just call me Woody.”

  “Fine, Mr. Woody, then. Erin’s all set for new, borrowed, and blue. She just needs her old from you, though you’re anything but.” Her friend’s tinkle of laughter was chased with one of her trademark winks.

  To Erin’s surprise, her father’s sunburned cheeks turned a deeper shade of red, and he toed the ground. Paige had made the old man blush.

  “Aye, of course.” Woody reached into his inner pocket to pull out a velvet rectangular box. Inside was a silver chain. “This was your maimeo’s. It was given to her on her wedding day as her ‘something new’ by my da. Just before she passed, she told me I was to make sure you got it on your wedding day.”

  Erin felt like she was in a haze while he reached for her unadorned wrist and fastened the bracelet around it. It was an interlocking series of Celtic heart knots, and she recognized it at once because she’d never seen her maimeo without it. The surprised bride had thought her grandmother had been buried with it.