“Sure, and if you want to dump them in the lake out back, I wouldn’t be opposed.” Tossing Tiny an amused look, I carefully climbed the stairs with my daughter tucked securely in my arms.
The entire time Jean was asking questions she basically ignored anything I had to say. Yes, I didn’t carry Rain, and sadly her mother did pass away during birth, but she was my responsibility now, and to hell if anyone tried to paint me out of the damn picture.
I could hear Reid and the guests exchanging their goodbyes at the front door from our bedroom. Mimicking the fake exchange, I busied myself putting away some of Rain’s clothes while waiting for Reid to appear.
“Well, that went south, quickly.” Reid said while leaning on the doorframe. His casual posture and stupid smirk made my panties wet instantly. That man was so attractive to me; even when he was being a jerk I had to fight all the damn urges and signals my body sent for me to not get naked and start humping his knees.
“I don’t understand the need to belittle my role in Rain’s life. We are getting married, she was your daughter by birth, and for some unknown reasons of the God’s, and they blessed me with being a part of that little girl’s life too. I’m not going to let anyone make me feel bad about getting married and stepping in to this mothering role for the sake of selling more magazines. It’s complete bullshit, Reid.”
Gritting my teeth, I had to take a deep breath before my temper got the best of me. I was shrieking at my poor fiancée, waking the baby, and looking like a complete psychopath, over someone whom I would probably never see again.
Waking over to me swiftly, Reid wrapped his hands around my upper arms and held me at arm’s length. “Breathe, Molly Anne. It’s just a stupid article. We both know the role you play in Rain’s life and everyone around us wouldn’t even question whatever the magazine decided to print. I’m a complete dumbass when it came to babies, and fucking hit the damn lottery in convincing you to marry me, even with all this crap falling down around us.”
I didn’t know if it was the lack of sleep that caused the lump in my throat to emerge, but before I knew it, my eyelashes were lined with tears, just waiting to spill down my cheeks.
“It’s just stupid,” I mumbled when Reid pulled me into his chest, wrapping his arms tightly around my body and resting his chin on the top of my head.
“Yes, it might be stupid, but it wouldn’t be our lives without a little chaos, now would it?” Reid let out a chuckle as he squeezed my body tightly. Our lives had never been easy, and the moment something started to go right, the universe decided on a plot change and all hell seemed to break loose. Forget the Kraken being released, the ground tended to break away and swallow us up whole.
“Wasn’t this the same conversation we had over and over again?”
“It wouldn’t be our life if we didn’t continue to ramble on and beat the dead horse over.” Placing a kiss to the top of my head, Reid pulled back from our embrace. “Since the baby is still sleeping, I want you naked, right now.”
My insides plummeted, and the only thing that crossed my mind was obeying the command he gave me. Nodding my head, I started to unbutton my pants and slowly slid them down my legs. The sinful look of sheer lust crept across Reid’s face as he watched me taunt him while removing my clothes. Kicking my flats off, I pulled my jeans over my feet and let them fall in a heap on the floor. Reaching for the hem of my blouse, I carefully tugged it over my head and added it to the pile. I was his for the taking, standing there in my red lacy bra and matching panties.
In one swift motion, Reid undid his jeans and kicked them to the side. “This was taking too long,” he grumbled, grabbing me around the waist and hoisting my body up into the air. Wrapping my legs around his hips, I gasped as my back hit the bedroom door and his mouth eagerly claimed mine. There wouldn’t be a passionate love making session, it was going to be a heated, emotional, deliciously hard fuck that my body had been craving all day long.
There was nothing soft about it…….. and it was exactly what I wanted.
***
The light was beaming through the thin curtains in the bedroom, and without even glancing at the clock, I knew the sound of my alarm would be imminent. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I guess the extra snoozing would be accomplished once drugged and put under later this morning. There was nothing worse than being told nothing to eat or drink after midnight, and all you wanted was one of the leftover mini cheesecakes you knew were in the fridge down stairs.
Tiptoeing past a sleeping Rain, I carefully closed the bathroom door and flipped the lights on. Thankfully, it would be the last time I had to wrap the metal rods sticking out of my arm while in the shower. It was going to be much easier to just stick the garbage bag over a regular cast for the next couple weeks.
Cranking the shower on, I brushed my teeth while waiting for the bathroom to heat up. There was nothing nicer than the radiant heat flowing through the tile under my feet, but, getting into the shower made my little bitties want to hop off my damn body, and join someone else’s fun bags.
Cupping my hand under the faucet, I quickly rinsed my mouth, then grabbed another handful more to drown out the desert that had taken up residence in my throat.
“Fucking Chameleons on skittles.” Glaring at myself in the mirror, I couldn’t believe I just took a drink of water when not even three minutes early I had mentally gone over not eating or drinking this morning.
“Whatever,” I grumbled while placing my toothbrush back in the drawer.
Grabbing the large black lawn care bag, I carefully wrapped the black plastic around my arm, and secured it with hot pink vet wrap around the upper portion of my arm. Only a couple more hours with that monstrosity, and then my life would get a hell of a lot easier.
Scooping Rain out of her bed, I smiled at the little girl whose eyes popped open the moment I touched her.
“Good morning, pretty girl.” I cooed while gently arranging the baby in my arms. Walking over to the changing table in the corner, I carefully laid her down and started to unbutton the bottom of her sleeper. “Are you excited to spend the day with Daddy and Tiny?”
Rain continued to stare at my face, void of expression. I’ve always wondered what went on in that little head of hers. She could be mentally cursing at me for taking too long, and plotting her revenge when she becomes mobile. Or, maybe, it was simply world domination, which wouldn’t be a far cry since she was Reid’s offspring.
I quickly finished changing her diaper, and slipped her into a clean onsie. The best part of being this small was not having an opinions on what she was wearing. Babies looked cute in anything, and the more practical the outfit was, the more I liked it. It was only Danielle that had the issues with the clothing selection I placed her in. She wanted the hottest fashions, and I wanted something that was easy to wash and dry.
“Let’s go make some breakfast for you, before you start screeching.”
Heading down the stairs, I could hear Tiny in the kitchen. “You better not be in my cheesecakes,” I threatened as I walked into the room.
Standing over a counter, Tiny managed to shove another tiny morsel into his mouth before holding his hands up in surrender. “Not me,” he remarked with his mouthful of creamy, huckleberry goodness.
“I hate you.” Sending him a glare, I slipped Rain into her bouncy chair and went about making her a bottle. Getting that little girl fed, and then Reid up, was my main focus. Hopefully, Tiny could manage to keep all three of us on time. Being late for surgery was probably be frowned upon, and since Reid could never do anything within the time frame given, I knew waking him up in the next half hour was crucial for getting out the door.
“I dumped the bodies into the lake last night, but for some reason they won’t sink.”
“It might be all that wine the stupid chick consumed during the interview. I’m betting she was waterlogged…….or maybe wine logged?” Letting out a snort, the thought of that chick floating belly up slightly amused me. Most people w
ould be concerned with those thoughts swirling about in their minds, but sadly, I was not most people.
“Cement shoes next time. We need to remember to get gangster with our body disposal.” Tiny smiled while stuffing another cheesecake into his mouth. “Are you nervous?” he asked while replacing the lid on the cheesecakes and sticking them back in the fridge.
Shaking my head no, I tested the bottle on the inside of my wrist.
“No, I’m just excited to get a smaller cast. Life was going to be so much easier without all this hardware attached to my arm.” Holding the nipple up to Rain’s lips, I smiled while watching her senses kick in, as she greedily sucked down the liquid sloshing around in the bottle.
“Sucks that you are stuck with it for the wedding and honeymoon though.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I really could care less. Sure, it wasn’t a fashion statement that I wanted to sport on my wedding day, but who cared that I rocked a little extra besides the dress and bling Danielle made sure I rented for the event. The whole Honeymoon thing was still up in the air since Rain came into our lives. We didn’t plan on toting an infant to the beach with us, and in reality I couldn’t see wiping sand off her bum for the week a fun idea either.
“Want me to wake Reid?”
“If you want too, it was your funeral.” Smiling, Tiny knew what danger he put himself into when asking that man to get out of bed. A grizzly bear protecting her cubs had nothing on Reid’s ability to get nasty when he was forced to get up.
“Good luck,” I called out as Tiny exited the kitchen.
“Looks like uncle Tiny was going to risk his man jewels this morning. Nothing makes Mommy happier than not having to wake your daddy.” My eyes caught a pile of crackers that didn’t get put away last night, and my stomach started to growl. “And, my sweet baby, if the time doesn’t hurry the hell up, everyone around Mommy might lose their damn head if she can’t get something to eat soon. But, not you my little Rain, you are the exception to everything.” Heads would roll if we were late this morning; I refused to go the entire day without eating.
Chapter 25
“No, I will not use your magical horn to make mythical babies.”
“I didn’t know why I was so nervous about leaving the three of you alone.” Biting my bottom lip, I fidgeted in the hospital chair, waiting for them to wheel me back into the operating room.
It wasn’t like the earth would split into two, right down the office building center, and leave us separated for the rest of eternity. Actually, that would be my luck, but I highly doubted the end of the world was happening in the next couple hours. Turning me into a manmade machine, complete with screws and bolts tucked into my skin was one thing, fighting off the apocalypse wasn’t something I bet my doctors were prepared for.
“Seriously, Molly Anne. The world will not fall apart in the short amount of time your ass is knocked out. Think of this way, once they put you under, you’re one step closer to giving better hand jobs.”
An amused smirk crept across Reid’s face, and it took everything in me to stay seated in the chair. But, with all the wires and tubing come out of my good arm, I knew the moment I reached over to smack him, the IV would come sputtering out, flinging blood and clear liquid goodness all over everyone, basically turning the small room into a horror scene. Maybe, the end of the world wasn’t happening, maybe they were planning on turning this into one of those true life stories where something always goes horribly wrong. Every single time I had watched those damn TV shows, the poor sap always had the dumbest ideas in solving their issues. Surgery…….maybe. A cover up story for a new television show? The possibilities were endless.
If survival was part of my plan, I needed to think of the long term, and in order to survive, I needed substance. “I demand a grilled pineapple and ham sandwich waiting for me when I wake up. No extra crap, just mayo, cheese, and lettuce, got it?” Sending my death stare between Reid and Tiny, I hoped that one of those idiots would remember my simple request. With
“Maybe they could tweak her personality, make her a little nicer when they got in there,” Tiny whispered to Reid. Both of them laughed as I let out an irritated huff. Everything was fair game to them when I was stuck in this chair.
“We weren’t married yet, Reid Chambers,” I warned, narrowing my eyes at him.
“You mean there was still time to back out? Tiny, grab the baby, let’s go.”
“Eh……whatever…………..” These meds were either making me not care as much that my future husband was making it a joke about leaving me, or my brain was too consumed with the thought of eminent survival after everything went to hell.
“Ready to head back?” A nurse interrupted as she knocked on the doorframe.
Forcing a tight smile, I nodded my head and carefully gathered the blankets around my legs. Standing up, I stepped out of the chair and caught the edge of the blankets on the footrest.
“Careful,” The nurse exclaimed, reaching her hand out to steady me.
“Thanks,” I muttered while looking over at the guys still sitting in the same position. Obviously, neither of them cared if I faced planted on the floor. They really were planning on me not coming out of this, those bastards.
“I’m glad you’re wearing pants this time. Seeing your parts with Reid sitting next to me is kind of awkward,” Tiny laughed, smacking Reid on the back with a snort.
“When did you see my fiancé’s vag?” Reid looked over with a questioning stare, his brows creasing tightly.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, Tiny puckered up his lips and blew me an air kiss. “Goodbye my lover, sandwich, right? Cockmeat?”
Turning to the nurse, I silently sent her an apologetic smile for the idiots. “I know technically my wellbeing was the first concern during the whole procedure, but would you be ever so kind and make sure those two don’t kill each other, and that my daughter manages to get fed? I would greatly appreciate it.”
The nurse smiled and grabbed the rolling IV pole. Motioning for me to head out the door first, I looked over my shoulder and sent a threatening glance at the two jack asses behind me. “Please, if you two want to duke it out, just wait until I’m out of surgery, or at least until Danielle gets here to take care of Rain. Then, I don’t care if you beat the shit out of one another. At least you were in a medical facility and they can take care of the battle wounds.”
Reid leaned over and launched a punch into Tiny’s massive arm. “Ouch, that hurt, you meanie.”
Shaking my head, I let out a massive sigh.
“I love all three of you,” I called out before rounding the corner. I could hear the guy’s laughter coming from the room as I wandered down the sterile looking hallway. “I really am sorry for all that back there.”
“I’m impressed you didn’t murder them.” The nurse laughed, while sliding a key card through a reader on the far wall.
“Physical violence, no. But, I had mentally killed them off a couple thousand times over the last few days.” Even with all the bullshit those two men threw at me, I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world. Well, ask me that after my sandwich, because right now that could be used as trade on the black market for their lives. That, and maybe a knife for the end of day.
As badly as I wanted that sandwich before heading into surgery, the only thing I wanted after the ordeal was to stop puking. Pretty sure there was nothing in my system to heave out of my damn body, but it didn’t stop my stomach from rocketing itself into oblivion.
“When was that stuff going to kick in?” Reid asked the nurse as he paced the floor.
“It shouldn’t be but a few more minutes.” Giving me a sympathetic smile, she gave a gentle squeeze to the IV bag hanging on the hook above me. If squeezing the bag made the drugs push faster, I wanted Tiny’s gigantic hands wrapping themselves around that piece of plastic.
“Just sit down,” I grumbled, while holding the kidney shaped pink container under my chin. Even thoug
h nothing was coming out, I refused to be without something if it magically appeared again. I could handle baby spit up, and even grown men nastiness, but my own bodily fluids was where I drew the line. Something about one’s own vomit made me want to vomit, even though it was already my vomit. Oh, my brain hurts.
“I hate this shit.” Reid flopped himself in the chair next to me, and gently sat his hand on my leg.
“At least we were getting it out of the way before the wedding.” I tried to laugh, but it only rounded up another wave of nausea, followed by several minutes of dry heaving into my plastic pink bin.
“Fuck, Molly Anne.” The creases in Reid’s forehead started to deepen, and the concern in his eyes flitted between me and the nurse standing on the other side of chair.
“Once we get the nausea under control, you could go home.”
Lifting my broken arm slightly off the pillow, I forced a thumbs up. “It’s black?”
“Huh?” Reid questioned, cocking his head to the side.
“My cast. I figured it would have been white.” Lowering the bin a little from my face, I glanced down to look at the much smaller version of what I had before. Thankfully, there was no metal rods sticking out from the plaster, and I could actually move my fingers more freely now. Black would make it easier to look at during the apocalypse since it would hide the dirty and blood from everyday life situations, but I really was expecting white.
“We didn’t know what color you wanted, so they had one of the nurses come ask while you were still under.”
Smirking, I should have known that Reid would pick black, considering that man owns nothing but black, grey, and a few white articles of clothing in his closet.
“It wasn’t me,” Reid stated quickly. “Danielle came to pick up Rain, and happened to be here when the nurse came in. Something about matching the decor of the wedding?”
Invisible Crown Page 17
