Angel's Halo: Forever Angel

by Terri Anne Browning

  Glancing down at me, she smiled. “You ready for this?”

  I nodded in a rush, causing her to laugh. Offering me her hands, she helped me stand carefully.

  James glared at both of us as he broke away from Bash and Hawk again. “No standing.”

  “I think she’ll be okay for the five minutes it will take to do the reveal, Spider,” she told him with a roll of her green eyes. “Let her have a little fun. You keep claiming this is the only time she’s going to get to do this, so let her enjoy it.”

  “Five minutes and not a second longer,” he growled.

  I beamed up at him. “Thanks, baby.”

  Raven positioned us right where she wanted us, each of us standing in front of a box, with one box left in the middle. The goal was to open the outside two at the same time, then do the middle one together. I was practically dancing with excitement as I waited for her to give the signal to open my box.

  “Five. Four. Three. Two…” She paused, making me do a little growling of my own at her. Laughing, she cried, “One!”

  I opened my box so fast, it took a moment for me to realize what color balloons flew toward the ceiling.

  Pink!

  I looked over at James and saw his eyes were on his own balloons.

  Pink…

  Wait.

  I had been sure that every single baby was a boy. All the pink balloons kind of disappointed me a little. I wanted a son, someone who looked just like his daddy, whom I could dress in little jeans and miniature biker boots and leather jackets. I even had an online shopping cart full of all those things I wanted to dress our boys in.

  “Last one,” Raven said, urging me toward the middle box.

  James had the biggest grin on his face as he bent to kiss me. “Best day of my life,” he murmured by my ear.

  The disappointment melted away at those words, and I leaned into him, soaking up all the love that was radiating off him.

  Each of us put a hand on the box as Raven counted down again, and I was sure the entire room held their breath as they waited for us to open the box.

  A dozen blue balloons floated up past my face, and I screamed in delight, only just barely containing the urge to jump up and down in my excitement. The whole bar was cheering, congratulating us, pounding James on the back like he’d done his job as a man and then some. It all had me rolling my eyes, but he was eating it up.

  “You do realize I’m the reason we’re having more than one, right? Different genders means more than one egg,” I told him. “I feel like I should be the one getting a pat on the back here.”

  “Actually,” Raven spoke up. “The notes on the scan said they were sure the girls are identical, so it seems like you’re both responsible for these multiples.”

  “So there,” Bash said with a laugh, teasing me like always. “You’re both to blame.”

  James snorted, then picked me up in his arms. “Five minutes are up. Sit and stay there, or I’m taking you home.” He placed me back in my chair then bent and kissed me. “This really is one of the best days of my life,” he said as he pulled back. “Thank you for our life, Willa.”

  Emotions choked me as I grabbed his cut and jerked him back down when he would have straightened. “I love you so much, James.”

  Epilogue

  Flick

  Twelve years later

  I picked up the last of the dishes and placed them in the sink. Breakfast had turned the place into a madhouse with the kids all running around. There were times when I loved sharing a house with Raven and Bash and their two kids, but now that Jet and I had kids of our own, mornings were a disaster, especially when it was a school day.

  Lexa, Max, and my son were already on their way out the door before I could blink.

  “Bye, Mom!” Garret called, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and grabbing his packed lunch off the counter. “Love you.”

  “Garret Hannigan!” I raged, following after him.

  He froze less than two feet from the back door. Sighing dramatically, he turned and slowly walked back to me. I bent, hiding my grin as he kissed my cheek.

  Max snickered on his way past. “Bye, Aunt Flick. See you later.”

  “Bye, Max,” I called without taking my eyes off my son, who looked so much like his father, it literally made my heart ache. “I love you, mister.”

  Since he was nine, I was fairly sure having anyone hear that his mother loved him was embarrassing. I didn’t care, though. He’d hear it a million times in the coming years. I wasn’t going to stop saying those three words because he didn’t like it.

  “I love you too, Mom,” he grumbled. “Can I go now?”

  I blew out a sigh. “Go. Have a good day. Don’t get in any fights.” I knew I was wasting my breath. At least once a week, I was at his school, trying to talk the principal out of expelling him because he’d gotten into yet another fight. My third-grader was a hothead, but I was hoping he’d calm down eventually.

  “Mommy!” I shut the door to find my daughter storming into the room, her iPad in her hand.

  I stayed by the door, watching her with concealed amusement as she stalked toward me with attitude. Nova looked more like her Aunt Raven than me, and her personality was one hundred percent my best friend’s.

  “What’s wrong?”

  She thrust her iPad into my hands. An iPad neither her father nor I had given her. It was a present from her best friend, the boy who would have been attached to her hip if he didn’t live on the other side of the freaking country.

  Nova met Ryan Vitucci when she was three and Ryan was eight. Jet and I took the kids to visit my aunt Mary, and we’d spent a few weeks in New York one summer. It had been a great vacation, but Nova had thrown a fit when we told her we had to return home. As a going-away present, Ryan had given her an iPad.

  So they could video chat.

  They’d stayed in touch ever since. She saw and talked to Ryan more than she did her own brother. It was amusing, and I loved that she already had a friend she couldn’t seem to live without.

  “Take my iPad and hide it!” she commanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

  I lifted a brow at her tone, and she quickly added, “Please, Mommy.”

  “Why should I hide your iPad?” I questioned, noticing the thing was turned off. Holy crap. I didn’t know it could do that. It was never turned off. If she wasn’t talking to Ryan on it, she was playing one of the hundreds of learning activities Ryan had helped her download before we left New York. Those games were annoying to hear at times, but they’d also been a godsend. She was beyond ready for kindergarten next year, and she was probably even more advanced than some second-graders. “You’ll just whine for it in like ten minutes.”

  “No, I won’t. I’m mad at Ryan! I’m not talking to him ever again.” Her little chin trembled, my only warning before she burst into tears.

  Startled by her sudden change in emotions, I scooped her up. She was so tiny, it was hard to believe she was about to turn five in just a few more days. Having a birthday in November kept her from entering school for another year, but I was glad for the extra time. I needed it more than she did, because I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be ready to let her leave my side.

  Nova was my baby, and after how difficult my pregnancy had been with her, she was our last. I’d had a hysterectomy the moment the doctors pulled her from me via C-section, something that had saved my life. I hadn’t had a choice because I was bleeding out so badly. Jet had been a mess, but we’d had other things to worry about at the time since Nova was eight weeks early.

  Thankfully, though, her small size was the only issue she now had. But fuck, it had been scary for that first year.

  Cuddling her close, I carried her into the living room and sat on the couch with her in my lap. “What’s wrong, sweetie?” I asked, getting more than a little emotional myself because her tears always wrecked me.

  “Ry-Ryan is so mean!” she cr
ied, pressing her snotty nose into my shoulder and using my shirt as her tissue.

  I blinked down at her, unsure she was talking about the same Ryan who was her best friend. Maybe she’d met a new Ryan, because the one I knew adored her too much to ever make her think he was mean. Perhaps he was—hell, I’d never seen him around any kids other than my own and his cousins, but what I had seen of his interactions with them showed me he was a nice enough boy.

  “Okay, maybe you should tell me everything that happened, Nova.”

  “He’s supposed to come to my birthday party, but when I talked to him just now, he said he couldn’t.” She scrubbed at her eyes, getting mad all over again.

  “This is the first I’m hearing that they’re canceling,” I told her. “Maybe you heard him wrong.”

  Her birthday party had been all she could talk about for the past few months, ever since Ryan and his mother had flown out for a few days so Ryan and Nova could spend a little time together. They’d promised to come back for the party in November, and she’d been meticulously planning it ever since.

  “Ryan said his mommy is sick. She just found out she’s going to have a baby, and they can’t come because she’s got a tummy ache.” Nova sighed like her heart was breaking. “If he won’t come to my party, then I won’t be his friend anymore.”

  “Nova,” I scolded gently. “Ryan’s mom has been trying really hard to have a baby. You should be happy that he’s going to be a big brother.”

  “But my heart hurts, Mommy. I miss him so, so, so, so much. I just wanted him to come to my party.”

  Her broken little sobs hurt me, and I was thankful Jet was already at the bar doing inventory. If he heard his baby girl crying like she was right then, he would have lost his damn mind. If Nova wasn’t happy, Jet Hannigan was not happy, and that could be dangerous for everyone in a two-hundred-mile radius.

  I rubbed her back, hoping she would calm down so I wouldn’t be tortured by those little sniffled hiccups for long. “Honey, Ryan can’t help that his mom is sick. You need to be a little more understanding. I’m sure he doesn’t want to disappoint you, but he is really close to his mom and he’s going to want to stay close to her when she’s not feeling well.”

  “I know, but I miss him,” she sobbed.

  Hugging her close, I kissed the top of her head, rocking her gently. “I’m so sorry, Nova.”

  It took an hour before she would stop crying, and even when her tears dried up, she was clingy. I had errands to run and things to do around the house before the kids came home from school. Bash was always at work by seven every morning, and since both Raven’s kids were in school now, she had taken over the office at what had once been Uncle Jack’s garage, which Trigger and Bash co-owned now.

  I loved staying home with the kids, taking care of the house, and dealing with the day-to-day things like helping with homework. It was everything I’d ever wanted, but it was an extremely busy job, one that never ended.

  Nova stayed quiet during our errand-running, not even singing along to the radio like she normally would have. Ice cream was turned down, as was her favorite lunch at Aggie’s. I decided to make her favorite dinner that night, but she barely lifted her head when I suggested it.

  As always, I picked the three kids up from school and drove us home. They all had homework, and Lexa and Max always did that on their own. Garret, however, had to be constantly watched, or he would use his homework pages as target practice and use his pencils for darts. It was a constant chore with that boy.

  By the time dinner was ready, Bash and Raven were home. Jet was helping me set the food on the table when the doorbell rang. Since my hands were the only ones empty, I went to answer it.

  It took me a few seconds to realize the little boy on the doorstep was real and not a figment of my imagination. I glanced behind him, expecting to see half a dozen men in suits with guns under their jackets. Or a little Russian woman, at the very least. Neither were here. There wasn’t even a car in the driveway to give me a clue me how this kid got here.

  “Hi, Mrs. Hannigan,” Ryan greeted with a tired smile. His brown eyes were full of sadness and worry so thick it was hard to believe he was only ten. My cousin Ciro’s wife Scarlett had told me just what this little boy had gone through when he was little more than a baby. His biological mother had been a monster, and I was glad she was dead. “Can I speak to Nova, please?”

  “I… Umm…” I shook my head, trying to clear it as I realized he was actually there. “Ryan, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?”

  He shrugged. “Mom wasn’t feeling well because she’s having bad morning sickness, and Papa is in Chicago on business.”

  “Then how did you get here?”

  “We have two private planes. I used Mom’s phone to have the pilot get the one Papa wasn’t using ready by text and then called a private car company to take me to the airport. A second car service was waiting when I landed.” He shrugged again, like it was nothing. Like he hadn’t just traveled thousands of miles by himself.

  I wouldn’t trust Garret to walk to the end of the block by himself.

  “Does your mom know you’re here?” I demanded, my heart pounding, imagining either of my children just taking off like that.

  “I didn’t want to worry Mom.”

  “Oh my God,” I whispered. Anya was going to lose her fucking mind.

  I grabbed his shoulder, bringing him into the house even as I pulled my phone out of my back pocket. Fingers shaking, I hit my cousin’s contact number. Seconds later, Ciro’s deep voice filled my ear.

  “I don’t have time to chat, Felicity,” he said, sounding out of sorts. “I have a problem here and—”

  “Ryan?” I breathed.

  “Yeah… How did you know?”

  I shook my head at the little boy in front of me. “Just a guess. Oh, and by the way, I have a new houseguest. Ryan just showed up at my front door.”

  He blew out a relieved breath. “Thank God. Anya was going ballistic. We thought someone kidnapped him. Cristiano is in Chicago, and he was about to blow up the world.”

  I could only imagine. “What should I do with him?”

  “Just keep him there. I’ll let Cristiano know, and he can fly over to pick him up instead of coming home.” He blew out another long breath. “Can I speak to him?”

  Ryan took the phone when I offered it to him. As he listened, his face didn’t change once, even though I could clearly hear Ciro yelling at him.

  “I’m sorry Mom was upset. I didn’t mean to make her worry. That’s not what I wanted. I just didn’t want Nova to be sad.”

  My heart actually melted at how sweet this kid was. He was so caring, so sincere, it brought tears to my eyes. I couldn’t be upset with him now; that was impossible.

  And if I were honest, I was glad he’d come. Nova had been a shell of her normal self all day, but I knew when she saw her best friend, she would be okay again.

  Ryan patiently listened to his uncle snarling at him for a few more minutes before hanging up and offering me the phone back. “Can I see Nova now, Mrs. Hannigan?”

  Ruffling his hair, I nodded. “Sure, buddy.”

  I led the way to the kitchen where everyone was already sitting but hadn’t started eating yet.

  Jet was watching for me, his brow puckered when his gaze caught mine. “Who was it?”

  “Well…” I stepped aside, letting them see our new guest.

  “Ryan!” Nova screamed. She was out of her seat and across the room in a matter of seconds.

  She was a tiny little thing, but she threw herself against him so forcefully, Ryan fell back, being careful not to let her hit her head as she fell beside him, laughing.

  “You said you couldn’t come,” she cried. “Did you lie to me? I don’t care. I’m just happy you’re here.”

  “I didn’t lie,” he assured her. “I didn’t want you to be sad, so I came without telling anyone. I think I’m i
n trouble, but I don’t care. It was worth it to get to see you smiling at me like that.”

  I heard Jet muttering something savage, and I hid my grin. Daddy was definitely seeing what I was seeing.

  I just hoped he could survive it.

  Playlist

  “I Will Return” by Skylar Grey

  “The Madness” by Art of Anarchy

  “Into the Fire” by Asking Alexandria

  “Dangerous Woman” by Ariana Grande

  “I Am a Stone” by Demon Hunter

  “Monster” by Eminem ft. Rihanna

  “River” by Eminem ft. Ed Sheeran

  “Call Me When You’re Sober” by Evanescence

  “Irresistible” by Fall Out Boys

  “Remember Everything” by Five Finger Death Punch

  “Rock Bottom” by Hailee Steinfeld

  “Castle” by Halsey

  “Moth” by Hellyeah

  “Right Here in My Arms” by HIM

  “Bad Things” by Machine Gun Kelly & Camila Cabello

  “In the Name of Love” by Martin Garrix & Bebe Rexha

  “Just a Dream” by Nelly

  “Angel With a Shotgun” by Night Core

  Next from Terri Anne

  Needing Forever VOL 1

  Needing Forever VOL 2

  (Novella Collections featuring favorite secondary characters from The Rocker… Series)

  Chasing Hope

  (Standalone)

  Angels Halo Next Gen Series

  Salvation (Lexa)

  Rockers’ Legacy

  Holding Mia

  Needing Nevaeh