by Parker, Ali
I looked at the boxes labeled with her name and smiled. “I am very okay with this. I can’t wait to start this life with you.”
She laughed. “Look around. It’s started.”
I smiled. “I guess it has.”
“I need to call the stores first thing tomorrow morning and have all my deliveries changed to come here,” she mused aloud.
“All your deliveries?” I asked.
She grinned. “I’ve been doing some shopping for the nursery. I didn’t want it all sitting in my apartment for months, so I had the deliveries scheduled for next month. I figured that would give me plenty of time to get the nursery in order.”
“You’ve bought everything?” I asked, feeling a little regretful I hadn’t been around to be involved.
She giggled. “Not even close. I will happily return it all and you and I can start over.”
I shook my head. “No way. I know you probably put in a lot of time and effort. I am happy with whatever you’ve got. I will be by your side as we pick out the rest of the stuff this kid needs.”
She giggled. “I have a list. It will blow your mind.”
I nodded. “I don’t doubt that for a minute. Justin has been trying to warn me, but I guess I thought he was exaggerating.”
She shook her head. “He wasn’t—trust me.”
The words were said as a joke, but I did trust her. I trusted her completely.
“I’m going to go clean up the dinner dishes. Go rest, put your feet up, and I’ll be in soon.”
She slapped at my shoulder. “I’m not an invalid and I am not leaving you to do the dishes on your own.”
“You have to let me take care of you sometimes,” I ordered.
“And I will, but not tonight. I’m helping,” she said and headed into the kitchen.
I followed behind her, loving the idea of cleaning our kitchen together. “I can hire a full-time maid if you’d like.”
“No! Absolutely not. Grayson, I need you to understand I’m an independent person. I don’t like people around me all the time. I don’t want a full staff at my beck and call. I don’t mind a little help, but I don’t want someone catering to my every wish,” she said in a serious tone.
I nodded. “Okay, I won’t pressure you, but when you get further along in the pregnancy and after the baby is born, I want you to have help,” I insisted.
“I can agree to that. I’m sure I’ll be begging for help at that point,” she said on a laugh.
I smiled and carried the plates to the sink as she was loading the dishwasher. I liked the idea of working together. We were both strong-minded people but were learning how to bend and compromise to make our relationship work.
The last dish was going into the dishwasher when she turned and sprayed me with the hose from the sink.
“What the hell!” I shouted, playfully grabbing her and spinning her around.
“You looked like you needed cooling off.”
I laughed. “I owe you a good spray. Maybe we should get in the shower. I’ll soap you up and then hose you down,” I said, waggling my eyebrows.
She giggled. “I think we still have to clean up a little. We’re going to be smacking into boxes in the bedroom.”
I held up a finger. “Don’t you dare move those boxes. I’ll do it. I’ll put them in the closet and you can go through them tomorrow.”
She smiled. “I wouldn’t think of lifting a single box when I have my big strong husband around to do it for me,” she said, squeezing my biceps.
“I am your strong husband. I can prove it to you,” I said, lifting her up.
Her arms went around my neck and her legs around my waist. “I don’t know how much longer you’re going to be able to carry me like this. Pretty soon, I’m going to outweigh you.”
I shook my head. “I doubt that. I’ll always carry you. I like carrying you,” I whispered.
She leaned her face down, kissing me passionately. I reached out and shut the dishwasher and carried her out of the kitchen and into our bedroom, being careful not to trip over the boxes scattered about. She was looking at me and smiling.
“I love you,” she said before kissing me again.
“I love you. Now, I think only one of us is wet. I want you wet.” I growled.
Her face changed, and I knew I had succeeded in making her wet. She ground her hips against me, my erection springing to life, making the jeans I had on very tight and uncomfortable.
“I’m wet and I’m ready,” she whispered as I lowered her to her feet.
“Good. I want to show you how much I love you.”
She sighed as my mouth closed down over hers. I let myself get lost in the moment, completely giving myself to her. I didn’t have to hold anything back or remind myself to keep my distance. It made the sex between us far more intense. I couldn’t believe I had held back for so long. I suddenly understood what Jack and Justin had been telling me. I had been denying myself this pure happiness that couldn’t happen without completely giving myself to the woman in my arms.
I never wanted to know life without her in it. She truly completed me. She was the other half of my soul, the piece I had been missing all my life.
Chapter 74
Hannah
I slowly awoke, trying to figure out what it was that had stirred me out of a deep sleep. I didn’t have to pee, which was what usually woke me up. I lay awake a few minutes before I decided it must have been nothing and closed my eyes, hoping to sleep a few more hours.
“Ow,” I muttered when a sharp pain ripped across my lower back.
That was when I knew. I sat up, rubbing my lower back. I propped my pillows against the headboard and lay against them, staring at the clock that silently announced it was three o’clock in the morning. I waited, my eyes sliding closed until another sharp pain cut across my back, wrapping around to envelope my stomach in a vise. My eyes went to the clock. It had been ten minutes. I flipped on the bedside lamp.
“Grayson,” I whispered, gently touching his bare shoulder.
“Hmm.” He moaned, still half asleep.
“Grayson,” I whispered again.
He rolled to his back, blinking as he looked up at me. “What is it? Hungry?” he asked.
I smiled and shook my head. “No. Not hungry. Contractions.”
He nodded and started to roll back to his side, clearly not getting what I was saying through his sleep-muddled brain.
“Oh shit!” he said, bolting from the bed.
I looked at him and laughed. “Relax.”
“Contractions?” He gasped, reaching for the jeans he had kept by the bed in case of this exact moment.
He was jumping around, pulling them on while trying to put his shirt on at the same time. I watched from my place in the bed, trying my best not to laugh at him, but it was funny and endearing at the same time.
“Grayson—” I stopped talking when another contraction ripped through my body.
I looked at the clock. It had only been seven minutes.
“Another one? How far apart. The doctor said we need to get to the hospital when they were five minutes apart,” he said with authority.
“We have time,” I assured him.
I slowly got off the bed and moved to grab the outfit I had set aside for the trip to the hospital. Grayson darted out of the room and returned a minute later, car keys in hand. “Are you ready?”
I laughed. “No, we have—ow!”
His eyes bulged as he raced for me. “What is it? Is something wrong?”
I didn’t answer right away. I focused on my breathing. The doctor told me it wouldn’t hurt all that bad until the labor moved along. When the contraction finally let up, I looked at the clock and realized it had already been seven minutes. The contraction was the most intense one yet.
“I’m going to change and then we can go,” I said as calmly as I could.
Nervous energy was making me a little shaky. I quickly slid into the sweats and T-shirt and slipped on my ba
llet flats. Grayson was pacing the room like a caged animal as he waited. I wanted to tell him getting dressed at my size, and while in labor, wasn’t exactly something that went quickly.
I stood to walk toward him and found myself in the grips of another powerful contraction. I had a feeling I was going to be one of those rare cases of an extremely fast labor and delivery. The urge to get my ass to the hospital was strong.
“We need to go, now,” he said, rubbing my back as I breathed through the pain.
When I was able to walk, he quickly rushed me to the elevator and then out to his waiting car. The contractions were coming much closer. I didn’t need a watch to tell me that. Grayson had become very calm and was talking me through each contraction, reminding me to breathe while letting me squeeze his one hand, his other on the wheel.
By the time he whipped in front of the emergency room doors, I knew the baby was coming soon. The second I stood to get out of the car, my water broke. Grayson paled, but didn’t panic. He ran inside to grab a wheelchair while I held onto the car door, demanding my child give me the time to get into a room.
When we arrived on the maternity floor, we were greeted by two nurses. “You know you’re supposed to come in at five minutes apart,” the older one lectured.
I squeezed Grayson’s hand, demanding he answer for me. I couldn’t speak at the moment as a violent contraction gripped my body.
“We left the house when she was at seven!” he snapped.
The grumpy nurse pursed her lips. “This is your first?”
I nodded.
“First labors always take a long time.”
I glared at her. The next thing I knew the woman was walking away. I looked up at Grayson and gave him a small smile. I knew he had sent the woman packing with a look. He was Grayson Bancroft. His family had donated the money to fund one of the wings of the hospital. He would demand the best service possible.
“I’m sorry about that,” the other nurse said, taking over the pushing of the wheelchair.
“It’s fine,” I managed to get out.
“It isn’t fine,” Grayson said in a low tone that was all-business.
“Let’s get you into bed and hooked up to the monitor. We got the call your doctor was on the way in. I hope he makes it in time. If not, we have a doctor on standby who will do the delivery,” she explained in a friendly voice.
“That fast?” I gasped, suddenly changing my mind about the whole delivery process.
“Sweetie, I have a feeling this baby isn’t in the mood to wait.”
I cried out when the next contraction washed over me. It was stronger than the last. Grayson was beside me, whispering comforting words as he rubbed my back. Once I could move, I was quickly stripped, put into a gown, and crawled into the bed.
The nurse left, promising to be back in a few minutes. Grayson was staring at the machine connected to my stomach. I saw his face blanch, focusing on his expression as the contraction rolled through. When it was done, he looked at me, shaking his head.
“I’m so sorry. I wish there was something I could do. I didn’t realize,” he mumbled.
“You thought this was going to be easy?” I snapped.
He gave a small shrug. “I thought you would be drugged.”
The nurse came back in and checked the readout. “There isn’t time for that. This baby will be here within the next twenty minutes I predict.”
Another nurse, followed by a doctor, strolled into the room. I listened as they each offered their best guess about when my child would be born. The doctor stuck around a few minutes, monitoring the contractions before telling the nurse to get ready for a baby.
The next thirty minutes flew by. I barely had a chance to breathe before I was holding my baby girl in my arms.
“I think you must have set a new record for first time moms,” the doctor said with a grin.
It was at that moment my doctor came into the room. “I missed it?” he asked with surprise.
The other doctor gave him the rundown while I marveled at my baby girl.
“Would you like to hold your daughter?” I asked Grayson, handing her to him.
He took her, held her tiny head in his big hand, and stared at her, tears in his eyes before the nurse swooped in and took her to be weighed and cleaned up.
“We have a baby,” he said with complete amazement.
I smiled and nodded. “Looks that way. I know you wanted a boy,” I said, feeling a little like I let him down.
He looked at me, his eyes wide, shaking his head. “No way! I wanted a baby. You girls are exactly what I want. I couldn’t imagine anything else. She’s perfect. She’s everything I could ever want. The two of you are my entire reason for living,” he whispered close to my ear.
I smiled, tears of pure joy spilling down my face as he held my hand. We both watched as our daughter was quickly diapered and wrapped up in a bundle and brought back to us. The nurses finished up before heading out of the room, giving us some privacy. I never wanted to let her out of my arms. I wanted to hold and snuggle with her forever.
“I can’t believe we have a baby,” I said, looking into her wrinkled pink face, a tuft of dark hair like her daddy on her tiny little head.
“She’s beautiful,” he whispered.
“I think she’s going to look like you,” I said, running my hand over the baby-fine hair atop her head.
Her full lips pursed, and she wrinkled her nose as if she were protesting the touching of her hair. I smiled as she squirmed in my arms. For so long it had been me and her, and now I got to share her with Grayson.
He shook his head. “No way. I want my kids to look like you.”
“Kids?” I asked, one brow raised.
“I want a dozen,” he said firmly.
I laughed. “Trust me, now is not the right time to tell me you want a dozen children,” I said, wincing with pain.
He shrugged a shoulder. “We’ll revisit the idea at a later time. I want lots of babies with you. We’ll buy a big house and fill every room with children. I come from a big family. I want my kids to know what that’s like.”
I laughed. “I don’t think we need to rule out adoption. I’m not sure I can do that too many more times.”
He winked. “You kicked ass. You were absolutely amazing. I have an entire roll of quarters and a wad of singles. I thought I was going to be living off vending-machine food and coffee for days. When you want something done, you really don’t mess around.”
I wanted to laugh, but the baby had fallen asleep in my arms. I didn’t want the movement to jostle her awake. “I am ever so grateful it was fast. I don’t think I could have done the long labor thing.”
We marveled at our child, unwrapping the blanket, and counting all her fingers and toes. My mind was blown with how perfect she was. A little human and she was all ours. I felt as if my heart were too big for my chest as I stared at her. I handed her over to Grayson and watched with adoration as his big body cradles hers against him. He was a natural, gently swaying as he stood next to my bed.
“We have to name this little girl,” I reminded him.
He nodded. “We do. We had it narrowed to three. What are you thinking now that you’ve met her?” he asked, not taking his eyes off the baby.
I stared at the pink bundle in his arms. “I like Leah.”
“So do I.”
“We have to call Amber. She’s going to kill me. I was supposed to call her on our way in.”
He gave me a dry look. “When were you going to call? The thirty seconds between contractions? I’ll call her now and Justin. And my mom,” he said excitedly, handing the baby back to me.
“Tell Amber I am sorry,” I said, feeling guilty.
“I will. Get some rest. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he ordered.
I watched him walk out of the room. I kissed Leah’s tiny, little forehead and thanked the universe for giving me such a wonderful man and a beautiful baby. Life was good.
Chapter 7
5
Grayson
I heard the soft cries and blinked several times, orientating myself to the room. I listened a little longer to see if she would fall back to sleep on her own and realized it wasn’t going to happen. I stretched my arms before swinging my legs over the side of the bed to get up. I felt Hannah stir and knew she was waking up as well.
“Shh, go back to sleep. I’ve got her,” I told her, putting my hand on her shoulder.
I had been trying to do my part, getting up for at least one of the middle-of-the-night feedings. Fortunately, Leah was a content little girl and was down to only needing to wake once in the night for a bottle. She was a healthy, strong girl and required a lot of food. The first few weeks home from the hospital had been grueling. We were both up for a good two weeks straight before we finally managed to develop a routine that allowed everyone to get some sleep.
“Thank you,” Hannah mumbled.
She didn’t need to thank me for doing something I was supposed to be doing. “Sleep. I’ll see you in a bit,” I told her, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek.
“You’re a good dad,” she whispered.
“Thank you,” I said before quietly walking out of the room and across the hall to Leah’s nursery.
I walked to the crib to see my fussing daughter, kicking and being grumpy in generally. “Hey, baby girl, are you hungry?” I asked her.
She screamed in response. I quickly reached over and shut off the baby monitor, not wanting to disturb Hannah if I didn’t have to.
“Okay, okay, little miss impatient. You get that from your mommy and daddy,” I teased.
She cried again.
“Hold on, let’s change your diaper and then we’ll get a warm bottle. Does that sound yummy?” I asked, talking to her in a soft, soothing voice as I picked her up, placed her on the changing table, then expertly went about changing her diaper like a trained professional.
The first couple of months had been a bit of a nightmare. I had nearly resorted to duct tape to keep the things on, wondering who in their right mind designed a diaper with a skinny little tab to hold the thing on what I considered a squirming, jiggly pile of gelatin. With a lot of practice, I managed to figure it out.
