Page 90 of Until Forever

It’s just the two of us and my mom now, me slightly out of it and a very pale Jasper working overtime to hold it together. This is unknown to him, considering he missed JJ’s birth, and the nervousness is written all over his posture. But even if he’s scared, the only words that come from his mouth are those of encouragement.

A moment later, the door flies open, and in walks a doctor. “Ms. Reynard,” a middle-aged woman calls as she sanitizes her hands and slips on a pair of gloves. “I hear we’re having a baby.” She points out the obvious, her eyes growing wide when she sees Jasper in his tux.

“It seems that way.” I laugh breathlessly.

“Looks like this little nugget interrupted a big day.” She settles between my legs, rolling the gown up over my knees.

“No,” I grunt while trying to get in a more comfortable position. “We made it through the wedding, but Lil momma decided to bust out on the dance floor,” I admit. “Ahhhhh.”

“It must have been all the love. And I guess it’s no longer Ms. Reynard?”

“It is,” Jasper answers. “It’s Reynard-Vanek.” He kisses my forehead and interlocks his fingers with mine.

“Beautiful. Well, Mom and Dad, I hate to say that we’re going to have to have this baby naturally, she’s already crowning. So, Mom, I’m going to need you to push when I tell you to, okay?” She moves around, grabbing whatever equipment she needs.

I nod and drag Jasper closer, even though there isn’t any more room. My mom is on the other side of me, rubbing my head and cheering me along.

“All right, on the count of three, push. One, two—”

“Three,” we all say in unison.

I do with all my might, pushing the pain to the back of my mind. I collapse against the pillow, my chest thrashing as I try to suck air into my lungs. My body is sore all over, but I can’t think too much about it because I need to push again.

I grunt with my chin to my chest, and Mom and Jasper help hold my legs back. It feels like I’ll pass out, but then the pressure is released when our little girl slips from my body.

“We have a girl,” the doctor beams and works to clear her airways.

Sarai cries, her lungs strong and powerful.

“Come, Dad, and cut the cord.”

He releases me, a single tear trailing his cheek. Jasper takes the scissors, cutting where instructed with love evident in his gaze. When he makes it back to my side, he leans close, pressing his forehead to mine.

“She’s beautiful.” His tears are coming down now as he wildly kisses me. “She’s fucking beautiful,” he whispers against my lips.

‘Mom, ready to meet your little girl?”

She places her in my arms, and soon I’m an even bigger mess than Jasper. He’s right, she’s gorgeous, and already I see how much she looks like me.

“She’s perfect,” I mutter and kiss her little fingers, all the pain from before disappearing the moment I lay eyes on her.

Jasper kisses the top of my head. “I love you.”

Right now, at this moment, all is right in our world. It’s been rocky and has taken us years to reach this point. But everything is the way it’s supposed to be. We’re a family, and our love is infinite.

Glancing up at him, I stroke his cheek. “Until forever.”

EPILOGUE TWO

JASPER

Six years later…

We settle onto the bleachers with Toya on my right. Our three-month-old son, Daniel, is strapped to her front in one of those cloth body wraps. Sarai is between us playing with something called a Hatchimal. She’s six now, and every day she looks more like her mother. Daniel is a mixture of both of us, and now that JJ is fifteen, he’s more my twin than he was as a kid.

I glance over at my woman, watching the way her shoulders bunch around her ears. She’s gripping Daniel’s head to her chest and nervously throwing her eyes around. She’s searching for JJ, much like she does every single game since the incident with Scar all those years ago.

“Unless you’re intentionally trying to suffocate our infant, you may want to loosen up your grip,” I say and move her hand from his head, only for her to put it back, not as tight, though.

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