Page 129 of Wicked Deceit
"Oh, baby," I whisper, running a finger through his gooey brown hair. His bright green eyes stare up at me, examining my face—well if he could see. We stare at one another for a solid minute as tears burn my eyes. His lower lip quivers, giving way to a high-pitched wail, filling the car with his desperate cries.
"I'll call an ambulance." We all jump out of our skin at the sound of the officer standing by Seger's open window. His brown eyes glisten with tears, staring at us.
Seger shakes his head. "We were just heading to the hospital, and she--and he—" he swallows hard, pointing toward us with mixed-up expressions.
"I understand, Son. Let's get you to the hospital. Follow me." The officer says in a gravelly voice, wiping the tears from his eyes. He doesn’t bother to give us a ticket for whatever traffic violation he pulled us over for. In reality, we probably looked like a drunk, speeding driver and drove unsafely. But we had other things on our minds—especially me.
"Shh, shh, baby," I whisper, wiping a soft towel down his face.
"He's beautiful," Chase chokes out, running a soft finger through his long brown locks, and leans into me. “You did so good, Sunshine. I’m so damn proud of you,” he murmurs in my ear. My whole body relaxes into him as we look down at the bundle in my arms.
The officer leads us to the hospital in five minutes flat, staying close to us with his lights on. They take me straight to the maternity ward when we arrive, with the boys hot on my heels. The nurses take the baby, check his weight and run other tests to ensure he’s healthy. My nurses set me up in a bed with an IV and vitals and check me over.
My parents showed up thirty minutes after our arrival, doting on the baby and me. My father has tears in his eyes, looking down at my little bundle, cooing at him, and rocking him back and forth. My mother cries, cuddling him and telling him how lucky he has such a big, loving family. When night comes, they kiss us all, leaving us to rest. But before they leave, my mother cries again, staring back at me on the bed. My father practically drags her out of the room by her wrist.
I groan, settling back into the hospital bed. Every inch of my body drowns in exhaustion, weighing down my limbs. "What a friggin day," I grumble, trying to stretch my legs.
"You did so good, Sunshine," Chase says, kissing my forehead.
"I can't believe you had him in the back of our car," Seger says, wiping a hand down his face. "That was insane."
"All because you were in fucking labor and didn't let us know," Carter grumbles, crossing his arms across his chest. He scowls at me, leaning against the wall in his usual grumpy style.
"Hush, I'm too tired to hear you bitch at me, Grumpy," I mumble with heavy eyes.
The entire day’s events weigh heavily on my shoulders. From the moment the contractions started and I didn’t realize, to the moment I did realize my son was coming, and finally having him in the back of the car. But, it’s the little moments like these that leave big impressions on my memories, and I’ll forever have a story to tell our son. Our son. How strange to think that we’ve come this far from where we started. From friends, to enemies, to intimate lovers. We went from high school sweethearts to college students, and finally we’re parents.
"Yeah, Grumpy, leave her be," Chase chastises with a taunting smile pulling at his lips. I can tell he wants to antagonize him more and rile him up, because that’s what Chase loves to do these days, but he holds his tongue when he looks back at me with love in his eyes. “You’re tired, Sunshine,” he says, cocking his head to the side.
“Yeah, tired of your fucking face,” Carter quips, coming to my side. I sigh when his fingers run through my ratty hair, careful not to pull at the tangles. Everything in my body says sleep, but there’s a nagging in the back of my mind, reminding me my precious bundle still hasn’t returned from all his tests. And Zepp is missing, too.
"When's he coming back?" I ask, peeking an eye open to look at Carter. His entire body tightens, and his hand stops its motion through my hair. He swallows hard, suspiciously darting his eyes to Chase on my other side.
I turn my head in time to see Chase waving his arms around, making a cutting motion across his throat. I narrow my eyes. "Where is the baby?" I nearly growl, threatening to bring out mama bear.
"He's coming back, Angel. Zepp's down there with him right now. They had to run an additional test--on something--uh, they're fine! Don't worry," Seger says, waving a hand with his eyes closed as he lounges on the couch half-asleep. Yeah, don’t worry, he says. But there’s something weird going on between the three of them, and I’ll get it out of them.
"What about his name? Have we decided on that yet?" Chase asks, glaring at the other two.
"Why do I feel like you're all up to something?" I frown, looking between the three of them, and they all shrug, looking away as innocently as possible. Yeah, definitely up to something. But what? I have no friggin clue. I’m way too tired to figure out their weird eyebrow conversations and arm waves. Too much to decipher with too low of energy. They could be planning to tuck tail—highly unlikely, I know—and I’d let them because I’m too tired to deal with them. Of course, I’d track their assess down, lock them in my basement, and never let them go again. So, yeah. No running from Kaycee, Sirs.
"We're not up to anything," Carter says, soothing my wet hair behind my ear. " I promise." Oh, promise my ass. I know those looks. Those sliding eyes and guilty faces. It’s the same looks I’ve been seeing for the past five years.
I sigh, "I have a name in mind, one we didn't talk about. What about—" my mouth snaps shut at the sight of Zeppelin walking in with our baby bundled in his arms. And relief slams into me. Not that I thought my baby had run away, but after carrying him for nine months, it’s strange to be away from him. I just want to hold him in my arms and snuggle him forever.
Zepp smiles down at him, running a finger down his plump cheeks. "He's been so good," Zepp murmurs with tears in his eyes. "They had to check some things, and I swear he didn't make a peep." My heart swells at the sight of them, and all the hormones rush forward.
Tears gather in my eyes when I look at the little face we created. We went from something so unexpected to something so full of pure joy–it completes us. This is our family. Our future.
Tears leak out of my eyes as he places our baby in my arms, and I feel the name deep in my bones calling to me. It feels so right, and I can’t help but blurt it. "Roman," I whisper, lifting my eyes to the guys. They crowd my bed, widening their eyes. "Roman Weston--"
"Cole," Zepp says. "He takes your last name." The others nod in agreement without a fight.
"Really? You don't want to do the DNA and have it as one of yours?" They shake their heads, eyeing each other. Oh yeah, they're up to something. But what could it be?
"I do like the Weston part," Seger says with a smug grin. "West-on, uh-huh, it's fuc--freaking perfect."
"Good save, dickbag," Chase mutters, swiftly covering his mouth.
