Page 192 of Savage Empire
A startled laugh bursts from my lips and my son stirs at the sound. “Brother, I think. Ask your stepfather.”
“Brother,” Apollo confirms without being asked.
I smile up at him, and gently lift our baby for him to take. He has an introduction to make. I watch with a watery smile as he approaches his father, the whole room coming to a stop to watch as well.
“This is Vaughn Dante Moretti,” Apollo says, gently passing our swaddled son into his father’s awaiting arms.
“Dante?” he asks, surprise evident in his tone. “You honor me, son.”
“Felt right,” Apollo explains, sniffing back any emotion before he can become sentimental. “He’s nine pounds, two ounces, and perfectly healthy. The future Capo of The Outfit.”
“Nine pounds?” Dante echoes, eyes widening slightly.
“Don’t remind me,” I whine from my bed, huffing. “I blame your son’s fat head and how tall you all seem to be. He’s going to be huge.”
“A formidable heir already,” Elio jokes. “Look at all that hair, too. He’s going to have a man bun like Armani in a couple of weeks.”
“He absolutely will not,” Apollo replies, positively appalled by the idea.
“I think a baby man bun would be cute!” Jade chimes happily. She has soft tears on her face as she looks at baby Vaughn and rubs her swollen belly. “He’s absolutely precious. He’s going to be best friends with Viktor, I can tell already. This menace of mine is kicking up a storm right now. It’s like he knows.”
Jade and Dmitri decided to do things differently for their second pregnancy, they found out the sex and picked a name early. She’s been calling her unborn son Viktor for months, and he has the cutest middle name.Sage, after her twin brother who she never got to meet.
“Hopefully for your sake, Viktor has a smaller head,” I quip, grinning at my friend. We’ve become closer since sharing our pregnancies together, and I’m glad for it. Jade is probably the sweetest member of the family, and it’s nice to have her in your corner.
“I don’t know, I think Vaughn’s big head is adorable,” Ana adds, cooing down at my son. “His eyes are so round and pretty too. How does he have better eyelashes than me already? He’s like an hour old.”
I chuckle, swiping a small tear out of the corner of my eye. Vaughn definitely got his father’s hair. Thick, dark, and all over. Even his tiny eyebrows are quite full and defined.
Turning to Yordan, I ask, “Do you want to hold him next?”
“Yes,” he breathes out, looking overwhelmed. “But you have to show me how, I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Yordan, you’ve held babies before,” Jade reminds him with a giggle. “You hold the twins all the time.”
“I never knew the twins when they were this tiny,” he points out nervously. “They don’t seem as breakable.”
“You’d be surprised how sturdy they feel in your arms, even when they’re this small,” Dante tells him, walking over to Yordan. “Sit, I’ll show you.”
My brother drops into the closest chair to my bed, arms empty and expecting. Dante is unnaturally gentle as he hands over my son, moving slowly with care. Once Yordan has him secured, Dante shows him how to properly support the baby’s head. Yordan listens like his life depends on it, and cradles Vaughn like a priceless package.
“He’s so tiny.”
“Tell that to my vagina,” I gripe, lips twitching as his face turns up in disgust.
“I do not need to hear about that.”
“Poor Yordan,” Ana drawls sarcastically. “He’s never heard the word vagina before. What is Javier teaching him in those tutoring sessions? Did he skip anatomy and biology?”
Everyone laughs at her teasing and Yordan scowls.
“I’m familiar with both human anatomy and biology, I would rather not hear about my sister’s though, thank you.”
I reach over, patting his hand. “We’re just playing with you,milichko.”
He lightens up and peers back down at his baby brother. “He’s so tiny. Why the name Vaughn? Where’d that come from?”
“Rayna liked it,” Apollo responds for me.
