Page 10 of Line of Fire
“You are not a bad mother, Sunny. You’ve just been busy growing a human. We can figure this out together, honey.” She wiped her eyes and nodded.
“Well, I’ve always liked the name Sadie,” she squeaked.
Aaron smiled, “Sadie,” he whispered as they both looked at their daughter. “I love it, honey.” “Then Sadie Steele, it is.” Sunny sniffled and sighed. “See, we are a good team. I panic and cry, and you swoop in to fix everything.” Aaron bent to kiss Sunny’s lips. He was feeling so many emotions at once that he didn’t know which one to process first.
“I love you, Sunny. I’m so thankful that you gave me another chance.” Sunny looked up at him, tears shining in her eyes, and she nodded. Before she could say anything, their daughter started crying, and the EMT who was assessing her handed Sadie back to Sunny.
“We are at the hospital, and I’m pretty sure your daughter is ready to eat. A nurse will help you with all that once we get you into a room. Congratulations.”
Aaron shook his hand and thanked both EMTs for their help. He stayed with Sunny and Sadie the entire way up to the second floor, where they had a room waiting for them. Sunny’s doctor came in a few minutes later, and everything seemed to be moving too fast. Sunny seemed to notice his discomfort and asked him to go call Piper and Tag to tell them what happened. He was thankful for the reprieve but hesitant to leave them both.
“Please, Aaron, I need Pipe here,” Sunny said.
He nodded and pulled out his cell. “I’ll be right out in the lobby,” he assured. She smiled at him and gave her full attention to the nurse who was giving her instructions on how to feed their daughter. Tag answered the phone in a whisper, and Aaron felt like an ass for waking him up in the middle of the night.
“Hey man, what’s up?” He could hear the concern in Tag’s voice.
“Well, Sunny went into labor about thirty minutes ago—” Tag cut Aaron off, seeming to wake up at the mention of Sunny being in labor.
“I’ll wake Pipe, and we’ll head over to the hospital. You guys there yet? I know Piper will want to be there to help Sunny through all this.” Aaron laughed at Tag’s questions, not able to get a word in edgewise.
“Tag—take a breath, man. She went into labor about half an hour ago, and she had the baby at our condo. I delivered her and she is perfect.” Aaron found it hard to speak past the lump that formed in his throat. All the emotions from that evening were catching up with him, and he felt like he was about to lose it.
“Fuck man. Is Sunny all right?” Aaron could hear Piper asking about a hundred questions in the background.
“Yeah, she’s good. She’s feeding Sadie now. That’s what we are naming her.” Aaron looked around the corner to where Sunny’s room was and noticed that things had quieted down.
“Well, that’s a beautiful name, Aaron. We are getting dressed and heading down now. Pipe won’t give me a moment’s peace until she gets to hold that baby.” Aaron chuckled into the phone and promised to see them both soon. He wanted to get back to Sunny and Sadie. He felt uneasy and didn’t like how quiet things were. He decided to stop at the nurse’s station to ask about staying the night when Sunny’s scream stopped him cold. He ran to her room to find her standing in the corner holding Sadie to her chest. He barged into the room and pulled them both into his arms. Sadie started fussing, and Sunny was shaking.
“Honey, what happened?” Sunny was so upset she could barely speak. Aaron rubbed her back, trying to soothe her. “It’s okay, Sunny, you’re safe. I need to know what happened,” Aaron coaxed. “A man—he was standing over Sadie’s bed,” she stuttered. “I went to the bathroom, and when I walked back in, he was standing over there, in the corner.” She pointed to the spot she was talking about. “When I screamed, he ran out of the room.” Aaron kissed her forehead and made her sit down on the bed.
“I need for you and Sadie to stay put.” Sunny nodded, cuddling the baby and trying to calm her. “I’ll be right outside, but I need to call security.” Aaron ran out of the room, trying to find a nurse or anyone who might work at the hospital. He finally found Sunny’s doctor and told him what happened. By the time Piper and Tag arrived, security was alerted, and a guard was outside of Sunny’s door. Aaron wasn’t taking any chances with Sunny or the baby.
“What the hell is going on?” Tag pulled Aaron into the hall to talk privately while the women gushed over the baby. Sunny was still pretty shaken up, and he knew that Piper would be able to help soothe her.
“I’m not sure, man. I got off the phone with you, and then she screamed. It all happened so fast. They said that the camerasshould have picked up on someone coming and going on this floor. Security is going over the footage now, and they will verify the guy’s identity with Sunny once they have something.” Aaron shook his head, trying to figure out how the whole night went sideways. Their New Year’s celebration sent Sunny into labor, and it was a downhill spiral since then. Tag looked like he wanted to say something, but he seemed to hesitate.
“Just fucking say it, man. It has been a long night,” Aaron grumbled.
“I’m just thinking—you said that your tire was slashed the day after Christmas?” Aaron nodded, not liking where their conversation was going. “Well, what if it’s the same guy? I mean, can you think of anyone who would want to hurt you or Sunny?” Aaron sighed; yeah, he definitely didn’t like where their conversation was going.
“Fuck, man, I can’t think of anyone who would want to hurt Sunny. Everyone loves her. And as for me, I don’t have any enemies.” Aaron shrugged, trying to think of one single person who might have a grudge against him. He couldn’t think of anyone who would slash his tire or want to scare Sunny to get to him.
“Listen, Sawyer will be back in two days. Let’s see what security digs up, and then we can go from there. Sawyer already knows what is going on. The security detail that he put on Piper told him about your slashed tire. He put in a request to your condo’s security for any footage they might have from that day. Sawyer said that he will investigate that incident, and I will make sure he knows about today. If anyone can figure this all out, it’s him,” Tag promised and clapped his big hand on Aaron’s shoulder, pulling him in for a hug.
“Thanks, man, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Aaron said. “I’m taking Sunny and the baby home today. I’ve already talked to the doctor, and he said that he would like to keep themboth until tomorrow, but he won’t force us to stay. I think I can keep them safer at the condo.” Aaron was worried that whoever the guy was, he wouldn’t give up. For some reason, someone was out to hurt him, and he couldn’t put his family in any more danger.
“I’ll come over and help you secure your place. Torren and Sawyer helped me set up security at the cabin and both my and Piper’s stores. I’ll call Torren and have him meet me over there when Piper gets her fill of holding Sadie. You concentrate on Sunny and the baby. Torren and I will get your place secure,” Tag promised. Aaron nodded, and that fucking lump was back in his throat. Fuck, having a daughter was turning him into a puddle of mush.
CHAPTER NINE
Sunny was happy that Aaron insisted on taking her and the baby home. Finding a stranger standing over her sleeping child freaked her out. She felt like a truck had run over her—every muscle in her body ached, and she was exhausted. Aaron didn’t leave her side, and watching him with Sadie made her fall a little more in love with him each time. She just wished that she had the nerve to say those words back to him. When he told her that he loved her, she felt so overcome with emotions that she didn’t know what to say or do. When they got to the hospital, everything happened so fast, and she didn’t want to just blurt the words out. She wanted them to mean something because Aaron meant everything to her.
He got Sunny settled in bed and pulled Sadie’s bassinet into their room. Earlier, while they were at the hospital, Piper and Tag went into the condo and cleaned everything up from the birth. Tag and Torren set up a security system and taught Aaron how to use it. Sunny felt safe knowing that Aaron would never let anyone hurt them. Her doctor promised to come by later and check on her and Sadie. He laughed when she told him that she and Aaron had sex last night. She was worried that she had donesomething wrong, but he assured her that she didn’t. Doc told her that whenever his pregnant patients asked what they could do to induce labor, he suggested they have sex. Most women groaned and told him that there was no way that they wanted their husbands to go anywhere near them. He told her that it was quite normal that sex would trigger labor, especially since she was so close to her due date.
She didn’t regret last night with Aaron. It brought them closer, and Sadie was finally here and perfect. She eventually drifted to sleep after nursing Sadie while Aaron changed her diaper and walked their room with her, rocking her to sleep. He was already a great daddy, just like she knew he would be. Sunny woke up a few hours later to Sadie crying and Aaron explaining to her that Mommy needed to sleep. Her daughter didn’t want to hear about anyone sleeping, especially when she was hungry. Aaron brought her to bed and handed her to Sunny.
“Sorry, honey, but I think she wants you. I don’t have what she needs right now.” Aaron collapsed next to her, and she felt a little guilty about sleeping most of the afternoon.
