Page 113 of Dirty Legend

I blew out a breath and refocused on my wife, who was gripping my hand so hard I'd lost feeling in it a while ago. "Breathe, mama. You're doing so good. I'm so proud of you." I brushed her damp hair off her forehead.

"Love you," she whispered.

"I love you, too. So much." I wanted to wrap her up in my arms, but what I wanted right now wasn't important. I didn't want to mess up her focus to get through the pain.

"Fuck," she whimpered before crying out in pain. "I think my water just broke."

I smoothed her hair and rubbed down her back. "That's good, right? That's supposed to happen."

She nodded and huffed out a breath. "Yeah, but we're in the back seat of a car, and I want to push."

Kennedy's eyes widened. "Try not to, babe. We're almost there."

Zen glanced at me in the rearview mirror, his eyes wide and full of fear. "Five more minutes."

"Shit, shit, shit." She chanted as she breathed. "I really, really need to push."

I rubbed circles on her hand. "Just keep breathing. We're almost there. You can do this."

She cried out, and I felt totally helpless. I'd deliver my daughter if I had to, but I had no fucking clue what I was doing, so I desperately hoped she could keep fighting until we got to the hospital.

Amara's eyes were squeezed shut as she focused on breathing. Thank fuck only a couple minutes later, Zen slammed the car into park in front of the hospital's emergency entrance, tossing us all forward against our seatbelts. He jumped out and sprinted inside, grabbing a wheelchair and a nurse.

Kennedy hopped out and opened my door. "Honey, we're here. Let's go meet our girl."

Her eyes popped open, wild and frantic, and they locked on mine. A slow smile spread across her face despite her pain and exhaustion. I knew she was just as ready for this as I was, maybe even more. I climbed out of the car and helped her out behind me. She settled in the chair, and I never let go of her hand.

After the nurse asked a few questions about how her labor had progressed, we were rushed into a delivery room. I knew Amara didn't have time to wait through all sorts of paperwork. Our daughter was comingnow.

They moved her into a bed and didn't even have monitors hooked up before she cried out. "I need to push.I can't stop it anymore." She gritted her teeth and groaned as she pushed involuntarily. The medical personnel in the room rushed around, getting everything ready as the doctor came jogging in, pulling gloves on as she moved to the end of the bed.

Dr. Allwin looked up at me and gave me a reassuring smile, and immediately some of the tension left my body. Everything was going to be okay. "Okay, Amara. I'm going to put your feet in the stirrups, and on your next contraction, you're going to push. Her head is already crowning, so a couple of pushes and she should be here. Okay?"

All Amara could do was nod, and I clung to her hand, watching the scene play out in awe as if I were standing outside of my own body. Zen and Kennedy were in the room with us somewhere, but I couldn't focus on them right now. My only focus was on Amara and getting our daughter safely into the world.

"Time to push, Amara," Dr. Allwin said, and Amara bit her lip as she pushed. Her hand gripped mine, and I kissed her forehead, stroking her hair and whispering anything I could think of to be encouraging and let her know I was here, loving and supporting her. Even though she was doing all the work right now, we were in this together.

"Her head is out. Just one more push," Dr. Allwin commanded, and Amara scrunched up her face and pushed with everything she had. A few seconds later, the sweetest sound I'd ever heard filled up the room as my daughter took her first breath and cried out.

Tears slid down my face as I tore my eyes away from my daughter to look at my wife. I leaned down to kiss her. "Hey, mama. You did it," I said, kissing her again and again.

Tears ran down her face, too, and I wiped them away. The nurse bundled up our baby girl and handed her to Amara, placing her onto her chest. We both gazed down at her, and I felt like my chest might actually burst with the amount of love coursing through my body. I ran my fingertip down her soft, plump cheek as she nuzzled into my touch like she instinctively knew who I was.

I didn't know if I'd ever fallen so fast and so hard in love with anyone in my life, but this tiny human just claimed my heart and soul.

* * *

"Meet Phoenix Rebecca Easton,"I announced to the room. It was an hour later and all our friends and family had crowded into the hospital room. I held my daughter securely tucked into my arms. I couldn't stop staring at her. I knew everyone wanted a chance to hold her, but fuck, I didn't want to let her go. I barely wanted to let Amara hold her. Maybe I was being ridiculous, but I didn't give a fuck.

It hit me square in the chest how much her safety and happiness I was now responsible for. I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead before begrudgingly passing her off to my mom, who had tears in her eyes. I missed my little girl already.

The door swung open, and Harrison came in, the last one to show up. He carried a box of donuts with him, and my stomach growled as I realized how hungry I was. I crossed the room to him, taking the box out of his hands. "Thanks, man." I flipped open the top and pulled out a glazed donut before handing the box off to Maddox so he could pass it around.

Harrison glanced around me and waved to everyone in the room before he turned back to me, looking decidedly uncomfortable. "Can we talk in the hall for a second?"

I turned around and met Amara's gaze, jerking my head toward the door. She grinned and nodded before blowing me a kiss. Fuck, she was striking. If I didn't watch it myself, I never would have believed she'd just given birth an hour ago.

Following Harrison out into the hall, he waited until the door closed before he spoke. "I've got some unsettling news."

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