I glanced at the clock on the stove. “It’s too late for breakfast. How about a sandwich? Will you eat with me?” I loved getting to have a quiet meal with Layla. Even when we didn’t talk, it was nice just to be around her.
“Will you promise to rest afterwards?”
I sighed. “I really don’t want to.”
Her chocolate brown eyes narrowed on me. “I’m not Jesse. That little pouty thing doesn’t work on me.”
I laughed. I hadn’t even realized that I was pouting. “Oh Layla. I’m so happy that you came into our lives.”
For the next half an hour, we sat at the island and shared lunch. It was crazy how quickly I had included her in our family, it was even more so that I couldn’t imagine my family without her or her sisters. I was glad that Jesse was able to find happiness with someone as loving and full of life as Layla, someone who didn’t put up with his shit…Or mine.
“Okay, I’m going to go watch television now.” I grinned as I stood up. “Want to join me?”
She grimaced. “I have a load of clothes in the drier. Shane has more clothes than Lana.”
I laughed. Shane was worse than any girl when it came to clothes. He was the only one of my guys that I didn’t have to shop for. “Good luck with that.”
Layla stuck her tongue out at me. “Thanks!”
Still laughing, I turned around and started out of the kitchen. Two steps and I stopped. There was a sudden pressure between my legs. Just as suddenly it was gone. I didn’t think anything of it until I felt my panties getting soaked. When I realized what was happening fear overtook me and I screamed.
“Oh. FUCK!” Layla exclaimed.
Chapter 19
Jesse
“I can’t believe you just said that, dude!” I wiped my mouth with my napkin and tossed a fry at Shane. He had been telling crazy, funny jokes from the time we had sat down for lunch. Already, Nik had spit soda out his nose, and I was sure that Shane was determined to make us all do the same.
“What?” Shane grinned. “It’s true.”
Drake snorted. “How do you know? Oh, wait. I don’t want to know.” He shook his head, making his hair fall in his face as he gave his younger brother a disgusted yet amused glare. “I don’t need to know how you know a woman can do that!”
I was still laughing when my phone buzzed, and I pulled it out of my back pocket to see Layla’s gorgeous face smiling back at me. “Hey, baby,” I greeted.
There was a pause on the line and for some reason my heart tensed. “Layla?”
There were muttered curses in the background before Layla’s voice came clearly through. “Jesse, where are you?” she demanded, sounding anxious and out of breath.
“Having lunch with the guys. What’s going on?” I thought I heard Emmie crying and fear like I had never experienced before gripped me. “Layla?”
“Listen to me, Jess.” Her voice was suddenly very calm but that didn’t help the churning in my gut. “I want you to get in a taxi, all of you. Don’t drive, okay? Tell the taxi to take you to the Women’s Center. Emmie’s water broke. I have her in Shane’s car, and I’m driving there now.”
“Oh fuck!” I whispered and glanced over at Nik. He frowned at me, but I was already pulling my wallet out and tossing a bunch of bills on the table. I didn’t care what I was leaving. It didn’t matter anyway. Nothing mattered but getting to the Women’s Center. “Is she okay?”
Another pause and I heard Layla murmuring something soothingly in the background. She was trying to keep Emmie calm. After a second, Layla was back. “She’s starting to have contractions, Jesse. The baby is too big for her to deliver. You know that. Just get Nik to the hospital as quick as you can. But take a taxi. I’m serious. None of you will be sane enough to drive. You’ll kill yourselves.”
“Okay. Fine. Just… Just keep her safe until we get there.”
“I will. I love you.”
Tears were already pooling in my eyes. “I love you too. Tell Emmie…Tell her…” I couldn’t get the words out.
“I will,” Layla assured me, knowing what I needed to tell Emmie without me voicing the words.
I was already walking out of the restaurant, and the guys hadn’t even questioned me as they followed me out. When we were on the sidewalk, Nik grabbed my arm. “What is it?” he demanded. There was a wildness in his eyes that I completely understood. “Tell me!”
I swallowed hard, trying not to cry. “Her water broke. Layla’s taking her to the hospital right now…”
Drake stepped off the sidewalk and right into the line of traffic. The taxi driver blew his horn but Drake just opened the door and slid in the front seat while the rest of us took up the back. I told the man where we were headed and then tossed him a bunch of big bills to get us there as quickly as possible.
It was lunch time and traffic was a bitch, but the driver, either scared by the menacing why Drake glared at him or the incentive from the big tip I had already given him, got us there in record time. The car hadn’t even come to a complete stop in front of the Women’s Center when Nik opened the door and jumped out.
He was almost incoherent when we stopped by the information desk. I pushed him aside and told the woman why we were there. The little old woman in the pink jacket gave us a smile, obviously having dealt with scared, crazy daddies on a daily basis. She gave us directions up to labor and delivery and told us that Emmie was already being prepped, whatever that meant.
The elevator ride up to the fourth floor felt like it took forever. I thought Nik was going to start climbing the wall and was glad when the door opened. We stepped off the elevator and found a nurses’ station right in front of us. Every nurse was running around. Working fast and talking faster. I stopped by the desk. “Can anyone tell me where Ember Jameson is?” I called out.
Several heads turned in my direction. “Are you family?” A nurse demanded.
I didn’t even hesitate. “She’s my sister.” I told the woman.
She gave me a skeptical look but nodded her head. “Down the hall. Room 403. We’re prepping her for surgery.”
Nik was already running down the hall before I could even turn around. Drake and Shane right behind him. He pushed a door open down the hall, and I followed them in. Emmie was lying on a little bed, an IV in one arm. There was a heart monitor on her, and I was transported for a second back to the night she had been so sick. Fear gripped me even harder, and I stood there just taking her in for a long moment.
She looked pale, her big green eyes standing out in her pretty face. Nik held her against his chest, whispering something to her, and they were both shaking. This was scary. Terrifying! I wasn’t ready for this to be happening. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. The doctor had set us all down during Emmie’s last appointment and explained in detail what would happen, but this wasn’t it.
This was rushed. There was a doctor and three nurses trying to get Emmie ready while we stood there.
A soft hand touched my arm, and I looked down to find Layla standing there. She gave me a small smile. “It’s going to be okay, Jesse,” she promised me.
I wrapped my arms around her, burying my face in her hair. “Are you sure? She looks scared as hell and that is scaring the shit out of me.”
Layla cupped my face in her hands. “I’m sure. She looks scared because she’s in pain. She’s having regular contractions, and the doctor said she was already dilated to a six when we got here. That’s why everyone is rushing.”
“Jesse?” Emmie’s quivering voice made me raise my head. She looked so tiny in that bed.
I crossed to her side in three big strides and wrapped her in my arms. “I love you, Jesse,” she whispered in my ear, and I couldn’t help but hold on tighter. “I wish you all could come into the operating room with me.”
So did I. But we all knew that only one person could go in with her. Nik was already putting on the scrubs that a nurse had handed him. I brushed a kiss across the top of her head. “You’re going to be fine, sweetheart. Nik wi
ll be with you.”
“We’re ready, Miss Jameson,” the doctor said, and I reluctantly stepped back as the nurses stepped up to the bed and unlocked the wheels.
Tears poured down Emmie’s face as the nurses pushed her away from me, and I felt like my heart was being ripped from me as she was taken from the room.
“Love you!” She called to us and I had to turn away so that she wouldn’t see my tears as they spilled from my eyes.
Layla
The past hour felt surreal. It couldn’t have all happened that quickly. It just didn’t seem possible. One minute I’m laughing with Emmie about all of Shane’s laundry, and the next I’m driving like some Indy racer down the highway with a screaming woman in the passenger seat.
I had never been so terrified in my life as I was when I had seen all that water pool at Emmie’s feet. The way she had started screaming had nearly made me start as well, but I knew that one of us had to be calm or we were in trouble. Somehow, I had been able to call Emmie’s doctor and let him know what was going on.
I had been driving ninety miles an hour when I called Jesse. Between the phone, traffic, and a crying Emmie, it was a miracle that I had gotten us to the hospital in once piece.
As soon as I had pulled up in front of the Women’s Center, Emmie was rushed upstairs. I had to park Shane’s car and took a second to text Lana to let her know she needed to leave school and pick up Lucy. When I got up to Labor and Delivery, they didn’t want to let me back to see her.
So I lied and told them she was my sister. They didn’t have a choice but to let me go. By then they were already prepping Emmie for her C-section. I was startled by how fast the medical staff was working, but Emmie told me that she was dilating fast.
I stayed off to the side so that the team could work, but I never took my eyes off of Emmie. For the first time, I saw how small she was, how tiny and fragile she could be. It scared me to see her like this. I was used to seeing the strong Emmie. The woman that didn’t back down from anything or anyone.
Every few seconds, she would catch my eye and we would hold on to each other like that. It gave her some support that I couldn’t offer physically since the doctor and nurses were so busy. I was scared that if I got in the way someone would ask me to leave, and I wasn’t going to chance that.
When the door opened and Nik came running in I was beyond relieved. My fear had been that they wouldn’t make it before Emmie had to be taken into surgery. I would have gladly taken his place if that had been an option, but I was relieved that Nik would get to experience this with Emmie as he should.
Drake and Shane were hot on Nik’s heels, moving to the opposite side of the bed and contenting themselves with just touching Emmie anywhere they could reach. Jesse was right behind them, and it hurt me to see how lost he looked when he saw Emmie in the hospital bed. I knew there was a deep bond there, knew that it went miles deep and each time I saw a glimpse of that bond, I loved him more.
When the nurses wheeled Emmie away it nearly brought me to my knees to see the tears fall from Jesse’s eyes. I couldn’t keep from going to him. He pulled me against him, but kept his head turned away so that I wouldn’t see him crying. Nik was quick to follow Emmie, now dressed in scrubs so that he could be with her during the C-section. It was just the four of us now, and we were all an emotional wreck.
With one arm I held Jesse. The other I offered to the brothers, and they came willingly. I hugged Shane and he put his arm on his brother’s shoulder. I don’t know how long we stood there like that, the four of us holding onto each other, but it felt right. It kept us all sane while we waited.
Ten minutes later, a nurse escorted us to a waiting room. “Miss Jameson has already been given her epidural, and Mr. Armstrong is with her now,” she explained to us. “It shouldn’t be long now.”
I thanked her and went back to holding onto the guys. There were plenty of chairs free. We were the only ones in the waiting room anyway, but they needed to stand, so I stood between Jesse and Drake and rubbed their backs while they stared off into space. Shane was pacing the length of the room, and I wished I had an extra hand so that I could offer him the same comfort.
Slowly the minutes ticked by on the clock on the opposite wall. The ticking was starting to eat at my nerves. Jesse was growing tenser with each passing minute. The brothers looked like they couldn’t handle any more…
The waiting room door opened, and Nik stood there. There was a huge grin on his handsome face, and tears just poured from his blue eyes. My heart turned over at the sight of him. Jesse was the first to cross the room. He locked gazes with Nik, and they just stared at each other for a long moment. Their laughter made me jump because I had been so tense.
Jesse and Nik hugged, pounding each other on the back. “Congratulations, bro.” Jesse’s voice was choked with emotions.
“Thanks, man.” He stepped back and Drake and Shane gave him the same greeting.
I couldn’t help myself. I had to hug him too. He pulled me into a bear hug and swung me around. “Thank you, Layla,” he whispered. “I don’t know what we would ever do without you.” His words made me tear up, and I tried to blink them away.
When I was on my feet, I held onto his arms. “How is she?”
He grinned. “Emmie is fine. Tired but fine. She did beautifully.”
“And the baby?”
A peculiar look crossed Nik’s face. “She’s perfect. I have never seen anything more beautiful in my life. And big, so big! Nine pounds and fourteen ounces. No wonder Emmie has been so uncomfortable.” He laughed, shaking his head. “I can’t wait for you guys to meet my daughter.”
“Dude!” Shane shook his head. “I can’t believe you said that. This doesn’t seem real.”
But it was and two hours later, we were let into Emmie’s private room. She was lying back against the pillows, a dazed look on her pale face, but in her arms she had the most precious sight I had ever laid eyes on. Emmie grinned up at us as we fought over who got to hold the baby first.
“So,” Lana said as she took her turn holding the baby. She and Lucy had arrived an hour before, adding to our excited group. Somehow she had conned Drake into letting her be next to hold the baby, and I was itching to get my hands on the baby again. The feel of that little angel in my arms was the best thing in the world. “What do we call this little beauty?”
Emmie’s eyes widened. “I was waiting to see her before I gave her a name. But now that I have her here, I can’t decide.” Tears slipped from her eyes. “I’m a horrible mother already. I can’t even name my own child.”
“Oh Emmie!” we all exclaimed. I gave my friend a little squeeze. “Stop thinking such nonsense,” I chided her. “You’re a great mother already.”
“I have a name I like.” Nik spoke up. He was leaning over Lana, unable to tear his eyes off his baby girl. “Can I name her?”
Emmie’s tears were quick to dry up. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a name you liked?”
He shrugged, sending her a sexy smile. “I wanted to wait, like you did. But now that I see her, I think the same fits.” He took the baby from Lana and brought her back over to Emmie. Gently he placed the now sleeping baby in her mother’s arms. “Mia.”
Emmie’s face lit up. “That’s perfect. I love it,” she whispered. “Mia Nicole Armstrong.”
Chapter 20
Layla
I couldn’t lie. The weeks following Mia’s birth were not all sunshine and butterflies. If anything, they were hardcore nightmares at times. I loved Mia from the moment I laid eyes on her, but damn that little buddle of joy wasn’t exactly joyful at times.
Emmie had to spend nearly a week in the hospital. She had gotten out of bed too soon and popped her stitches, but Mia ended up staying just as long. She ended up having jaundice so bad that she looked like an Umpa-Lumpa she was so orange. She spent two days under a light, which had made Emmie hysterical.
When mother and daughter were finally home, things were great for the fi
rst day or so. Emmie was supposed to take it easy, no heavy lifting or being on her feet often. The baby was eating well and had gained weight already. But she was on a day time sleep schedule after being under the bili light for so long.
By the third day Emmie was exhausted. Mia wasn’t sleeping much at night, and that meant that Emmie wasn’t either. Nik tried to help out as much as she would let him, but for some reason those two were arguing. Maybe it was because Emmie was going through some bad postpartum, or maybe it was because Nik had brought up the idea of getting married soon. I wasn’t sure, and I wasn’t about to ask. No yet at least.
One morning when I came over to start on breakfast, I found Emmie sobbing at the kitchen sink. She had a bag of peas stuffed in her nursing bra, and her hair was a mess. I wasn’t too confident that she had showered in the last few days.
“Emmie, what’s wrong?” I asked, pulling her into my arms.
“I’m a horrible mother,” she cried, her tears soaking my shirt, and I was sure she was wiping snot on me. Not that I cared. Snot was nothing to the mess Mia had made on me the day before when she had had a very impressive dirty diaper. “All Mia does is cry. She would rather Nik hold her than me. She hates me.”
“Oh sweetie, Mia doesn’t hate you. She loves you to pieces.” I rubbed my hands up and down her back, trying to soothe my friend. “You just think she does because your emotions are all over the place.” I pulled back enough to see Emmie’s face. There were dark circles under her eyes. “When’s the last time you slept, Em?”
“I can’t remember. Maybe a few hours yesterday?”
I gripped her shoulders. “Listen to me Emmie. You are a great mother. That little girl is lucky to have someone that loves her as much as you do. But you have got to stop trying to be so strong. Ask for help. Ask the guys. Ask me!” When she had first gotten home from the hospital, she had been determined to do it all on her own. I hadn’t wanted to step on her toes, so I had tried to stay out of the way, assuming that if Emmie really needed help she would speak up.