She stomps over to Asher and Chelcie, gives them a hug, and apologizes for ruining their night—to which, of course, they assure her that she didn’t. The whole time she’s talking to them, Asher is throwing silent daggers at me with his eyes.
I’m left there, my jaw slack, and a million doubts running through my mind. And for the first time in too many years, that small flame of hope starts to flicker.
EPILOGUE
Chelcie
Ugh. I feel terrible. My back has been killing me all day. Of course it doesn’t help that I went crazy pregnant woman and cleaned every inch of the house I could reach yesterday.
My due date has come . . . and gone. I’m so beyond ready to meet our baby that my anxiety is making me crazy. Asher is just as bad. He’s been calling me every hour, on the hour, for the last three days. Ever since I passed my due date, it would seem that I transferred over my basket-case persona to him.
And it is driving me nuts.
So here I am on this perfectly sunny day, surprising my husband with lunch at work. He hasn’t been terribly busy lately, just going in for a few hours a day. With him and Maddox working the computers and technical team at Corps Security, they’ve been able to ease the workload considerably.
I pull myself out of my brand-new Audi, a wedding present from Asher, and hike up my pants in a move that I’m sure is sexy as hell. I pull at the edges of my shirt to make sure it’s covering my stomach before I reach in the car and grab the bag of lunch I picked up from Asher’s favorite Mexican restaurant. The smell of it has almost caused me to wreck the damn car a few times on the way over.
After making sure I have everything, I waddle over to the sidewalk, my flip-flops slapping loudly against the pavement. Seeing Sway in the window has me lifting my arm and waving wildly. The second I go to put my arm down, I feel this tremendous pain in my stomach. Sway cocks his head at me, clearly puzzled with my actions. I look down from his eyes and try to figure out what just happened.
Sway bursts through the door to his salon about the same time that I realize that my water just broke. Of all places to have my water break, it’s the damn golden sidewalk. I love this sidewalk. Now all I’m going to think about is my pregnancy water leaking out of my vagina.
“Sway! My vagina broke the happiness!” I cry when he runs over. He grabs the food and my purse before helping me walk the few steps left to take me inside Corps Security. “Sway!” I pant. “Are you listening to me? My vagina broke it!”
Of course that would be the moment that we step through the door to CS. And of course the lobby wouldn’t be empty.
“Hey, baby,” I gasp. I grab my tight stomach when new wave of pain washes over me. Holy shit, this hurts.
“Sunshine? Are you okay?”
“No, I’m not okay! I brought you Mexican and my vagina broke the happiness! Do I look okay?” I have to take a huge gulp of air when I feel another sharp pain rock through my stomach. “They aren’t supposed to be coming this fast, baby,” I whine.
His eyes widen when the meaning behind my words becomes clear. He smiles for a second before I whimper when my stomach starts to tighten again.
“Davey, sugar pie, I think you need to get those sexy fingers of yours dancing over to the phone. It’s looks like there’s a baby on the way.”
That snaps Asher into motion. He tosses the file he was looking at over to Davey, rushing over to my side and helping Sway move me deeper into the lobby. We are just about the pass the reception desk when I let out a brutal scream and my body goes limp.
“Let’s lay her down here, all right, darling?” Sway asks, calm as can be.
I look into Asher’s eyes and see the fear leering behind his excitement. I try to reassure him that I’m okay—that this is normal—but when I open my mouth, the only thing that comes out is a scream.
“Dil, baby,” Davey calls from where he is standing, talking to what I assume is the 911 operator.
“Go ahead, doll. You just tell me what I need to do,” Sway calls over his shoulder.
I can hear Davey responding to him, but I’m lost to the pain that is ripping though my body. I keep my eyes glued to Asher’s. He strokes my face, kissing my hand when it clamps down on his own, and between the contractions that are killing me, he presses his forehead against mine and whispers how much he loves me.
I feel movement and then cold air hits my legs. I keep my eyes on Ash, my breathing controlled and my hand clamped in his. When I feel someone take my other hand in theirs, I break my connection to Asher and look over at Maddox’s grim face. He gives me a weak smile and a small squeeze. I feel another contraction starting, so I whip my head back to Asher and grunt through the pain.
“Don’t you dare look any lower than her face,” Asher warns Maddox.
I would laugh if I didn’t feel like I was being sawed in half.