“Okay.” But if this wasn’t over soon, Lily was going to give the midwife heck herself.
Three hours later, the three of them were fighting over holding the babies. Lily stood, holding one in her arms at the same time that Sawyer sat in the rocking chair, rocking the other one. Their husbands had taken the other children for dinner and were going to bring them all back to the hospital to say goodnight to the babies.
“Have you picked out names yet?” Lily asked, moving toward the bed to lay the baby back in her mother’s arm.
“Yes, I have,” Vida said, clearing her throat.
Sawyer brought the other one back, laying it against her mother’s other side.
“This one,” she nodded toward the baby who Lily had beside her, “is Callie and this one, Sawyer.”
Lily stood, staring down at Vida as she lay on the hospital bed, holding her precious babies. She didn’t know what to say.
Sawyer didn’t have that problem. “That’s going to drive you crazy. You’ll have double tats with the same names.”
Lily sat down on the side of her bed. “Or how about when we go on vacation and we’re all together?”
“I already thought of that,” Vida said ruefully.
“Then why?” Sawyer asked.
“Because I can have it again, and I don’t want to miss that chance,” Vida explained.
“What chance?” Lily asked, reaching out to cover the small, wiggling baby who had kicked off its blanket.
“Watching little girls grow up again together like we did. When I hear them giggling together, I’ll think that’s Callie and Sawyer. When they’re driving me crazy, I’ll think that’s like Sawyer and Callie. But most of all, I couldn’t think of two better namesakes.”
Lily’s finger touched the cheek of her namesake.
“She’s a lucky girl to have both you and Colton as her parents.
“Both of them are,” Sawyer said.
Lily watched as baby Sawyer grasped her namesake’s finger in a tight fist.
“I have something for you, Lily. It’s on the table there.” Vida nodded at the table beside her bed.
Lily got up from the bed, picking up the thick, yellow envelope.
“I found it a couple of months ago when I was cleaning our spare bedroom out for the girls. I had put some stuff in there that was mine and Sawyer’s from our apartment we’d shared. In one of Sawyer’s boxes were her school folders. Her mom had saved all her school stuff. When I looked through it, I found that picture. I’ll understand if you don’t want it.”
Lily looked at her friend to see Vida bury her face in her baby’s neck. Her shoulders were shaking. Her eyes went to Sawyer’s own pained expression.
Lily’s eyes went back to the envelope in her hands, sliding the picture frame out. She gazed down at the picture in her hands. The picture was of the three of them when they were children, sitting at a small table at Sawyer’s apartment. They were obviously playing school. Vida was cutting something, Sawyer was obviously gluing things together, and she was coloring. Sawyer’s mom had taken the picture when the three had been chatting away.
When Lily looked at the picture, she didn’t see the obvious neglect of her dirty hair, clothes that were out of season, or even the bruise on her cheek. All she saw was the love and affection the three little girls shared for each other at that brief second in time.
Lily walked back over, sitting down next to Vida on the bed. “Thank you, Vida. I’ll treasure it. It was the best part of my childhood. Those days of playing with you two were very special to me. I learned everything any child needed from you two; what I hope to pass down to my children, and what I will always thank you for teaching me.”
Lily lay the picture frame down on the bed, reaching for the sweet baby snuggled in Vida’s arms. Her sleeve fell back, revealing the tattoo on the underside of her forearm. Clusters of forget-me-nots clustered around three white Easter lilies with her son’s name, John Wayne; Shade’s name; and Sawyer, Vida’s, and Beth’s, their children’s names written inside the small forget-me-not flowers. Each Easter lily held a different word—Love, Hope and Faith. Only Colton could have given the tat the final touch it needed. Part of the tattoo was shaded, but the other half was enveloped in a golden light carrying the darkness of her pain away forever, leaving behind the birth of a new beginning to be shared with everyone she loved.
Books By Jamie Begley:
The Last Riders Series:
Razer’s Ride
Viper’s Run
Knox’s Stand
Shade’s Fall
Biker Bitches Series:
Sex Piston
The VIP Room Series:
Teased
Tainted
The Dark Souls Series:
Soul Of A Man
Enjoy an excerpt from Cathryn Williams’ book
Stand Of Honor (Stand, #1)
Prologue