EPILOGUE #2
Before he could respond, another contraction overtook her. She reached for his hands as her eyes slid shut.
Jude watched the monitor that showed the progress of the contraction, wincing as it went on for what seemed like forever. Finally, he could see the line on the monitor begin to drop.
The nurse had come in and approached them once the contraction was over. “Dr. Ellis will be here in a few minutes to check your dilation.”
Angela wrinkled her nose but nodded. It was a necessary part of the birthing process.
“Alright, my dear,” the middle-aged female doctor said a few minutes later after checking Angela. “You’re at ten centimeters and fully effaced, so whenever you feel the urge to push, you can.”
Angela’s eyes widened. “Really?”
The doctor smiled as she helped put the sheet back into place over Angela’s legs. “Really.”
Angela turned toward him. “Jude, we’re going to meet our baby soon.”
“I can’t wait.”
“And then we’re going to have to decide on a name.”
“I think, after all you’ve gone through, I’m going to let you pick the name.”
The smile she gave him faded as she once again reached for his hand.
A few contractions later, Angela grimaced. “I think I need to push.”
The nurse hadn’t left the room since the doctor had last checked her, and she came over to the bed at Angela’s words.
Over the next several minutes, the atmosphere in the room changed.
Jude was used to being in control, but he willingly relinquished it in that particular situation.
If he’d thought things were intense up to that point, he was in for a rude awakening. The intensity ramped up as the contractions seemed to come nearly one on top of the other.
“You’re doing so great, love,” Jude murmured as Angela fell back against the bed after having gone through another pushing contraction.
“It’s a lot,” she panted as she looked at him, her eyes glazed with pain.
“But it’s almost over,” he told her, hoping it was the truth. “And you’re doing so well. I’m in awe of how you’re handling all this. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the doctor said the baby was crowning. From that point, things seemed to go very quickly.
Soon, the doctor lifted the baby out and placed it on the blanket on Angela’s stomach. Jude leaned over and pressed his head to Angela’s.
“You’re amazing.”
She was gazing down at the baby, her hand resting on its back. “What is it?”
“Congratulations! You have a beautiful baby girl,” the nurse said with a smile.
“Oh, Jude.” Angela looked up at him with damp eyes. “We have a daughter.”
The joy and wonder in her expression connected with something in Jude, and his own eyes pricked with tears.
The nurse rubbed the baby with a blanket, and soon their little girl let out a squawk. With his head close to Angela’s, Jude looked down at their baby, taking in her scrunched-up face and plump little body, along with a shock of brown hair on her head.
“She’s beautiful,” Angela said. “And I think we should name her Danielle Joy.”
The name hadn’t been one that she’d mentioned before, but Jude got choked up.
“Danielle?” he asked.
“For your dad,” she said, lifting her free hand to touch his cheek. “He raised an amazing man, and I want to honor him for that.”
Jude wasn’t one to cry, but in the intensity of that moment, he couldn’t contain the tear that slid down his cheek. “Thank you. He would be so honored.”
It took a little while, but soon, it was just the three of them in the room.
“Welcome to the world, Danielle Joy,” Jude murmured as he held her for the first time. “Your mom is amazing, and I hope you grow up to be just like her.”
He noticed that Angela had drifted off to sleep, so he pulled a chair over close to the bed and sat down, cradling Dani close to his chest.
As Angela slept, Jude prayed, thanking God for the blessing of Angela and Dani in his life. But he also prayed for wisdom and strength to be the kind of husband and father God would want him to be.
After the incident with Jim, he’d embraced Angela’s favorite verse along with his own, and the two of them had worked hard to build a strong foundation for their marriage.
They hadn’t dated for long before he’d proposed, and then they’d decided to forgo a big wedding and just get married at the estate with family and close friends witnessing the event.
Angela could now visit Serenity whenever she wanted, as they’d decided that Annie would reveal to her friends and acquaintances that she had a twin who she’d been separated from when they were young.
Annie and Angela still didn’t claim the Burke name, which made Duncan—and Jude—very happy. However, it didn’t mean they weren’t prepared if the connection was made at some point in the future.
“Jude?”
Jude looked up from Dani to find Angela watching him with a sleepy gaze. She had never looked more beautiful.
“Can I get you something?”
“I’m hungry,” she said.
“So am I. Let me see what I can get for us.”
There was a bodyguard out in the parking lot, so Jude sent them a message with a food order.
“Has anyone responded?” Angela asked.
Dani had been born just after four in the morning. But even though they assumed people would still be sleeping, Jude had sent several pictures and all the information about Dani to the family, as well as to Cooper and Melanie.
“Your dad replied that she was beautiful, and he and Elizabeth can’t wait to meet her.”
Jude read through the rest of the replies that had come in. Apparently, everyone had been eager for the news.
“Happy anniversary, by the way,” Angela said with a smile. “I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our marriage than to welcome a baby created through our love for each other.”
Jude's heart swelled with gratitude as he gazed at his wife. "Happy anniversary to you too, my love. This past year has been the best."
He carefully shifted Dani in his arms, marveling at how small she felt against his chest. Her tiny face was peaceful in sleep, her rosebud lips occasionally moving in a reflex that made his chest tighten with emotion.
"Can I hold her again?" Angela asked, reaching out her arms.
Jude stood and placed their daughter gently in Angela's waiting embrace. The sight of them together—Angela's tired but radiant face bent over Dani's sleeping form—took his breath away.
"I can't believe she's finally here," Angela whispered, tracing a finger along Dani's cheek. "After everything we've been through to get to this point…"
Jude sat on the edge of the bed, his hand covering Angela’s where it rested on top of Dani's tiny body.
"I keep thinking about how different things could have been," he said quietly. "If Jim had succeeded that night…"
Angela looked up at him, her blue-green eyes serious. "But he didn't. And we're here now with our daughter because God protected us."
Jude nodded, remembering the prayer he'd whispered in that truck, begging God to help him protect Angela. The memory of that moment—the desperation, the fear, the surge of strength that had allowed him to fire those shots—still made his chest tight.
"And I'm so grateful for that," Jude said, his voice thick with emotion. "So grateful for the life we've built together."
“This is just the beginning, my love,” Angela said with a smile.
“I can’t imagine you want to go through this again before you’ve even had the chance to recover.”
She bent to press a kiss to the cap that covered Dani’s small head. “I already know that every moment of pain was worth it.”
“Let’s just enjoy our time with Dani for now,” Jude said. “We can have a discussion about baby number two when Dani’s a little older. I need time to recover.”
Angela chuckled softly, and Dani squirmed, her face scrunching up for a moment. “Okay. I’ll give you time.”
Contentment filled the room, leaving Jude certain that it wouldn’t take much convincing for him to agree to a second child.
The life he’d never planned to have was now all he wanted. And all the things that had once seemed out of reach were now possible with Angela by his side.
The End