Chapter 67
***Remington***
“You stupid asses! Why did we do this? When I can walk again, I’m going to find three men of normal size and stature who make normal sized babies!” Memphis screamed at the top of her lungs and nearly shattered every bone in my hand as she squeezed. “I’m going to murder—ahhhh!”
“Yes! There we go, Memphis. That was it, honey.” Braddock held up a bloody baby who looked too small to me, if anything. A nurse took Maggie and scrubbed her before suctioning her and letting us cut the cord.
What had felt like forever to finally get to was over.
I leaned down to Memphis and kissed her sweaty forehead and cheeks.
Tears filled my eyes as I looked at the love of my life and watched her take our daughter and hold her chest to chest. “I’m so fucking proud of you, sweetheart. Look what you did.”
Memphis cried and looked up at me with her big green eyes, as sweet as ever. She found Boone and Wells and once she knew where her men were, she let out a big breath and kissed little Maggie’s head as gently as she could. “She’s so little. Just a tiny little thing.”
Wells wiped his eyes. “She’s perfect.”
Boone kept counting her fingers and toes, like he was amazed by them. “We made this little human. Your body grew these little fingers and toes, love. You’re amazing.”
“I want four more.” Memphis leaned back against her pillows and smiled happily. “Maybe more. We’re going to need a bigger house.”
“We’ll give you as many babies as you want, sweetheart. We’ll give you anything in the world. I love you so much.” My voice broke as I tried my best to explain the enormity of my emotions with words that just didn’t cut it.
“Alright, Dads. Who wants to hold Maggie first? Momma needs to rest for a bit.” Braddock moved like he was going to lift Maggie and Memphis almost bared her teeth at him. “Alright, we’ll just wait for that to happen.”
I hugged my brothers and enjoyed a moment of the five of us being a perfect little family.
When Memphis had rested and we’d all taken turns holding our daughter, we found ourselves in a debate over who we thought had the strongest swimmers after all.
Each of us swore that Maggie looked more like us, but Memphis shut us all down by making the same silly face that Maggie was making and proving that she hadn’t used any of our swimmers’ attributes to make the kid.
It was like looking at a mini version of Memphis. A mini bald version.
Jake messaged me with the text I’d been waiting for after we’d had a quiet morning with Maggie and I felt a jolt of excitement at what was coming. I nodded to my brothers and dropped a kiss on Memphis’s forehead.
“I’m going to go grab something from the vending machine. Do you need anything, Memphis?”
She shook her head. “Just you back here soon.”
If it hadn’t been so important, I wouldn’t have been able to tear myself away. Even so, I ran down the hallway and nearly plowed Jake over in my urgency to get back to Memphis.
“Well, shit, buddy, you are a big sonofabitch, aren’t you?
” Knox King stood next to Jake, a big grin on his face.
He yanked me into a hug and I could feel just how excited he was to see his sister and his niece.
His big personality quieted as he spun his hat in his hand. “How is she? She okay? And Maggie?”
I wrapped my arm around his shoulder, my good mood nearly permanent. “She’s great. She did amazing. Threatened to murder us, but that’s just a normal Tuesday with Memphis. And Maggie is perfect. She looks just like Memphis.”
“I can’t wait to see her. I can’t thank you enough, Remy.” He looked away as he teared up and sniffed. “I owe you a lot, man.”
I’d made a few calls. Knox had had a shitty lawyer and deserved a retrial. With a little sweet talking, the new DA didn’t want to retry a case that he knew he’d never win. So with a little grease, the wheels of justice turned the right way.
I saw Jake turn to leave and scoffed. “If you think I’m going back into that room and telling Memphis that I didn’t bring you in while I could, you’re nuts. Come on, asshole, and stop trying to get me in trouble.”
Jake shrugged. “I didn’t want to intrude if it was just family.”
“Last week Memphis asked if I thought it would be weird if you were in the wedding, on her side. As in a fucking bridesmaid. If that doesn’t make you family, I don’t know what does.” I saw his face drop in horror and laughed. “I told her I thought it was a great idea.”
Knox laughed easily and shook his head. “This already feels more like family than anything we ever had before. It was always just the three of us kids. Now look at us.”
“Wells is getting Jack on a video call, too.” I tried not to run to get back to my soon to be wife. It was hard, though.
The look on Memphis’s face when she saw her little brother walk into her room made everything worth it. Everything. Even back to Don’s bullshit—and his maybe not bullshit. I would’ve moved the whole world to see that look on her face again.
She went back and forth between sobbing and accusing Knox of breaking out of prison. When we explained that he was a free man, she cried even harder.
I handed Maggie to Jake while the siblings got out all of their tears and watched him stare down at her with wide eyes. “We made that.”
He laughed gently and swore when her little fingers grabbed at his. “Oh, shit. I’m not going to cry. I said I wouldn’t and I’m not going to.”
“Just do it. Maybe if I see you doing it, I’ll be able to quit.” I looked around the room filled with my family and couldn’t stop smiling. Memphis had brought so many people together by just existing. She was amazing and I’d never stop telling her.
The door opened and I laughed as I watched Bea and Pete try to sneak in.
Looking every bit the secret agent reject, Bea tiptoed over to Memphis and threw up her hands while doing what looked to be a silent scream.
Pete caught me looking at him and froze until I motioned him over.
Since finding out he had no interest in Memphis, I actually liked the guy. Not that he seemed to know it.
His eyes were on Maggie as he got closer and he covered his mouth as he shook his head. “She’s a mini-Memphis! May God be with you.”
Jake sniffed and shook his head. “Take her. Take her before I lose it.”
I nodded to Pete and watched as he cradled her in his arms with the biggest smile on his face. Boone stood next to me and clapped me on the back. Before he could say anything, I cut him off. “She’s clearly mine.”
The energy never dropped. Our friends and new family were more supportive and happy for us than I’d ever imagined possible. Everyone took their turn holding Maggie, most of them more than once. They also spoiled Memphis with praise, telling her how she’s made such a perfect baby, all by herself.
I finally took my daughter back to her mother and hovered, feeling like the luckiest man in the world.
The nurses were slowly running everyone off, telling them that Memphis needed to rest. When just Jake and Knox remained, Wells cheered into his phone and we all held our breath as we watched him hand it off to Memphis.
Seeing her see Jackson for the first time since the night things had crumbled was beautiful.
Her eyes lit up and she stumbled over her words telling her little brother how healthy he looked and how proud of him she was.
He cut her off, though, and asked about her and Maggie.
Memphis laughed through her tears as she tried to tell him how happy she was.
Jackson cried plenty of his own tears when he saw Maggie for the first time.
Knox settled next to her on the bed and they took some time talking to their little brother while my brothers, Jake, and I stood on the other side of the room, watching with full hearts. Seeing their love for each other, despite all odds, made me appreciate Memphis even more.
Another hour passed before we finally got Memphis to ourselves. She was exhausted, but she was fighting sleep. Her eyes were heavy and her head would tip to the side every few minutes, but she still clung to us. “I don’t like sleeping alone anymore. Can we go home?”
Boone kissed her gently. “Tomorrow, love. Tomorrow, we’ll take our daughter home and crawl into bed just to get up every couple of hours for the next five years or so.”
Wells looked down at Maggie as he rocked her. “It won’t be so bad. Look at her.”
“Maybe twins. Twins would be faster.” With a big sigh, Memphis finally let her head drop back on her pillows. “Seeing y’all with Maggie gave me Remy’s butterflies.”
I stroked her hair out of her face and kissed the tip of her nose. “Those weren’t my butterflies, sweetheart. I’ve still got mine.”
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68.
***Memphis***
Epilogue
5 years later
“Memphis King-Hawke.”
Mine was just one name in a long list of names, but from the reaction my section of the audience gave, you’d think the whole day was about me.
I focused on climbing the stairs and tried my best to ignore the obnoxious amount of screaming the men in my life were doing.
I didn’t want to be bright red from embarrassment in my pictures.
“That’s my wife!” Boone’s voice was clear above everyone’s and I knew he’d snuck in the wireless microphone that we’d mistakenly bought Maggie for Christmas. We’d been sure that it couldn’t be that loud. Wrong. It was that loud and then some. “That’s my smoking hot wife!”
I cut a glare at him and gasped when I saw that Jackson was sitting with them.
We’d saved him a seat, but none of us thought he’d make it.
He’d helped start a drug program back in Georgia and it wasn’t easy for him to get away.
I waved at him and felt the same happy thump in my chest that I always felt when I got to see him those days.
He was five years sober and he looked better than I’d ever seen him.