37. Thirty-Six
Thirty-Six
Kayleigh
B eep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“Turn it off,” I grumble, but feel like I have cotton mouth.
“Seamrag bhea.”I hear Erik but his voice sounds off. “Please open your eyes, seamrag bhea.”
“Wh…?” But as I open my eyes, I see I’m in the hospital. I reach for my stomach.
“Where is my baby?”
“She is in the NICU. You parents are with her now.”
“She’s okay?”
“Besides having weak lungs from being born early, yes. Do you remember what happened?”
I shake my head; he bends forward and kisses me. “Let’s call the doctor.”
“But—”
“I need to make sure you are okay. Please don’t argue with me.” I can see in his eyes he needs this. I nod as he reaches for the nurse button.
“Everything will be okay.”
“Why do I feel like you’re not telling me something?”
“I will.”
“You better. I will not marry you if you keep secrets from me.”
“I would never, and good luck getting out of marrying me. You already are the mother of my daughter, next you have to be my wife and queen. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Many people co-parent and don’t get married.”
“That won’t be the case with us. Plus, if you think I want to be away from you for one day, you are out of your mind.”
“Hello, Mrs. Duncan.” A man wearing a white coat comes in after he knocks.
“Hello,” I say while side-eyeing Erik. Why is it every doctor we see addresses me as his wife? Maybe I should fuck with him and tell him I don’t want to take his last name.
“Why are you smirking?” Erik whispers in my ear.
“You’ll see.” I turn my attention back to the doctor, who is asking me how I’m feeling.
“Sore around my stomach.”
“Very normal after having a cesarean. Did your husband talk to you about what happened?”
“No. I was waiting so if she had questions she could ask you,” Erik states as he climbs in bed next to me and holds me.
“What is it?”
“After they took our daughter out, you became unresponsive and the monitors started going crazy. They kicked me out of the room. You started bleeding out…Kayleigh, they had no choice but to give you a hysterectomy.”
“A hysterectomy?” I whisper. That means I can’t have any more kids with Erik. He won’t have an heir from me.
“Yes, you had uterine bleeding and we tried everything we could, but we were racing the clock.”
“I understand,” I whisper.
“I will leave you two to talk. Don’t hesitate to use the nurse button if you need anything. Your husband has a whole team just for you.”
“Wait, what about our baby?”
“You have a very beautiful little girl. Her lungs are still too weak to breathe on her own so we have her on oxygen. She has passed all her other tests. She is under the careful watch of her grandparents. Your father especially is keeping a close eye on her and everyone else around her.”
I chuckle. “Sounds like my dad. Thank you, doctor. Can I see her?”
“I will talk to her team and see if you can see her. Not sure if you will be able to touch her yet as we can’t risk her being exposed to many germs, but I’m sure you can spend time with her.”
“Thank you,” I say, clutching my heart. I just want to hold my baby and soak in the new moments with her. He gives us a smile before he closes the door behind him.
I put my face into my hands.
“Fucking cords,” I hear Erik mumble before he has me lean back and pulls my head away from my hands.
“Don’t hide from me; talk to me.”
“I-I’m so so sorry.”
“What are you sorry for?”
“Because you will never get your heir. Well, unless you have a baby with someone else.”
“First of all, I will never have any other children with anyone besides you. And second, I do have an heir—my baby girl. I don’t give two shits about some outdated sexist bullshit.”
“But—”
He silences me with a kiss, then he pulls away and I whine, wanting more of him.
“But nothing. I want no one else besides you. Plus, I will have my hands full with our baby girl and keeping horny little fuckers away from her.”
“She isn’t even a day old and you are already worried about things that won’t happen until she is a teenager.”
“It takes time to build a tower and find people who can build bombs.”
“Bombs?”
“Yes, bombs. Anyone who starts sniffing around her will be blown up, making sure they stop breathing.”
“I thought the De Luca men were bad with their daughters. They were only talking about shooting all the horny boys.”
“I know that if she is half as beautiful as you, she will have horny boys and girls after her. I don’t discriminate about who I blow up to protect my daughter.”
“You are fucking insane.”
“Yes, and you are marrying this insane man.”
“Maybe I’m insane too and should get my head checked.”
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.”
“Knock. Knock,” an older woman says before opening the door. I look over to see the same nurse who helped me prep for surgery.
“Good to see you awake, sweetheart. I have a bunch of Irish men and women who are itching to come see their sister. Are you ready for visitors?”
“Absolutely,” I say smiling.
“I will go get them.”
“Are you sure you want to do that? Your whole family is out there, and Emilia told me she will be here in a week.”
“Yes, but I didn’t think they all would be here. Mama and Daid sure, but the fact that everyone is here makes me happy. I have missed them.”
“Kayleigh!” Keegan pushes past the door and wraps his arms around me as soon as he reaches my bed. I hug him back just as tight even though it hurts.
“Loosen up, she just had surgery, dumb fuck,” Cillian barks as he yanks Keegan away from me.
“I’m fine, Cillian,” I tell him as he gently hugs me before kissing my forehead.
“Doesn’t matter, stór beag. How are you feeling?” Bia moves in next to him and gently hugs me.
“Sore but happy that our baby girl is okay.”
“She is, and Daid has been keeping guard even though we have men watching.” I chuckle with Cillian.
“Has he scared any of the NICU staff yet?”
“Not yet, but he has scared some of the other parents,” Oscar tells me, taking his turn to hug me.
“Move. It’s my turn to hug Kayleigh,” Erin orders, and surprisingly, Eric does, so she takes his spot.
“Hey there, sis! Have they been treating you like royalty?”
“Yes, they have.”
“Good. I’d hate to kick anyone’s ass if they weren’t. You are the oldest O’Sullivan daughter and baby girl is the O’Sullivan’s granddaughter.”
“She is also my daughter and the future boss of the Scottish Mafia.”
“Yeah, that too.” Erin waves him off. I watch as his mouth opens not expecting Erin’s five-foot-six brunette ass to wave him off like he is a fly.
“Angel, be nice and try not to bruise Erik’s ego.”
“Sure thing,” she says. I can’t help but hold my stomach and laugh. God, I’ve missed them.
“As much as baby girl is an adorable nickname, I need to know my niece’s name.”
“Makenna,” I tell her with a smile.
“Makenna Duncan. That’s beautiful,” Bia says.
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Riley tells me, and they all agree. I wish she was here right now meeting all her aunts and uncles. They all give me smiles, and I blink back my tears. That is, until Erin shatters the sweet moment.
“So, any hot Scottish men?”
“Erin,” Oscar growls at her, yanking her out of the bed and pulling her toward him until her back is flush with his front.
“Not for me. Obviously.”
“Then who?”
“People I know who are a little boy crazy.” Oscar looks over at the twins at the same time Cillian, Aiden, and Keegan do.
“Fuck no,” Oscar says.
“Hell no,” Aiden says.
“Where’s my gun?” Cillian says.
“I need to go killing,” Keegan says.
I look at them all, laughing. “You know one day they will have boyfriends, right?”
“No. If they do, I’m killing them,” Keegan states.
“Don’t worry, girls. I will help you date despite these four cavemen.” Riley comes over and gives me a quick hug while Ellie gives me an appreciative smile.
“Make that six, seamrag bhea.”
“Why six?”
“Your father and me. I’ll be your husband soon, which will make me their brother-in-law.”
“That’s okay, we have Emilia on our side.” I hear all the men in the room groan at my response at the same time all the women in the room chuckle. She is one woman who can make any man tremble at her presence, and the fact she is Mateo’s wife doesn’t hurt either. That man will do anything she says no matter how diabolical it is.
“Can’t we have Mateo lock her up or something?” Keegan asks.
“Do you want to have her find out it was your idea to lock her up?” Oscar asks.
“Um… no. I was hoping he would leave that part out.”
“Yeah, Mateo isn’t going to voluntarily be on her bad side. I’ve been there; no one willing does that,” Cillian says, lowering his hand to where Emilia carved Bia’s nickname in his stomach when he was being a complete dumbass.
“What did she do?” Erik asks.
“I treated Bia like shit, and she tortured me,” Cillian answers, unbuttoning his shirt and showing off his scars, which he later got tattooed.
“Shit,” Erik says.
“Remember that if you make Kayleigh cry. But you would have us to deal with as well,” Aiden says. Oh, my sweet and silent brother who can be scary in his own right.
“I will never.”
“Aiden, I promise if you hug me, you won’t get the next girl you sleep with pregnant,” I say teasing him, since he is the only one who hasn’t hugged me yet. Well, besides Ellie, but she isn’t a hugger.
“Smartass,” he says as he walks up and hugs me too.
“Do you need anything?”
“No, I’m good,” I say yawning.
“You need to rest,” he tells me.
“No—” I start, but I’m cut off by my Viking pain-in-the-ass fiancé.
“Yes, she does. Make yourself at home back at our house. If you need anything, my twin brothers, Rowan and Darius, can help you, and if you can’t find them, their wives or any of the staff can help you.”
“Thank you. We will come back tomorrow and see you, stór beag,”Cillian tells me.
They each come over and congratulate us, giving me more hugs while shaking Erik’s hand. After the door closes behind them, Erik lays my head on his chest, and within a few minutes, I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.