Chapter 18
Talia
I rubbed at my growing belly and propped my feet up in the living room at Mom and Dad’s house.
Tonight was family dinner.
And the boys were moving around like crazy.
Dominik walked over to me with my Stanley cup full of ice and water with strawberry limeade and orange limeade mixed together.
He sneered at it, and I laughed. Then I took a sip and moaned.
Also... I wanted nothing but strawberries.
Something he hated, but if that’s what the boys and I wanted, then he got over it.
And thankfully, instead of making me walk to the kitchen, he carried my plate in here for me.
I loved him.
Well and truly loved him.
Mom opened her mouth, but Dominik shook his head at her, “She’s allowed this. She’s the only one who’s carrying twins.”
Mom nodded.
It didn’t matter how old we were; her word was still law.
I loved her.
Our relationship had gotten better.
I also accidentally overheard a conversation they were having.
And I learned things about my mom that I never knew.
And those things... they made me understand her a whole lot better.
Dominik
I didn’t even blink an eye when she grabbed my phone and started texting someone.
Hearing it ping every few seconds, I knew she was in one of the text threads her siblings used. Or one of the text threads the women used. Or one of the text threads the family used.
Shaking my head, I flipped my signal to turn into the parking lot.
Then she snorted.
Laughed.
Giggled.
I looked over at her as I put the SUV in park.
“What’s so fucking funny?” I asked.
She looked at me, giggled again, and then showed me a picture.
It was of Ethan with... makeup all over his face.
And is that... I gaped... no fucking way.
Talia nodded, “Oh yeah. It sure is, snookum’s.”
Ethan had on a pair of earrings.
A pair of earrings that were shaped like a fucking penis.
I stared.
“The fuck?” I asked.
She busted out laughing.
***
I was pushing the cart through the baby store.
Since she was considered high risk, we had wanted to wait until closer to her due date to get everything for the boys.
And to make sure something didn’t happen to one of them, and it would be harder to see his things, we had already picked out, we waited to buy everything.
“Why in the hell are you getting twenty boxes of fucking diapers?” I asked.
She looked at me like I was stupid.
A woman came up behind us then, undoubtedly hearing what I said, “Twins?”
Talia smiled and nodded.
The woman nodded back, “I had triplets. I got sixty packs of diapers, and no joke, three weeks later, we went to buy more.”
I looked at the diapers, then at her, then at Talia, stepped to her, placed a kiss on her lips, and returned moments later with another cart.
Talia started laughing, then gasped, and started waddling away.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“I peed on myself.” She snapped.
Not even caring about the eyes that came to her, instead understanding flashed in everyone’s gaze.
I added ten more boxes of diapers, wipes, and creams, and had the cart already full by the time she came back.
She eyed everything and nodded.
That night, after I unloaded everything, growling at her every time she tried to help, I had just put the rocking chair together in the nursery so she could sit and keep me company while I built the furniture.
“Jacob,” she said.
I shook my head, “Reminds me of old man Hooper.”
She nodded, “Travis?”
“Not bad,” I said.
“Court?” she asked.
“Boys. Talia. Boys.”
She snickered.
“Kane?” I asked.
She nodded, “Not bad.”
Then she tilted her head to the side, “What about Ryder?”
I looked at her, because I liked that name. “What made you think of that?”
“Your dad’s name is Ryan. Make it a play-off of that?” she said.
I nodded, “Fucking like it.”
Then I asked, “What was Henrietta’s husband’s name?”
She sniffed, “Hormones.”
I chuckled, “His name was hormones?”
She threw a Reese’s cup she hadn’t opened yet at me.
I tagged it, opened it, winked, and popped it in my mouth.
“His name was Isaiah.” She told me.
I nodded, “Fucking fits.”
She smiled, then she nodded. “Middle names.”
I groaned.
She laughed.
I had finished with the baby furniture, and we were squabbling about middle names.
“Pete?” she asked.
I winced, “Ryder Pete? Isaiah Pete? Really?”
She winced, “Yeah, no.”
“Ryder Isacc Davis? Isaiah Ronan Davis?” I asked.
She tilted her head, mouthing the names, then she smiled, “Perfect.”
***
The day had finally come.
She was being induced in four hours.
I pressed kisses on her belly, trying to hide how scared I really was.
At our last appointment, we had been sent to the hospital because their ultrasound was showing that Baby A was growing correctly, but not Baby B.
To say we had both shed a sigh of relief when that wasn’t the case would be an understatement.
“You ready?” I asked her.
She nodded, “Ready to be able to put on my own shoes again.”
I snickered, “Can’t help that I love your little feet.”
She narrowed her eyes, “They aren’t little.”
I smirked, “Minx, comparing them to mine, they are.”
“Take it back,” she said.
I shook my head, “Nope.”
“Take it back or I’ll put blueberries in your next cake.” She said.
I winced, “Taking it back now.”
She snickered.
Then she sobered, “What if we can’t do this?”
I shook my head. “The Davis family doesn’t say can’t. We say we’re going to make this our bitch. Yeah?”
She sighed, then she nodded.
I winked, “You’re going to be an amazing mother. Of that, I have no doubt.”
“And you’re going to be an amazing father. I love you.”
“I love you, too, harpy.”
She smacked me upside the head.
I laughed.
She was a cute fucking harpy.
***
“Can I help you?” A nurse said at the desk.
Talia looked down at her belly, then up at the woman and lifted her brow.
I covered my mouth with my free hand to hide my smirk.
The woman rolled her eyes, “I’m not a mind reader.”
Talia lifted her brows, “Are you blind?”
The woman’s body jerked.
The woman said, “Excuse me?”
I had to bite the inside of my cheek not to laugh.
It was nice that someone else was getting this side of her.
And what a sight it fucking was to watch.
The woman narrowed her eyes at Talia, then she looked at me, and I didn’t miss it.
Neither did my wife.
“Lady, I’m fucking pregnant. Clue the fuck in. And if you look at my husband with heat in your eyes one more motherfucking time, pregnant or not, I’ll climb over this desk and rip those ugly as fuck eyelashes off and beat the shit out of you.”
“You can’t threaten a health care worker.”
Talia lifted a brow, “Well, you can’t be a bitch.”
Thankfully, another woman stepped forward and took care of us.
I put my hand on Talia’s back and started rubbing it in small circles.
“Don’t fucking coddle me,” she snapped.
I smirked, “Wouldn’t fucking dream of it.”
She scoffed, “Asshole.”
***
I stood there fucking helpless.
There was nothing I could do to take this pain away from her.
“Push, Talia.” Her mother said.
Talia was struggling.
Badly.
We were on hour nineteen, and the past four hours she had been pushing.
“I am pushing, Mom,” Talia said in choppy words.
I caught the doctor’s eyes, and he said, “If they don’t come in the next few minutes, we are going to have to perform a C-section.”
Talia shook her head, “No. We will not be. They will come out the way they are meant to. They will listen to their mother.”
And then... almost as if a wand had been whipped around and a spell was cast, Talia’s next contraction hit, and she pushed, and pushed, and pushed.
Baby A came out at three twenty-three in the morning.
Baby B followed at three forty-seven in the morning.
And then I got to see my two boys.
Isaiah Ronan Davis weighed seven pounds and five ounces.
Ryder Isaac Davis weighed seven pounds and two ounces.
“How the hell do we tell them apart?” I asked.
Misty chuckled.
Then Talia snapped, “Get onto him for his language.”
Misty grinned, “If you can’t cuss the day you go into labor, when can you? Notice I didn’t yell at you.”
Talia glared, “Had you done that, I would have kicked you out of this room.”
Misty winked at Talia, “My point exactly.”
Then she smiled and said, “Leave their bracelets on for a few days.”
Harlee giggled, “Paint their toenails.”
At my scowl, Talia looked at me with a lifted brow.
I growled.
She fucking giggled.
Only my woman would giggle at my growl.
Fuck. Me.
Talia
“Did she really ask you to put ice on her vagina?” Garrick asked as he held Isaiah.
Dominik snickered, “She sure as fuck did.”
“What about taking a pair of tongs reaching inside of her, and yanking them out?” Carter asked.
Dominik snickered again, “That too.”
I smiled as I finally allowed my body to have the rest it needed.
I knew my husband would stand watch and keep us all safe.
And I was right.
I woke up to him saying in a low tone, “If you wake my wife up with your loud mouth, I’ll make you regret it.”
“I’m awake,” I said.
And then I watched as the woman’s face paled, and she hightailed it out of the room.
Dominik winked at me, then he got up out of the chair, bent over me, and pressed a soft kiss on my lips, “Fucking gorgeous,” he said.
I laughed in his face.
He winked.
Then he moved and pulled out his phone to show me things I had missed while I slept.
Bronson holding Ryder.
Garrick holding Isaiah.
Carter making faces at Ryder.
Harlee snuggling Isaiah.
Tatum snuggling Ryder.
Cassie showing Krispin Isaiah.
Alec standing guard.
Mom holding both of them.
Dad holding both of them.
Sage pressing a kiss on each of their foreheads.
And then I whispered, “I wish they had been here to see this.”
I looked up at Dominik, who smiled at me, “They were here. They were up there, beating their wings to keep everything bad away.”
At his words, I started crying a-fucking-gain.
***
We were home the next day.
And I sighed as I took my first shower.
I could hear the boys in the bedroom, but Dominik had them.
I rested my forehead against the shower wall and smiled.
“You’re going to grow up to be amazing men. You’re going to grow up respecting your mother. You're going to grow up and be extraordinary men. And whatever you do, I will always be proud of you. Of both of you. I promise.”
That was the vow Dominik had made the moment they were both placed in his arms.
And if I hadn’t just pushed two giant fucking watermelons out of my vagina, I would have wanted to jump him with all his glorious, tatted skin on display.
***
We had asked everyone to come to the house after we were home for the boys’ welcome home party.
And who stood at the door making sure everyone used hand sanitizer?
Fucking Garrick.
I laughed.
He narrowed his eyes at me, “Don’t you start. I’m Isaiah’s godfather. Like hell am I letting anyone touch him with dirty hands.”
And beside him? Alec stood doing the same thing.
Alec looked at me and winked.
I had asked Alec to be Ryder’s godfather.
I had chosen Harlee to be Isaiah’s godmother and Tatum to be Ryder’s godmother.
It was perfect.
My mom walked over to me and said, “You're going to be an amazing mom, Talia. I am so proud of the woman you have become.”
I smiled, “Thank you, Mom.”
I rocked in my rocker that night with Isaiah and smiled at Dominik, who was swaying back and forth with Ryder.
They say that two fractured halves can’t make a whole one.
Well.... just look at us.
***
After we put the boys to bed, he stood there removing his shirt by gripping it behind his neck.
His muscled body.
Those tatts.
I licked my lips.
His eyes smoldered.
Oh, yeah.
Oops.