Chapter 40
Happy Ever After Time
Devyn
“Where’s Daddy?” Francesca looked up at me, a flower in her hand.
“He just went to get Mav. We have to leave soon.”
“I know. That’s why I got Daddy a flower. It’s just like the one in your painting.”
I smiled brightly at her. It was not only like the one in the painting, but the bush my mate had plucked it from was the inspiration for said painting.
We bought it from the plant nursery the day Francesca was born and planted it shortly after she came home from the NICU.
That flower had always been my mother’s favorite and part of me felt like she’d been there, watching over our sweet baby girl while she got ready to come home with us.
We’d bought a house before our daughter was born because even though the apartment Father had gifted us was enormous, we wanted our children to have a garden. Our family had celebrated in the garden when Heston completed his law degree.
When we bought the house, my father-in-law moved into a smaller apartment nearby, relishing being able to live by himself but be close enough to visit us almost very day.
“Daddy’s going to love it, sweet girl. Why don’t we get our shoes on so that when he comes home from the neighbor’s, we can get going? We don’t want to be late for our special day.”
She took three steps back into the yard, her skirt billowing in the air. “I wore my pretty dress.”
“You sure did.”
I went to the nursery to grab Euston and change his diaper.
He wasn’t going to be happy waking up from his nap early, but it had to be done.
It was getting close to the time when we had to leave and being late wasn’t an option.
Thankfully, when I went in, he was already sitting up, smiling away.
He was always such a happy boy. It was hard to believe he was nearly eighteen months old.
“Pretty soon, you’re going to start using your big boy bed for naps.” I picked him up and showed him his car bed. We weren’t going to push him, but my father-in-law said that when the new babies were born, he’d probably want a sign that we thought he was big and this was one way to do that.
He hugged me close, “I up, Papa.”
“And now it’s time to put on your fancy clothes.” For him meant not pajamas.
I kissed the top of his head and got him changed and dressed, and by the time I made it into the living room, my mate was there with our first-born Maverick, though we all called him Mav. They were ready to go.
“Looking good, mate.” I kissed his cheek, settling my hand on his belly.
We hadn’t planned on having another one so soon, but when the goddess blessed us with twins, we were excited. Although I had a feeling Heston was less excited now that his belly reached the doorway before he did. He looked sexy as heck to me, but carrying two humans 24/7 was a lot.
“It’s time.” I grabbed my keys.
We bundled everyone into the minivan, taking far longer to get everybody buckled into their car seat harnesses than I’d like, and drove the short distance to the hospital, where my mural was about to be revealed.
When they added a new children’s wing in honor of what they called their NICU warriors and asked for my contribution, I couldn’t think of anything I’d rather do.
Our sweet girl Francesca had spent time in the NICU, and we saw how wonderful the staff were first hand.
She was lucky and only needed a couple of days with them, but so many of those babies spent weeks, even months.
And the nurses? They were the heart of the place.
I was at the point in my career where I was now making a really good living with my work, but I vowed from the beginning that I would never stop doing what was important in favor of making a profit. This was one of those projects.
My father and my mate’s dad were already there, along with some extended family and friends. I loved that they were all there to celebrate with us. Obviously Roy was in jail, but Duke put in an appearance.
When we arrived, the painting wasn’t covered or blocked off.
It was there for all to take in and took up the entire wall.
The second we walked in, everybody gushed at how beautiful and powerful it was.
I wasn’t sure if either of those were the best terms for it, but it did carry my heart. I suppose there was power in that.
There was a little ceremony and lots of cake and many of the nurses remembered Francesca from when she was a baby.
They said that this was one of their favorite parts of their work, seeing the little ones living their lives.
Francesca soaked up the attention, twirling for any one who was willing to watch.
The local media was in attendance, snapping pictures and snagging pieces of cake and glasses of punch for themselves. It was the warmest, most inviting celebration I’d ever attended for art, mine or anyone else’s.
Once upon a time, when I’d thought about what success would look like for me as an artist, this hadn’t been it. I wanted to be in prestigious galleries across the nation, to make a name for myself, to have the success my mother should’ve.
No wonder I never made it down the path to my goals because my goals were wrong. This should have been them; creating beauty that would enrich the lives of those who needed it most at the time. This here was my success, not the money or the invites and commissions I often received.
“Since we’re already here,” my mate grabbed my arm, “what do you think about maybe having the babies so we don’t need to make another trip?”
It took me a few seconds to understand what he was saying. It was baby time. Now.
“Really? Now?”
“I think so.” He bent over, his hand on the side of his belly. “No, I know so.”
It was a whirlwind from there. The grandfathers took the kids so that I could be there for my mate, and we were whisked away to triage. The nurses, as we left, said they hoped that we didn’t see our babies on their floor, but they would come visit.
Triage was quick, but the moment we stepped into the labor room, Heston’s hand shook in mine. I knew this wasn’t the plan and he’d had one, a well-detailed one sitting in a folder at home.
“I wanted... I wanted the water,” he closed his eyes. “We had a plan.”
The nurse who led us in offered a smile. “Let me see what I can do.”
We’d been given a thousand excuses as to why the water birth wasn’t going to be possible today. We accepted that, but when the nurse righted her shoulders before she left, I suspected she wasn’t going to be as compliant as we’d been.
“Hey,” I whispered, running my thumb over the back of his hands. “She’ll make it happen. Something tells me people don’t deny her.”
And I was right. Ten minutes later, she returned and told us we had an hour before we could get in, but the water birthing suite was ours. Apparently it needed cleaning and some of our ICU friends stepped up to make it happen.
The new room was just like we remembered it from our tour, the birthing tub taking center stage. Heston visibly relaxed for a second and then a stronger, longer contraction hit and he bent forward, leaning on my chest.
“Thank you.” He stood up, the contraction over. “Thank you so much.”
“A daddy needs to give birth the way he needs to give birth.” The nurse gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.
“I’m glad it was only housekeeping that was keeping you from your birth plan.
Cleaning is fixable. Speaking of a birth-plan, how about you tell me the rest of yours while you are somewhat comfortable. ”
After Heston explained his goals and desires, she got him settled into the room.
He opted to walk around for a while, not wanting to get into the water just yet.
He’d read somewhere in one of his omega groups that walking sped up labor.
The nurse smiled and I had a feeling it wasn’t actually a thing, but I wasn’t going to argue.
Heston was the one pushing out two babies, not me.
“Can you help me into the water?” A few hours had passed from the time we walked in for cake, his labor progressing nicely.
His request was punctuated by a sharp intake of breath as another contraction began. The nurse and I flanked him while he rode out it out. As he settled in, relief washed over his face. He was getting the birth he wanted.
The contractions soon returned with renewed vigor, cresting closer and closer together. Heston’s grip on my hand tightened, his knuckles whitening with each wave of intensity. Both the nurse and I encouraged and praised him, and she was at the ready in case he needed anything more than that.
“I’m excited,” he admitted between breaths, “but scared.”
“Scared but strong,” I kissed his brow. “You’re doing beautifully.”
Far better than I could do. He was strong beyond measure.
Time was weird when he was in labor. The time between contractions seemed non-existent and when he was in pain, it was never ending.
It was such a relief when the nurse announced, “Almost there, Heston.” She got up to message the doctor and rejoined us.
We’d been through this process before, but never had a nurse who was this dedicated. It made a huge difference.
The doctor arrived in time for Heston to start pushing. I held his hand, locked my eyes on his, and tried to give him every ounce of strength that I had.
Our daughter, Priscilla, joined the world first, followed shortly by our son, Stewart, both healthy and hungry and by far the cutest beings I’d ever seen. Of course I thought that of all our children. I was possibly a little biased.
“Hello, my beautiful ones,” Heston cooed.
As the nurse cleaned, measured, and bundled up our little ones, I helped my mate out of the water.
He insisted on being warm and dry so he could snuggle with them both.
And after he settled into bed, with me ar his side, the nurse helped place them both on his chest so that they could latch on at the same time.
“Everything is perfect,” Heston murmured, his gaze lingering on the peaceful faces of our twins. Their tiny hands clutched aimlessly in the air before resting against us as they fed.
“More than perfect.” I kissed his cheek. “Just like you.”
We basked in the wonder of becoming fathers again, this time to not one, but two little ones.
Our older children came in with their grandparents the next morning, excited to meet their siblings and as I looked around the room, I wondered if there had ever been a space as filled with love as this one.
Read more from this writing duo…
I was hit by a train and woke up in another world—one where I was famous!
When I couldn’t undo my seatbelt, and with the train rushing at my stalled truck, I thought my life was over.
Little did I know that it was only just beginning.
Now I’m in a place I never knew existed, with shifters I thought only lived in books.
And people walk around with my face on their sweatshirts and fan-boy over meeting me.
And the alphas—oh, the alphas! Not only are they hotter than the sun… statistically impossible, and yet it’s true… but they’re paying attention to me. Me, the guy who never once had an honest-to-goodness date.
Maybe it’s all a dream and none of this is real. But until someone tells me differently, I plan to enjoy each and every minute of it.
Woke Up to Discover I’m Famous is Book One in the sweet with knotty heat, light, novel-esque MM+ mpreg romance series: Reborn In Another World.
It features an omega who wakes up to discover he is in a new-to-him world filled with wolf, bear, dragon, and even unicorn shifters and where everyone knows his name…
and what he eats for breakfast… and that time he tripped and fell into a birthday cake at work…
pretty much everything he has ever done.
No longer is he boring old Kai, and as great as that is, Kai has no idea what to do.
This isekai-style story introduces a new mate, one Kai will gladly share.
While mpreg is possible in this omegaverse series and ends with a delivery or two, not all books will feature a new baby.