Chapter Nine #6
A blush roasted her cheeks. Flustered, her hands fluttered in front of her stomach until Liam took one, Mack the other, as they both rose to flank her with big, shit-eating grins they couldn’t contain.
“Daddy, you do it.” Sierra implored Liam with huge, damp eyes.
Violet wanted to hug the poor woman. After waiting so long to carry her own baby, the prospect of it being real, announcing it to her friends and family who’d been there every time the trio’s efforts to get pregnant failed, could only be frighteningly overwhelming.
Liam shook his head. “This is your moment, babygirl.”
“Daddy Mack?”
“Liam and I are together on this, pixie.”
Struggling to keep a straight face when she felt Reaux twitch, she peeked at him and murmured, “Tamsyn might be a pixie in your eyes, but Sierra’s always been Mack’s.”
“I don’t hold dominion over the name, Bennie.” Reaux kissed her neck, finding the sweet spot that made everything inside curl tight, ready to detonate with a simple touch. “Just you.”
“You wish,” she hissed, then smacked his thigh to prevent a comeback when Sierra cleared her throat and prepared to try again. “Shush.”
“We are pleased to announce,” Sierra said in a stronger voice, “that Baby Carradine-Morehead should be making an appearance on April twenty-first… give or take a few days.”
In that moment, the group defined the word family. A roar of sound erupted—hoots and cheers from the men, a particularly loud scream of excitement from Callie—before the trio were enveloped from all sides by the people who loved them most.
The tables were shoved out of the way as Sierra was plucked from her Daddies and swaddled in a hug from Fordham, then passed into Levi’s arms for a sweet embrace.
By the time the Masters were done with her, she was glowing neon red, crying happy tears, as she was swept into the comforting embrace of her friends.
Meanwhile, Liam and Mack were being treated to bear hugs and back slaps loud enough to make Violet wince. Steaks in a five-star restaurant were tenderized with less force.
It pleased her to see Reaux joining in with the congratulations, merging into the circle as if he’d been part of them since the beginning. More, they accepted him the same way, welcoming him into the celebrations like a brother.
Violet slipped in, kissing both Liam and Mack on the cheek, then left the men to whatever ritual teasing was necessary. She joined the subs, running her hand down Sierra’s arm lightly, then found herself with another armful of submissive.
Hugging her tightly, Violet said, “I am so proud of you, Sierra.”
“Why?” It was asked so simply, as though she couldn’t understand why anyone would be proud of her.
“Because you’re going to be a mom,” Violet told her, adoration in her tone.
“After all this time, everything you’ve been through, you haven’t stopped fighting for what you truly wanted.
You’ve been so strong, so brave. You didn’t give up even when the odds were against you.
” She rested her cheek against Sierra’s damp one.
“My girl, you kicked ass. That is why I’m so proud of you. ”
“Don’t go. Please.”
“I have to go at some point, sweetheart. Getting married, remember? As ridiculous as that seems, even to me, it makes sense I should be with the guy I’m getting married to. The South is calling me home, Sierra, and I think she sent Reaux as her messenger.”
“What am I going to do without you?”
Scoffing, Violet set her hands on Sierra’s shoulders and eased her back to arm’s length. “Carry on being the beautiful, brilliant Little you are, of course. Fix all those stuffies that get thrown away, broken and torn, and give them a new lease of life.”
“But you—”
“You’ve never needed me, not the way you think.
I’m not the one who faced an immense challenge and tackled it to the ground.
I’m not the one who survived heartbreak over and over again, the one who overcame everything in her path to achieve the one thing she desired.
You did that, Sierra. You.” Even though her throat was tightening, Violet continued in the most supportive voice she could muster.
“Just because I won’t be here physically doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t be here for you.
I’ll be on the other end of the phone, the receiving end of an email, available day or night by video call.
If you need the personal touch, planes go both ways. ”
Sierra reached up and took Violet’s left hand from her shoulder, her lips trembling as she spun the engagement ring around so the stones were on display.
“It doesn’t work that way. People drift apart when they move.
You’re going to build a life with Reaux, have a family, and we’ll all be too busy to stay in touch. ”
“We’re only too busy if we don’t make the effort.
There are happier things to think about right now, Sierra.
” Violet rested her hand on the bearded cheek and gently turned it toward the men.
“Those two men standing there love you beyond reason. Ask them for anything and they’ll turn themselves inside out to get it for you.
Two devoted husbands and a miracle baby are three incredible reasons to celebrate. ”
Sniffling, Sierra nodded.
“And these women here,” Violet added, turning the sub’s head in the direction of their friends, “are another reason. The best friends you could ask for, all as strong and unique as you. I’m just a little piece of the puzzle, sweetheart.”
“The missing piece of the jigsaw no one can ever find,” Callie interjected sadly.
“Or the one that gets sucked into the vacuum from beneath the table. All right, let’s get this over with so we can buckle down and celebrate everything that’s finally right.” Violet opened her arms, welcoming her girls. “Group hug. You, too, Tabitha—even tough cookies need a hug now and then.”
Perhaps it wasn’t quite a group hug when she was the one being squeezed from all sides, but she didn’t care. When she was thirteen hundred miles away, wondering if she was ever going to fit in with the old crowd, she’d remember this.
Being loved and giving it in return.
Christ, she was going to miss them.
Feeling like a mother saying goodbye to her grown daughters as they set off into the big, wide world, Violet pressed kissed each of them on the cheek—even Tabitha, who flinched slightly at the contact.
“I think it’s time for champagne,” Elias announced loudly, catching her eye with a wicked smile. “Sparkling apple juice for the expectant mother… and our Littles.”
Instead of conjuring several ways to murder him for his play on words, Violet just shook her head and smiled back at him. God forbid he should change, that any of them changed who they were, but it was inevitable.
Still, they would be okay. They knew how to guard each other’s backs, how to handle extraordinary situations, and take care of each other like any family should.
When Reaux came to her with a couple of glasses in his hands and the subs dispersed to their significant others, she burrowed into him and sighed.
Here was her missing jigsaw piece.