Chapter 48
CHAPTER 48
“ I t’s fucking Vermont. It shouldn’t be this hot,” Sloane says as she all but waddles to the couch.
Pack Hodges let us use their cabin for the week, and while the idea had merit, Sloane is a bit too far in her pregnancy to enjoy much of anything.
I sit at her feet and rub her ankles.
“You’re an angel, thank you.”
“I have news,” I tell her, unable to keep it in any longer.
“Good news?” she says, pushing a stray hair off of her face.
“Very good news. I, well, Finnegan the Fox is up for the mascot of the year through the NHL.”
She sits up as quick as she can eight months pregnant and blinks at me before crying and wrapping her arms around me. Tears are about a daily appearance with Sloane, so we’ve all gotten used to it.
“I’m so proud of you.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
“So true,” she says, and I laugh and pull back and cup her face.
“I mean it. No one else cared about how the mascot looked or was represented online. You helped give him a new look and helped me create the right personality for him. I wouldn’t have gotten here on my own.”
“You would have. I just made it go a lot faster,” she says.
I rub her round stomach and kiss her belly over her shirt. The little guy gives me a swift kick to the face, which makes Sloane wince.
“He’s fucking ginormous. I don’t think he’s going to be able to get out,” she complains. “I had to fornicate with massive men, and this is what I get.”
“I think he’s normal sized; you're just small.”
“Shut up,” she whispers, lying back down on the couch.
“What do you need, baby?” Max says, putting groceries away.
“To give birth,” Sloane complains.
“Do you want to work on the birth manual slash vision board?” I ask her. She arches an eyebrow at me and sighs. “Damn, not even up for that?”
“I just want to feel comfortable again.”
“Whatever you need, sweetheart,” I tell her.
“Minus activities vetoed by your doctor or Alpha,” Bram yells from down the hall.
Sloane rolls her eyes and shifts on her elbows and smirks at me. “Does Ethan Heart, award-winning mascot, want to go down on his Omega?” she asks.
I laugh. “I thought you’d never ask.”
I devour her like she’s my last meal, and she passes out immediately after. I’m a lucky man.
“I can’t do it,” Sloane says as she’s covered in sweat.
Max and Bram look fucking panicked. Bram always knows what to do, how to calm her down. But she’s in so much pain. She’s been in labor for too long.
“I’m scared. I can try again. I can,” she tries to plead with the doctor.
“I’m sorry, that’s not an option anymore,” he tells her, and Sloane shuts down, tears streaking her face as she shakes her head.
Bram and Max are both stroking her hair and holding her hands, but neither of them knows what to say.
I stand next to Max, and I cup her reddened cheeks.
“Hey, sweetheart. We’re going to meet our baby boy soon. You did so fucking good. So good. He’s too big and isn’t coming out on his own, so they need to take you back for a C-section.”
She shakes her head back and forth in my palms, and I stroke her cheekbones.
“I know it’s been a long day. I know you’re tired. You’re so fucking strong, Sloane. One of the strongest people I know. Sweetheart, I know this wasn’t your plan. I know you wanted to give birth this way, but they have to take you back,” I tell her.
“He’s right,” Bram says. My words must have slapped him out of his own fear. He kisses the side of her head. “You can do this, liefje . We’ll be with you the whole time.”
“This is all your fault,” she says, and both Bram and Max’s eyes go wide. “If you weren’t so fucking big, the baby wouldn’t be so big,” she says, sniffling.
“I’m sorry, baby. You’re right,” Max says, just agreeing with her worn-out anger.
“Okay,” she says on a sniffle. “Okay.”
The doctor looks relieved as they get the medical personnel needed, and they take us to get sanitized and ready. My heart is beating a million beats per minute as we’re about to be taken into the surgical room.
A nurse who is as short as Sloane but with more curves wearing a pink scrub set stops us with a hand.
“Whatever scary emotions you’re feeling right now, you need to cool them down. She needs the most serene happy feelings while she’s in there. She’s still panicking, and we need her to be as calm as possible.”
“We can do that,” Bram agrees in his light blue scrub dress and booties.
She gives us a nod as she opens the door, and we all crowd by Sloane’s head. Dried tears streak her face as I rub her hair.
Max kisses her cheek, and Bram’s hand is nearly on top of mine.
“I know this wasn’t in Sloane’s pregnancy manual. But you’re doing amazing.”
She seems like she’s shivering slightly, but she nods her head.
“How much longer?” she asks.
“Not much longer,” the doctor confirms.
Part of me wants to look over the paper curtain, but I don’t need that trauma. Instead, I sit here with Sloane as each scary moment passes by.
“You’re doing so great, baby,” Max tells her.
Sloane is blinking rapidly, and I think she’s trying to stay calm. Fuck, she’s being so strong. I didn’t think it was possible to love her more than I already do, but as she holds her composure to bring our son into this world, all I feel is full.
There’s a sharp cry as the doctor holds up our son, and Sloane lets out a loud breath before crying again.
“Oh, he’s a big healthy boy,” the nurse says as they clear his airway and clamps the umbilical cord.
We all are touching Sloane in some way as she brings our wrapped son next to Sloane’s face.
“Hi,” she says softly to him.
He calms quickly to her voice as he pinches his small little face and looks around.
“He’s beautiful,” I tell her.
“Perfect,” Max says.
And out of all of us, Bram is the one who can’t compose himself as he lets a few tears slip and he touches our soft newborn’s cheek.
“I’m so proud of you,” he tells Sloane with a kiss to her head.
“He’s really here,” she says in amazement.
The doctors are working away, but it feels like we’re having our small intimate moment here.
“He’s really here,” I confirm, and she presses her face closer to the baby.
“Alright, dads, two of you come with me and our little guy, and one of you can stay behind with mom while we get her prepared to go back to the room.”
“I’ll stay,” Max says, petting Sloane’s hair.
Bram and I both give him a nod as the nurse puts the baby in a clear little bassinet and pushes him back to the room. She does a few more things there.
I take pictures of everything while Bram calls Sloane’s family, and I shoot off a text to my dad.
We already know all the protocol about what Sloane wanted for her birth, and she wanted her close family here at the hospital after. Friends would be once we get home.
Bram tosses an arm around my shoulder and squeezes me as we look at the tiny human we’re now responsible for.
“Holy shit. We’re dads,” he says, and I bump his hip with mine.
Not so long ago, Bram didn’t even know who the fuck I was, but now he’s one of the people I trust most in this world. Now we have a child together. It’s crazy how life brings you to the people you need at the right time.
Sloane and Max get brought back into the room, and I carefully pick the baby up. It’s probably the most terrifying moment of my life. I grew up around kids smaller than me, but a baby is a whole different thing.
I put him in Sloane’s arms, and she just stares down at him for a long moment before looking up at the three of us.
“Nothing ever goes to plan with us, does it?” she says before taking off the baby’s hat and stroking his soft blond hair. He doesn’t have a lot of it, but it’s definitely there.
“What do you think about Arie?” she says, looking at Bram.
“He’s ten pounds, liefje . You can’t name him Arie,” he says.
She snorts and looks back at the small little guy when in actuality, I suppose he isn’t so small as far as newborns are concerned.
“He needs a strong name,” Bram says.
“What do you think about a combination of all of your names?” I furrow my brow and look at the other men, and Sloane bites her lip. “Braxton,” she whispers. “Bram, Max, and Ethan. I know the end is on and not an, but it’s pretty close.”
The three of us look at each other. She wants to name her son after all of us.
“I think that’s a strong name, baby,” Max says, looking down at our son. “Can I hold him?” She nods, and Max swallows. “Can I sit down and someone hand him to me?”
Bram clears his throat and picks Braxton up. “Brax for short?” he says, glancing at Sloane who nods. “Brax Nilsen, a third generation hockey player. Son of Bram Nilsen, Max Connery, and Ethan Heart, and grandson of the legendary Kristoff Applegate. You’re going to go far,” he coos at the baby.
Sloane smiles wildly as Bram hands the baby to Max.
Max looks a little panicked. “Am I doing this right?”
“Yes, just support his head. There you go.” Sloane cheers him on as she nestles into the bed more, and I come over to her bedside.
“What do you need?”
“An entire sushi boat to myself and a Dr. Pepper,” she says.
“I can do that. Are you okay if I pick up my dad and bring him over too?”
“Of course,” she says, squeezing my hand tightly.
When I come back to the hospital with a massive bag of sushi, a six-pack of Dr. Pepper, and my ailing father, the room is full of family.
Sloane’s mothers are checking on her while Henderson and Kristoff are holding Braxton.
Max gets up so my father can sit, and I help him with his walker as he looks up at me.
“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, son. Now this is the second best,” he says, making me wipe under my eyes as I put Sloane’s food down and transfer the bundle from Kristoff to my dad.
“Aw hell,” he says as he gets choked up. “He’s fucking beautiful, Sloane.”
Sloane grins with a salmon roll in her mouth and swallows before replying.
“Thanks, Dave.”
“No, seriously. This kid is all you, none of these assholes. No paternity test needed. Immaculate conception.”
She laughs as my dad looks down at his grandson.
“What’s his name?” he asks.
“Braxton,” I reply.
My dad arches a brow and whispers to the baby. “Well, you can’t be handsome and have a good name. We all have our strengths.”
Thankfully, no one else can hear him, and I’m not going to call him out on it.
I sit down next to my dad and move the baby’s blanket a little.
“I’m proud of you, son. I know I probably don’t tell you enough. I know I was hard on your ass as a kid, but it’s because I knew how incredible you could be. You’re nothing like him, and I want you to remember that. If you don’t remember anything from me, I want you to remember that. You’re more of a man than he wishes he could ever be. You have a beautiful family, and you’ve made something of yourself. I love you, Ethan,” he says.
I lean into him delicately and look down at my son.
“It’s because I was raised by you,” I tell him, and I mean it completely. Without him, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I owe him everything.
“I know that’s right,” he says, jostling the baby with a laugh.
“Alright, Dave, stop being a baby hog,” Willow says, coming over to pick Brax up.
“I was only trying to get your attention, Willow,” my dad flirts.
Some things will never change, and I dread the day my dad isn’t here to make an inappropriate joke.
Willow holds her grandson and goes to Sloane’s side.
“Don’t let these moments go, cherish them all,” my father says.
I hold on to that advice for the rest of my life.