Reaper Epilogue- Seven months later
A hand on my shoulder and a gentle shake had me instantly coming awake. I rolled over and looked at Cheyenne. She had a grimace on her face. I sat up. “Is it time?”
She nodded. I jumped out of bed and pulled on my pants. She went to get up. “Stay there! I’ll get you.”
“Holden, I can stand up. I’m in labor. The baby isn’t going to fall out you know.”
She laughed. I didn’t care.
“Ha, ha, very funny. Yeah, I know the baby’s not gonna fall out, but you don’t need to be walking without me. What if you fall? Text Alisse while I send a text to the guys.”
“Honey, we don’t need to disrupt all of their sleep. I’ll let Alisse know since she’s gonna be in the delivery room with me. You should let your sister know.”
“I will as soon as we get you to the hospital. She can come up later.”
I didn’t want to stress Harper out by having her come up early and have to wait at the hospital for hours. She was two months behind Cheyenne in her pregnancy. She was due at the end of September with a little girl.
Cheyenne sat back and patiently waited for me to finish getting dressed and to send out the mass text. She sent hers off to Alisse. Once that was done, I picked her up and took her to the bathroom. She insisted she wanted to take a bath and shave her fucking legs! I almost lost my shit. Luckily, Alisse came at that moment. I left her in the bathroom to make sure Cheyenne stayed safe while I went to put her bag in the car. Ink was downstairs. He looked up at me with a frown.
“Where are the girls?”
“In the bathroom. Chey is taking a goddamn bath and shaving her legs before she goes! Shit, who does that?”
“Actually, I think most women do. Something about it takes hours of labor. What can I do?”
“Put this in the truck. Then I’m gonna call Viper and let him know so he can tell Harper. Hopefully, I can do it without waking her up. It’s only four in the morning. She needs her sleep.”
I threw him my keys.
“Good luck. You know she’ll kill you both if he waits.”
He walked out with Cheyenne’s hospital bag, chuckling. I pulled out my phone again. I saw all my brothers had responded to my text. I could hear bikes starting up. I smiled. Everyone was anxious to welcome the first Punisher baby. I dialed Viper. He answered immediately.
“Is it time or is something wrong?”
I couldn’t fault him for thinking it might be something else. We were still in the middle of this thing with the Soldiers of Corruption, not that they’d made a play for us directly here. Something had them holding back. We’d already taken back one of the clubs they’d worked so hard to destroy and were working indirectly on the other ones.
“It’s time. She’s in labor. Tell Harper when she gets up, will ya?”
“Yeah, like I’ll wait. She’s sitting here glaring at the phone. She heard you, bro.”
He laughed then I heard my sister’s voice.
“I swear to God, Holden, I’m gonna kick your ass when I see you. No way will I miss being there to see my niece or nephew born.”
I sighed. “Sis, I just wanted you to get some sleep. We have plenty of time. You both told me it takes hours.”
“So? We’ll be headed that way as soon as we get Cayden situated. Harlow is going to watch him for us. It’s all arranged. We’ll see you in a couple of hours. Tell Chey we love her.”
“I will. Drive safe. Love you too.”
I hung up. Ink came through the door.
“I got the truck cooling off. Anything else?”
“Nope. Just hang and let me go see if she’s done,”
I grumbled as I stomped up the stairs. I wasn’t admitting it, but I was nervous. Our baby was going to be here. I was wondering what I’d be like as a dad. I hoped I’d be like mine. He had been great. As I came into the bedroom, I saw Alisse had her out of the tub. She was slipping on a long, loose dress. I rushed over to her.
“Baby, you should have waited for me to help you out of the tub. What if you’d slipped?”
“I’m fine. Alisse held onto me. I know you’re anxious to go, though it’s gonna be several hours. Just let me get my shoes on and my purse. Did you get the bag in the truck, and call your sister?”
“Ink put the bag in the truck and yes, I called her. They’ll be here as soon as they get Cayden over to Harlow’s.”
As soon as she slid her feet into her shoes, I swung her up in my arms and went for the stairs.
She tried to tell me to put her down, but I ignored her. At the base of the stairs, Ink joined us and we all went out to my truck. Sitting off to the side of the driveway was a huge bunch of bikes. Cheyenne gasped. “Surely, they’re not all coming to the hospital now?”
“Try and stop ‘em. This is the first Punisher baby. No way they’d miss it.”
“They’ll drive the staff nuts! You know they will.”
“Probably. That’s between them and the staff. Come on, Banshee. Let’s go have our baby and find out what we have.”
We’d chosen not to find out in advance. We wanted to be surprised. It had almost killed Harper not to know. She said it spoiled her shopping plans.
Ink and Alisse got in her car. We pulled out, surrounded by all of our brothers. I couldn’t help but smile all the way to town. When we made it to the hospital, I took her straight up to the labor and delivery floor. Our doctor had told us to come there when she went into labor. I pointed out the waiting area to the guys who’d followed us. They all went in and sat down. I had to fight not to laugh at the look on the face of the man sitting in there.
The first hour was spent getting her checked and verified she was actually in labor. Then they got her hooked up to all kinds of shit. I sat there and held her hand. Her contractions weren’t very strong but it would change. Two and a half hours later, my sister and Viper walked in. She took turns with Alisse, sitting with me in her room.
Four hours later, Cheyenne was feeling the contraction more. I was allowed to get up and walk with her. I thought she should stay in bed, but the nurses insisted walking helped. Harper said the same thing. Chey would walk and then stop and hiss and squeeze my hand every time a contraction hit. I wanted them to give her something for the pain, but they said not yet. Something about being too far before delivery.
As her labor progressed, I got more anxious. I hated to see her in pain. They finally gave her an epidural for her pain. She was close to transition, they said. I knew from reading that was the stage before she actually would have the baby. I listened to the heartbeat beat out its steady rhythm.
As she napped, I thought back to our wedding seven months ago. It had been a beautiful though simple ceremony. The women had outdone themselves. When she’d come down that aisle to me, I could barely catch my breath. I didn’t remember the vows, just what I felt as I made her my wife. Nothing in the world could compare.
Afterward, we had a blast with all of our guests and family. The reception was great, and the food was delicious. I kept dancing with her every chance I could. At her insistence, the guys and I played and sang. I’d picked a couple of songs that I felt really told the story of how much I loved her. “H.O.L.Y.”
by Florida Georgia Line, and “Heaven and Worship You”
by Kane Brown. She’d cried.
That night we’d made love for hours. I’d had her in every way and still wanted more. Nothing had changed over the subsequent months. I only had to get a little more creative in positions when she got bigger. A faint moan had me snapping my head around to look at her.
Her eyes were open, and she had her hands on her stomach. I looked at the monitor and saw a contraction peaking. I stood up and laid my hand on her stomach. I could feel how tense it was. “Do you want me to get the nurse?”
She nodded. “I think it’s almost time. Will you get your sister and Alisse?”
I pushed the call light and then got out my phone. No way I was leaving her alone. In a couple of minutes, we were in the midst of a flurry of activity. Harper and Alisse arrived. The nurse came and checked her then said it was time and she went to get the doctor.
After the doctor got there, things got even faster paced. In no time, they had her legs up in my arms and Alisse’s. She was pushing with all her might and panting. As I watched, I saw the head appear. It was something I’d never imagined watching. It was a miracle.
“You’re doing great, baby. Just breathe and push.”
She pushed harder, and the head slipped out. On the next push, out came the shoulders and then the whole body. I tried to see what it was, but the doc had the baby wrapped up too fast. He handed it off to a nurse who took the baby over to a bassinet. She was checking the baby out. I stayed there with Cheyenne. I wanted us to find out together.
After the doctor dealt with the after birth, which was disgusting, the nurse came over to us, holding our squalling bundle of joy. She smiled at us. “Do you want to see what you have?”
We both nodded. She opened up the blanket. I looked and then gave a shout. I kissed Cheyenne. When I let go, I told her, “Thank you, baby. Thank you for loving me and giving me such a beautiful gift. I love you so much.”
“Holden, I love you even more and thank you for this gift of you and our baby.”
As she took our baby in her arms, I pulled out my phone. I sent a text and a picture to those waiting in the waiting room. I had to announce that the first Punisher baby was here, the first of many, and they were starting with my daughter, Lily Marie Grier.
The End until Iron Punishers Book 2: Ink’s Whirlwind