Chapter 30 Beau
BEAU
BEAU - FOUR WEEKS LATER
The sound of my wife’s moans filling the air drove me wild.
Now that we were three days past her due date, it was difficult for me to take charge and have her in all the ways I wanted. Comfortable positions for her had become limited, and I was merely happy to have her any way I could get her.
Because I couldn’t get enough of her. Even if this had become more of a tactical reason for sex instead of a romantic one.
Jules was on top, grinding herself over me, and everything had been going great. But sometime within the last minute or so, Jules had slowed her movements.
“What’s going on, angel? Are you okay?”
Her head dropped forward, and those pretty, pink lips and big blue eyes had my fingers gripping her hips a little tighter.
“I don’t want to stop, because I need this release. But I’m so exhausted, out of breath, and my hips hurt. Plus, I need you to finish if we’re going to increase my chances of going into labor today.”
With my hands in the right spot, I massaged her hips and laughed. “You really are ready to meet this baby, aren’t you?”
“I’m over waiting. I can’t take it any longer.” Her head dropped back. “Oh, that feels so good.”
“How about I do the work? We’ll prop you up on some pillows, and I’ll stand at the side of the bed to get things done,” I suggested. “Or if you want, you can lay on your side, and I’ll get behind you.”
Definitely not romantic.
But she needed this. And if she was naked, and I was inside her, there was no way I’d be complaining.
“You don’t mind?”
“Jules, you got things started. I’ll bring it home.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “You’re the best. If I haven’t told you that already, you’re the best.”
I laughed at the statement we’d been repeating to one another over the last several months. It had become a running joke of sorts.
I helped to ease Jules off me. She collapsed onto her side, and I took that to mean she’d decided what position was most appealing to her.
And truthfully, after a bit of maneuvering, even if the reason Jules had hopped on me this morning had been because she was willing to do anything that was suggested to get her to go into labor, after a few slow strokes, it became about more than that for the both of us.
It wasn’t long before Jules was moaning again. As I thrust into her, I kissed and licked her shoulder and her neck. My hand had been at her hip but soon dipped down between her legs. The moment I touched her, she let out a guttural moan. “Oh, God.”
My teeth bit down on her shoulder as I felt myself drawing nearer to that end.
“Beau,” she whimpered.
“Are you going to come for me, Jules?” I growled in her ear.
“Beau,” she called out her warning.
My lips curved into a mischievous smile, my cock driving in just a bit harder. Two, three, four strokes later, she was crying out as her orgasm rippled through her. I was only a handful of strokes behind her.
Once we’d both come down and made it to the other side—it took her just a bit longer to get there—I asked, “Do you feel better now?”
She sighed, her body limp and sated. “So much better. Thank you.”
I laughed against her skin. “You never have to thank me for that.”
Jules rolled to her opposite side and curled up next to me. “I hope that did the trick. I’m not sure how many more days I can wait.”
“I’m sure it’s going to happen any day now,” I promised. “How about we do something fun today to distract you?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know yet. We can figure it out over breakfast, though. Do you want me to bring it to you here in bed, or do you want to go downstairs to eat?”
She inhaled deeply and kissed my chest. “I don’t want to be too far away from you, so I’ll come downstairs.”
“If you want to stay here, I’ll be right back as soon as the food’s ready.”
Jules pulled her head back to look up at me. “Are you suggesting that you wouldn’t be too far away from me for too long if you did that?”
My lips twitched. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
We took a few more minutes to cuddle with one another, but eventually, we got up and made our way downstairs.
“No ideas of what you’d like to do yet?” I asked after we sat down to eat.
Jules picked up a piece of her toast and bit into it. “I’d like to deliver a baby.”
“I know. But in case that’s not going to happen until later today, we could do something else.”
“Well, it’s too cold outside.”
“Okay. We can do something indoors. How about we go to a movie? It’ll kill a few hours, you won’t have to be on your feet, and you can get some snacks.”
She considered it. “Hmmm. That’s not a bad idea, husband.”
I grinned at her. “Eat up, and we’ll see what’s playing today.”
It didn’t take Jules long to get through her meal, because it seemed she was unable to finish most of them these days with less and less room inside her body. Once we were done, I grabbed my laptop and brought it over to her.
“Here, you check out the movie listings while I get everything cleaned up.”
“Okay.”
A few minutes passed, and Jules called, “Beau?”
“Yeah? Did you find something?”
“I don’t think we’re going to be able to go to the movies today.”
“What? Why not?”
She stood from the table and stared at me with wide eyes. “It seems your efforts paid off this morning, because my water just broke.”
I blinked. “It’s… It’s happening?”
Jules nodded, her face breaking out into the biggest, happiest grin. “We’re going to meet our baby soon.”
My heart hammered. “Okay. Okay. Should we get to the car?”
“I think we can clean up the kitchen and get ourselves dressed first.”
Right.
Smart move.
I immediately got back to cleaning the kitchen, rushing through the tasks, so I could focus entirely on whatever Jules needed me to do.
Thirty minutes later, it happened. We were just about to walk out the door when she had to stop and hold on to the counter.
“Hang on. I think I’m having a contraction. ”
“You’ve been having those for a while now, though. A couple of weeks.”
She squeezed her eyes and shook her head. “Nope. Not like this. Oh, this is intense.”
Jules made it through her contraction and was able to make it to the car.
But on the way to the hospital, she’d had several more contractions that took her breath away.
And they weren’t sporadic like the ones she’d been having for a few weeks now.
I got a feeling our baby was much closer than we thought.
We made it to the hospital, and everything passed in a whirlwind.
Nurses and doctors were in and out, setting Jules up with IVs and monitors, and getting everything ready for our baby’s arrival.
Surprisingly, Jules was just about halfway through the labor process at nearly five centimeters dilated by the time we’d arrived.
That’s when we knew it was time to call the family.
My stomach was a mess of nerves and excitement. It felt like we’d waited an eternity for this day, and I was beyond ready to meet this little boy or girl.
Several hours passed, Jules experiencing more and more discomfort as her labor progressed. Every minute that I watched her throughout the process, I was in awe of her. Of her strength and determination.
She labored long and hard—though not as long as many first-time moms, according to the labor and delivery nurses—and before I knew it, it was time for her to push. Contraction after contraction, Jules endured the pain and pushed past the exhaustion to see it all through.
And then, it happened.
“One more push, Jules, and your baby is going to be here.”
She took a deep breath and pushed.
“It’s a boy!”
The doctor immediately placed my son on my wife’s chest, and it was easily the best moment of my whole life. Jules and I were both in tears, and it didn’t take long for our son to start wailing.
“This little guy has got a great set of lungs,” one of the medical professionals said. I didn’t know who it was because I didn’t dare to look up, to look away.
I brushed the hair back from Jules’ face and kissed her forehead. “I’m so proud of you. You did it, my angel. He’s here.”
“Dad, do you want to cut the cord?”
That word.
That word did it.
Dad.
I was a dad.
I looked down at the doctor and nodded. “Yes.”
I cut the cord connecting my son to my wife, feeling like that was also pretty high up on my list of unforgettable moments.
“We’re going to take him over there to get him cleaned up and checked out for you, Mom. He’ll be right back.”
I watched as they carried him away, and Jules said, “Go with him.”
She wasn’t going to accept any argument from me, so I kissed her again and followed my son to the other side of the room, where the nurses weighed him, listened to his heart and lungs, and cleaned him off.
My chest felt like it had expanded beyond what my body could hold. Was it possible to love him too much? Because I did. I loved him more than I thought was possible.
Finally, he got swaddled, and the nurse said, “It’s your turn, Dad.”
Then I was holding him.
I was holding my son in my arms, and it was better than I ever thought it could be.
To think I had intended to live my whole life without experiencing this. It would have been such a shame.
I looked over to see Jules watching me. “You’re a dad.”
Carrying him over to her, I placed him in her arms. “And you’re a mom.”
She looked down at him, the back of her finger stroking lightly over his soft cheek. “He’s perfect, Beau. He’s the most beautiful baby in the whole world.”
“Well, what do you expect when his mom looks the way you do?”
Tipping her head back, she smiled and sighed. “He needs a name.”
“He does.”
“Do you have any ideas? We talked about so many names for both boys and girls, but I don’t feel like any of them stuck for you.”
They hadn’t.
Maybe part of the reason for that was that I needed to meet him. But now that I did, his name came to me.
“I’m thinking about Wilder.”
“Wilder?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I figure he might be like you. A little wild with a rebel heart. In fact, I was thinking his full name could be Wilder Westwood Easton.”
Something washed over Jules’ expression, and tears welled in her eyes. She looked down at our son and said it again. “Wilder.” Returning her attention to me, she whispered, “It’s perfect.”
I grinned at her. Then I kissed her and said, “I should tell the rest of the family.”
“Yeah. But just stay with us a few more minutes, because it’s never going to be like this again.”
A soft chuckle escaped. “I’ll do anything you want.”
“I love you, Beau.”
“I love you, too.”
And for the next few minutes, as my wife and I marveled at our precious son, I vowed to never make him feel like he wasn’t the most loved and wanted kid in the world. I’d had the opposite growing up. I’d never do that to him.
Until the day I died, my only goal would be loving and protecting this little boy, his mom, and any more siblings we chose to give him.