Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Morris
M y nerves are shot by the time we make it up to the labor and delivery floor. They did a ton of tests on Arbor and the baby, as well as stitching up Arbor’s tear. The baby needs a name, but Arbor is so out of it by the time they get her to a private room that it’s clear the pain meds have kicked in.
“The baby team is going to bring her over to the nursery, but we need to get the three of you banded first.” The nurse waves a hand, and Hayes and Hael come in. She steps over to Arbor, grabbing her wrist to check the bracelet they put on her. “Sorry, Mom. I need you to wake up for me. Tell me who these guys are, and if you want to give consent for them to be here.”
Arbor’s head rolls around, and she points. “Morris, Hayes, and Hael. And yes.”
“Good enough for me,” the nurse says cheerily. She has no idea the hell we’ve been through tonight.
Arbor held the baby on the trip over while one of the EMTs massaged her uterus to help it contract. The wails she released will haunt me to my dying day, but they swore it was necessary. It was a battle not to knock the shit out of the guy, and I only barely managed to contain myself.
The nurse proceeds to give us all two bracelets—one matching Arbor’s hospital band and another that’s some type of baby protection system.
I don’t know.
I’m only half listening.
The baby is asleep in the baby cart, but I don’t like the idea of her being out of my sight to go to the nursery. Then again, the thought of leaving Arbor when she’s so exhausted doesn’t work for me either.
“Okay, baby is heading to the nursery,” the other nurse says. “Who is coming with me?”
Hayes nods and heads after her.
The other nurse leans over Arbor, telling her something in words too soft for me to make out.
Hael comes over, getting very close to my ear. “I might have accidentally committed insurance fraud, but uhh, we can worry about that later. I’m just telling you, so you don’t contradict what I put down. We’re on the paperwork as the responsible financial party, and I listed our insurance for the baby. I also kinda wrote myself down as the dad.”
My eyes widen. “Shit.”
“Yeah, I know,” he mutters, still keeping his voice low. “I panicked. She doesn’t have insurance. I mean, I guess she could, but wouldn’t that be the first thing you’d bring with you to the hospital?”
“Absolutely.”
“Right, so…” His head shakes. “I don’t know, but there’s more to it. We can get into all that later. Hayes said the mark on her cheek isn’t from the accident. We think she’s running from someone.”
My fists clench because I agree.
When she came into the shop, I didn’t have the full picture.
Now I do.
She must have been wearing makeup the day I saw her outside the grocery store and again when she came in to have her car checked out. Otherwise, I’m positive I would have noticed it…unless she was purposely covering it up.
“I’m going to keep an eye on Hayes,” Hael says, clapping my shoulder.
Hayes has his own trauma left over from the military, and it’s the kind that only time heals. If I didn’t need to be with Arbor, I’d be checking on him to see how he’s coping after delivering the baby, but right now I have to trust Hael will support his brother.
Arbor sniffles, leaning into my shoulder as the nurse wraps up another round of massaging her stomach.
Once she’s done, she tells Arbor to call if she needs the bathroom. “They should be back with the baby soon. Are you planning to nurse, or will you be bottle feeding?”
“I want to breastfeed,” Arbor says sleepily. “They had me do the first round in the ER.”
“Sounds good. No more than two hours before your next feed.” The nurse smiles, wheeling her cart toward the door. “We have a lactation consultant. I’ll schedule her to stop by in the morning. I can help with latching too. If you need anything, especially the bathroom, hit the call button.” She heads out, and I run my fingers through the little omega’s hair.
“Have you thought of names?”
“I have spent so much time on names.” She smiles. “I love Gracie and Sutton. Bexley is cute too.”
“Those are all beautiful names.”
“Holland is pretty, but I’m not sure how I feel about Holly as a nickname.” She yawns and carefully scoots closer. I’m in awe that she’s able to move like that at all. The baby weighed seven pounds, six ounces. She’s so tiny compared to my giant hands, and still, I saw the agony she caused Arbor. “Wrenley is nice, and Wren makes a great nickname.”
“Those are both great too.”
“I love Ally or Clover, but Adam hated those.” Her entire body tenses, including her hand on my chest.
I must have been distracted when she put it there, but I bring my free hand up, giving hers a squeeze. “Would you like to tell me about him? Or even how you got here?”
She sighs. “We were only together for a few months when I found out I was pregnant. It didn’t make any sense, I always took my birth control on time. I had to because it had my suppressants together with it all in one pill. Anyway, that part doesn’t matter. Long story short? He was nice until he wasn’t. Once I was tied to him…”
Tilting my head, I study the side profile of her face.
Her eyes clench and her head shakes. “I needed to get out. I saved up for months. Every time I made a cash tip, I split it—I kept half and gave the rest to a friend from work. She kept it safe until I was ready to leave. Without her help, I don’t think I ever would have gotten away. She’s the one who gave me the car and lent me her family’s cabin. That’s how I ended up here.”
There are so many things I want to say. So many questions on the tip of my tongue, but I know she’s exhausted—both mentally and physically.
Instead, I will myself to purr. It’s been so many years since I even tried that I’m not sure it’ll work, but eventually, my chest begins to rattle.
“I’m grateful you did.” I continue soothing my fingers through her hair, trying to comfort her. “Get some rest. I’ll wake you as soon as the nurse brings the baby back.”
I’m not sure if they’ll let the twins bring the little one to the room without supervision, but maybe that’s what the bracelets were for?
Hell if I know.
I don’t have kids.
This is a first for all of us.
Arbor sighs, teasing her fingers over my chest. It’s almost hard to believe she’s comfortable letting me this close after what she described.
She didn’t say she was abused in so many words, but she sure painted a grim picture of her past. Anyone who feels the need to hide money from a partner does it for a specific reason.
At the very least, she was a victim of financial abuse, and it is a real thing. If he controlled the money, he limited her ability to provide for herself if she broke up with him. And she took extreme measures to overcome that.
If I had a child and the mother took it from me, I would be fucking heartbroken, but the circumstances here are completely different. She clearly felt like she and the baby weren’t safe.
There’s more to her story left to uncover, but one thing is for sure…that bastard will regret his actions if he shows up here.
The same nurse from earlier comes back in with Hael and the baby.
My head tilts, but I don’t ask about Hayes.
“Okay, Mom, do you need the restroom before we work on getting the baby latched?” the nurse asks.
“I’m going to run down and check out the cafeteria,” I tell Arbor, kissing her temple. “I’ll bring you back a bunch of options.”
“Thank you,” she replies as I carefully climb from the bed. The last thing I want to do is to jostle all those stitches.
The nurse gives a polite smile when I walk past. I stop, taking another look at the baby. She’s so fucking tiny it takes my breath away, but she’s the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen. I run my fingers over her tummy and head for the door.
Hael follows me out.
“Where’s Hayes?” I ask once we’re in the hallway.
“He was watching them bathe the baby, and he said he needed some air.” Hael shrugs, shoving his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “He’ll be back. He’s not going to leave us stranded here.”
We continue toward the doors where we need to be buzzed in and out, but my mind is still focused on Hayes.
I don’t think he would ditch us either, but he showed up in a big way for Arbor tonight. I’m sure his adrenaline is going to crash—if it hasn’t already.
Tugging my phone from my back pocket, I check the time.
Damn.
It’s almost five a.m.
I’ll make a point of calling him if he doesn’t pop up in an hour or so.
Here’s hoping the cafeteria is even open.