44. Epilogue Cassidy
Chapter forty-four
Epilogue: Cassidy
Afew more months later
The sound of my own heavy breathing mixes in with the rapid thumps of my heartbeat, the lights above me streaking to the point of blinding me.
“Cassidy, listen to me. You need to keep pushing, okay?” Dr. Wallace tells me from the end of the hospital bed.
For a few seconds, I forget how to breathe as pain and discomfort consume me, sweat beading up on my forehead. I grimace and squeeze my eyes shut, feeling cold and hot at the same time.
“You’ve got this, baby,” Marcus says from my right as he holds my hand. “We need you to breathe.”
“Breathe, Cass,” Jackson tells me from my left.
“Come on,” Tyler says, squeezing my left hand.
I suck in a shaky breath and focus on what I need to do. Not on the pain. Not on the fear.
On bringing our baby into the world.
“Good. Now, push!”
I bear down as much as I can, my head aching from the exertion. I’ve already forgotten how long I’ve been doing this for, but it feels like it has been an eternity.
How much more can I take when my body hurts all over, inside and out?
I drop back down onto the pillows, my eyes stinging. “I’m so tired. I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Hey, you’ve got this,” Jackson says as he peers down at me with a serious expression on his face. “You’re stronger than you think. I promise.”
That spurs some motivation in me. If they believe in me, I need to as well.
“Again, Cassidy. We need to get this baby out soon,” Dr. Wallace tells me.
I nod and gather as much air in my lungs as I can before pushing hard. I could be breaking Tyler’s and Marcus’ hands for all I know, but it’s helping. Neither of them complains. They just keep encouraging me.
I push and push until I’m dizzy and breathless, my strength and energy starting to ebb away.
“Almost!” Dr. Wallace says as she prepares to catch the baby. “One more!”
I grit my teeth and give it my all, my vision wavering as the pain hits a peak.
A few seconds later, the sound of a baby crying fills the room.
Black dots float around in my vision for a few moments, but I cling onto consciousness as much as I can so that I can get a glimpse of our baby.
“Go,” Marcus says, motioning for Jackson and Tyler to go check. He stays right by my side, kissing the top of my head. “You did amazing, baby. You did that.”
Tears well up in my eyes as I smile up at him, exhausted and relieved. I’m so glad the doctor let them all stay here with me. I couldn’t have done it without all of them next to me, encouraging me and reminding me of how strong I can be.
“Here’s your healthy baby girl,” Dr. Wallace announces as she places my baby on my chest. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you,” I say through my happy tears as I gaze down at our daughter. “She’s so beautiful.”
The guys surround me, peering down at her with awe written all over their faces.
“She’s perfect,” Jackson murmurs as he gently brushes his finger against her tiny hand. “She has your dark hair, Marc.”
“I’m pretty sure I see Tyler’s dimples,” Marcus replies with a light chuckle. “Her eyes look a lot like yours, Jax.”
“Oh, good. She took the best parts of us,” Tyler says, soft laughter surrounding me. “But she’s just as beautiful as her mom.”
Maybe that’s exactly how it was supposed to be. We stopped caring whose biology it was months ago.
“I love you guys,” I tell them before looking back down at our daughter. “And I love you, Violet. So much.”
I feel kisses on the top of my head, my heart aching with so much love and happiness. I can’t believe I’m finally holding our child in my arms right now. It has felt like years since I first found out that I was pregnant and so much craziness happened.
Now, life is so good, and she’s finally here with her family where she belongs.
“Congratulations,” one of the nurses says as she walks over to us. “Who’s Dad?”
The guys glance at each other before answering all at once.
“We are.”
The nurse’s eyebrows lift in surprise, but she then smiles. “We’ll do paperwork later. Let’s get everyone cleaned up.”
I hate having Violet taken away for even a second, but I let the nurse take her to check on her and clean her. I’m also tended to and set up in bed so that I can rest after a long labor, but despite how exhausted I am, I still perk up when Violet is wheeled into the room.
“There she is,” I say as Jackson picks her up to hold her for the first time.
“She’s so tiny,” Jackson murmurs, swallowing hard as he gazes down at her. “I can’t believe this.”
Seeing him so emotional makes tears fill my eyes. “Me either.”
Tyler and Marcus stand on either side of him, patting his back and shoulder as they revel in the moment with him.
I’m so glad that they’re so close with each other. Watching their relationship deepen along with our romantic relationship has been the best thing ever. They’re brothers.
True family.
And having our daughter here will bring us all even closer together.
A light knock sounds on the hospital room door before Ryan and Sarah poke their heads in.
“How’s my niece?” Sarah asks in a quiet voice before her eyes land on Violet in Jackson’s arms. “Oh my gosh!”
I laugh softly as she gasps quietly and hurries over to the guys.
“She’s so beautiful!” Sarah says before motioning for Ryan to give her hand sanitizer. “I think I’ve sanitized like five times since I left the house.”
“Can’t be too careful,” Ryan replies as he does the same. He smiles down at Violet once Jackson places her in Sarah’s arms. “She’s so cute. You did great, Cass.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, sharing a warm look with him.
Sarah gently hands Violet over to Ryan after a few minutes of cooing at her. She goes to my bedside and hugs me, kissing the top of my head multiple times. “I’m so happy for you! You did this amazing thing, Cassidy. You brought a little human into the world!”
I hug her back as tightly as I can with the strength that I have left. “It was a feat, but I did it.”
Sarah laughs and squeezes my hand. “Yes, you did. When are you having your next one?”
I flash her a pointed look. “Don’t.”
Sarah blows me a playful kiss before bounding back over to Ryan to admire her niece once more.
I’m sure we’ll have another one day, but I can’t even think about going through labor again right now.
“You’re going to be good dads,” Ryan tells the guys. “I know we all grew up in not the best family situations, but that doesn’t mean we have to repeat the past.”
Tyler nods. “We’re going to do things differently.”
“A lot differently,” Jackson agrees.
“She’ll be loved,” Marcus says as he gently strokes the top of Violet’s head.
I smile to myself as I watch the people I love the most fawn over Violet. I’m so happy that she’ll be surrounded by people who genuinely love and care about her. We might not have the biggest family, but we have a loving one.
That’s what matters the most.
As Ryan and Sarah huddle close together with Violet, the guys gravitate over to me, sitting on either side of me.
“How are you doing, angel?” Jackson asks me as he takes my hand.
“Tired but happy,” I tell him. “This feels like a dream. Actually seeing her in person instead of on a screen.”
“It’s surreal,” Tyler agrees. “I knew she would be incredible, but she’s even more wonderful than I ever could’ve imagined.”
Hearing them talk about their daughter so lovingly makes my heart ache with joy. Violet is going to be so spoiled, and she deserves every ounce of love she’ll get.
“Can I make a request?” I ask them.
“Anything,” they say at the same time.
“Sushi,” I sigh wistfully. “A lot of sushi.”
The guys chuckle and nod. They’ve been nice and have refrained from eating the things I had to miss out on while I was pregnant.
“I’ll put in an order,” Marcus says, starting to take out his phone.
“In a little while,” I tell him as I place my other hand over his to stop him. “Let them enjoy this as long as they want. I don’t want to rush them out of here because dinner arrived.”
Jackson smirks with a knowing look on his face. “You just want them to catch baby fever.”
“It would be impossible not to while holding that perfect little baby,” I point out.
Jackson leans down and kisses my forehead. “You really did an amazing job, Cass. You carried her for nine months and then brought her into this world.”
This past year has been a rollercoaster that I never saw coming. At this point in my life, I expected to be married to Derek.
Instead, I’m with three incredible guys, we have a baby and an amazing house together, and my relationship with Sarah and Ryan is better than ever before. My life took such a different turn, and I’m so grateful for that.
Hearts broke and things fell apart, but how else is a whole new life built? What I used to have had to be destroyed so that something better could replace it.
Besides, what I have now is worth everything that I went through in the past.
“Now, we get to raise her,” I say as I gaze at our daughter.
Ryan and Sarah give each other warm looks as they gravitate closer together. I know that spark in their eyes.
I have a feeling I’ll be back in the hospital pretty soon, but it won’t be for the birth of my child.
Tyler exhales slowly. “Now, that will certainly be an adventure.”
The four of us laugh. There will be ups and downs in the future too, but we’re not going to be alone when we deal with the twists, turns, and obstacles. We’ll have each other, and that’ll never change.
Not when we’re so clearly meant to be.
Thank you for reading!
If you are ready to dive into another steamy, chaotic, can’t-put-down reverse harem….
Your next obsession starts right here:
I came to clean up a scandal. I left begging for them.
Day one on the job and New York’s hottest firehouse hands me three disasters:
Hale—the captain with a filthy mouth and zero mercy.
Evan—the caretaker with kiss-it-better hands…and a staring problem.
Noah—the sunshine sinner who live-streamed a rescue and set my campaign—and my body—on fire.
No fraternizing, they said.
Try not to moan, my body dared.
The city wants blood. The councilman wants them gone.