Chapter 17
DARCY
I was doing the final trim check on the sweetest little dog when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. When I glanced up, I found Dr. Hamilton was watching me work, so I smiled before I asked, “Did you bring your pet for a spa treatment?”
“Adam can drive himself wherever he wants to go,” she said with a grin as she walked farther into the room. “Just like I can, especially when I hear through the grapevine that one of my favorite new friends who insisted she wasn’t even dating two weeks ago purportedly proposed to some guy.”
“I didn’t realize you made house calls,” I said before I reached for the air hose so I could go over the dog one last time. When I was sure he was finished I gave him a kiss on the nose and then picked him up so I could carry him out front.
I turned in time to see Emerald smile before she said, “I don’t make house calls unless it’s an extreme circumstance, and I came by to make sure that this wasn’t one.”
“Give me one minute to put this sweetie up front to wait on her owner, and then I’ll clean up so I can say hello to your sweetie,” I told Emerald as I stopped in front of her so her daughter, Aurora, could giggle at the dog in my arms. As soon as I set the dog in the kennel by the window I hurried back to where Emerald was waiting.
“I just realized that your daughter is close in age to Rev! They’re going to grow up together! ”
“I’m sure they’ll be besties between fistfights and screaming arguments. That’s how my sister and her friend Squid were growing up and they’re still really close now.”
“The other Dr. Hamilton?” I asked.
“Yea, Amy. You’re about to be related to both of us, so it only makes sense that you call us by our first names.”
“It’s so hard for me to get used to that.”
“Having relatives?” Emerald asked.
“Well, that too. Oh! That reminds me! I need to call Steph and Chandler. I’m going to ask them if they’ll sit up front in the place of my parents.
I know if my mom was still here she’d be leaning on Steph to help her get through the craziness, so I think it’s fitting to have Steph take her place front and center. ”
“Have you considered calling your father to let him know that —”
“Hell no!”
“Just checking to see how you were handling the thought of not having either of your parents there on your wedding day,” Emerald explained.
“I still need to get a read on where you are with the entire situation.” When I gave her a bright smile, she said, “You’re either euphoric because you’re so happy and excited, or you’re experiencing a mental breakdown and masking it with cheerfulness. ”
“Well, you’re the expert. Which do you think it is?”
“I think it’s a form of mania that means you should be thrown into a padded cell and then receive hours and hours of intense therapy sessions until you realize the error of your ways.
” When I started giggling, she said, “Only because you’re marrying one of the trio of dumbasses I used to babysit who made me think I never wanted children of my own. ”
“Were they really that bad?”
“You’ve met Koda, right?”
“Of course.”
“It was like having three of him at one time,” Emerald said simply.
When I winced, she said, “Imagine that fresh hell day and night and then add in all the rest of the devil spawn that were added to the family over the next few years and you might understand why me and the other elders are so mean to them still to this day.”
“I’ve seen how Jewel and Phoenix interact and it was . . . disturbing.” I thought about it for a second before I asked, “Is it normal for someone in your profession to refer to children as devil spawn?”
“When I’m talking about those boys and all of their little friends it is.”
I burst out laughing before I said, “And to think, Rev is going to be part of the next crew that’s coming along.”
“That’s terrifying.” Emerald shuddered before she asked, “How are you doing, Darcy?”
“I’m okay,” I assured her.
“Okay isn’t good enough.”
“Let me expand on that. I’m happy. Excited. Nervous. Thrilled. Hopeful. Euphoric. And possibly a little unhinged. I’m better than okay. I promise.”
“After talking to you about your history, I recognize that your self-esteem has gone from almost nil to out of this world, but I want to make sure you’re not basing that on anyone other than yourself.
” Emerald frowned before she said, “I love my cousin with all my heart, and I know he’s a great man, but I want to make sure that you understand what a wonderful woman you are too. ”
“I do, and you helped me figure that out. I can’t thank you enough for that.”
“No thanks necessary, Darcy. Seeing your progression from an uncertain young woman to the confident woman I see now is thanks enough. And now, I have to ask, are you sure you’re ready to go from single to married with a child overnight?”
“Absolutely. Refer back to my thesaurus of descriptions. All of them apply to the thought of becoming a mom to Rev and a . . . I don’t know what my title will be when it comes to Griffin, other than just his aunt who he hangs out with all the time.”
“Brighten and Crow shared the parenthood adventure for years and that didn’t stop when Hawk came home - they made sure it wouldn’t and Griffin has bloomed because of it. I’m glad you understand their relationship isn’t normal by any means, but it’s who they are and that’s not going to change.”
“It’s crazy and unique and I couldn’t imagine it being any other way. Brighten will be part of Rev’s life just like Crow is part of Griffins, and Hawk and I can both enjoy having the backup when we need it.”
“That’s a great way to look at it,” Emerald mused.
She readjusted Aurora on her hip and smiled down at the little girl before she asked, “Are you ready to have not just one cousin to play with, but another one to terrorize?” When her daughter started babbling Emerald grinned and said, “That was a resounding yes.”
“Can I still come talk to you?”
“I think you should keep coming to appointments, but I want you to know that you can talk to me anytime, Darcy, whether it’s in the official capacity or just as a friend who’s been in the trenches with the Forrester boys almost since the beginning.”
“You make it sound like it’s a war.”
“Honey, if there ever was a war I would feel safe knowing that any of them was on my side, but believe me, when they’re growing up it feels like you’ve always gotta be on the defensive.”
“I think I understand what you mean. The other day Griffin asked me if I’d ever considered how I’d look with purple teeth and since then I’ve been terrified to eat or drink anything that didn’t come with a seal I broke myself.”
Emerald slowly nodded before she said, “I think you get it.”
“When does that stop?”
“It hasn’t yet, and those boys are all full grown men with children of their own now.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Now you really get it.”
◆◆◆
As Crow and I waited in the hall for the elevator, he pulled me into his arms before he whispered, “Are you as nervous and excited as I am?”
“Which one is winning? Are you more nervous or excited?” I asked.
“Both.”
I tipped my head back so I could look into his face before I asked, “Are we crazy?”
“Absolutely.”
“Are we moving too fast?”
“Absolutely.”
“Should we slow things down and . . .” Crow’s brow furrowed, so I hurried to say, “Okay, I feel better knowing you’re not in that camp because I’m so excited about jumping off this cliff with you that I can barely contain myself.”
“We have the marriage license and two hours before a herd of men show up to help you pack your shit and move it to my house,” Crow reminded me. “What would you like to do with that precious time?”
“I want to take you to my house where I know we can be alone and rip your clothes off with my teeth before I do unmentionable things to your body.”
Crow burst out laughing before he said, “I thought that was my line.”
“Why did we make this unholy vow?”
“In some circles, waiting until after the wedding before a couple has sex is actually encouraged.”
“I’ve never been part of that circle,” I mumbled. “Maybe I should sleep at my house until our wedding night.”
“Would that make it easier?”
“To resist you? No.”
“Are we positive we want to keep that . . . what did you call it? The unholy vow?”
“It’s not like we won’t be incompatible or something. God knows that in the last week we’ve snuck off as often as possible to make out like teenagers, and that thing you did in the bathroom early this morning was phenomenal.”
“Again with the odd firsts, huh?”
This morning before dawn, after shift change when the nurses came in to check on Rev, who managed to sleep through everything, Crow and I had an encounter in the bathroom that ended with me having the first of what I knew would be many Crow-induced orgasms. I was positive that if he could make me come without removing any of my clothes, just whispering dirty things in my ear as he rubbed his hand over my leggings, anything else he might do to me would be even more mind blowing.
“It wasn’t enough.”
“I have a bite mark on my shoulder that says it was pretty damn good,” Crow boasted. When I pinched his arm he said, “I’m not complaining, sweetheart, I was just reminding you.”
“But I want more.”
“We’ve got two hours.”
“We made a vow.”
“If we were sticking to vows then you wouldn’t have given me a chance for at least nine more months.”
“You’re right.”
When the elevator doors finally opened, Crow and I stepped aside so the deputy could walk out with the female prisoner he was escorting, and even though I knew it was rude I couldn’t stop myself from watching her shuffle down the hall beside him.
“Is Rebecca here?” I asked as we walked into the elevator.
“No. Marcus has been keeping track of her for us and he called this morning and let me know that she’s been moved to the psychiatric hospital.
I don’t know all the details, and I really don’t want to because they sound heartbreaking, but apparently her delusions just got worse as she went through withdrawal. ”
“Oh, no.”
“Even though she made Raven’s life hell and tried to do the same to mine, it sucks to know that she’s having such a rough time.
I feel like she didn’t have a chance in life, between her parents and her mental illness, which might have been caused by her parents.
I’m not a professional by any means, but I have to believe that her childhood only made things worse. ”
“You’re such a good-hearted man, Crow. I knew that the second I woke up and realized that you’d taken care of me when I couldn’t take care of myself. I know that you probably went above and beyond to take care of Rebecca before things got too bad, and now you’re going to take care of Rev.”
“Rebecca wanted so badly to be part of our family, and she really was for a while. She and Raven were stuck together like glue for years but when Raven had a chance to go away and follow her music dreams, I guess Rebecca just couldn’t handle it.”
“So she thought she’d get into the family by another route - you.”
“Not happening,” Crow muttered as the elevator started moving.
It only took a minute and we were downstairs in the brightly lit hallway that would lead us outside, which meant that we had responsibilities and other things to take care of.
Crow seemed to realize that at the same time and he asked, “Since we’re not going to run off and get naked for the next two hours, what do you want to do? ”
“I want to go visit Steph and Chandler so I can ask them if they’ll come to the wedding and sit in place of my mom.”
“Aww, honey, you’re gonna make Steph cry.”
I giggled before I said, “Probably.”
“Let’s go see your cousin and pass the time. Two hours isn’t nearly enough time for me to do even a portion of the things I want to do to and with you, so we’re gonna have to stick to our vow after all.”
“You know, telling me that doesn’t make it any easier.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”