22. Dragon
Chapter Twenty-Two
DRAGON
“Breathe!” Horse said, dark hair a mess from him running his hand through it a million times. He had a fresh black eye from his last fight with Nix, but he’d won. Nix was also there, frowning at Horse like he might throw him out of the hospital room if he got hysterical.
“I’m breathing,” I glowered while another wave of pain went through me. I was trying to relax, but Horse having hysterics wasn’t helping.
“She’s breathing,” Jezabel snapped, glaring at Horse, then at Nix, then at me. “I’m just here to tell you that your mom’s in the hall with a five-gallon container of carbs. Also, when are you going to get back on the track so we can beat Horse?”
“Out!” Horse commanded, standing tall and looking like the lord of the manor as he pointed to the door.
She ignored him as she sat on the edge of my bed, avoiding the IV tube. “Since you went into labor early, you can still drive the three-hundred, right?”
Nix sighed heavily and then took her elbow, his eyes narrowing at her.
“Trix isn’t driving until she’s fully recovered.
And she needs to bond with the baby. And it’s good for Horse to win sometimes so she doesn’t pity him too much.
If she pities him too much, she might feel like she has to drive for him. ”
I laughed between contractions and grabbed Jezabel in a headlock. “Go play interference with my mother. She’s like you, only scarier.”
“I know,” she said, easily slipping out of my hold. “She’s the one who planned the extraction. You should probably talk to her about the whole thing.”
I blinked at her. “What whole thing?”
She nodded at Horse, who was glowering at her, but hadn’t tried to physically throw her out yet. He didn’t want bullets flying around my hospital room. “When she tried to kill baby Horse.”
I glared at her and was distracted enough that the next contraction caught me unprepared. I gasped, and then Horse was there, his worried face blocking out everyone else.
“Do you remember the class? We should have taken more of them. But breathing is good. Do you remember?”
I squeezed his hand until he grunted. “I remember. Breathe with me. Deep breathing. Relax the body.” We took a few breaths together until the panic eased out of him.
We were focused on breathing and didn’t have time or energy to panic.
He was so adorable, worried about me and the baby, over-prepared for every possible eventuality, and a line of doctors in the hall that didn’t need to be there.
I had this undeniable urge to push, and the next thing I knew, a scream like a Valkyrie on a death mission wracked the room. The doctor handed me this little red, screaming monster, hot to the touch, and flickering orange in her blue eyes.
She looked at me and screamed. I smiled back at her. Good lungs were an asset. Her blonde hair was starting to tuft up like pale feathers. I had a blonde baby? What was I going to do with her?
She kept screaming.
“The father should hold your baby while we check you out,” the doctor said, not Horse’s sadistic friend, but the short, nice one I’d met the first time.
I smiled at Horse, who was looking at us like he might pass out. “Take the princess,” I said, holding her up and pretending to drop her.
He caught her, swooping her against his chest as he stared down at her like she was a miracle. I guess she was. Almost as much of a miracle that I’d found someone like Horse to love me. To always be there for us.
She stopped screaming, staring at him like she really saw him, like he was a big, amazing, powerful protector who would sacrifice his life for her.
“She knows her daddy,” the doctor said with a big smile, probably because the baby’s screams had hurt his ears. I’d have to invest in earplugs.
Horse gently bounced the baby wrapped in her little blanket, looking like a bruised tomato. He looked up at me and smiled, and I’d never been so happy.
“She’s so pretty, just like her momma.” Horse’s voice was soft, like his eyes as he looked between me and our little bundle of princess with the shriek of a harpy.
“She did hear your voice.” I took a deep breath and let happiness soak into me. “She knew that you’d be her hero.”
He raised a dark eyebrow over glazed blue eyes. He was probably more tired than I was. “If you let me be yours, I’ll play whatever role you want. Trix, you’re the hero, sacrificing your life, your body, for this little monster. Let’s have five more.”
I laughed because one miracle was plenty to give me more happiness than I deserved. Thank goodness I didn’t have to worry about having more kids. Childbirth was tough. Much harder than the three hundred.
“At least twenty,” I said.
A shadow filled the doorway, and I looked over, and then my heart lurched. Richard the elder stood there with his blonde hair, looking defeated, a ghost of the man he’d been. Had they ever recovered the body of my baby’s birth-daddy that someone had stuck in Uncle Nino’s Cadillac?
Horse cradled our baby to his chest protectively. “What do you want? My wife is resting.”
Richard nodded and stared at the baby, at the tufts of pale hair sticking up. “I just wanted to thank you for getting the body back to me.”
I looked at Horse. He gave the man a short nod. “You could have left a message with my office.”
Richard looked at the baby. “Mrs. VanBuren, I’m here to offer you my son’s stocks.”
I blinked at him. I opened my mouth to say that I wasn’t going to take his money, but this wasn’t about me. I gave him a short nod. “Of course. If you think that’s what your son would have wanted. Do you want to meet the baby?”
He hesitated, still staring at the blonde bundle, then slowly shook his head and backed away. “That’s not necessary. I take it you have everything under control here. She’ll be raised well enough. If you need anything, let me know.” He turned and walked out, leaving me with Horse.
Horse came over and bent down to kiss my forehead. “That was nice of you,” he said with soft eyes that said I was his world.
“I’m securing her future. We don’t need any more problems from that quarter. It’s time to make alliances.”
He kissed my nose and then beamed down at the baby. “You did so good, Trix. She’s perfect. Like her mom. Look at that little fist. She’s already got a knock-out punch.”
I laughed, and then Horse snuggled next to me with the baby, and after staring at my family for a long time, I fell asleep.
I woke up to the scent of lasagna and a shadow over me.
“You have to talk to me,” my mom said, setting a plate on the tray attached to the hospital bed’s arm.
“No, I don’t. You tried to kill my husband. Full stop. Be grateful that I’m not getting my revenge.”
She sighed and sat down in the chair next to me, the dim light showing Horse and the baby curled up behind me.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have taken that contract, but things were hard right then, with your dad’s gym mortgaged out to help Patty with his garage and track.
And I knew that he’d grow up to be an indestructible force like his mother, who killed family.
That’s not an excuse. It was wrong, and your father made it clear that he’d turn me in if it happened again. ”
“And then Dad paid off the contract for you after you failed. Who wanted my husband dead?”
She pushed the tray toward me. “Eat your lasagna. You’ve got to build up your strength.”
I pushed the tray away even though my mouth watered. “I need you to be honest with me. Who wants my husband dead?”
“I don’t know who it was, someone powerful with money, someone who helped bankroll several unofficial organizations in many cities. Who doesn’t want him dead? His mother was unbearable.”
I glared at her. “If you don’t have anything useful to say, leave now, or I’ll personally escort you out.”
She rolled her eyes. “So dramatic. I’m here to tell you what you need to do to keep her from burning down your house.
You have to feed her every twenty minutes.
Don’t let her get hungry. Every time you got hungry, you started melting things.
The burns you gave your brothers! And you must make sure that she learns control, so take her to the gym and train her the way your father trained you.
And help her find interests. I don’t know if she’ll have your…
” She gestured towards me. “But assume she will. Girls are trouble. Good thing you married such an overachiever.” She finally stood up and brushed her pants, like she was getting crumbs off them.
“If you really can’t forgive me, I understand.
I suppose I’ll just never see my baby’s baby.
I’ll just dwindle away, wracked with guilt and misery.
My greatest mistake will eternally burn in my heart.
” She sniffled. “I’ll leave you to your justified resentment. ”
She headed for the door while I sighed heavily. I’d let her suffer for a few days before I took the baby for a visit on our way out of town.
When she closed the door, I moved the tray over and took a big bite out of the lasagna. It melted in my mouth with an explosion of flavors that you just couldn’t find outside of my mother’s kitchen. That explained why she fed me so much growing up.
Horse kissed my neck. “How’s the food? Did she drug it with forgiveness elixir? I wouldn’t put it past her.”
I snorted and gave him a bite. He hesitated and then ate it off my fork neatly.
He nodded. “Definitely drugged. I’m already feeling like I don’t mind her blowing me up.”
I elbowed him. “You knew she blew you up when we went to her house the first time.”
“She was the number one car bomber when she was young. She drove a mean getaway car, too. Then she met your dad and convinced him she was respectable.”
“I think she seduced him with fat and carbs.”
“You should forgive her. Our baby needs her grandma. Also holidays with the cousins would be more awkward than they already are with your brother Marco being some kingpin. Also, I think we should name the baby Violet.”
I gasped and studied him. Violet was the name of my first car. I’d been driving her when Horse jumped out of a helicopter and I saw him for the first time.
“Violet is a really good name.” And he was a good man. The best. The only. Forever.
He kissed me, and then Violet started snuffling, looking for her dinner. She probably smelled the lasagna.
“I love you, Trixie ‘Dragon’ O’Hara.” Horse murmured, low and rich, sending a trail of longing through me.
“I love you, my White Knight. I’ll love you as long as the constellations are in the sky.”
“You are my constellations, all the stars there could ever be. Thank you for letting me love you.”
He held me tight, and tears came to my eyes, happy tears because holding my baby with Horse wrapped around me, I was part of the biggest miracle you could have. Love.
The End.