Chapter Nine
Sunny was happy that Aaron insisted on taking her and the baby home.
Finding a stranger standing over her sleeping child freaked her out.
She felt like a truck had run over her—every muscle in her body ached, and she was exhausted.
Aaron didn’t leave her side, and watching him with Sadie made her fall a little more in love with him each time.
She just wished that she had the nerve to say those words back to him.
When he told her that he loved her, she felt so overcome with emotions that she didn’t know what to say or do.
When they got to the hospital, everything happened so fast, and she didn’t want to just blurt the words out.
She wanted them to mean something because Aaron meant everything to her.
He got Sunny settled in bed and pulled Sadie’s bassinet into their room.
Earlier, while they were at the hospital, Piper and Tag went into the condo and cleaned everything up from the birth.
Tag and Torren set up a security system and taught Aaron how to use it.
Sunny felt safe knowing that Aaron would never let anyone hurt them.
Her doctor promised to come by later and check on her and Sadie.
He laughed when she told him that she and Aaron had sex last night.
She was worried that she had done something wrong, but he assured her that she didn’t.
Doc told her that whenever his pregnant patients asked what they could do to induce labor, he suggested they have sex.
Most women groaned and told him that there was no way that they wanted their husbands to go anywhere near them.
He told her that it was quite normal that sex would trigger labor, especially since she was so close to her due date.
She didn’t regret last night with Aaron.
It brought them closer, and Sadie was finally here and perfect.
She eventually drifted to sleep after nursing Sadie while Aaron changed her diaper and walked their room with her, rocking her to sleep.
He was already a great daddy, just like she knew he would be.
Sunny woke up a few hours later to Sadie crying and Aaron explaining to her that Mommy needed to sleep.
Her daughter didn’t want to hear about anyone sleeping, especially when she was hungry.
Aaron brought her to bed and handed her to Sunny.
“Sorry, honey, but I think she wants you. I don’t have what she needs right now.” Aaron collapsed next to her, and she felt a little guilty about sleeping most of the afternoon.
“Were you able to get any sleep?” Sunny sat up and held her breath until Sadie latched on. It hurt like hell, but the nurse told her that it would change. Aaron yawned and rolled towards her, rubbing Sadie’s little bald head.
“Yep, our daughter and I took a little nap on the sofa while you slept. I didn’t want her to wake you,” Aaron said, and dammit if her heart didn’t do a little pitter-patter in her chest.
“Thanks, although I could use about four more years of sleep,” she said around a yawn.
“Well, you feed our very hungry daughter, and I’ll change her diaper. I think she’ll be out for a couple of hours, and we can both get some sleep.” Aaron kissed Sadie’s head and then Sunny’s, melting another piece of her heart.
Travis stood outside of Aaron’s condo, looking up to where his old friend barricaded his new little family in.
He was so close to having everything go according to his plan, but then Aaron’s bitch came back into the room from the bathroom.
All he had to do was reach down and take the baby, but she screamed, and he panicked and ran.
He knew that Aaron wouldn’t take his time to get to his woman, and he needed to get out of there or risk being caught.
He knew something was up earlier when he saw the ambulance speed by his apartment.
He found a little place just down the road from Aaron’s to keep an eye on his old friend.
He jumped into his car and found out what all the commotion was about.
Aaron’s girlfriend went into labor and had the baby in his condo.
When they wheeled her out on the gurney with the baby in her arms, he saw his opportunity.
He followed the ambulance to the hospital and found the room where Aaron stupidly left his family unguarded.
He waited until the new mother went to the bathroom and couldn’t believe his good fortune that they both left the baby unattended.
After his plan went sideways, he left the hospital, knowing that they probably got him on the security feed and would be looking for him.
He didn’t count on Aaron bringing his girl and baby home early or that his friends would install security so quickly at his condo.
Now he was no closer to making Aaron pay for what he did all those years ago, and that pissed him off.
Every time he got close to hurting Aaron, he had to back away and regroup with another plan.
He was fucking tired of waiting for his chance.
But, sooner or later, his old friend would slip up, and he would have his opportunity to make him pay.
He would show Aaron just how bad it felt to lose his family and everything that he loved.
Aaron was exhausted. He didn’t get much sleep in the past week, taking care of Sadie and letting Sunny recover.
He knew that Sunny needed more rest than he did.
Sadie was starting to adjust to a schedule, but he was warned that it wouldn’t last. Doc came by a few times and liked to tease that things would go back to “normal” in about twenty-one years.
Aaron didn’t laugh at Doc’s joke, but then again, he wasn’t in a joking mood lately.
Sawyer came home from his honeymoon with Lorna, and he called Aaron to let him know that he was working on the surveillance videos from the parking garage and the hospital, but that was all he had.
Aaron was hoping that they would be a little further along in finding out who was doing these things to his family, but as Sawyer said, it wasn’t a high-priority threat.
The person who slashed his tire and the man who was standing over Sadie in Sunny’s hospital room might not even be the same.
The administrator he spoke to at the hospital told him that the guy was most likely someone who’d wandered off from his room and gotten lost. She tried to make it sound as if some of their elderly patients often left their rooms and took too many turns to find their way back.
The guy was just distracted by the baby and wanted to take a peek, not trying to cause any real harm.
The administrator was even reluctant to release the security camera footage to Sawyer until he threatened to get the mayor involved.
It took an extra day, but she handed it over, and Sawyer was combing through the footage.
Aaron wasn’t buying the hospital’s story; something just felt a little off to him.
He wished that he could take Sunny and the baby far away from Harvest Ridge until they could figure this mess out, but that wasn’t an option.
Sadie was too little to travel, and Sunny was still recovering.
Aaron gave Sadie a quick bath and changed her diaper.
Piper and Tag were coming over with Lorna and Sawyer.
He was hoping that the women would distract Sunny long enough for the men to formulate some sort of plan.
Sawyer was also going to check out the security that Tag and Torren set up, to make sure that it was up to his standards.
It felt damn good to be back home around friends who were there for him when he needed them.
And Sunny—well, she and the baby became his entire life.
He couldn’t imagine going back to the loneliness that he felt in California.
In just two short weeks since arriving back in town, his life was completely flipped upside down, and he couldn’t imagine it any other way.
Sadie howled as he tried to bathe her—she hated the water.
He tried to talk softly to her like Sunny always did to soothe her, but his daughter wasn’t having it.
She decided that he wasn’t a sweet talker like her mama, and she didn’t like baths.
“Hey, what’s all the ruckus in here?” Sunny made her way into the bathroom and wrapped her arms around Aaron. “It sounds like an MMA match with all the noise, and I think you may be losing.” She giggled and started to run a bath for herself.
“Yeah, well, I think Sadie could probably take me, especially if we are judging by the loudest scream. Our kid has quite the pair of lungs on her.” He handed their wet, squirming daughter to Sunny, who held out a towel for her.
Watching Sunny with Sadie was pure magic; she seemed to know everything their daughter would need or want, even before Sadie did.
Sunny sat on the edge of the tub and fed Sadie while Aaron cleaned up the mess of water that he had made.
“I think you had more of a bath than she did.” Sunny smiled up at him as he looked himself over in the mirror.
“I think I need to change before everyone gets here. I’ll take her and get her dressed while you take your bath,” Aaron offered. Sunny stood and handed him the baby, going up on her tiptoes to kiss his mouth.