Chapter 21
Twenty-One
Axel
Charlie’s ear-shattering scream jolted me awake as I flung the covers off and jumped up, looking for the threat. It took me a few seconds to orient myself and clear the sleep fog from my brain as I scanned the room, not finding anything wrong.
My eyes then immediately went to Charlie, watching as she clutched her stomach and cried out, screaming as tears ran down her cheeks. I rushed back to the bed, climbing beside her as I gently touched her shoulder.
“Charlie, wake up,” I said firmly, hoping the sound of my voice would be enough to pull her out of the nightmare. “Baby, I need you to please wake up.”
I could hear the desperation in my voice as I gently shook her, needing her to wake up so I could make sure she was okay.
“Charlie,” I begged, my voice getting louder as I sat on my knees beside her and stroked her cheek, wiping the tears away. “Wake up, baby. It’s just a nightmare. Wake up, you’re safe, my love.”
Suddenly, she startled, throwing her hands up in surprise. Her eyes were wild as they searched the room while her chest heaved up and down.
“It’s okay, baby. It was just a bad dream,” I assured her.
She pushed the blankets the rest of the way off her body and looked at her stomach as her hands quickly felt around, looking for something.
“The baby is okay,” I promised her. “You’re okay. You’re both safe.”
Her eyes pinched closed as fresh tears spilled over, and a heavy sob escaped her lips as she tried to press them together.
“Jo was cutting my baby out of my stomach,” she said quietly as her voice wavered. “Dr. Foster was here, too. They were in on it together.”
“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I can imagine how terrifying that was.”
“It felt so real,” she sobbed. “I could feel the pain as she cut my stomach open. I felt the pressure as she reached in and pulled the baby out. There was nothing I could do. I just kept screaming, hoping it would stop, but it didn’t. They took my baby, Axel.”
Her lower lip trembled as she opened her eyes and looked at me.
“You don’t ever have to worry about that, my love. I will always be here to protect both of you.”
She shook her head, and the tears fell harder.
“They killed you. When I looked over, you had a bullet hole in the middle of your head where they shot you. They took everything I loved from me, and there was nothing I could do.”
I reached over and pulled her into my arms, refusing to let go. I could feel her body trembling against mine, and I hated that her dream had been so devastating.
“Nothing bad is going to happen to us, baby. I promise. It was just a bad dream. I won’t ever let anything happen to either of you.”
She nodded and rested her head against my chest as I softly stroked her hair, needing to comfort her however I could.
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It took a while for Charlie to fall back asleep, but I was thankful that she did because I knew how exhausted she was.
I woke up around the time I usually got up, but I hesitated to go downstairs to make breakfast because I didn’t want her to wake up alone after the nightmare she had last night.
Instead, I went downstairs, grabbed the last load of laundry I had run yesterday, and brought it upstairs to fold.
I sat on the floor, in the middle of trying to figure out how to fold baby clothes, when I heard Charlie stir in bed. I looked over to find her propped up on her elbow with a smile on her face as she watched me.
“Watching you attempt to fold baby clothes might just be my new favorite thing,” she mused, sleep still heavy in her voice.
“Honestly, it might be mine too. I never knew baby clothes could be this cute. They’re so small.”
I held up the onesie that had the words mommy’s bestie on it and smiled when I saw how Charlie’s face lit up when she read it.
“Thank you again for all of this. It was incredibly sweet of you.”
“It was my pleasure,” I said, meaning every word. “It makes me feel better knowing that we have the basics of what we’ll need when she comes.”
Charlie’s grin spread wider as she watched me.
“Do you know what makes me feel better, knowing that she’ll be coming soon?” she asked.
“What’s that?”
“Knowing that I have you. As silly as it sounds, knowing that I have you by my side makes me feel like I can do anything. I’m not scared anymore because I know that you’ll be there for us, and that’s extremely calming, especially lately when everything freaks me out.”
A frown flashed across my face before I could stop it. But to hear that she had been freaking out lately made me worry because she hadn’t mentioned anything to me. If there was a way I could help her, I wanted to, and I needed her to know that I would do whatever she needed me to do.
“What are you freaked out about?” I asked gently as I put the onesie in the pile I had started and went to her on the bed. I climbed up beside her, needing to be near her.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “Everything?”
She laughed, but I was too focused on there being something that was bothering her that I couldn’t lighten my mood.
“I guess it’s just first-time mom jitters,” she continued.
“I worry about having the baby and something happening to one of us. I think about what would happen to her if I died because it's not like her dad is in the picture, and I don’t have other family who can step in and take her. I worry about delivering her and there being complications. I trust Dr. Foster, but part of me has always expected that I would have this baby in a hospital, and the thought of not doing that makes me nervous because what if we need help that Dr. Foster can’t give us?
Or more importantly, what if the guys Jason pissed off find me and try to take my baby? ”
“Those are all valid things to be worried about,” I replied gently as I watched her.
“I don’t think anyone goes into childbirth without those fears.
But I promise, I will be there every step of the way, Charlie.
I will make sure everyone does what they need to do so both of you are safe.
And if you want, we can plan to go to the hospital so you can have her there.
I can even rent a hotel in the next town so we can be close to the hospital if needed.
Whatever you need, I’ll make it happen.”
“You’re very sweet, but I can’t ask that of you.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.” Her shoulders fell as she exhaled. “It just feels like I would be taking advantage of you, and I don’t want to do that. It would be different if we were—”
She stopped, not finishing the sentence we both knew was coming. It would be different if we were married or if I were the baby’s father. But I wasn’t. I was just the guy who had taken her in when she needed it and fallen in love with her.
“I know that things between us have moved rather fast,” I said quickly, not allowing myself time to reconsider what I was about to say.
“But true love doesn’t come with requirements.
My loving you after two weeks is no different than me loving you after two years.
The only thing that matters is that I fell in love with you, and that love is enough to justify me doing whatever I need to make sure you have what you need. ”
She smiled softly as she listened.
“It also means that if something happened to you, I would take this baby and raise her as my own. I would make sure she knew everything she could about the incredible, brave woman her mother was who fought to bring her into this world. I would make sure she never wanted for anything in her life, Charlie. I would die fighting to protect her. So please, do not worry yourself over what would happen to her if you weren’t here.
You have a family here in Nowhere, whether you want it or not, and that family would burn the world down for you and this sweet baby girl. ”