Chapter Thirty-Two #2
“God, yes. Here’s cheers to the frothy parts.” I take delight in my words, and Nate chuckles as Matt looks at me with nothing but love and adoration in his eyes.
I stare back at him, lean up, and press my lips to his tenderly.
One and a Half Months Later
It’s later in the evening when we pull up at the hospital and rush inside.
Paparazzi are camped outside the emergency department, and we have to push our way through the swarm as they frantically take our photographs.
Matt shields me from them, and we scurry through.
They’ve obviously heard the news, too, but Matt and I are late.
We were busy experimenting with ice cream, and well, I have a new fondness for the dessert. But it wasn’t until we finally came up for air that we saw all the missed calls from Nate and a few text messages.
Hoping everything’s going okay, we rush frantically through the halls of the hospital, trying to find the right ward. Eventually, we run into Danger and Lunar, who are pacing the floor.
“Oh my God, where have you been? Nate’s been trying to call you for like three hours,” Danger yells as we rush up to him, and Lunar visibly relaxes seeing me.
I run and hug her as Matt shakes his head and sighs.
“Sorry, we were distracted, had our phones off, and had no idea what was happening. Any news?” Matt asks, looking around for Nate.
Danger shakes his head. “No. Ria’s in full labor, though. When Nate last came out, he said she was fully dilated or some shit. I don’t even know what that means, but it sounds fucking painful.”
Lunar nods and places her hand on her tummy, looking a little pale. I furrow my brows as Danger looks at her, wincing as if to apologize.
I open my mouth wide and let out a shocked laugh while staring at Lunar. “Oh, my tittie loving God!” She looks at me and freezes, dropping her hand as Matt glares at me. “Are you…?” I ask Lunar, and she looks to Danger, and he rolls his eyes and shrugs.
“Go on, Ryan is supposed to be here, but I have no idea why he’s so freaking late too. So he can find out when he arrives,” Danger says.
I turn back to Lunar, and she smiles and nods.
I race forward, taking her into a giant hug while I giggle and rock her from side to side.
Matt murmurs to himself, “Um… what just happened?”
“Lunar’s pregnant,” Danger clarifies for a very slow Matt.
He laughs and high-fives Danger as I slide into Lunar’s side, cuddling her.
“Wow! Danger a father. The world’s gone batshit crazy!” Matt says.
I chuckle as Ryan and Tillie race in. They’re dressed rather strangely. Well, not strange, but Tillie’s wearing a really lovely white dress, and Ryan’s in dress pants and a white shirt.
“What the hell’s with all the fucking paps out there, man?” Ryan asks, coming in and looking around at us all.
“You know… celebrity power couple having their firstborn. Seems like big news and all that. Even though Ria isn’t acting anymore, she’s still a major celeb, so this is big news, and the paps want the first glimpse of baby Levine,” Danger says.
“I can’t believe they went the whole pregnancy without finding out the baby’s gender. I need to know as soon as I can, so I can buy all the clothes in the right color,” Lunar says, and I smirk.
“I pity you if it’s a girl, Lunar. Danger having a princess? Can you imagine what will happen when Danger’s princess brings a boy home?” I say, and Lunar laughs as Danger’s face turns into a scowl.
“My daughter is never dating. Period. You know that, right, Lunar? Tell that tadpole in there to be a boy, ’cause I can’t handle the head fucks of her being a girl,” Danger says, and Ryan’s head jolts back as he looks to Danger.
“Wait! What? Tadpole in there…” He points to Lunar’s stomach. “You telling me you knocked up my Aussie girl?” Ryan asks.
Tillie gasps, smiling so wide, looking at Lunar as Lunar and Danger both acknowledge the baby news.
“Yep, my man junk officially works,” Danger says, and Lunar scoffs, throwing her hand out and slapping Danger upside the head, making us all laugh.
Tillie rushes forward, taking Lunar into a hug, and Ryan leans into Danger for some sort of man hug, back-slapping, uncoordinated thing.
“Good job, man, proud of you. Fucking daddy Danger, hey? Who woulda thought?”
Danger smiles at Ryan, looking him up and down, then furrows his brows. “Did you guys have a function on or something we didn’t know about on this fine Saturday night?”
Tillie pulls her bottom lip in by her teeth and looks at Ryan. She slumps her body slightly as if she thinks we’re all going to be annoyed by what’s about to be said.
Ryan takes a deep breath and holds out his hand for Tillie, and she goes to him. “Seems like tonight is a big night for news all around,” Ryan says, and we all focus on him completely as they hold up their left hands, showing us unmistakable wedding bands on their ring fingers.
We stand in shock.
I’ve known them the shortest amount of time, so this doesn’t really affect me, but by looking at the faces of Matt, Danger, and Lunar, all I can see is a mixture of confusion and hurt.
“Are you telling us you guys got m-married?” Danger murmurs his voice slightly breaking.
Ryan winces and nods.
Tillie stands taller and clears her throat.
“I didn’t want a fuss. I didn’t want anything huge.
I didn’t want reporters and paparazzi invading our day.
I just wanted something intimate. Ryan’s already had a wedding, so we wanted something super simple…
” She pauses for a breath. “We know you all would have liked to have been there, but to be honest, it really was a spur-of-the-moment decision. We didn’t want to offend anyone.
Honestly, that was never our intention.”
I can see everyone’s a little on edge, so I decide to try to slice through the tension.
“Well, I think you guys getting hitched is amazing. I’m super happy for you both.
You know it’s not about the day. It’s about the marriage itself, and as long as you guys are happy, that’s all that matters in the end,” I say, leering at the other three, and they all sigh.
“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry. I was just a little shocked. I wanted to do an epic best man speech,” Danger says, making us all laugh.
“Well, we’re gonna have an awesome party at our place anyway to celebrate in a week. So you can do it then, yeah?” Ryan offers, and Danger grins.
“You’re gonna regret that. You know that, right?” Danger states.
Tillie chuckles along with Lunar.
“We’ll have the pitter-patter of children with you guys next, then?” Lunar says, and Tillie’s smile falters as Ryan wraps his arm around her shoulder.
“That’s ah… something else we kept from you guys,” Tillie says, and we all look up in shock.
Surely she isn’t pregnant, too?
“So while Ria was around shooting the music video, Ryan and I were trying to decide if we should have kids in our future, and we thought we should maybe give it a go, considering his past and how awesome he was at being a dad. We both decided we should try, and if it were meant to be, it would be, but nothing happened. We had some tests done, and I actually have trouble producing eggs…” she sighs.
“So, the likelihood of us falling pregnant is pretty much impossible. We’ve decided that we’re happy having our fur babies. We just need each other, right, babe?”
My heart sinks, watching as her eyes mist up while she looks at Ryan. He weakly smiles and gives her a cuddle as Danger and Lunar both exhale heavily.
“Fuck, man, I’m sorry,” Danger says.
“Hey, don’t be. We’re okay with it. We said if it were meant to be, it would be, and it’s just not, so like I said, we’re good with our animals,” Tillie states.
“Adoption?” Lunar murmurs.
Ryan shakes his head. “No. We figured if we were meant to be parents, it would happen. Honestly, guys, we’re fine. Truly, we really are okay with our animals.”
“We really are. Sure, I would have loved something that was part me and part Ryan, but we’ve made a home for ourselves, and the love we share is enough. Now we’re married, and that’s enough for me,” Tillie says, looking up at Ryan with nothing but adoration in her eyes.
“You guys are amazing! Truly, you’re inspiring,” I say.
“Thanks, Alex,” Tillie says as Nate walks down the hall with the biggest smile on his face. We all turn to him, and he opens his arms wide like he’s the proudest man in the world.
“It’s a girl!” he shouts, and we all cheer before we rush to Nate and crowd around him. Honestly, he’s on cloud fucking nine. I think if there was a cloud higher than that, he’s on that one.
“Oh my God, you’re a dad,” Matt exclaims, hugging his brother so tight.
My stomach flutters, watching the two main men in my life celebrate together.
“It was so utterly terrifying and fucking amazing all at the same time, Matt. There are no words, man, no fucking words,” Nate says as everyone else gives him a high five or kisses his cheek.
“How’s Ria?” Lunar asks, and Nate practically glows.
“She’s a fucking champion. I didn’t think I could love her more.” He sighs dramatically. “She’s perfect. Our baby is perfect. You all need to come and meet her. She’s adorable. Fuck. I didn’t know I could make something so gorgeous.”
“Look at you all smitten,” I tease, poking him in the ribs, and he smiles at me.
“I am, I’ll admit it. I don’t even care. Just come… see my daughter,” he says, turning and leading us down the hall.
I look at Matt and reach out, grabbing his hand as he looks at me with a bright smile. When we turn back to follow Nate, he’s walking so fast we have to run to keep up.
“He seems really good,” I say, and Matt nods.
“This suits him. I’m so happy. Nate’s finally found his groove. I’ve got an amazing woman. Life couldn’t be much better than it is right now, Alex.”
I chew on my bottom lip and rest my head on his shoulder as we walk into Ria’s baby suite.
It’s almost like a hotel room in here. The area for the baby is like her own little luxury five-star suite, and I’m assuming the adjoining room is where Ria is currently resting.
I look down at the tiny baby, who is wrapped in a blanket covered with drumsticks.
Her cute little button nose is utterly adorable, and she’s the perfect mix of Nate and Ria.
She is, in fact, perfect.
Matt steps between Nate and me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Wow, man! My niece is going to be so spoiled. Does she have a name?” Matt asks.
Nate sighs, turning and looking at Matt. The mood suddenly turns serious, and I tense up as Nate swallows hard. He takes a deep breath and puts his hand on Matt’s shoulder.
“Sarah,” he simply says.
Matt lets out a deep sigh and replies with a simple nod.
I look at my boys and see their eyes welling up while I try to rack my brain, but then it hits me.
Sarah… is their mom’s name.
The mom who died when they were five. The mom who died on Nate’s bed while she was teaching him to read. I purse my lips together and try to hold back a sob as Matt leans in and embraces his brother. I look to the others who’ve figured it out, too, all of us equally affected.
It was only at a dinner party a few weeks ago when everything came out in the open about Nate not being able to read because of his mom. The guys had a vague idea, but they didn’t know to what extent it went or that Ria had been helping him, teaching him how to read and write.
It feels like the band has become closer as a whole now that they all have stable women in their lives. Because we all keep them in order, keep them under control, and tell them when they’re being douchebags. We’ve tamed the rockers and, in doing so, made them even better.
“Okay, Ria would love to see you guys,” Nate says.
Matt chews on his bottom lip. “You guys go. Alex and I will catch up. I wanna look at Sarah for a little longer,” he says, and I smile. Nate bumps into his side and winks at him as he walks off with everyone else, leaving me here with Matt.
Taking a deep breath, I wrap my arm around his waist as we look down at his niece. He’s holding onto me, resting his head against mine.
“She’s beautiful, Matt,” I murmur, and he clears his throat and nods.
“She is. I wasn’t expecting that…” he pauses, but then continues, “For her to be named after Mom.”
I tighten my arm around him and sigh. “Are you happy?”
He chuckles. “Undeniably. You think we will get here? To this stage?” he asks, and the question doesn’t freak me out. It doesn’t scare me. It fills me with hope and excitement that he’s on the same path I am.
“Yes, we’ll get there… in a few years. Let’s have some us time first. I’m selfish. I want you all to myself.” I chuckle and turn, pressing my lips to his neck.
He tightens his arm around me while still staring at Sarah. “I’m gonna marry you, you know?” he says, and I gasp.
“Um… is that a proposal?”
He looks down at me. “No, just a promise. Your proposal will be much better than that. Just know, I have every intention of marrying you, Alex.”
“Well, just know that when you do ask, I will say yes.”
He nods matter-of-factly. “Good to know.” He smirks and turns, looking back at Sarah. “I think we should get a pet. The apartment needs a pet, I think?” he asks, and I chuckle.
“You don’t like my apartment anymore? You said that you couldn’t let someone else rent that apartment, so you bought the entire building because you loved the place so much. Then you moved in with me, and now you’re saying it’s not good enough?”
He laughs. “No, not at all. I love our place. I’m just saying I think now that I’m the owner of the apartment, and I make the rules, I say we can have a fish or something.”
I nod. “Oh, a fish. Well, a fish I can do.”
“Or maybe a stick insect?”
“Oh, yes! I want a stick insect,” I say excitedly.
He chuckles and shakes his head.
“What?” I ask.
“Just us. One minute we're talking about babies and marriage, and the next, stick insects. You know we’re weird, right?”
I turn him to face me. “You know I love our kind of weird?”
“You know I love you?”
“I know. You’re kinda perfect for me.”
“A ten out of ten?” he asks.
I roll my eyes and nod. “Yes, Matt, you’re my ten out of ten.”
He chuckles and pulls me to him, holding me close and resting his forehead on mine. “And you, Alex, will always be, undeniably, one hundred percent perfection.”