Chapter 27
Evan
“Push, Alani,” I encourage, coaching her. She’s been in labor for the past ten hours, and it’s finally time to meet my son.
“I’m trying, asshole!” Alani shouts at me as she pants between pushes. I grin at her, but quickly wipe it off my face when she glares at me.
“The baby is almost here,” informs Dr. Chaney. I was pissed when I found out he’d be her OB doctor because no man should be seeing what’s mine. I easily lost that battle when she called me crazy and reminded me that he’d safely delivered four of my nephews and my niece, Lacey, who was born just four days ago. Noah is over the moon in love with his daughter, and I’m so happy for them.
“One last push, babe. He’s almost here,” I tell Alani as she bears down one more time.
“Here she is!” Dr. Chaney announces, holding up our daughter. For Christ sakes, another girl . He lays her on Alani’s stomach, and I see tears streaming down Alani’s face. I bend down to take a closer look at our newborn baby—we have another beautiful daughter who looks just like her mom.
“I told you not to get your hopes up,” Alani teases, smirking at me.
“She’s perfect. I’ll just need more ammo now, that’s all,” I reply, planting a kiss on Alani’s lips and one on Taylor’s forehead.
I now have three women to protect, and each of them worth protecting with my life. I think back to Harper’s first birthday, which was held at one of those Playland places. They had a giant ball pit where kids can jump in and pick up every germ possible. When I saw Alani let Harper play in there, I cringed as I imagined Harper being exposed to all those infected children and turning her into a zombie. It ended up being a fun day anyway, despite who we saw there. My brothers and I were surprised to recognize the face of the woman assigned to clean up after our party. She must have thought we looked familiar because she kept looking at the three of us while we were gathering the presents and preparing to leave. I knew it was our mother, and strangely, I felt no ill will towards her. After all, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have this wonderful life. With her greed for money, she convinced my dad to bring me into this world along with two brothers who I can always count on. I thought that maybe seeing her would provoke some sort of reaction from Noah and Maddox, but we all just hugged our children and wives a little tighter before walking out the door and closing that chapter of our lives.
Lani
Life has been hectic with two daughters. Before Taylor was born, Evan and I decided that she would be our last, so I had my tubes cut and tied to prevent any more pregnancies. To this day, I still can’t believe I’m a mother, but I’m even more shocked that I can be a mom and still devote time to a job I love. Evan fully supports me and shares equal partnership in raising our daughters. Sometimes I feel guilty knowing that we could’ve had all of this sooner if I would’ve just let go of the past. Still, I believe Evan and I are exactly where we’re meant to be, and I couldn’t possibly be any happier than I am right now. Life with Evan Stone is good.
The End