Forever Rockers (28 page)

“How are you?” he growled as he crossed the room in only a few large strides, dropped the suitcase and diaper bag I’d packed weeks before, and wrapped me in his loving arms. His face buried in my hair, which had thankfully grown out a good deal, and I felt him suck in a deep, ragged breath. “Are you in any pain?”

Relief washed through me as soon as his arms were around me. More stupid tears flooded my eyes and I was helpless to hold them back as he shook in my arms. “I’m fine,” I whispered. “I’m just so glad to see you. This is scary, Dev. What if something is wrong with her? What if…What if I didn’t do the right things and she’s sick?”

“You’ve done everything right, baby. You and Trinity will be fine, I promise.” He lifted his head to press kiss after kiss to my face. “I love you so fucking much, Nat. I’m not gonna let anything happen to either of you.”

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

Shane

It was just after seven when Harris came out of the maternity ward. The waiting room was packed with all the people who loved my sister. From Emmie and Nik with both their kids, to Lana and Drake and their two girls. Jesse and Layla had the twins and Lucy with them. There was Axton and Dallas with Cannon, as well as Wroth and Marissa. Even Liam and Gabriella were there, plus Harper and myself.

Harris looked pale but he was grinning. Everyone in the waiting room breathed a sigh of relief at that grin.

“Well?” Emmie was the first to demand.

He shook his head, seeming dazed. “Trinity Anne Cutter was born at six thirty-seven, weighing five pounds, two ounces, and is eighteen inches long exactly. Nat is fine, but exhausted. Trinity doesn’t seem to have any complications and has a very healthy pair of lungs.” The boy glanced around, saw Lucy standing between Jesse and Drake, and his face changed. “She’s beautiful, Lu.”

The younger girl stepped forward and hugged him. “I’m so glad they’re both okay.”

I watched Harris’s body seem to relax as he hugged his friend tightly. “So am I.”

The waiting room door opened again and Linc walked in, wiping sweat from his brow. “I don’t care who has another baby, I’m not going to watch that shit again—ever.”

Dallas and Harper both laughed as they hugged him. “You did a good job, I’m sure of it,” Harper said, soothing her friend. “Did she scream curses at you and Devlin?”

“Nope.” The big man shook his head. “She was pretty calm for the most part. Until she started pushing and told the doctor…” Linc’s green gaze went to all the kids in the room and he grimaced. “Let’s just say her irritation was with the dude and not any of us.”

“Can we see the baby?” Lana asked as she bounced Arella in her arms.

“Soon, I think. The doctor is patching Nat up right now and then they want to get her to try to breast feed. Devlin said he’d come out and let you all know when you can see Nat and Trinity,” Linc assured everyone.

Relieved that my sister was okay and that my newest niece was fine, I leaned back against the wall and watched the rest of my family. It wasn’t until right then that I realized this would be for Harper in the not-so-distant future. Our family and friends would be in a waiting room like this waiting on news of my wife and child. They would be there to help us celebrate the birth of our son or daughter. This wildly relieved happiness coursing through my chest would be for my kid and not just for my nieces.

Without realizing it, a smile lifted my lips. As if she were thinking the same thing, Harper turned from talking to Linc and Dallas and offered me the same smile. Our secret was eating her up, and it was starting to do the same to me. Hopefully we would get to share it with the people we loved soon.

Leaving her friends, Harper crossed the room and wrapped her arms around me. Thankfully her morning sickness had started to calm down and she hadn’t thrown up in a few days now. “Are you as excited as I am?” she whispered close to my ear so no one else would hear.

I pulled her closer. “Probably more,” I told her with a laugh. “I don’t know why, but this makes it all seem more real.”

“I know,” she said and sighed happily against my shoulder. “I feel almost as if I could float right now, Shane.”

“Don’t worry, beautiful. I won’t let you fly away.” I kissed her temple and then pushed away from the wall. “Come on, let’s go get everyone some coffee.”

The next few hours were filled with laughter and excitement over getting to see the newest addition to our family. My baby sister and my father arrived just before Devlin appeared in the doorway to say we could go back and see the baby, but only a few at a time, and the younger kids would have to stay behind. Hospital policy or some shit.

Emmie and Nik went back first with Jenna and Clyde, so Harper and I watched Mia and Jagger. They were only gone about ten minutes before Emmie and Nik returned. Jagger, who had been happily sitting on my lap while I flipped through a magazine, let out a happy grunt when he saw his mother, and Emmie gave her son a beaming smile as she bent to take him from me.

Layla and Jesse decided to take their turn because the boys were getting restless and they wanted to get them home and into bed. Lucy went back with them while Harper assured Layla she would watch over the boys. With my arms now free, I held out my hands to Lyric and he shook his head stubbornly at me before going back to the padded blanket on the floor where his mother had put him with his favorite toys.

Luca, however, had other plans. Harper was standing by the door with Emmie and Nik as they talked about the new baby and how Natalie was feeling. Luca decided to make a run for it and was gaining speed as he headed toward the door.

At least it had looked like he was going for the door. By the time I realized his devious little mind wasn’t planning on getting out, Luca had already wrapped his arms around Harper’s leg. “Pwetty,” he told her with a smile I couldn’t decipher on the little beast.

Harper crouched down so that she was on the toddler’s eye level and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Luca.”

With a move I knew he must have learned from his father, Luca lifted a chubby-fingered hand and touched Harper’s cheek lovingly. “Mine,” he said with a nod, as if that were that and his word was law.

The adults around him chuckled, but Harper just kissed the little boy’s cheek again. “Sorry, buddy, but I belong to Uncle Shane.” She lifted her eyes and gave me a wink. That wink left me stupid for a second and it wasn’t until Harper straightened to return to the conversation she’d been having with Emmie and Nik that I could think straight again.

Luca, not deterred by Harper’s assurance that she belonged to someone else, stretched up on his tiptoes and touched her shirt. “Mine,” he said again and patted her stomach.

Harper froze at the same time I did and lowered those violet eyes to our honorary nephew. She stared down at him for nearly a full minute before a bright smile lifted at her lips, making the waiting room shine with the radiance of it. She bent and scooped Luca into her arms and kissed his cheek once more. “Maybe one day, little guy.”

Luca let out a contented sigh and laid his head on her shoulder, his hands automatically going to her long hair and wrapping the silky strands around his fingers. By the time his parents returned, Luca was sound asleep so Jesse gathered up Lyric and the diaper bag while Layla carefully took her sleeping son and they quietly made their goodbyes. Lucy came in to say goodbye to us all and then Harris walked the Thorntons out to their car so he could have a few extra minutes with his best friend.

Everyone else quickly made their way back to see the new parents and baby Trinity. Then it was just down to me and Harper, Lana and Drake, as well as Dallas and Axton. I offered to watch the three kids while they all went back. I was dying to see my little sister, but knew once I held my newest little niece in my arms that I wasn’t going to want to let go for a while.

I was bouncing Cannon on my knee when my father came back into the room from his visit with Natalie. Clyde Stevenson lifted Arella out of her car seat and held her close as he took the seat beside mine. I tried not to stiffen as he turned to face me. I’d forgiven my father years ago when Jenna and Natalie had come into my life, but it was still hard to look at the man who had basically abandoned me and my brother for a woman who pretty much hated me for existing.

“How was your flight?” I asked to make small talk.

“It was long, but good.” He stroked a finger down Arella’s soft cheek. “Stella decided to stay home.”

“Of course she did.” The bitch had turned her back on Natalie for marrying Devlin. If anyone did anything Stella didn’t approve of, she simply pretended like they didn’t exist to her. She was a real pro at doing that shit.

“She’ll come around,” Clyde said with a shrug, but I wondered who he was trying to convince—me or himself. Didn’t the man understand yet that his wife was a total cunt? But he loved her, so maybe he was just blind to her faults. “As soon as she sees her granddaughter, she’ll change her mind.”

I just nodded, but I didn’t believe him. Stella didn’t have it in her to change her mind once it had been set. But then again, miracles happened every day.

The door to the waiting room opened and Harper appeared there, her face pink with happiness. She crossed the room and took a giggling Cannon from my hands while Axton and Dallas followed her. “Go on back. She wants to see you.”

I gave her a kiss, silently thanked the gods for my own little miracle growing under my beautiful wife’s heart, and went to find my sister’s room. Emmie wasn’t taking any chances with safety and had put one of Seller’s men outside Natalie’s room, so it was easy enough to find. I nodded at the guard as I opened the door to find my brother, sister and sister-in-law gathered around Natalie’s bed. Devlin was sitting in a chair beside the bed with the smallest pink bundle I’d ever seen.

Every eye in the room turned to look at me as I walked in. “There’s Uncle Shane,” Natalie said with a tired but happy smile. “Come meet your newest niece.”

I crossed the room and bent to kiss Natalie on the forehead before finally turning my eyes to my brother-in-law. Almost reluctantly, Devlin stood and let me have the chair before carefully handing his precious bundle over. Like my heart had in the past with Mia, the twins, Jagger, Neveah, Cannon, and more recently Arella, my heart turned to mush when my adorable little niece was first placed in my arms.

Trinity Anne Cutter was one of the most beautiful little creatures I’d ever set eyes on. Already I could see her skin tone was going to be honeyed like her father’s, and she had a pair of dimples that could own a person. Fuck, she was so beautiful. I pitied any man who wanted to date her when she got older. Between her father, brother, and uncles, the poor bastard was going to have to have balls of steel to last long enough to win Trinity’s heart.

As I sat there, gazing down at that precious baby, my heart actually stopped. Would
we
have a daughter? Would she be as beautiful as Harper? Would she one day have her mother’s killer body and innocent violet eyes?

Fucking hell. Gods, please, for my sanity, let me have a son.

But even as I was silently saying the prayer, I knew that—more than anything—I wanted a little girl. I would love a son, but I desperately wanted Harper to have a girl.

“Dude, why are
you
crying? I’m the one who’ll have to kill the fuckers who come near my little girl.”

My head shot up and it was only then that I realized I was crying, but I couldn’t tell any of them the truth so I laughed it off. “Sorry, man. I was just thinking how much trouble you were gonna have when she gets older. These are tears of joy, because I know every sin you’ve ever committed will come back to haunt you with this beautiful little girl.”

Drake and Lana burst out laughing, and Natalie let out a small giggle while Devlin paled under his tan. “Shut up, fucker.”

Jenna moved to stand beside me. “Let me have my little goddaughter, Shane. I only get to stay a few days before Dad makes me go home. I won’t get to hold her again until Christmas.”

I handed the baby over to my little sister and stood up. “I can’t wait until you’re on the West Coast permanently, Jen.” She was going to UCLA the next fall and I couldn’t wait to get her closer to us.

She grimaced. Stella was giving her hell about her school choices. I was sure life back in Ohio was miserable for her. “Me either, Shane. Me either.”

Lana leaned over the bed to hug Natalie. “I think we’re going to get out of your hair, honey. You need some time with your little family to enjoy your new addition.”

“Thanks for coming,” Nat told her and then wrapped her arms around Drake when he bent to kiss her too. “I’m so glad you were all here with us today.”

Drake tapped her on the nose with a finger. “You need anything, don’t hesitate to call. Love you, Nat.”

“I love you too, big brother.” Her gaze went to me. “Are you going to leave too?”

I nodded. “You’re tired, sweetheart. I’m going to round Harper and Linc up and get them home. As soon as you and the baby are home, I’ll come over and visit.” I bent, hugged her carefully and then kissed her forehead. “You have my number. Call if you need me.”

I turned to Devlin and offered him my hand. “Take care of them.” He nodded, shaking my hand. “Congrats, man. You have a beautiful daughter.”

I saw his throat bob twice before he nodded his head again and pulled me roughly against him in a tight, manly hug. I pounded him on the back twice before pulling away. “Enjoy this, Dev. You deserve your happily ever after with my sister.” All my anger at Devlin had faded the day he’d told my sister he loved her. If he hadn’t loved her, I would have killed his fucking ass and Drake would have helped me hide the body.

The taller man’s jaw clenched with emotion. “Thanks, brother. That means a lot to me.”

Back in the waiting room, I found the place was nearly deserted. Harper was still holding Cannon, but she was across the room talking to Dallas, Linc and Axton. Everyone else, except for Clyde, had gone home. I tossed up a hand at my father as I crossed the room to my wife. “Hey, beautiful. Are you ready to head home?”