Give Me Love (16 page)

The rest of their lunch is filled with playful teasing. Mikah notes that when he pointed out the fact that she was leaking, she hadn’t jumped right up to change. He also notices that she isn’t wearing a bra. He finds it very distracting.
 

As she stands to clear their plates, he stops her. “Leave those and come here,” he says as he reaches for her hand, pulling her closer to him. When she’s standing next to him he rubs his hand over her belly and breathes hotly across her nipple. She squirms as her nipple cools and peaks.

“You’re so bad,” she breathes as she feels him tug on the hem of her t-shirt. He lifts it to expose her belly, which he kisses sweetly before continuing to lift her shirt higher. She raises her arms and bends forward so that he can pull it off.
 

Now she stands before him completely topless. Her breasts are swollen, nearly double the size they were yesterday, and his erection throbs. He leans in, takes one of her nipples into his mouth and sucks hard. She moans, and he is treated to a warm gush of milk across his tongue.
 

“Okay, I felt that,” she says with a Cheshire grin.
 

He releases her nipple with an audible pop. Then he stands, takes her hand and leads her into the bedroom.
 

While she’s still standing he slides her pants down, and she quickly returns the favor.
 

“Grab a pillow,” he says, and she does. “I’d like to try something. Crawl on the bed.” She smirks, already knowing what he wants.
 

She climbs onto the bed, staying on her knees, and leans forward to hug her pillow. She can feel the bed shift as he climbs on behind her, and then his fingers stroke her clit and then up her sex.
 

It doesn’t take much to get her worked up when it comes to Mikah. She is already ready for him.
 

Seeing her like this is almost too much.
 

Vivienne can feel the excitement growing in anticipation of feeling him inside her once again.
 

He doesn’t disappoint her. Before long she can feel the head of his erection testing her entrance. She smiles as he carefully enters her.
 

The sensation is so much she nearly explodes into orgasm before he’s even finished sliding into her. She notices that she is much more sensitive down there than usual. She slides forward and then back onto him, encouraging him to move his hips.
 

But he doesn’t need the encouragement. The second he enters her, he is overtaken by desire and begins to slide slowly in and out of her on his own accord.

FORTY-SEVEN

“Ow.”
 

Mikah’s eyes fly open, unsure of what’s woken him up, to see that Vivienne is sitting up in bed.
 

“What’s wrong?”
 

He watches as she slowly exhales and breathes back in through her nose. She doesn’t respond to him as she concentrates on breathing.
 

“Contraction?”

She nods.
 

He can tell the moment it stops because her whole body just kind of sags.
 

“I think so,” she says. “It’s the second one.”

“When was the first one?” he asks, a little bit of panic in his voice.
 

She gives him a half smile. “About fifteen minutes ago. I didn’t catch the exact time, it woke me up.”
 

Mikah looks over to the clock. It’s two in the morning. It has been a week since his return from Elysium, and today is their next scheduled appointment for Dr. Alston.
 

“What can I do?” he asks.

She turns to him, brushing his hair from his eyes. “Nothing. Yet. Let’s see what happens.”
 

She lies back down, turning toward him and wrapping herself around him, much the way she does with the pillow when she naps alone.
 

He starts to play with her soft, gorgeous red hair. She wraps her arms around him, and in a matter of moments her breathing settles into a calm rhythm, and he knows she has fallen asleep. He anxiously looks at the clock and watching the time tick by and waiting to see if she wakes up again with the next one. If there is another one.
 

Two oh five.

Two ten.

Finally two fifteen comes and goes without any sign that she’s having another contraction.
 

He continues to play with her hair, thinking about what’s coming in the next couple of weeks. Madison. He’s never been more excited about anything in his entire life. Not even his return from Elysium can compare to how he feels about Madison’s arrival.
 

Suddenly Vivienne stirs. She squeezes him a little tighter. He looks at the clock. It’s two twenty. She doesn’t wake, but he hears her groan and feels her squeeze him tighter still.
 

Twenty minutes, that’s not too bad
, he thinks to himself as his eyes begin to close once again.
 

“Mikah.”
 

He stirs in his sleep.
 

“Mikah, wake up.” It’s Vivienne.
 

His eyes jolt open and he sits up rather quickly, but not before noticing that there is something wet and warm in the bed. He pulls back the covers to find a patch of clear liquid.
 

“Mikah, I think my water broke.”
 

He rubs his eyes and looks at the clock. It’s eight in the morning. “How are your contractions?”
 

“They’re about thirteen minutes or so apart.”

“When was the last one?”
 

“About ten minutes ago. It hurt, and shortly after it, I felt the water. That’s when I woke you up.”
 

She stops talking and her face scrunches up.
 

“Breathe, sweetheart.”
 

He takes her hand and she squeezes it. With his free hand he reaches for his phone on the bedside table. He presses two buttons and the line starts ringing. “Hey, Red. Can you get the car ready? Vivienne’s water broke.”
 

“It’s nearly ready for her appointment. I’ll have Andrew bring it around front. Do you need help up there?”

“No, I think we’re alright. We will be down shortly.”
 

“Sounds good. Call me if you need us.”
 

“Will do.” Mikah hangs up the phone. “I’m going to call Dr. Alston. How are you?”
 

“That really hurt.”
 

“You’re doing great. Can you get up out of bed?”
 

“Yeah, once it’s over I feel fine, just a little weak.” She takes a breath. He can see the worry in her eyes.
 

“You’re doing great.”
 

He calls Dr. Alston’s number and she answers on the second ring.
 

“I had a feeling you’d be calling me this morning. How is she?”
 

“Her water broke.”

“Well, okay then. Where was she when it broke?”

“Sleeping.”
 

“Good, was the fluid clear?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, bring her on down and I will get them moving on a room for her. We’ll see you in a bit. How far apart are her contractions?”

“About twelve minutes.”

“Okay. Don’t panic, get dressed, grab her stuff and come to the hospital. See you soon.”

“Thanks, doctor.” He hangs up the phone.
 

“Shall I get you some clothes?” he says to Vivienne, and she smiles.

“Unless you want to show me off to the world naked.”
 

He snorts and climbs out of bed. “I’ll find you some clothes.

FORTY-EIGHT

“I can see the top of her head, so now, Vivienne, I want you to tuck your chin to your chest and push for about ten seconds. Then lie back, take a couple of deep breaths, and do it again. Okay?”

Vivienne nods.
 

Mikah’s hand is lightly rubbing Vivienne’s shoulder in encouragement.

For her part, Vivienne is ready to meet her daughter. She continues pushing. Mikah and Celeste are holding up her legs, but she can’t really feel that. After about five more pushes, Vivienne can finally see, in the mirror, the head and hair of her daughter.
 

“Okay, Vivienne, I want you to push for about ten seconds, relax briefly to take a deep breath, and do it again.” Dr. Alston nods in encouragement at Vivienne, who takes a deep breath and pushes.
 

Mikah helps her by counting softly to ten and then she relaxes, takes a deep breath, and pushes again.
 

On the third push, Vivienne watches in the mirror as Madison’s head comes free of her body.
 

“Stop pushing,” Dr Alston says. She goes to work with a mucus sucker on Madison’s nose and mouth, and then looks to Vivienne. “One more big push.”
 

Vivienne takes a deep breath. Amanda places something on Vivienne’s chest, and Vivienne pushes as hard as she can manage. As she watches the mirror, just like that, Madison is born.
 

“Five oh six p.m.,” Dr. Alston says as she brings Madison up and lays her on Vivienne’s chest. Amanda wipes the baby off and wraps her up.
 

Vivienne looks to Mikah and he, like her, is crying. He bends down and kisses her forehead.
 

Then he leans over Madison. “Hello, baby girl,” he says and kisses her forehead, too. Vivienne is now holding Madison in her arms, tears pouring down her cheeks.
 

The beautiful baby girl that she’d been fighting for from the beginning is now finally here.
 

“Hi, beautiful baby girl,” she coos.
 

Madison yawns, and Vivienne’s tears continue to stream down her cheeks. Mikah leans down to give Vivienne an awkward hug and to get into Madison’s line of sight.
 

He places his hand very lightly on Madison’s head just as a flash goes of.
 

“Seriously, Celeste.” Mikah laughs and wipes the tears from his eyes.

Celeste laughs.
 

Amanda comes to stand next to Vivienne, opposite Mikah. “I’m going to take her, weigh and measure her, then clean her up.”
 

Vivienne nods, reluctant to give Madison up, but Amanda smiles at her. She takes Madison with one hand under her neck and the other under her butt. “Hello, little one,” she coos as she turns around. She places Madison on a bed under a lamp, off of which Vivienne can feel heat radiating.
 

Amanda walks around to the other side and pushes a few buttons. “Seven pounds, two ounces,” she says.
 

Vivienne watches as she tugs a little on Madison’s leg.
 

“Nineteen and half inches. You’re a big girl,” she coos at Madison, and Vivienne and Mikah look at each other, smiles and tears in their eyes.
 

They both turn back toward Amanda and Madison. Celeste is busy snapping pictures.
 

Dr. Alston, who has all but been forgotten at the foot of Vivienne’s bed, says, “There you go. I had to stitch you up a little bit, but you’ll be fine in no time.”
 

Mikah remembers all too well how quickly Vivienne healed the last time she was here and wonders if the same will apply now.
 

“Thank you,” Vivienne says to Dr. Alston.
 

“It’s my pleasure, Vivienne. She’s a beautiful baby girl.” Dr. Alston brings the foot of the bed back up and covers Vivienne. “Kathleen,” she says to the nurse who handed her instruments during the birth, “let’s get Vivienne some new sheets and blankets and then have the anesthesiologist come back and remove her epidural.” She turns to Vivienne. “Amanda will take things from here, help you get started on breastfeeding and get you settled in. I will come back later this evening to check on you.” She winks at Vivienne. “You did an amazing job.”

“Thank you, doctor, for everything.” Vivienne smiles at her, and she leaves the room.
 

Mikah and Vivienne both turn back toward Amanda and Madison just in time to see Amanda lift her up and pull the icky blanket out from under her. Madison’s back is to them, and they both see it, plain as day. On her back are the most beautiful wings in light and dark purples.

FORTY-NINE

No sooner does the door click closed do they look at each other.
 

“How is it possible?” Mikah is the first to ask the obvious question.
 

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Elizabeth appears before them, as if in answer.
 

“Mom, how?”
 

“Shh, my son, it’s alright.”
 

“Do you know what’s on Madison’s back?” Mikah asks her and she nods.
 

“She is special. She is an angel from birth, something we weren’t sure of until she was born. Only the purest of angels are born with their wings.” Elizabeth says matter-of-factly, and Mikah and Vivienne look to each other, their eyes expressing the same sense of worry. “You needn’t be frightened. Though she has the markings, it will be at least a few years before they will start to show, at which time we can put a suppression spell on her to keep them locked down. But we will worry about that later. I just came to see her and to check on all of you.”
 

Though Vivienne’s worry isn’t eased by Elizabeth’s words, given that Madison is still an infant it is not a cause for concern right now. All the people around them are aware of who she is, and the overwhelming level of protection on Vivienne tells her that no harm will ever come to Madison.
 

Elizabeth comes over to the bed so she can have a clearer look at Madison. “She’s beautiful,” Elizabeth says, and in an uncharacteristic manner she leans down and kisses Vivienne on the forehead. “Well done, Vivienne.”
 

Elizabeth smiles at Vivienne, then Mikah. And just as fast as she appeared, she’s gone.

FIFTY