Redeemed: Bad Blooded Rebel Series #4 (12 page)

Ryder
pulled me close and kissed me. “I was absolutely fucking serious. I want a baby
with you, Everleigh Matthews, sooner rather than later. I want to see your
belly growing every single day with our child and then when it’s born, I want
to try and knock you up again.” I giggled, happy tears falling from my eyes. “I
want to have my own football team with you, gorgeous. Do you want that?”

I
nodded and said, “Of course I do. Ever since you mentioned babies last night I
have been thinking about it a lot and I want that too. I want to have your
child, Ryder, and I want to have that football team too.”

He
smiled at me and said, “So are we really doing this? We’re trying to get
pregnant?”

I
let my dress fall to the floor and I stood in front of him in nothing but my
white lacy panties and my high heels. “Knock me up, husband.”

He
growled and said, “Oh fuck,” before he lifted me into his arms and carried me
to the bed. “I just have one request.”

“What’s
that, rock star?”

He
grinned at me sexily and said, “Keep the heels on.”

I
giggled and said, “Whatever you want, hubby.” Then he laid me down on the bed,
ready to start our future and live the life we dreamed of…together.

Ryder

“Fuck,”
I growled. “How long does it take to get some test results?” I was pacing the
exam room at the doctor’s office and frantically pulling at my hair. I hated
doctor’s offices…so sterile and cold. They made me nervous and I’d never been
in one where there was ever good news given to me.

Everleigh
was lying back on the exam table, as calm as could be. She reached out her hand
for me and said, “Calm down, Ryder. Come here.”  I moved to her and placed my
hand in hers. “It’s only been twenty minutes, relax. Dr. Mitchell said that it
might take a few minutes.”

“I’m
just nervous. We’ve been trying to get pregnant practically since the honeymoon
and it’s been a year.” Everleigh and I had just celebrated our one year wedding
anniversary two days before and ever since our honeymoon we’d been trying to
get pregnant. Being married to the most beautiful woman in the world was
definitely my greatest achievement but wanting to watch our baby growing inside
her was something I didn’t realize I’d crave this much.

We
were waiting for Everleigh’s doctor to give us the results of the tests she’d
had done this afternoon. We were obviously hoping for good news and right now I
needed it. Watching my wife being poked and prodded literally everywhere made
me feel sick and violent at the same time.

“I
know but we’ve had fun trying, haven’t we?” Everleigh asked, winking at me, and
I instantly relaxed.

“Yes
we have,” I smiled and kissed her hand. “I’m just beyond ready for this step. I
want to be a daddy already.”

“Oh,
Ryder,” she said, her voice full of love. “I want that too but we just need to
relax and wait for Dr. Mitchell to finish looking at everything. When you think
about it, a year isn’t really that bad. Some couples try even longer than
that…take my parents for example. They didn’t have me until they were in their
forties.”

“Aw,
fuck, I’m not waiting that long. I’ll just have to figure out a way to juice up
my sperm.”

She
laughed. “What does that even mean?”

“I
need to pump up my swimmers, like get them on steroids or something,” I said,
and she was audibly laughing now. I saw a little tear escape the corner of her
eye and I reached up to wipe it away.

“I
am sure that everything is fine, Ryder. I’ve just been on birth control for
such a long time and who knows? We might be having trouble because of me,” she
said, a trace of guilt in her tone.

“Oh
no, gorgeous, it’s not because of you. You are so perfect that it hurts. We
just…listen,” I said, taking a deep breath, “whatever Dr. Mitchell tells us
when she comes in, good or bad, we will get through it like we always
do…together. I love you so much and it’s you and me no matter what, okay?”

Everleigh
batted those gorgeous brown eyes at me and answered, “Okay.” Suddenly there was
a light knock at the door. “I love you, hubby,” she said.

“I
love you too, wifey,” I answered, and then I called out, “Come in.”

Dr.
Mitchell came into the room holding an iPad in her hands. “Hello again,
Everleigh, Ryder,” she said, nodding her head in my direction. “I’m sorry the
results took so long to get back but the lab was a bit behind today.”

Everleigh
smiled and shook her head. “Oh no, it’s okay, Dr. Mitchell.”

“So,”
I blurted out, “do you have the results? Don’t keep us waiting any longer, doc,
I’m
dying
here.”

Everleigh
tapped my arm hard and said, “Ryder, calm down.”

Dr.
Mitchell smiled warmly at me and said, “It’s okay, Everleigh. I do have the
results of your exams,” she said, looking down at her iPad and touching the
screen.

Everleigh
took my hand in hers and squeezed tightly, letting me know that she was just as
nervous as I was. “And? Is everything okay?”

“Well,”
Dr. Mitchell began, “unfortunately there isn’t anything we can do right now to
help you conceive.”

I
felt like I’d just been hit in the stomach and I held onto Everleigh’s hand as
I felt her disappointment roll through me. “Oh no, baby,” I said, leaning down
to kiss her hair.

“It’s
okay, I’m okay,” she said, her voice low. Her bottom lip was already starting
to tremble.

Dr.
Mitchell cleared her throat and we both raised our eyes to look at her. “I’m
sorry to interrupt but I need to give you the results of your tests.”

Everleigh
sniffed and nodded her head. “Yes, of course, please go ahead, doctor.”

Dr.
Mitchell smiled and said, “Well, all of your test results were normal and
everything looks great.”

I
frowned and was starting to get angry. “What? If everything ‘looks great’ then
why the hell did you just tell us that we can’t conceive a child?”

“I
didn’t say you couldn’t conceive. I said that there isn’t anything I can do to
help with that because,” she paused, “as it turns out, Everleigh is already
pregnant.”

My
entire world shifted in that brief moment. My heart was instantly divided
between my beautiful wife and the tiny innocent life we’d created that was
growing inside her. I was stunned into silence and Everleigh was the first to
speak. “I-I’m pregnant? Are you sure?”

“Blood
work, a urine test, and a Pap smear never lie, Everleigh,” Dr. Mitchell said.
“Congratulations, you two!”

I
looked from the doctor over to Everleigh who’d gone from devastated to floating
on a cloud in a matter of seconds. She was so beautiful in her happiness and
she already looked like she was glowing. Giving my hand a shake, she said,
“Ryder? You okay?”

I
was going to be a father. My wife and I had finally started our family. The
woman of my dreams was carrying my child. Leaning into her face, I said, “I am
more than okay, gorgeous. We’re having our baby,” I said softly and she let out
a little laugh as a tear fell down her cheek. “I’m going to be a daddy.”

Another
tear fell and she whispered, “You’re going to be a daddy.” I instinctively
placed my hand protectively over her stomach.

Dr.
Mitchell told us a few more things, including the baby’s due date, but none of
it registered in my mind. All I could think about was the fact that my
beautiful wife was finally pregnant and we were going to be parents. I must
have been pretty out of it because before I knew it Everleigh said, “Are you
ready to go home, rock star?”

I
flexed my fingers around her belly and gave it a quick kiss. “I’m ready,” I
said, and I helped her off the table. We walked out of the office hand in hand,
happier than I can remember. “So, when are you going to call the girls?”

She
smiled. “Let’s just keep this to ourselves for a few days. We’ve been trying so
long and now that it’s happened I kind of want to relish in it before we tell
the rest of the family.”

“Deal,”
I said, kissing her forehead before opening the passenger door to the Escalade.
“Have you heard from Danni, Jess, or Sadie yet?” As far as our music was
concerned, Bad Blooded Rebel was had been better than ever. When our contract
was up with Bulldoze Records, we chose not to resign with the asshole twins and
with Jessie’s excellent organizational skills, we’d started Rebel Records and
had put her in charge. Sadie had taken over all of our producing and we were
incredibly lucky to have such a talented girl with an ear for music at the
helm.

We
had just wrapped up a four month tour last month and when it was over all of us
went off to do our own thing with our favorite girls. Kris and Jessie were
married a few months after Everleigh and I tied the knot and went on a second
honeymoon. Jessie hadn’t been feeling well the last few days of the tour and I
had a feeling that they would have some baby news of their own sometime soon.

Even
though they weren’t a couple, Jude and Sadie had become inseparable. When we
all got home, instead of getting some much needed rest they both decided to
take a trip to Vegas of all places to do some gambling and have a good time. I
knew most of us had our concerns about Jude and Sadie spending so much time
together but luckily that fear subsided quickly. Jude was a man of his word and
had kept his hands off Sadie when it came to sex, and Sadie seemed to have lost
that goo-goo eyed look she got every time she saw him. I was glad to see him
have a platonic relationship with a female…Sadie was good for Jude. She kept
him and his dick out of trouble.

Danni
and Beau had a tough year after the shit hit the fan in New York. Even though
they weren’t a couple when Beau slept with that girl at The Rock Steady, Danni
was still devastated over it and moved back home to Muncie. She still wanted to
be friends with him because she didn’t want to cause a rift in the band or in
our friendship. Beau, however, took it pretty hard and drowned himself in a
bottle of Southern Comfort for six straight months. We were all worried that he
was going to drink himself to death. After we tried to convince him to get some
help, he refused and Everleigh called Danni for help. She reached out to Beau
and packed up and moved to Cincinnati to help pull him out of his drunken
stupor and get sober. So far things were slowly getting back on track for them
and even though they weren’t officially a couple again I hoped for both their
sakes they could work it out.

She
shook her head. “No but they should be back anytime. My birthday dinner is this
weekend and they were pretty bummed they all missed out on it last year.”

“Hey
now, we had a little party for you in Vegas. They shouldn’t complain, they were
there for the wedding and I think that overshadowed me hogging you on your
birthday.”

“You’re
right,” she said, climbing into the passenger seat. “Everyone I love will be at
the party this weekend and once they learn our news it will officially be the
best birthday ever.”

“Yes
it will.” I smiled and kissed her quickly before jumping in behind the wheel.
“So, what are we going to name him?” I asked as I started the car.

Everleigh
chuckled and said, “So you think this is a boy, huh?”

“I
know it is,” I said matter-of-factly. “So it’s never too early to start
thinking of names.”

“Ryder,
slow down. I’m not due until November seventh. We have seven and half months
before we have to really decide and another fourteen weeks before we can even
find out the sex of the baby.”

“We
won’t need to. This is going to be a boy, I can feel it,” I said confidently.
“So, what do you think we should name him?”

Everleigh
laughed lightheartedly and sighed. “God, this is going to a long pregnancy,”
she said and continued, “Okay, I’ll play along. What do you think we should
name the baby
if
it’s a boy?”

There
was only one name in my mind that would be fitting for our baby boy. “
When
our son is born I think we should name him Max. Maxwell Alan to be exact.”

Her
breath caught in her throat and out of the corner of my eye I could see her
smiling sadly. After a few quiet moments she took my hand and said, “I think
that’s a perfect name. Maxwell Alan Matthews it is. I love you so much,
Daddy
.”

I
grinned after hearing her call me the one thing I never thought I’d want to be
called before I met this incredible girl sitting next to me. “I love you too,
Mommy.
Come on, let’s get home,” I said, pushing harder on the gas pedal

She
giggled. “Why are you in such a hurry?”

“Because
we are finally having our baby, Evie. We have some naked horizontal celebrating
to do,” I said, and we drove the rest of the way to our home, her laughter
filling the air and the joy of our growing family surrounding us.