45. Monty

Chapter forty-five

Monty

“You realize you have to give her back to me eventually, right?”

I tuck my teeny-tiny daughter into my chest and turn away from Lark’s hospital bed with a glare. “Not unless she’s hungry. I can do everything else.”

She chuckles, then winces, and I immediately feel guilty. Turning back, I gingerly sit on the edge of the bed.

“Fine, fine. I guess you need the oxytocin boost this little one is giving more than me.”

She looks at me dryly as I transfer Stella into her mama’s arms. “Gee, you think?”

Once my girls are settled, I lean back on the cramped hospital bed, resting my hand on Stella’s back.

“You’re amazing, you know that? I knew you were strong, powerful, and brave, but holy shit, Birdie. Watching you give birth, watching you bring our daughter into this world, I…” I choke up again.

Lark leans her head forward and kisses Stella’s downy head before turning to look at me. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

I give her a watery smile. “Yeah, you could have, because you can do anything. But I’m so happy and honoured I got to be here by your side.”

“You did cut it a little close,” she remarks, and this time, I’m the one wincing.

“Yeah, sorry ’bout that. You didn’t exactly give me a lot of warning.”

“Kind of hard to predict how fast these things will go.”

“Still, waiting till the fifth inning to say anything?”

Stella lets out a little sound, and both of us immediately look down. I’m not sure if it’s normal to be so laser-focused on such a tiny human being, but I swear, every time she moves or grunts or anything, the rest of the world falls away.

As if she’s been a mom for a lot longer than less than twenty-four hours, Lark maneuvers our little girl into a nursing position. It takes a few tries, but soon, she latches on, and it’s the most beautiful sight in the entire goddamn universe.

Lark leans her head back with a tired sigh. And she’s got every right to be exhausted. I might have been in the middle of the last game of a three-game stretch when Mattias pulled me off the field and said Lark and my mom were headed to the hospital, but she’s the one who went through a day and a half of labour pains at home before things ramped up to that point. Thank fuck we weren’t traveling. I should have listened to my gut when it told me not to go to the game tonight. But she insisted, and with my mom promising to get in touch if anything happened, I reluctantly went.

I’ll never forget the drive from the Tridents’ stadium to the hospital. Willow drove me because there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d be able to do it safely myself. Not with how nervous, excited, and terrified I was.

I got here just in time to hear Lark moaning her way through a fucking intense contraction, and from there, things moved at warp speed.

Our little one, Stella Marie Montgomery, was born just forty minutes after I arrived. Six pounds of squalling, scrunched-up beauty.

It was love at first sight.

“You made it and that’s all that matters.”

I kiss Lark’s forehead, letting my lips linger against her skin. I never thought I could have this. A love so deep, so strong, and so consuming. But here I am, loving my girls with every fiber of my being.

“I’ll always be here for you, Birdie. You and little bird. You’re my whole life, you know that.”

Lark tilts her chin up and we kiss. It’s sweet, soft, and gentle. Mindful of the tiny human currently sucking on my girl’s boob, I don’t press in any deeper. No matter how much I crave feeling her in my arms.

A gentle knock on the door has us breaking apart. It slowly opens and my mom peers around the side. “Hi kids, are you up for some visitors?”

I look to Lark and she nods. “Sure, Mom,” I say, getting up from the bed and taking a once again sleeping Stella so Lark can cover herself back up.

Mom and Dad are the first ones in. They’ve already met Stella, but Mom still coos over her while Dad gives Lark a gentle hug.

“Room for any more?”

Willow and Sin enter next, holding a teddy bear and a piece of paper. After quietly closing the door, Sin heads over to Lark while Willow makes grabby hands for the baby.

“Gimme that sweet girl.”

I gingerly hand over my daughter, and Willow’s face beams with happiness. “Oh Lark, she’s gorgeous.”

I glance over to the bed, just in time to see Sin hand Lark the piece of paper. “Peyton drew this for you. She says it’s your family.”

Lark bursts out in laughter, then instantly winces. “Dang it, I love it, but I don’t want to laugh right now.”

Well, now I want to know what’s so funny. Moving to the bed, I look down at the paper and clap my hand over my mouth to muffle my snort of amusement.

“Uh, hey, Sin, does your daughter know what people look like?”

My teammate rolls his eyes. “Yeah. Apparently they all look like dicks.”

Sure enough, Peyton has drawn three stick people. Except, instead of sticks for bodies, the shape is much more…twig and berries looking.

“Please thank her for us,” Lark says, her eyes twinkling.

Another knock lands on the door, and Lark looks to it with her eyebrows raised. “Did someone put out a welcome sign or something?”

Willow immediately looks guilty. “Yeah, that might be my fault. When I got back from dropping Monty off earlier, I told the guys what time we were coming to visit. I think they want to meet our newest Tridents team member.”

I walk over and open the door, and sure enough, Yami, Mav, and Darling are all standing there with hopeful grins.

“Sorry, I tried to tell them too many visitors would be a bad thing but they didn’t listen.”

Craning my neck around, I see Sadie walking up with two coffee cups. I reach for them, simultaneously glaring at the guys. “You are welcome, bringer of lifeblood. The rest of these yahoos can wait outside.”

“C’mon, Monty, we wanna meet our girl.”

Yami’s whining isn’t convincing me of shit. I let Sadie slip past me, but then my dad opens the door wider.

“We’re heading out, son. Lark said your friends can come in. Your mom and I will go to your apartment and tidy up. Let us know if you need anything.”

I pull him in for a hug. “Thanks, Dad.”

After hugging my mom as well, I turn to the guys, folding my arms across my chest. “You will be quiet. You will not swear. You will not make Lark laugh. And I swear to God, if one of you wakes up my daughter, I will beat your ass.”

They each nod, and I let them in. Lark is now sitting up, cradling her coffee in her hands. “Hey, guys,” she says as one by one, they make their way over to give her a hug. Don’t get me wrong, I love that my teammates all adore my girl and want to meet my daughter. But all I want right now is to go back to being alone with Lark and Stella in our own little bubble. Because when I see Willow hand my baby girl off to Yami, I have to clench my fists to prevent myself from taking her back .

“It’s scary shit, isn’t it? Seeing your kid, your flesh and blood, out there in the world.”

I turn at Sin’s quiet voice.

“Even when they’re with people you know and trust, some instinct kicks in. Must protect what’s mine. Makes you feel kinda caveman. But it gets easier when you remind yourself that the more people loving your kid, the better.”

I exhale slowly, letting his words sink in. “So you mean that feeling like I want to rip her out of Yami’s arms and kick everyone out is normal?”

Sin chuckles. “Yeah. Totally normal. And if you really want everyone out, I’ll make it happen. But everyone here loves you, loves Lark, and loves your little girl. Just remember that.”

I look at Lark, at the smile beaming across her face, as she talks with Sadie and Willow. Then at the guys who are all peering down at Stella, now cradled in Darling’s arms. They’ve got the goofiest grins on their faces.

And something settles in me. Sin’s right. More love is never a bad thing. Moving over to the bed, I sit down next to Lark again, lifting my arm so she can snuggle in.

I set my coffee down on the table next to the bed and use that hand to tilt her chin up to my face. “Thank you for making my dreams come true, Birdie. Even ones I didn’t know I had.”

Her hand comes up to cup my cheek. “I love you.”

I smile and press a kiss to her lips, feeling hers turn up in response.

“I know.”