Part Three

Darius

Nine and a half hours of hard labor later, I’m standing here holding the most perfect little girl I have ever seen in my life. She’s four weeks premature, but the doctors and nurses say she is perfectly healthy, but I don’t believe those fuckers, they don’t know shit. She should be inside her mother still, but… I’m selfish, and I’m fucking happy that she’s here with me and not still hiding inside Leah.

She has a head full of black hair like me but the eyes, she has her mother’s eyes. God, she is beautiful, and I’m…in love for the second time in my life. I never thought I would ever be able to love another person like I love my Goldie, but…I do, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I now know what it means to feel my heart beating on the outside of my body. When she finally came out screaming, the doctor placed her on Leah’s chest, and my heart blew the fuck up. It literally jumped out of my chest and nestled itself inside my daughter. That artery is no longer my own. It belongs to my little queen.

“Knock knock.” I dart my eyes up to see my brothers. Corvin doesn’t wait for Leah or me to respond when he sees his niece in my arms. He barrels straight over to me, with Becky, Crue, and Saint following after him. “Man, I get it, I do, but you have to share her for just a minute. I need to see my niece.” I fight the urge to punch my best friend in the face when he takes my daughter from me. He turns his back and the guys begin to hover around him, blocking my baby from view so I have no choice but to peer through the gaps of their heads to make sure they hold her neck and head right. When I see her swaddle loosen, I try to reach over and tuck it in, but Saint smacks my hand away.

“Hey, asshole, that’s my kid!” I bite out, and those fucking cocksuckers ignore me as they continue to talk to my daughter.

“Halfback?” I turn to Leah and frown. Katie, Val, and Alexa all stand there fighting back smiles, which earns them a glare from me. Leah pats the space beside her and quirks a brow. I look from her to my baby, who is being cooed at by those dicks, and I’m suddenly torn. Do I go to my wife or stay with my daughter in case she needs me? “Darius Cameron Lockhart, she is fine!” I grit my teeth and ignore the girls snickering at me as I drag my feet across the room to my wife and drop them down beside her. She smiles and places her hand on my leg. “She’s fine.” She tries to reassure me.

“You don’t know that.” I snap.

Leah narrows her eyes. “I just pushed a seven-pound baby out of my vagina, lose the attitude.” I cringe and smile at her sheepishly.

“Yuck, never mention that again.” Corvin scolds her as he hands my baby girl to Crue. A devilish smirk crosses my face, and then suddenly, Corvin doesn’t look so smug. “Darius I am warning?—.”

“Santa emptying his sack into your sister gave us all an early Christmas present.” Corvin shoots me a scathing look while the girls all giggle behind me.

“You’re fucking lucky my niece is in the room, or I would break your fucking nose.” Beckett snaps his head toward Corvin and glares.

“No one needs another broken bone, thank you, dick.” Beck snaps, earning a laugh from all of us except Leah.

“I’m sorry, Becky.” She mutters. He shoots her a wink and shrugs.

“I’m not. Now we have this beautiful angel because of it.” He answers. I turn to my wife and nod, encouraging her to tell them.

“Becky?” She says just as Crue passes my baby to him. He turns to Leah and smiles proudly. You can see the love this big fucker has not only for her but my baby in his eyes, and I just know my girl made the right call.

“What’s up, Lee?” He asks.

A whoosh of air escapes her, and she flicks her eyes to me. I smile at my girl and nod. She’s too choked up to tell them so I do it for her. I stand and face my brothers four of them look at me with frowns. “Would you like to know her name?” The four of them share a look and then nod, but I can see the apprehension on each of their faces. “Beck.” His face blanks as he stares at me. I can see he is waiting for me to say something stupid, but not this time.

“Yeah?” He answers.

“Meet your namesake, Becca.” Tears gather in the big fuckers eyes as he stares at me, then he cuts a glance to Leah, who is crying. Val and the other two are all standing there with their hands covering their mouths with tears in their own eyes.

“You named her after…me?” He whispers, and Leah nods.

“You’re my best friend, Becky. I love you and couldn’t think of anyone better to name my baby after.” Leah chokes out. Becks eats the space up between them in four strides, and he holds Becca close to his chest as he bends down and hugs Leah.

“I love you, Lee, and I promise I’ll love her like she’s my own.” My heart fucking thumps inside my chest whens she pitched the idea to me a couple of hours ago. I didn’t argue because I know how much Beck loves my wife and there is no one I would trust more with my daughter than him.

“What about us?” Crue whines with a pout. Saint throws his arm around his shoulders and pulls him in close.

“Clearly, we aren’t the favorites,” Saint mutters with fake sadness.

Crue bats his lashes at Saint, and I groan. “But I’m your favorite, right?”

Katie rolls her eyes at her husbands. “Excuse those idiots.” She mutters.

I fight back my smile when I see Corv deflate. “Corvin?” He cuts his gaze to me and I smirk.

“He may be her best friend, but you’re mine.” His brows furrow. “Her full name is Becca Corvina True Lockhart. She is named after all of you, so don’t fucking make me regret naming my daughter after you idiots.”

I sit beside my wife and watch our family pass our daughter around, and I can’t help but smile. I’m one lucky motherfucker.

“Hey, it’s midnight,” Alex announces.

“So?” Saint adds. She rolls her eyes, leans down, and places a kiss on Becca's head.

“Merry Christmas, beautiful girl.” I balk at her. In the frenzy of everything and going after my wife and then her going into labor, I forgot all about it being Christmas. I turn to my Goldie and kiss her. She melts into me like she always does.

“Merry Christmas.” She whispers against my lips.

“Thank you for giving me the best gift I’ve ever received, Goldie. Merry Christmas, baby.” She smiles at me. “How long before I can slide inside your chimney and put another baby in you?” Laughter erupts from her, and I can’t help but join her. “Merry fucking Christmas, you ugly fuckers. Now give me my baby and piss off home to your own kids.”

Sitting here with my wife and daughter in my arms is the ending I never thought I would get. I never knew what love was until I met Leah, and now I can finally say I know what love at first sight feels like because I felt that tonight when I saw Becca. These are the most important people in my life.

I may be the halfback, but I scored the fucking touchdown and won the girls.