Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Líadan

Four months later

October

H olding Jordan's hand, I grin as I walk through the streets of Marbella. Brendan is in the shop ahead of us, and is being fairly suspicious. I have a feeling he's buying something for me, I just don't know what it could be.

We almost didn't get to take this trip because Brendan and Jordan started to get worried about the baby and I. I'm a little over seven months pregnant now, have so much more energy, and didn't want to miss this trip.

So I negotiated.

If Dr. Kurtz and my obgyn agreed that it wasn't a good idea, we wouldn't go.

My doctors vetoed that really quickly, insisting that it would be good for me. I may have a tiny issue with working too hard.

Now, I'm so excited that we're here. I take naps daily, I'm taking it easy, and I'm loving the culture and atmosphere. Our daughter is happy in my stomach, and I haven't quite hit the waddle stage.

I do, however, feel very large, since Alana is growing exactly the way she needs to. My belly is filling out my long maxi dress, and Jordan continually finds himself massaging my back without realizing it.

It feels really good. No complaints whatsoever.

"Should we go in after him?" I ask, lips twitching as I glance over at Jordan. His hazel eyes sparkle with mischief as he shrugs, leaving the ball in my court. I can't tell from here what kind of store it is, until I vaguely see the word joyeria .

What is Brendan doing in a jewelry store?

"You're no help," I tease Jordan, rolling my eyes. The afternoon has a slight chill in the air, making me glad for the light denim jacket I have over my colorful boho dress.

Walking toward the door, I open it, intent on finding out what's going on. If it was a surprise, Jordan would have told me to leave it.

"Hey," I say to Brendan as I see him leaning over and speaking to the jeweler. We've been here for a month, and we've picked up a lot more Spanish than we thought we would.

It's been easy to stay in Marbella at a rental as our base, and then travel by bus or train to explore for a day or two, depending on where we were going. I loved going to Seville and Madrid, seeing things I never would have been able to see before if I was still living under my father's thumb.

Brendan turns with a grin, watching as I walk closer.

"I guess this is as good of a place as any," he says, showing me a gorgeous four carat ruby ring. There's the glint of diamonds that surround it, but I can't tell for sure. He and Jordan drop to their knees in front of me, making me gasp.

Are they seriously doing this right now? The jeweler simply grins as he enjoys my shock, not even pretending not to watch us. Lips parted, I gaze down at the two crazy men in my life, ready to hear why they have such an incredible ring.

"Lía, you've been the girl in my life since you were practically born," Brendan says with a small chuckle. "Your face was all scrunched up and pissed when I saw you, and I thought you were perfect. You were my best friend, until I realized that we were more. I love waking up to your face, experiencing life with you, and holding you in my arms."

"And then I came along, hog tied and all," Jordan says with a grin. "Princess, you're a force of nature. Watching the way you navigate life, growing this baby inside of you, all of it feels like something I can't live without. I have, you know, and it sucked. Brendan and I want to make you ours, officially."

" Will you marry us?" they say the words together, but I'm already sobbing. It doesn't take much to make me an emotional mess lately.

Sometimes, all it takes to set me off is to feel Alana moving in my stomach to make me cry. I never thought I'd be able to experience this.

"Yes," I whisper, dropping to my knees beside them as they give out. Somehow, they manage to catch me, easing me down as they kiss my forehead, cheeks, and lips.

"How does this work… How?!"

"Se?or Diego Carrillo de Albornoz helped a lot. I found his jewelry store when we first arrived in Marbella, and I came in to commission your ring," Brendan explains.

Together, Brendan and Jordan push the ring onto my finger, and I gaze in awe. The ruby glitters in the light inside, the diamonds surrounding it as if they're supporting its magnificence.

"Gracias," I breathe, turning to look at the jeweler. He raises his hands humbly, telling me it was his pleasure to create such a gorgeous piece of jewelry. Leaving us to talk, still kneeling on the ground, he disappears into the back of the shop.

We look quite the sight, I'm sure.

"This is incredible," I sniffle, brushing away more tears. "How can we get married? I'm not going to choose. That's impossible."

"I married Lennon and her husbands with a handfasting," Jordan explains. "It'll be just for us, but we want to marry you."

"I want that too," I say, nodding. "When?"

"Tomorrow?" Brendan says, shrugging. "We leave in a couple of days, and this is such a beautiful place for a wedding. Are you in?"

"I'm always in," I tell him, nodding. "It's us against the world."

Jordan and Brendan hug me tightly as the baby rocks and rolls in excitement in my stomach. It seems she's just as excited.

"Let's do it!" I squeal, hugging them back.

Three months later

The United States

"I swear I've been pregnant for twelve hundred years," I mutter, rubbing my back as I walk through the house. I wanted to find a bigger home before I gave birth, but I can't make a decision.

For starters, I didn't know what city I wanted to live in when I'm finding that I truly love Evanston and being so close to the water. I didn't think I'd enjoy running the club, but I do, and we're considering opening more throughout the country.

It's doing extremely well.

The enforcers for the families are working well to keep everyone in line, and I have to step in less and less. It's a relief, honestly, not to have to step into my Banshee persona as often.

Pregnancy has mellowed me out a touch, yet I still fucked up someone who was stealing from the recreation center we set up. The screams were sweet as she realized how badly she fucked up.

Don't steal from me or children, I don't have many things that piss me off, but those are two that I won't be able to get over.

There's a cramp in my back and I moan, leaning against the wall as I sway, attempting to work through it. My hands hold on as I try to count how far apart these contractions are. Do I need to worry?

Brendan and Jordan went out to get some work done, while I decided to work from home, taking calls. I woke up with some back pain and let them know I should take it easy. The books and my doctor told me to go to the hospital when my contractions were four minutes apart, but I can't concentrate enough to time them.

Shit, is that another one?

"Oh fuck," I whimper, dropping my head on the wall. I have a very high tolerance for pain, but I should worry if even I think these fucking suck. God, why is this cute little baby pulling apart my innards?

"Alana, be nice to Mommy," I grunt, breathing in and then out nice and slow. "I'm calling your daddies, baby girl."

My phone is in the other room, because I left it there when I started to walk out my contractions. So far, they just seem to be getting more intense over the last forty minutes. That doesn't seem like the false labor that I've also read about.

It's time to call reinforcements.

Connecting the call by jabbing the screen to get to the person I need, I lean back, lifting my stomach as I take deep breaths.

" Hello ?" a female asks, making me blink.

"Shit, did I call the wrong number?" I ask. Unfortunately, another contraction hits, making me yell as I pant and gasp my way through it. "Fuck me that hurts."

" Líadan ?" Blinking, I look down at the phone, realizing exactly who I called. For some reason, I got it into my head that I wanted Layla's phone number for emergencies, or the day I got together enough courage to call her and explain things.

"Layla? Shit, I'm sorry," I pant. "I'm pretty sure I'm in labor and?—"

A rush of liquid interrupts me, shocking me as I glance down.

"Fuck, this cannot be happening right now," I whisper.

" Líadan ?" Layla asks. " Hey, take a breath. What's going on?"

"I'm definitely in labor," I say. "My water just broke. Ah… I'm kind of home alone, and I was calling Jordan to tell him this isn't a false alarm."

"Wow, you're pregnant ," she says softly, and I can't tell what her tone is.

"If it helps, I never thought I could get pregnant… Ever," I state. "I know this doesn't make any sense, and you could even be mad at me because I basically plucked Jordan out of his life and then didn't give him back."

"You… My uncle is an adult ," Layla finally says. " He'd never stay somewhere he doesn't want to be."

"I know," I say. "I tried to give him an out and broke up with him. He stalked me and refused to allow it."

Layla snorts, chuckling. " Uncle Jordan does whatever he wants. I bet he stalked you with the same kind of effort he throws at everything else ," she says. " Shit, you need to call him!"

"Fuck," I groan, eyes watering as another contraction hits me. God, these hurt so much.

"I'm sure they do hurt ," she says, and I realize I said that out loud. " Stay with me and three-way-call him. I don't want you by yourself, Líadan. Come on, do it."

She's so bossy.

Again, Layla laughs, and I realize I'm definitely not doing stealthy well. Hitting the button to add someone to the call, I touch the correct contact.

"Princess, are you okay?" Jordan asks, answering, and I sob as another pain hits me.

I can't even speak as I give myself over to the pain, and I vaguely hear Layla explaining what is happening.

"Líadan!" Jordan yells, making me gasp. I can't talk to him, so I grunt as I concentrate on getting through my contractions. They're too fucking close.

"Baby, it's okay. I'm already on my way home and I have Brendan with me, alright? I'm going to call the doctor and see what she wants us to do," he says.

I'm pulling off clothing as he speaks, because they feel uncomfortable. I hate that they're wet, and I feel really warm, despite the fact that it's January in Illinois and there's snow on the ground.

"Push," I gasp, realizing I feel this intense need to push. "Too soon."

"No, no, you're okay ," Jordan says. " Do what your body tells you to do. I'm two blocks away, love. Keep breathing, you're doing so good."

"Shit show," I growl between my teeth, eyes closing from the pain. I guess it's a testament to how high my pain tolerance is that I can get out any words.

"Isn't that what new life is like sometimes ?" Jordan asks. I can hear Brendan muttering under his breath, and I wonder if he's praying because Jordan is a madman when he's worried.

"It's definitely wild and messy ," Layla cuts in. " You're seriously a rockstar, Líadan. I think when I have kids I'm going to need lots of drugs. Good ones."

My huff of amusement is short lived when I feel this intense need to push. It kind of feels like I have to poop, but not? My body is conflicted. Groaning deeply, I push, the sound turning more and more pained.

"Uncle Jordan !" Layla yells,

" I know, Lay, I know. One block away, baby. It sounds like you're pushing. That's really good. Push until you can't, then take a break and breathe. No one is rushing you."

" Lía," Brendan says, stealing the phone from Jordan. " Take a breath with me."

Forcing myself to inhale, I follow his breaths until I whimper, feeling the need to push again. Reaching between my legs, I feel a head, and my heart starts to pound. Okay, I can do this. I have to.

"Fuck, this burns," I wail, dropping my head as I hold onto the table in front of me. Thankfully, it's a taller table, perfect for me to hold onto as I push.

"Our baby wants to come see us ," Brendan says. " Sounds like she's in a hurry. Alana is going to keep us on our toes , milseán."

The sound of the front door opening behind me alerts me to Brendan and Jordan coming in, and then there are arms supporting me from behind. In the next moment, there are pads by my feet to catch anything that may drop, and Jordan's lips are at my ear.

"We're prepared for anything, Princess," he murmurs. "Brendan picked up extra supplies last week because he had a dream that this might happen. Now, let's have a baby."

Sobbing in relief, the next few minutes are a blur of pain, pushing and adrenaline. The further I get into the moment, the less I'm focused on the pain.

"Here she comes," Brendan says, and Jordan crouches with him to catch Alana as she drops into their arms. "Reach underneath you, Lía. Meet our baby."

Doing as he says, I'm in awe as I lift a little girl with dark hair and pale-blue eyes. She gazes at me curiously, squalling once to show me she's alright. Brendan wraps a towel around her and a blanket around my body, and Jordan and he tell me how amazing I was.

" Wow ," Layla says, and I realize she's still on the phone. There are tears in her voice. " Congratulations you guys. She sounds precious."

"Thank you for answering the phone," I gasp, struggling to catch my breath.

"I don't think I'd ever not answer ," she says honestly. " I didn't know whose number this was, and I still picked it up. Don't be a stranger, yeah ?"

"Thank you, Lay," Jordan says warmly. "I know this is all difficult to understand?—"

" You fell in love ," Layla interrupts. " Trust me, I fully understand how much it doesn't make sense at times. I'm happy for you, uncle."

They say their goodbyes, and I sigh, knowing that it's complicated. Jordan doesn't know how to bridge the divide between them, but maybe they can figure it out.

"I'm calling Dr. Kurtz," Brendan says, grabbing my phone.

"I'm going to cut the cord, beautiful and we'll give the placenta a few minutes to pass. You're almost done," Jordan say, sterilizing a knife to cut it.

He lifts me into his arms, looking smug that he got to do that as Brendan rolls his eyes, talking to the doctor.

"And I am taking you to bed to snuggle our baby," Jordan says. "I need to remind myself that this actually happened."

Leaning my head on his shoulder as I snuggle Alana against my skin, I do the same.

"I think her middle name should be Brea," I murmur, memorizing everything about her. "This little girl is just looking at everything. You're so pretty and strong."

"I like that," he murmurs, entering the room as Brendan follows. He pulls out blankets and throws them over the bed.

"If you get blood on these, I'll toss them," Brendan says, kissing my forehead. "Dr. Kurtz is on the way. I'm going to get you a pitcher of water, and then you're going to push the placenta out. I still can't believe this happened."

Giggling, I enjoy the flurry of activity around me as Jordan lays me down on the bed, climbing in with me to gaze at both of us. A moment later, Brendan joins us, and for a moment, I just feel peace. This is my life. It has love, beauty, and the adventure that comes when you're living it.

"I love you," I say, knowing they know I'm speaking to both of them and the baby. "I can't imagine any other way for this to happen."

There's unpredictability I love in life. There's no one to tell me what to do or when. Whatever happens, that's what's meant to happen. There's something incredibly beautiful about cracking the code so many people spend so much time trying to find.