Chapter 5

P ulling up to the Emergency Room, I leave the engine on, barely putting the car into park before I'm opening the door and rushing to the automatic entrance.

"Don't worry, I've got it," Tempest shouts from behind me, turning the car off and grabbing the keys.

"Oh, shit. We don't have Chas' labor and baby bag," Bast mutters as he keeps pace beside me.

"We will grab it later. Right now, I need to know that she and the baby are okay," I say, shoving through a crowd of people to get to the front desk.

"Chastity Madden. Where is she?" I bark at a nurse who is typing on a computer, then take in a breath. "I'm sorry, my wife is in labor, and I was told she will be here. Please," I add on for good measure.

"As you can see, Sir, we are overcrowded and understaffed today. Bear with me," she mumbles, while still typing.

A man approaches me. He's covered in blood and tattoos. "Are you Levi?" he grunts, and I cross my arms. I haven't seen this man in a long time, but I know who he is.

"I should knock you the fuck out right now, Snake, but I won't because I refuse to get kicked out of this hospital while my wife and child are in trouble." He nods and points at the receptionist.

"She won't be able to tell you anything yet. They rushed Chastity into the OR. Your baby is breech, and they are going to need to do a C-section," he says, and my heart drops.

"I…"

"You should be allowed back there since you're her husband," he mutters and I nod. Yeah, I need to be there. My mind is spinning, and I still haven't slept in almost two days. So much has happened, but that's not important right now.

"Okay, Mr. Madden, I just paged a nurse, she will come to collect you and take you to your wife," the receptionist says, handing me a badge, and I look at it in confusion. How did they make a copy of my license?

I look around and Jonas is holding my wallet. He gives it back to me, and I can tell he's as worried as I am. "I'm sorry," I begin to say to him, Temp and Bast, but he waves me away with his hand.

"Do I wish we could be with you? Of course, but we understand, Levi."

Nodding, I wait for the nurse to come get me, and I grab Tempest's arm, pulling her aside. This place is crazy. Crying babies, people fighting and complaining. There is a man with a nail straight through his foot, bleeding everywhere.

I don't know why I'm hyper-fixating on that right now, but it seems important, for some reason.

"Levi?" Tempest says, pulling me back to the present. She's rubbing her arm, and I cringe at the red mark. Shit, I didn't notice how hard I was gripping her.

"Sorry, I need you to keep the guys occupied. I don't know what I'm going to find when they take me to the OR, and Jonas is already on edge."

I look around, but Ash isn't there. "Also, find that asshole and make sure he stays. Chas hasn't seen him yet, and he needs to talk to her before taking off on us again," I grumble and she nods.

"This place is loud. I'm going to take the guys to get some food and coffee, then we will hang out in the car. Let me know when we can come see Chas and the baby. It's going to be okay, Levi. Breech births happen all the time."

Tempest pulls me into a hug, and I squeeze her in return, then I take a few deep breaths.

I can only imagine how scared my Little Sinner is right now. I need to be strong, for her and our family.

"Thanks." I hand her my wallet and she laughs, accepting it. Tempest has been an amazing stay-at-home mom, living with Jacob and Otto, but she doesn't have a job. Not that we all don't support her, and spoil the shit out of her and Romeo. She's family.

"Levi Madden?" a voice says from behind me, and I turn to find a nurse in her mid-thirties, holding a pair of bright pink scrubs.

"Yeah, that's me," I say, taking the clothes from her and following her to a sterile changing area, so I can wash my hands and change into the surgical scrubs.

When I'm done, she gives me a friendly smile. "Your wife is doing great. She's lost a significant amount of blood, but we've given her a transfusion, and your child's heartbeat is still strong and steady. You got here just in time."

"She's okay?" I breathe, feeling a huge weight fall from my shoulders. I continue to follow her to a door, she reaches out and opens it with her badge, and I rush over to my baby girl.

"Hey, baby," I coo, moving up to Chastity's head. There is a blue sheet covering her lower half.

"What took you so long?" she whispers, and I can hear how exhausted she is. I know this is no time to joke, and I blame my lack of sleep for my reply.

"Traffic," I say, and she rolls her eyes, but gives me a tiny smile.

"I hope you know that after we leave here, we're not letting you out of our sight ever again. Including bathroom trips," I grunt, and she laughs this time.

"Deal," she mumbles, and I wipe a few tears from her eyes. "I'm scared, Levi." I take her hand, squeezing it, then lean down and kiss her lips.

"It's going to be okay, Baby Girl. Just keep your eyes on me."

"Okay, Mommy and Daddy, are we ready to meet your little one?" the nurse says with a huge smile on her face. I listen to the monitors, and can hear the baby's little heart beating.

"Yes, please," Chas says in exasperation, and I chuckle.

The past two days have been pure hell, but right now, in this moment, I feel peace. And when they hand us our little girl, I may be shedding a tear or two.

BASTIAN

"It's a girl! Chas was right all along," Tempest says with a smile. I clap my hands, grinning as I finish my burger and Jonas groans.

"Damn, I owe you a hundred bucks." I give him a wink, then stand.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go meet our daughter." I laugh and Temp shakes her head.

"Levi said that she won't be able to have any visitors for a few more hours. So sit back down and finish your milkshake." She holds out her phone and shows us a picture of our little cherub.

She has light hair and chubby cheeks, with the pinkest little lips. "Fuck, she's perfect," I say, and tears fill my eyes. "I hate that we can't be there too. The minute we can, we are going to do a handfasting ceremony and add everyone to our emergency lists."

Jonas laughs and wipes his eyes. "Deal."

"You guys are ridiculous, but my God, I don't care. We have a girl. Finally, I mean, I love our little boys, but now we have a princess. She is going to be so spoiled."

I can see the shopping trips and girls' days out flashing in her eyes. "Since we have some time, we should swing by the house and grab her bags," Jonas suggests, and I nod.

"Yeah, I could use a quick shower and change of clothes too. We should grab Levi something as well."

"Sounds good, then we will get Eli and take him with us. I'm sure Chas is dying to see him, and I wouldn't mind checking in on Romeo. Jacob and Otto are in the waiting room, and it's still as busy as when we left," Tempest suggests.

I could kick my ass for forgetting my phone at the academy, but at least Tempest has hers.

"Did Jacob find Ash or Snake?" Jonas asks, and I can admit I'm surprised that he even brought him up.

"Snake never left. He was sitting in his car in the parking lot, and Ash snuck into one of the patient's rooms and passed out in the spare bed. Otto found him."

"Hmm," Jonas says, then looks off out the window. We are at a fast food place that's near the hospital. It was the only thing open this late, and we wanted to be close to Chas. I don't think we are going to be able to give her any space after this ordeal.

We still have to figure out a way to keep her and our kids safe, but I'm not leaving her alone.

"Why, J?" I have to ask, but I know he's just going to push me off.

"Because, Bast, I may wish things were different, but he still left us. Something in me broke when he took off without saying a word, and now that he's back, I know Chas is going to forgive him with open arms, but I don't think I can do that. I don't think he can fix what he broke," he growls, getting louder with each word. Fisting his hands, I reach over and grab one, giving it a small squeeze.

"Okay, J. Just give it some time."

"Let's just go to the house," Jonas finally says, and I stand, grabbing my garbage and his, taking it to the bin to dump it, then we walk outside. The air is balmy, and the sun is beginning to rise.

Tempest yawns, and I hold out my hand. "Let me drive. You can nap." She doesn't argue with me, and hands over the keys. Jonas sits in the passenger seat, and she takes the back, stretching out.

"How do you feel, daddies?" she mumbles, yawning again, and I can't stop smiling.

"Amazing. I can't wait to get my hands on her, and show her how loved she is," I say as we drive back to our house. "Do you think we should pack some bags, since Jacob mentioned a safe house?"

"Yeah, we probably should. I can't wait til that bitch, Isabella, is gone for good. I… Do you think what Ash said was real?" Jonas asks, and I shrug, flicking the turn signal on and waiting until it's clear to turn.

We have a two mile driveway that leads up to a gate. Levi wanted privacy and safety. I thought he was being extreme, but now…

"I think that The Society took advantage of him. As for the rest…I'm not sure. Ash was always the strongest out of us. I know you're hurt. I am too, but maybe in a few days, you can have a proper talk with him."

Jonas sighs, but nods. I reach the gate and wait for the sensor on the SUV to open it.

"Home sweet home," I grunt as the large three-story gray house, with the wrap around porch, appears.

There is a huge swing set in the front yard, as Chastity didn't want the kids playing so close to the pool in the back.

Parking, I wait and look around. Snake took Chas for a reason, and if Isabella is coming for her, does that mean she's been here, or knows where we live? It doesn't look like anyone has been here, so I open the door and step out.

I'm on edge, and my spine is stiff, until the front door is unlocked and we are inside. "Should we like look around, make sure no one is hiding in the shadows or under the bed?" I ask, and Tempest snorts, shaking her head.

"Jacob said that Snake came because Isabella was making plans for Chastity. I don't think she's on the move yet. Let's just hurry. I want baby cuddles."

I leave them to go pack up some bags, and make my way up the stairs before I strip my clothes off with a groan. I need a hot shower, a five hour energy shot, and maybe a nap back at the hospital, in that order.

I don't waste any time. I jump in the shower, wash quickly, then change into a pair of sweatpants and T-shirt. Jonas walks into the room as I'm packing a bag for myself and Levi. Half of the time we all share shit, but he's particular about his own boxers.

Which is laughable to me, since we all share the same girl, and have crossed swords more times than I can count, but whatever. I guess I'm the same way about my pillow, as Jonas is about his coffee mug.

"I'm going to wash real quick, then we can go back to the Academy. Jacob just called Tempest. They are at the hospital having a talk with Ash. No one is allowed back just yet, so we have time."

"Did you find the baby bags? We should also grab some stuff for Eli," I think out loud, and Jonas yawns.

"Tempest got all that, they are in the SUV already."

I leave him to do whatever and grab our pillows, and Chasity's favorite fuzzy blanket, then go downstairs and grab a bag of snacks for Eli. Tempest is making coffee, and I groan at the smell.

"I am going to become addicted at this point. Hopefully, we can all get some rest soon, or we are going to become zombies," I mutter and she laughs.

"There are worse things we could become addicted to, Bast. I think coffee is a mild one."

I nod, because she's right. We just went to a friend's funeral who overdosed. We were on the football team together, and it was a shock to us all.

Milo had demons we never knew about, and I guess failing the final task for The Society was his last straw. He was a major asshole, and broke Ash's wrist once, but that doesn't mean his life was worthless.

"Okay, let's head to the Academy and grab the kiddos. Chastity is awake now and wants Eli. Can't blame her. Romeo has only been away from me a few hours, and I'm already having withdrawals."

Filling up some travel mugs, she hands me mine, and we wait for Jonas to join us before locking up the house and walking to the SUV.

Something shifts in the corner of my eye, but when I look, no one is there. The early morning sun is now shining, so if someone was hiding, they would be spotted.

"Fuck, is it just me or do you have the heebie jeebies now that we know Isa is out there gunning for our girl?" I ask and Jonas grunts.

Climbing into the driver's seat, I look behind me to make sure there isn't some secret assassin hiding in wait for us. When it's clear, I shake my head and laugh, then start the vehicle, making a loop around the driveway, back to the gate.

There's a package waiting by the iron bars. Jonas jumps out and gets it before I can tell him to wait. It's a brown box, with a blue ribbon that has ducks on it wrapped around it. No note or card.

"Don't open it until we get to the hospital," I warn and he nods, placing it on the floor by his feet.

"Just give it to Jacob when we arrive," Temp says, and I know she's on edge now too.

"Fuck, this is supposed to be a happy day," I grunt and Jonas sighs.

"Our lives have always been shadowed with fear and darkness, even on the days when we should have had nothing but sunshine," he mutters, and I groan, rubbing my eyes.

It's true. We have never had a loving and happy life. Growing up, dealing with the lies and shame, and death of parents. We got some closure when we joined The Society, but the memories still weigh us down at times.

"Hey, you guys are finally here," Chas says with a huge smile when we enter the private suite she's in.

Levi is zonked out in a reclining chair, and she's cooing at a small pink bundle in her arms. I hand Eli to Jonas and rush over to meet our daughter.

"She's perfect."

"Ten fingers and ten toes, two eyes and a button nose," Chas says with a small laugh, and my heart is melting.

I love being a dad. It took some time to get used to the idea when we first found out she was pregnant, but when Elijah was born, it was almost instinctual. I am the fun, goofy dad that gives him way too many treats and then sends him off with Jonas or Levi, but I would lay my life down for him, as I would for our little princess.

"Do we have a name yet?" Jonas asks, leaning closer to see her, wiping one of his eyes.

Chastity reaches up and takes Eli, placing him on her chest. He can't take his eyes off his sister, and I can already tell that he's going to be her protector.

Ash may not have been in his life, but he's a lot like his dad. Quiet, clever, and protective. "Charity Juliet Madden, like my mom and yours," she says, looking at Jonas.

We don't know who the bio dad is this time, but we have an inkling it's Jonas.

"Really?" Jonas gasps, and Chas has tears in her eyes. Laughing, he looks off at the wall, then sighs. "Jules is going to have a huge confidence boost after this, not that she needs one," he grumbles, thinking about his crazy teen sister.

She's been a great babysitter and aunt when she's around, but lately, she's become a tad boy crazy, and is driving us wild.

"Okay, I have been patient, but move aside, I need to see my girls," Tempest snaps, shoving me out of the way, and pressing a kiss onto Chas' head.

"You are so loved, baby girl. You are going to have all these men wrapped around your tiny finger, aren't you?" she coos, and I grumble, but it's true.

All these big bad Society members are going to lay down their weapons at her feet, so to speak, and we wouldn't change a thing.