Epilogue Two

"Ican"t do this!" Mila cries, her voice breaking. Her blonde hair is plastered to her head with sweat, her face bright red. Her bottom lip quivers. Dark circles ring her pain-filled green eyes. A single tear rolls down her cheek.

The sight kills me.

"Shh, baby," I whisper, running my hands up and down her arms, trying to calm her down. I fucking hate it when she cries.

"You"re almost there, Mila," Dr. Tanner says, looking up from between her legs.

"Roman," Mila whimpers, ignoring the man as she focuses on me.

I ignore him, too. If I don"t, I"ll think about the fact that he"s looking at Mila"s pussy, and that"ll just piss me off. I can"t think about that right now. She needs me.

"What can I do, baby?" It"s killing me that she"s in so much pain. I"m never getting her pregnant again. No fucking way can I watch her go through this labor shit again. We"ve been at the hospital for the last twenty-four hours. She"s been pushing for over an hour already, and she"s exhausted. I don"t know how to help her, and it"s driving me insane.

"I can"t do this," she says again.

"You can," I whisper, leaning down to press my lips to her forehead. "You"re a fucking warrior, baby, and you can do this. Just a few more pushes, and our little girl will be here, and then you can sleep." Every time she"d get comfortable last night, another contraction would hit. She hasn"t slept more than an hour since we got here yesterday morning.

She groans in pain as another contraction starts. More tears drip down her face.

"Push, Mila," Dr. Tanner and one of his nurses encourage at the same time.

Mila does as she"s told and pushes as hard as she can, crying the entire time. When the contraction ends, Dr. Tanner tells her to relax again. She falls weakly back into the bed. Sobs wrack her body. I"m not sure if it"s the pain or the exhaustion overwhelming her, but I"ve had enough. I know she wanted to do this without medication, but she can"t do this shit anymore and neither can I. Watching her cry her way through this is torture.

"She needs something for the pain," I snap at Dr. Tanner.

"It"s a little too late for that," he says, his voice soft and sympathetic. "The baby will be here by the time it has any effect. I just need her to push a couple more times."

Well…fuck. I shouldn"t have let her refuse pain medication when she declined the epidural. I know she hates medication and wanted to do this naturally, but this is too much for her little body. Watching her, I feel completely fucking helpless. She"s the other half of my soul, the mother of my child…and all I"m supposed to do is stand here and watch her fight on her own to bring our little girl into the world.

Fuck that.

Mila doesn"t fight alone. Not anymore.

"Scoot forward, baby," I tell her, reaching out to slide her forward in the bed.

"Mr. Gregory–"

Dr. Tanner snaps his mouth closed when I glare at him.

I help Mila lean forward and then scoot down in the bed. Before Dr. Tanner can say anything to stop me, I slide in behind her, allowing her to lean back against me so I can support her. She collapses against my chest, still crying.

I move her hair off her neck and place a kiss to her sweaty skin before wrapping my arms around her. "I"ve got you, baby," I whisper in her ear. "We"re going to do this together, okay?"

"Okay," she whispers, sniffling.

Dr. Tanner and the nurse beside him look like they want to object to me being in the bed with her, but I don"t really give a shit. I"m not moving. Not a force on earth is getting me out of this bed until she"s done pushing. I can"t take the pain away, but I can help her through it, and that"s exactly what I"m going to do, regardless of protocol.

I think Dr. Tanner knows not to even bother trying to get me to move. He eyes me for a split second and then shakes his head, a wry smile tilting his lips up. He turns back to Mila without saying a word.

"You"re not supposed to be in the bed with me," Mila whispers, still sniffling.

"I don"t give a fuck," I mutter, running my hands up and down her arms again. "I"m not moving from this bed until Stella is here, baby. We"re doing this together."

"Stella?" she asks.

Before I can answer, another contraction hits.

"Push, sweetheart," I whisper in her ear, holding her little body tightly as she cries out in pain. I keep my lips planted next to her ear as two nurses push her legs back toward her round belly, and she starts pushing again. "You"re doing so fucking good, Mila. Do you have any idea how much I love you? You"re so strong. You can do this."

"Keep pushing, Mila," Dr. Tanner says. "She"s crowning."

Mila bears down, her entire body tensing as she pushes harder.

"Good, good," he says. "Okay, relax for just a minute."

Mila falls limply against my chest, panting. She"s not crying as hard this time, though.

"We"re naming her after your mom," I whisper in her ear, brushing her hair away from her sweaty forehead. We"ve gone back and forth over names a thousand times, but nothing felt right until I thought about naming the baby after Mila"s mom. "When Stella asks where she got her name, you can tell her all about the incredible woman who watches over the two of you for me when I can"t be here to do it myself."

Mila told me a lot about her mom, the kind of woman she was, and how much she loved her. It kills me that she lost her so young. I can"t bring her mom back or change the way her father neglected her after her mother died, but I can give her a little piece of her childhood back. Something to remind her that, even if her father is a piece of shit, she had a mother who adored her.

When Mila thinks about her childhood, I want her to remember the good times and the woman who loved her, not the father who never deserved her. I want her to remember that she had someone who loved her as much as I do. I want her to know that her mom will always be a part of her and our daughter"s lives, even if she isn"t here.

"Roman," Mila breathes.

"She"s important to you, baby," I tell her. "And I"m so fucking thankful to her for bringing you into this world. How could we not name the baby after the woman that brought you into my life? She might not be here, but she"ll always be a part of your and our daughter"s lives this way."

"Jesus, he"s sweet," one of the nurses whispers and then blushes like she didn"t mean to say it out loud.

I don"t really care what she thinks, though. All I care about is Mila.

"He is sweet," Mila says, her voice shaking. She"s crying again, but fuck it. At least these are happy tears. Her body is completely relaxed against mine, her mind distracted from the pain and exhaustion for the first time since she started pushing. A little smile plays at her lips. "I love you so much, Roman."

"I love you too. You ready to finish this now, little warrior?"

She takes a deep breath and then nods.

"Whenever you"re ready, Mila. One more big push." Dr. Tanner glances up at her and smiles.

"Bring our girl home, baby," I whisper and kiss her cheek.

Mila takes another deep breath and then pushes.

"Keep going," Dr. Tanner encourages. "She"s almost here."

Mila"s body tenses. Her face turns beet red. She pushes with everything in her. I hold her through it, whispering encouragement in her ear. And when she cries out this time, it"s a cry of triumph.

Tears fill my eyes as she falls back against my chest, and Dr. Tanner passes little Stella to a nurse, who quickly suctions out her mouth and then passes her to one of the other nurses in the room. Our baby girl cries loudly, flailing her little arms and legs.

I want to snatch her out of their arms and keep her all to myself, but I can"t. I promised Mila we would do this together, and she"s not done yet. There"s a flurry of motion around us as Dr. Tanner and his team continue working on her. Someone asks if I want to cut the cord. When I nod, they move around and allow me to cut the cord from where I am. They rush around as soon as I do, cleaning her up and taking measurements.

Within moments, a nurse steps up beside the bed with little Stella in her arms.

"Do you want to hold her?" she asks Mila.

Mila nods, crying softly.

The nurse steps up to the side of the bed and places Stella on Mila"s chest. As soon as she"s on Mila, she stops crying and snuggles into her. Mila"s hands shake as she holds Stella against her body.

The world falls away as my eyes lock on the sight before me. I"ve never seen anything more beautiful than Mila holding our little girl. They"re perfect. Jesus. So fucking perfect, I can"t breathe through the lump in my throat.

Mila reaches for one of my hands and places it over little Stella.

"She"s so tiny," I whisper, awed at how big my hand looks compared to her tiny little body.

"She"s nine pounds, seven ounces, and twenty-three inches long," a nurse says. "She"s a little bit big, but she"s healthy."

"She"s perfect," Mila says, exhaustion and happiness in her voice as tears trickle down her cheeks again.

I press my lips to her sweaty temple, kissing her over and over as we hold our little girl for the first time. The doctor and nurses continue to move around us, cleaning Mila up and putting the room back in order. I stay exactly where I"m at the entire time…exactly where I"m meant to be, with my woman and our baby in my arms.

"She"s so perfect," Tahani whispers to me a couple of hours later, her eyes locked on her little sister as she holds her. Stella snuggles against her chest, sleeping peacefully in her big sister"s arms.

Mila"s sleeping on my chest, her body curled around me. She did so fucking good. God, she"s incredible.

"Yeah, she is," I murmur, fighting back tears. There are no words for the adoration I feel for Mila as I watch my daughters together for the first time. I never imagined I"d have this. I never knew I wanted this. Until Mila offered me two weeks, I thought I was content with my life the way it was. But having Mila in my arms while Tahani holds her baby sister is so far beyond perfect. It"s everything.

"Hi Stella," Tahani whispers to her little sister, running a fingertip down her tiny pink cheek. She"s totally captivated by the baby in her arms. "I"m your big sister. We"re going to have so much fun."

"This is perfect," Mila says, her voice thick with sleep.

I glance down to find her eyes open, watching Tahani and Stella with a soft, sleepy look on her face. Happiness brims in her eyes, and I know she feels the same sense of completion I do.

"Thank you," I whisper, not even giving a fuck when I feel a tear roll down my cheek. "Thank you for giving me this, baby. I love you so much."

Mila smiles and reaches up to brush the tear away. "I love you too, Roman."

I bury my face in her hair and breathe her in, completely at peace for the first time in my life.