Chapter 63

WILLOW

“Knox,”I whisper.

“Right here, baby,” he says.

But you weren’t… but then you were…

I’m tired and a little bit confused.

My body is drained.

My hands are on my stomach.

I look around…

“Right there, baby,” Knox says in a soft voice. “See that machine right there? Watch. It’s keeping an eye on the baby’s heart rate. She’s perfect.”

I look at Knox again. I swallow hard.

“She,” I whisper.

He nods. “I have so much to say right now…”

“What happened to me, Knox?”

“You were severely dehydrated. You were also panicking. When you passed out, I caught and lowered you down to the ground. Someone was walking by and I yelled for them to call an ambulance. I don’t know what you actually remember or not…”

Flashes of it start to come back to me.

The voices of the paramedics.

Knox’s voice bellowing that I was pregnant.

The ambulance ride…

“My family,” I whisper.

“They know,” Knox says. “Your father is on his way. He’s picking up your brother. They’ll be here any minute to see you, Willow. Everyone else is already here.”

“Everyone else?”

“The usual,” he says. “Violet and Mac. Villi. Vera showed up too. Gabriel and Ruby…”

“Jax and Mila,” I whisper as I nod. “Got it. The usual.”

“We need to talk, Willow,” he says to me.

My chin starts to quiver.

My chest feels like it’s sinking again.

“She’s my daughter!”

My father’s voice booms as he rushes into the hospital room.

“Where is she?”

“Right here, sir,” Knox says to my father.

“Hey, Dad,” I say with a forced a smile.

My father’s eyes are full of tears. “Oh, Christ. Willow. Are you okay?”

“You look like crap,” Ward says.

Knox grabs Ward’s shirt. He pulls him so they’re nose to nose.

“Just messing with my sister,” Ward says. “That’s all.”

“How’s your breath?” Knox asks.

“Minty fresh,” Ward says. He does the ha-ha breath thing to Knox.

“Brush again,” Knox says and he shoves Ward away.

“What happened?” my father asks me. Then he looks at Knox. “What happened to her? Is everything okay?”

“She’s going to be okay,” Knox says. “She got a little lightheaded and fainted. Everything here is just precautionary for the baby.”

“It’s my fault, Dad,” I say. “I didn’t eat or drink enough.”

“Willow,” my father says, attention back on me. “You’re eating and drinking for two now. You can’t…”

Knox touches my father’s right arm. “With all due respect, sir, this is my fault.”

“Your fault? What the hell did you do to her?”

Now my father is in Knox’s face.

Knox stands tall.

He’s a man.

He can take it.

“I would ask your trust to keep things between Willow and I as we work on our future,” Knox says.

“What the hell does that mean? What did you do to her? Huh? Did you cheat on her? What happened?”

“No, sir, I would never do that to your daughter,” Knox says. “I love her.”

“You what?”

“I’m in love with your daughter. Maybe we’ve taken a different path than what tradition dictates, but that’s okay. I owe it to her and to you, sir, to take care of her.”

“So why is she in a hospital bed? What did you do?”

“Dad,” I say. “We were talking about the future. Okay? Looking at an apartment together. And it just got to be a lot to think about.”

“You’re moving in together?”

“Pretty sure that’s the least of what they’ve done together,” Ward says.

My father snaps his head back and gives Ward the death glare.

Ward sits down.

My father runs a hand through his hair. “This is a lot to take in.”

“It is,” I say. “But it’s okay, Dad.”

I quickly look at Knox.

I’m still pissed at him.

Oh, believe me…

“You should tell him, Willow,” Knox says. “If you’re ready.”

“Ready for what?” my father asks. “I can’t take much more here.”

“How would you feel about having a granddaughter?” I ask.

My father’s eyes go wide.

I can’t help but smile.

Ward jumps up. “Seriously? You’re having a girl?”

“A little girl?” my father whispers.

I nod.

My father turns and grabs for Knox.

This time, he hugs Knox.

Then he puts his arm around Knox and gives him a side hug.

“Oh, man, a little girl,” my father says. “I hope she’s just like Willow. You’re going to have gray hair in no time then!”

“Hey, listen,” I say. “Any chance Knox and I can be left alone? We need to finish up a conversation and then I need to talk to the doctor and figure out when I’m leaving here.”

“I’ll handle that part,” my father says.

“I guess it’s okay we leave you two alone,” Ward says. “What’s the worst that can happen? You’re already pregnant.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” my father growls at Ward.

He shoves Ward toward the door.

“I was just making a joke, Dad,” Ward cries out.

“Keep your jokes to yourself,” my father says. “They’re not even that funny.”

They leave the hospital room and I motion for Knox to lean down and get closer to me.

He does.

With a big smile on his face.

I slap him across the face as hard as I can.

“You stupid asshole,” I growl at him. “What the hell were you thinking? Huh? You just run off like that? You left me alone with Sandy. A stranger! You know… I ended up in some other apartment with her. Talking. Venting. Then Jax shows up and acts all weird…”

Knox rubs his face and nods. “Let me know when I can tell you everything.”

I curl my lip. I’m feeling some of that Mom rage that people talk about.

“Go ahead, Knox… tell me everything… and this better be good.”