Epilogue

Epilogue

Serena

Staring at Smoke running around the house to gather up our stuff, I sigh. We talked about being more organized, but somehow always ended up cuddling or having amazing sex instead of working out the details. Now that procrastination is coming back to bite us in the butt.

The rhythmic pain moves over my belly, it feels like a vise is clamping around my lower abdomen. I guess that’s why they call them contractions.

Smoke runs back into the room in a panic.

When I give him a worried look, he states firmly, “I’ve got this. Don’t worry.” Then he dashes upstairs and comes back down with two large duffle bags hanging off his shoulders.

“My mother sorted out everything we’re gonna need at the hospital. I’m gonna put these in the car. Give me two minutes and I’ll be back for you, princess.”

Before I can respond, he bolts away like a man possessed. A minute later he stalks back into the living room and scoops me up into his arms.

I grumble, “I can walk. You know that I can. We talked about you trying to carry me everywhere.”

“This is different, sweetness. You’re having a baby.”

I give up. Now isn’t the time to ask him to dial down his overprotectiveness. Instead, I go for a joke. “What? Really, I thought it was indigestion from the chili I ate for lunch.”

“This is no time for jokes, princess. This is serious shit.”

“Sorry, babe. I didn’t mean to rile you up.”

“I’m not riled up, I’m in get shit done mode. There’s a difference.”

He sets me down in the passenger seat and buckles my safety belt before leaning down to give me a soft, respectful kiss. “I love you and I don’t mean to be salty.”

I cup the side of his face with one hand. “I love you too.”

Quicker than my eye can follow he slides into the driver’s seat. The next thing I know he’s deftly swerving, avoiding other cars, and speeding through yellow lights.

“Wow, if you ever want to give up law, you would make a kick ass race car driver.” Another contraction hits and I gasp as it rolls over me.

“You’re in labor. How is it that you’re still capable of talking?”

“I don’t think you understand how labor works. This could go on for hours.” Fuck, I hope it doesn’t, I hope I was going to be one of those moms who have contractions for an hour and out pops a baby.

“Just hang in there, sweetness. We’re almost at the hospital.”

We come skidding to a stop in front of the maternity entrance. Standing outside is Marge, looking ten kinds of excited. She steps forward to help me out of the car. “How are you holding up, honey?”

“Fine,” I say breathlessly as another contraction hits.

“She’s not fucking fine. She’s in pain and won’t stop making light of it.”

Marge’s head jerks up, “Do you want to sit this one out, Marcus.”

Stunned, Smoke stops in his tracks. “No. Of course not.”

“Then pull yourself together. Serena needs you to be positive, not panicking. Yes, it sounds frightening, but it’s something millions of women do. Trust that Serena knows what’s best, and trust in the doctors.”

Smoke’s stunned expression clears. “I’ll knock it off.”

When we enter the maternity ward, Smoke steps up to the desk. “My wife is having contractions.”

The man on the other side of the desk is wearing scrubs and has a stethoscope hanging around his neck. “A lot of women think they’re in labor, but it’s just Braxton Hicks contractions. I’ll call you when it’s your turn to be seen.”

Smoke’s hand shoots out so fast I don’t have time to protest. He grabs the man by the front of his scrubs and almost hauls him over the counter. “I said my wife is in labor. Get her into a fucking room. Her name is Serena Drake, we called ahead.”

The man is fighting to get away, but Smoke has a pretty tight hold on him. “Sir, if you will just let me go, you don’t understand—”

A woman in scrubs walks up frowning, “Look, I understand you’re worried, but if you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to call security. You need to let go of our phlebotomist. He doesn’t even work in this department.”

Smoke releases him and growls, “Amscray,” before turning his attention back to the nurse. At least I think she’s a nurse, as everyone is wearing scrubs it’s difficult to tell what their role is.

***

Smoke

Serena has another contraction and this time she cries out in pain. Her arms come down around her stomach as panic lights up her face. I can’t stand this, but no one seems to be doing anything. Why aren’t they all rushing to get her into a room? It’s a fucking emergency!

The nurse’s stern expression morphs into a concerned one and she finally moves into action. She rounds the desk and gets a wheelchair for Serena. Stooping down, she begins taking her vitals. “How far apart are your contractions?”

“About seven minutes, but it hurts a lot, like something ripped inside me.” Serena gasps.

“She needs a doctor, right goddamn now, I snap.”

Even my mom adds her opinion. “A lot can go wrong with a first pregnancy. My son is right. His wife needs to be seen straight away.”

“I’m sorry,” Serena says as the contraction eases off. “This is our first child and my husband’s a little worried.”

The nurse crouches down as she takes Serena’s pulse. “Mr. Drake, I understand this is frightening for you, but we are here to help.” She turns back to Serena, “Your vitals are okay, don’t worry. We’ll get you settled in a room, and then we can go through your birth plan.”

Serena nods weakly.

“She needs a doctor, not a nurse,” I insist, growing ever more impatient.

Serena breathes through another contraction before pointing to the woman’s nametag. “She is a doctor, babe.”

I look down and see my wife is right, yet again. I might be shit hot in the courtroom, but it’s clear that when faced with the woman I love in pain, I lose the plot. It says Dr. Pearson right there on her name tag.

I ask, “What do you think’s going on, Dr. Pearson?”

“Everything looks fine, I’ll get her settled in the room and we can see how far the labor has progressed. You stay here and fill out the admission paperwork,” she orders.

“But I can’t—” I start.

“It will only take a moment, Mr. Drake. Your wife is fine, nothing will happen. Just fill in the details and join us.”

I don’t like the idea of being separated from my pregnant wife, but I do as she says because she’s a doctor. Doctors know best, I tell myself. My mother and I make eye contact as they move past me. I trust her to stay by Serena’s side and call me if anything happens. As I see them walk away it dawns on me, I was being an ass when my wife needs me the most. The obstetrician was probably giving me the prospective father equivalent of a time out, while she did whatever needed to be done to get Serena settled.

I fly through the paperwork as fast as I can, and suitably chastised, I march my hefty ass back to the birthing room they put her in, just in time to see them about to do an ultrasound. When I race to her side, my mom steps back to make room for me. I give her a grateful kiss on the forehead before moving forward to take Serena’s outstretched hand.

When the doctor squirts gel onto her belly and moves a wand over her stomach, I watch the monitor, holding my breath in case something is wrong.

After what seems like forever. The doctor looks at Serena and says, “Everything’s fine, I need to do a pelvic exam to check how many centimeters dilated you are, but the baby’s vitals are all good.”

While Serena is arranging herself for the examination, I immediately apologize to the doctor. “I’m sorry about earlier. Seeing my wife in pain really messes me up.”

The doctor gives me an understanding smile. Her dark ebony skin and short cropped black hair make her seem younger than she is, but I can see now that I’m looking more closely, she’s obviously older and knows what she’s doing. “We’ll attach her to a fetal monitor in order to keep an eye on her progress. I’m going to do the pelvic exam now,” she pauses and asks Serena, “Are you okay with everyone being present, or would you prefer that they leave?”

My mom goes to pick up her purse, “I’d like everyone to stay,” Serena says.

The doctor starts the examination, after she’s done, she throws her gloves in the trash and says, “You’re four centimeters dilated at the moment.”

“What does that even mean?” I ask, then realize I’m speaking over Serena again.

Dr. Pearson responds, “It means she’s four centimeters dilated,” looking at Serena she continues, “You’ll be ready to push when you’re ten centimeters.”

“How long will that take?” Serena asks.

“It varies, the average time to go from four centimeters to ten is around three hours, but your labor could be faster or slower.”

Serena nods. I feel my heart race at the thought of seeing my woman in pain for hours. “What about the epidural? That’s in the birth plan, right?”

“Yes, that’s something we can do. As you’re four centimeters we could get that set up now if you want?” The doctor says.

“Do it!” I exclaim.

“No,” Serena interrupts. “I heard that a first labor can go on for hours, what if it wears off?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. We will ensure you have adequate pain relief. Once you have the epidural, you’ll be confined to the bed and won’t be able to walk around, so if you’d prefer to wait, we can do that. I can check you in another hour to see how fast you’re dilating.”

“I’ll do that,” Serena says.

I nod because this does sound like a cautious plan.

After an hour and a half, the doctor announces that she’s now six centimeters, she tells Serena that she’s now in active labor, and if she wants the epidural then now is the time to have it. Serena agrees, so I’m standing at the far side of the room with my mom while the anesthetist is setting it up. I can’t quite believe how quickly her pain goes away. To see her suffering one moment and pain free the next is like a miracle. I get emotional when she looks up and with a relieved smile and I realize that never once did she freak out or beg for the pain to stop. After that point everything seems to happen so quickly, and it seems like only moments have passed when Dr. Pearson says, “Okay, you’re fully dilated. At the next contraction you can start pushing.”

***

Twenty minutes later my Serena gives a final push, there’s a strangled cry, and the doctor has our baby wrapped in a white blanket.

“Is everything okay?” Serena asks worriedly.

“She’s looks perfect,” I reassure her, as our baby is weighed and given a quick once over, “She has ten fingers and ten toes just like most every other human on planet earth.”

“I want to see,” she says wistfully.

Dr. Pearson settles our daughter into Serena’s arms.

“You’re right, she’s beautiful. Perfect.”

I bend down and kiss her on the forehead and say, “Just look at her, princess. You did this. You made a whole other person. I’m so proud and in awe of you.”

Serena gets tearful. “I’m so glad it was you, babe. That you managed to save me, and we fell in love. I can’t imagine sharing this moment with anyone else.”

“You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I can’t believe that now I have two precious girls to love.”

“I can’t get over how perfect she is,” Serena remarks as we gaze at our beautiful daughter. I can’t seem to keep the smile off my face for anything.

“I love you too, babe. You’re my best friend, lover, and husband all rolled into one person.”

Something about hearing that touches my soul in a way I can’t quite articulate. I’ve always been worried that if I fell hard for a woman, I wouldn’t be able to be everything she needed. To hear that I’m her everything alleviates some of that anxiety.

“She’s waking up. Do you think I should try to feed her?”

“They said that if you start before she seems hungry, your milk might come in by the time she is hungry. So, I say, let’s give it a shot.”

I watch my beautiful wife run through the techniques we learned to encourage latching on. It takes our little one a few tries, but eventually she latches on and begins suckling like a pro.

Watching Serena nursing our child is the most amazing sight I’ve ever seen. All my protective instincts rise again like a tsunami, and pure male pride surges in my chest. My wife looks happier than I could ever imagine.

I tug the blanket up to keep away the chill and sit on the bed beside my wife, with one hand draped loosely around her shoulders. I want to make sure they never suffer any more hardships. The world can be a cruel place and I intend to be their safe space. No matter what the world throws at us, I can handle it, because I have a family who love me, and club brothers to rally to my side. Now, it is time to enjoy the bounty that I’d fought so hard to win. Looking down at my wife and daughter I know they are a part of my life that I will never take for granted.

THE END

Hope you enjoyed the book!

The next book in the Savage Legion MC

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