“What do you have to be sorry about?” I question.
“I know one of the things you always wished for was a family, and because of those bastards, you lost the ability to carry your own baby,” she replies, tears now in her eyes.
“Ash told me if I wanted a baby that was biologically ours, we could look into harvesting my eggs so he could fertilize them, then find a surrogate.”
“He’s a good man,” she whispers.
“But… um, I told him that there are so many kids out there that need homes that maybe we should go that route instead. Family isn’t always about the blood we share.”
“You can always do both,” she says. “But I love the idea of adoption. Now that my childbearing days are over, that’s something that I’ll probably discuss with Rebel at some point because I’d love to have more kids later down the road. We’ve got a lot of love to give, that’s for sure.”
I start uncontrollably laughing as I think of Rebel with a house full of little girls who have him wrapped around their fingers and one boy struggling to keep his chest puffed out and rule the roost. There is no doubt that the guys in their house are outnumbered by the girls. “It would be funny if you had nothing but princesses and the one prince,” I finally gasp out.
“Rebel would go bald,” she replies, grinning.
Seeing that she’s looking tired, I say, “Go ahead and take a nap. You’ve got bottles made up for PJ so if he wakes up, I can take care of him.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, yawning. “Rebel’s been a saint at night, getting up with him, but I know you’re aware of how hard it gets trying to find a comfortable position to sleep.”
I nod because I still have issues and with both sides being affected, my own rest has been sporadic. I’m sure I’d probably heal faster if I got a solid eight hours of sleep, but it’s been all hands on deck since Holly had PJ.
I’m sitting in the kitchen when Esther pops over. “Thought I’d come and check on the two of you,” she says, seeing me sitting there on my tablet, the baby monitor in front of me.
“Holly’s napping so I told her I’d listen out for the baby,” I reply.
“Marnie, why don’t you go lie down for a little bit and let me take over baby duty,” she states in that no-nonsense manner she has. I know that with her standing there with her hands on her hips and her eyes narrowed it’s not a question or an offer, it’s an order. “You’re still healing yourself in case you’ve forgotten that detail while trying to do everything for everyone else. Paul has the girls in hand and the house is nice and quiet right now so it’s a prime time to take a nap, wouldn’t you say?”
Almost as if she summoned it, I’m suddenly exhausted and start yawning. “You know what? I think I’ll take you up on that, Esther. Thank you.”
Standing, I head toward the back door only for her to stop and hug me. “No, thankyou,Marnie. You’ve been a godsend since Holly went into labor after the accident. If not for you, those two jackanapeses could’ve hurt my granddaughter and great grandbaby.”
I shudder to think of what would’ve happened that day if I hadn’t struck when I did, and Holly hadn’t been there as back up. It doesn’t bear thinking about if I’m being honest with myself. Of course, the accident didn’t do me any favors since I had to get tests run to make sure none of my inner stitches had popped. Thankfully, I just ended up with what they called soft tissue injuries, some bumps and bruises from rolling around in the back of the van.
“Go on now, get some sleep.”
She comes across as pushy but it’s only because she cares. I thank the man upstairs every day for bringing her into my life. She’s one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. By the time I get over to Esther’s house, my body is wiped out and pain is ebbing and flowing. While I hate taking them, I decide to take one of my pain pills so I can get some restful sleep. Snuggled under a fuzzy throw that Ash bought me, I fall asleep thinking about our future.
FIFTEEN
ASH
With the final touches on the haunted house finally complete, I head back to the farm, Rebel by my side. Since I’m sure Marnie is with Holly, we head to their house only to find out Esther is watching the baby while Holly and Marnie nap.
“She’s over at our house, she needs more rest than what she’s getting, Ash,” Esther finally says, her voice stern while she fills us in on where everyone is right now. “She’s not better yet and she’s trying to hide it, but just watch her and you’ll see. She winces when she thinks nobody’s paying attention. Don’t forget that she expended a lot of energy after that accident, then saved my girl and her boy.”
“I haven’t forgotten, Esther,” I reply. “But she’s hard to pin down, you know? Plus, it’s hard for her to get comfortable because of how they had to open her up to save her. She’s not a back sleeper, so she spends most of the night tossing and turning.”
“What about one of those body pillow things?” Esther asks. At my questioning look she says, “They’re longer than a normal pillow, but body pillows or even a pregnancy pillow, can beformed around her to take some of the pressure off her body. Regardless, I’m going to see if I can get my friend, Gertrude, to come and visit to help all of us out. Plus, I don’t think she’s taking her pain meds like she should be because she wants to be alert in case Holly needs her.” She then glares at Rebel and states, “And as for you, it hasn’t been all that long sinceyouwere coming back from the brink of death. I get that you’re the club president and carry around all of those responsibilities, but you’ve got a wife and children now, you need to delegate. Ask for help, you know your club brothers are happy to step up. In fact, I think you should take the rest of this week off. You’ve got good people who work for y’all, let them earn that money. You could’ve lost your wife and son, Rebel. Money can always be made but these memories you’re missing right now? They won’t be repeated. Once they’re gone, they’re gone.”
“Yes, ma’am,” we say in unison. I mean, what else can we say? She isn’t wrong and I’ve known Marnie was pushing herself too hard. But every time I said something, she would tell me she was fine.
Esther points her finger at me and says, “Ash, go on and get some rest. You’re going to be busy since I’m going to insist that Rebel exercise his rights as the president and take some time to spend bonding with his son.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Rebel, I’ll send out a mass text later and let the brothers know to run shit through me first. If it’s anything important, you’re right next door, so to speak,” I reply.
He smirks at me and flips me the bird behind Esther’s back. If he wasn’t my president, I’d smack him, but Esther’s right. We technically have three walking wounded and while it’ll be difficult to handle all of it again, I want my president and brother to have that time with his little boy and his wife. Shaking myhead, I walk out the side door and head over to Esther’s to snuggle up with my ol’ lady.
Before I slip in behind her, I look up the pillows that Esther mentioned and order two of them so that Marnie can be fully surrounded. I’ll do whatever it takes to ensure she gets the rest she desperately needs so she can fully heal and take back her life and live the way she’s used to doing. Swapping out my jeans for a pair of sweats, I slide into bed and carefully position myself so I can pull her into my arms before I use the rest of the pillows as a barrier to try and cushion her as best as possible.
