She rolls her eyes at me and sasses, “Yeah, that’ll be possible with a toddler and an infant.”
“We’ve got family that are more than willing to help us, remember?”
“I know, I’m just disappointed, Eli. This isn’t how I saw any of this going.”
“You’re in a minority, that’s for sure,” Thelma states as she starts cleaning up the trash from putting in the IV. “But you’re not far off from being able to take your exam, so keep your eye on the two prizes ahead of you.” At Phoebe’s puzzled look, she adds, “The baby and getting your NP. The baby is the bigger prize, of course.”
She leaves me alone with my wife and I maneuver us so that she’s comfortable, cuddled against me. “I love you, Phoebe Cortez Benson. You’ve brought me so much peace and joy and I don’t have adequate words to tell you how I feel.”
“I love you, too. I never anticipated this outcome the day I walked into the clubhouse and handed Cami over to you,” she replies.
“Now, we may not be able to have a ‘normal’ wedding night, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make out a little bit,” I tease. “At least until you fall asleep on me.”
“Bring it on, biker man. I’ve got extra juices flowing in me right now,” she replies, grinning at me.
As many IVs as she’s had by now, I’m more than proficient at removing them, so while we wait for the bag to finish, we cuddle against each other and talk about our future.
From my perspective, it’s pretty fucking bright.
EPILOGUE
Phoebe
“She’s beautiful,”Holly says as she looks down at my daughter. Unfortunately for me, I did end up on hospital bedrest, which was a complete pain in my ass, especially since I had no end of ‘helpful’ folks, aka my coworkers, who ensured I didn’t do anything at all that I wasn’t supposed to. Still, despite the months of HG that I suffered through, my actual labor was so easy it was almost ridiculous.
“Thank you,” I whisper, my thumb stroking across Colleen’s cheek. She looks so much like Cami did as a newborn that my heart squeezes. I mean, it makes sense since Rosa and I were cousins, and Eli is their father. “She looks just like Cami did,” I admit.
“Prophet’s out there with his chest all puffed up like he’s the one who gave birth,” Marnie adds, making me giggle.
“I mean, he really has been here every step of the way,” I remind them. “He wasn’t the one losing his stomach lining, of course, but he did hold my hair back then clean up after me every singletime. Plus, he found recipes for food I could tolerate. Lastly, he was the only one in the room when Colleen decided to show up.”
“I’m not sure our guys could’ve done that,” Holly replies. “I mean, they can handle most things, but catching a baby as it flies out of their woman’s vajayjay? Yeah, I don’t see that happening, do you, Marnie?”
Marnie starts giggling just as the door bursts open and Ella comes running in. “Dammit, I knew I shouldn’t have stopped for a break,” she grumbles as she reaches the bedside and looks down at me and the baby.
“Uh, correct me if I’m wrong, but you’d already been driving almost nine hours nonstop. And that wasafteryou worked!” I retort. “Besides, according to my doctor, I had one of the fastest labors she’s ever seen. When she last checked me, I was only at a seven, but less than thirty minutes later, I was ready to push. Couldn’t have stopped it if I wanted to, Ella, and quite honestly, with all the bullshit I’ve had to deal with this whole pregnancy, I’m kind of glad I didn’t labor for hours.”
“Well, I brought presents,” Ella grumbles, making me giggle. “Of course, I know she’ll have clothes passed down from Cami, but every princess deserves new stuff, right?”
Holly starts laughing even harder, then she says, “Uh, well, we’ll let you do the new things, Ella, because we’ve already been passing the clothes from Mina, Ruby, and Becca down, even though Cami isn’t old enough for some of them yet.”
Ella shrugs. “Nothing wrong with hand-me-downs, as long as that’s not all they ever have.”
“Absolutely not,” Holly and Marnie state in unison. “All of the girls get new clothes around their birthdays and of course, atChristmas, but now that we’ve got five little princesses in the Steel Raiders, we have to adjust accordingly.”
“Because Rebel’s already talking about adding an ammo store, and I think Prophet wants in on it,” Holly confesses. “Bunch of Neanderthals, I swear!”
Ella looks at me and asks, “How long will you have to be here?”
“God, I hope not for too long. I want to go home, whether that’s our place or the clubhouse, and enjoy not hearing the constant beeping of monitors.”
“How are you feeling physically?” Holly questions.
“Surprisingly enough, I’m hungry,” I admit. “But the doctor told me that once you give birth, most of the symptoms of HG disappear relatively quickly. Some women experience problems for a little bit longer, but I never had an issue actually eating, it was just retaining my food. I think my doctor has a GI doctor coming in to check me over to make sure I didn’t develop any gastro issues before she’ll discharge me. So, even though I want to go home today, realistically, it’ll probably be at least two or three more days in here.”
Sighing, I try to adjust myself to get more comfortable. I didn’t tear during the birth, thank heavens, but things are a bit… sore. “Let me help,” Ella states. “Oh! I brought you some padsicles, too!”
“What the hell are those?” Eli asks as he walks into the room just as she speaks.
