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The physical demands on her body were exhausting Amber, but she had to do this. She must get through this for her baby’s sake. It was the right thing to do. She felt it in her body, her bones, in her soul. She wanted the best for her baby. The best start to life.
Amber’s mind ran quickly to a TV show she’d seen many years ago, an old re-run. She couldn’t remember the name of the show but she remembered that memorable scene with the woman being rushed to the ER and a minister on hand as she was saying her vows—right there before the delivery of her baby. How crazy was that? Amber had thought at the time.
Never in her wildest imagination would Amber have thought that the same darn thing would end up happening to her. Imagine that! That famous scene from that show played out in her own life!
This was real. It was really happening.
The minister started talking nervously. Noise. There was a cacophony from every direction from the doctor and nurses prepping her and monitoring her vital signs. Less unsettling was Jules by her side, stroking her forehead, comforting her while holding her hand. Carl, Dion and Venus were off at the side somewhere in the room out of the way of the bedside to give her privacy but close enough to witness, while the minister looked as embarrassed as could be.
No birth goes exactly according to plan, the prenatal coach had told Jules and Amber. Well, heck! If her prenatal coach could only see this birth!
“Do you, Amber, take Jules Romero to be your lawfully wedded husband, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face like childbirth, for as long as you both shall live?” the minister said as loudly as he could over her panting and grunting in pain.
“Yes!” Amber cried out as pain shot up through her back and in her groin like no other pain she’d experienced in her life. Oh, dear. The contractions were getting more intense. Any time now. Would they do it in time? Would the baby be born before they said their vows? Or would her child have the same life Amber had grown up to have?
It mattered to Amber a lot to be married to Jules before this innocent baby entered the world. It meant the world to her baby. She really wanted to do what she felt was right for her precious little one.
The doctor told Amber it was time to push. She was fully dilated. The baby had its own plans. “Okay, now push!”
Amber did just that and she could not believe the feeling her body was going through. The overwhelming sensation was physically demanding. Incredible.
“Do you, Jules Romero, take Amber Johnson-Murray to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and childbirth, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?”
“Yes!” Jules said lovingly, yet with conviction. He looked deeply into Amber’s eyes, his body close with hers, supporting her. He never once looked at the minister. Jules seemed more concerned with Amber right now. As he should. It was time. She was fully dilated.
“Well, by the power vested in me by the province of Ontario, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife and…”
The baby came with a loud and healthy cry.
“…a beautiful family,” the minister continued, wiping a tear from his eye.
Amber’s body collapsed in relief and relaxation as the doctor held up the baby. Before the minister could say kiss the bride, Jules had already done that. He was moved to tears, overcome with emotion. The moment overwhelmed Amber. When she became pregnant with her baby, she thought she would be all alone, delivering alone, going through everything alone. But she was wrong. Pleasantly wrong. She could feel the love in the room and couldn’t wait to hold her precious miracle. Jules moved from her side momentarily because he wanted to cut the umbilical cord.
Before long, their little girl was resting on Amber’s chest during the bonding period, after the nurse cleaned her up and got her ready to be with mom.
“Oh, honey, you were amazing. You’re wonderful, Amber. You did so well,” Jules said so sincerely, so richly with emotion and love. She felt his words reverberate in her heart.
Jules leaned his head to hers as he wrapped his strong arms around her and their baby. Admiring the vision before him. His eyes were misty. She’d never seen him like this.
“I love you so much with all my heart,” he whispered sweetly. His words were choked and filled with emotion, his dark, sexy eyes penetrating her with appreciation and admiration. Amber felt so loved and cherished. She was choked too as she kissed her baby on her forehead, looking at her wonderful little bundle of joy with her cute and pouty pink lips, her adorable cheeks, and a head full of dark, healthy hair. Most babies were born with little or no hair but not her angel.
It certainly ran in her family. She recalled her mother telling her that she, too, had tons of hair at birth. And Amber recalled the birth of her own baby brother. Yep, a head full of dark, curly hair. A blessing. It was a family trait—and a good one at that.
Amber wished her mother, father and her little brother were alive to share in her joy. But she had her own family now—an extension of her family that passed away. Looking down on her from heaven. And little Crystal, the name she secretly chose for her baby, was a true Romero, a legitimate child, unlike Amber. Born to her parents in wedlock.
The minister cleared his throat and Jules and Amber were caught off guard for a moment.
“I’m not quite finished yet,” he said with a warm smile and turned to the witnesses in the room then to Amber, Jules and baby. “Family and friends, I present to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Jules Romero and-”
“Crystal,” Amber called out the baby’s name as she lovingly hugged her bundle of a miracle. She had chosen it, because like Amber, Crystal was a precious and coveted substance from Mother Earth.
“And Crystal Romero,” the minister said with a smile, his eyes misty with joy.
Clapping and cheering erupted in the room. Jules smiled and kissed Amber and the baby on top of her head.
Now, her daughter would not have a humiliating blank line on her birth certificate where the father’s name should be—like Amber had with her own birth certificate. How awful it was for her when situations presented themselves where she had to show it. Her daughter wouldn’t have the burden of being judged as Amber had been.
This delivery did not turn out the way Amber originally planned. Her wedding day did not turn out the way Amber visualized.
Amber was both relieved and terrified at all that had just taken place. In one swift moment her life had been drastically transformed. She was both a mommy and a wife! Did she just tie the knot while in labor?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Three months later, Amber felt as if she’d been a mommy all her life. It was a boatload more work but what a blessed honor. Sleepless nights, round-the-clock feeding, diaper changes galore. She loved her little angel to bits. She was just so…fatigued. She stood over the kitchen counter sterilizing her baby’s bottles in the new sterilizer Jules bought for her on one of his business trips to Paris. He insisted that the staff help her with the work but Amber really wanted to do certain tasks for herself.
They moved to a luxury villa near the lake adjacent to the Romero manor and estate. Not too far from the Romero Winery and Vineyard. The stunning view stole her breath every time she admired it. It was a calm and serene area that gave them enough privacy yet they were still close enough to the family’s grand main house. The house where they lived had an adequate family size pool and a sprawling garden on the west side with views of the hills. Amber enjoyed taking little Crystal on walks in the stroller in the countryside with Venus and her little ones. Of all the sisters-in-law she’d inherited by marrying Jules, Venus was the closest.
Since Crystal’s birth, Jules had been on long business trips. Was he having second thoughts about their rushed marriage? She tried not to let the thought settle inside her. What good would it do? It wouldn’t change anything. No, it would just make her feel terrible.
On the plus side, when he was around, Jules was the doting daddy doing everything to make life good for his daughter. Yes, Jules was right about blood being thicker than water, yet love is thicker than blood. It was as if Crystal was his biological child. He practically worshipped his little daughter—their little daughter. Gosh, the thought still tickled Amber to realize that she was a mommy. She was somebody’s mother. And she was Jules Romero’s wife. Amber had lost her own family and suffered cruelty at the hand of others she had trusted but now—as if the universe had shifted things around for her, she felt a bit insecure and hoped this marriage would work out and last.
Amber continued to wash the remaining dishes in the sink. She didn’t want to let negative thoughts dampen her mood.
Crystal just had her evening feeding and was sound asleep. At three months, Amber’s little angel was finally sleeping for longer stretches, like six or seven hours at a time, which meant more sleep for Amber, too. It was so hard for her to be intimate with Jules because of the exhaustion she’d experienced with the changes her body had gone through but she was feeling more revitalized these days.
Jules was out of town on business with his brother Dion on an expansion deal in the Mediterranean but would be back sometime that night. Business never ended for the Romero men. It was something that Amber had gotten used to quickly and it helped to have her caring sisters-in-law for support, too. Especially Venus who was already her friend pre-Romeros.
