Page 92 of Breakaway

“Ex-fiancé,” Briggs states adamantly. “And no one is playing at anything. They are my fucking family.”

“Are you telling me you’ve impregnated some random woman?” she grits out, her eyes flaring hotly. “Have you no sense, Briggsy?! You’re worth a fortune. Surely you wouldn’t be so careless with your family’s legacy.” Briggsy? I mentally gag at the cutesy nickname.

“Who I fuck and any children it results in are of no concern to you,” he voices harshly.

“It’s not his baby,” I mutter distractedly, needing to put an end to this. I can barely keep myself upright from how intense my contractions have gotten. The slow turn Briggs makes to face me is full of hurt and anger, emotions he’s never once directed at me.

“What did you just say?” he demands, stalking closer until his feet meet the bottom step and his pitch-black stare is boring into me. “How many times do we have to go over this? You are mine, Angel. Which means Hudson is mine. And that little girl in your stomach is mine. Is there ever going to come a time when you don’t question that?” he prods, his voice dripping with devastation. I breeze past the fact that he’s revealed the baby’s gender, my guilt consuming me for saying something so insensitive. Tears flood my eyes as he puts distance between us, shaking his head in disappointment.

“Ours,” Colsen adds, but neither of us is paying him much attention.

“I’m in this, Angel. A hundred and ten percent. But it doesn’t feel like you are. You’ve got one foot in and one foot out, but I need you to make a decision and put me out of my misery. I can’t be their father if you refuse to let me. If deep down, you don’t see me that way. I’d never question that you’re Hudson’s mother, regardless of biology. Can you do the same for me? Can you trust that I want this, and regardless of what the future entails, I will never stop being their dad?”

Charlotte makes a sputtering sound, then turns on her heel and storms away. When I remain quiet for far too long, breathing through a contraction that nearly sends me to my knees, Briggs takes it to mean I can’t, or won’t, give him an answer. He stares at me like he’s never really seen me before, then follows the same path as his ex-fiancé, leaving me standing there with a gaping hole in my chest. A pitiful sob claws its way up my throat, and for the life of me, I can’t understand how this day has gotten so turned around in such a short amount of time.

“I’ll go find him, Sunshine,” Col offers, dragging me back to the present. I take Hudson’s hand, barely reciprocating the kiss he gives me, my thoughts too tumultuous to focus on anything besides Briggs’ whereabouts. “I won’t let him do anything he’ll regret,” Colsen promises, then strides off in the same direction. Before I can contemplate what to do next, Dayton appears from the opposite side, having come from their apartment.

“Hey, you.” A forced smile greets me, and I know without him telling me that he was eavesdropping on the shitshow that just took place.

“How much of that did you hear?” I question, the tightening of my stomach temporarily stealing the oxygen from my lungs.

“Enough,” he answers pragmatically. “He’s hurt, Butterfly. But that doesn’t mean he’s gone forever.”

“It sounds like you agree with him,” I state, trying to gauge his feelings on the matter. Dayton presses his lips together in thought, but before he gets a chance to voice them, a gush of water hits the concrete beneath my feet. I stare in disbelief as it continues to trickle out of me, belatedly tugging Hudson aside so he isn’t stepping in it. I glance at Dayton, but if I was hoping for some reassurance, he’s the absolute last person I should be turning to. His face is awash with horror, the blood draining from it at such a rapid rate that it makes him look pale and clammy.

“Dayton,” I calmly voice, his light blue eyes snapping to mine instantly. “I need you to find Rita. My water broke, which means the baby is coming. We have to get to the hospital as soon as possible, and we can’t do that if someone isn’t here to watch Hudson.” He nods robotically, sprinting off to do as I asked without uttering a single word. I take a deep breath, doing everything I can to remain calm.

“Ma,” Hudson calls, making grabby hands for me to pick him up. My eyes burn with fresh tears, knowing I can’t give him what he needs right now.

“I can’t, baby. I’m so sorry,” I whisper. Behind us, the front door opens, a sleepy-eyed Mia stumbling out and coming to a screeching halt when she takes in the sight of me standing in a puddle of water.

“Holy shit!” she shouts, pointing her finger and stating the obvious. “Your water broke.” She continues staring, barely blinking as her brain goes on the fritz. “You’re in labor.” Yet again, she’s telling me something I’m very much aware of. “Where the hell is my brother?!” Mia glances around frantically. As if her mentioning him was the key to making him appear, both Raiden and Dayton come barreling towards us, one with a look of pure panic etched across his face, the other with steely determination. Tears flood my face, knowing at least one of them is present enough to help me through this.

“It’s okay, minha luz,” Raiden soothes, framing my face with his hands. “We’re going to have a baby.” His smile is brighter than I’ve ever seen it before, and a choked laugh tumbles out of me from how excited he is. Meanwhile, I’m scared to death, knowing this baby is about to come out of me, likely in excruciating fashion, and there’s nothing I can do to prolong the inevitable. Everything about this is wrong. Briggs is supposed to be here, his assuredness detrimental to keeping my own panic at bay. “Mia, I need you to take Hudson until Rita gets here. Dayton, go pack Andi and the baby a hospital bag while I grab the car seat. And I want you to stay right where you are, mama. We’ll be back in just a second.” I nod, biting my lip to keep it from trembling and giving away how scared I am.

True to his word, Raiden returns in a matter of seconds. Before I have a chance to process what’s happening, Dayton has me buckled in the backseat of his Jeep, a towel shoved beneath me to catch any more fluid as his hand clenches mine in support. Raiden climbs behind the wheel, expertly navigating the busy afternoon traffic while ignoring the speed limit altogether. Unable to bite back my scream, I clamp a hand over my mouth, sobbing against it as a wave of pain overtakes my entire body.

“Faster,” Dayton demands, his face contorting with worry.

“I can’t do this,” I cry, my contractions coming in such rapid succession I barely have time to brace for the next one.

“You can absolutely do this,” Raiden insists. “We’re almost there, minha luz. Just a few more minutes.” I thrash my head back and forth in denial, the idea of minutes feeling like a lifetime.

“It hurts,” I sob, my cries echoing in the enclosed space. Dayton flinches from the sound, banging his fist against the door panel.

“You’re killing me, Butterfly. I don’t care if I have to pay the anesthesiologist double; I’ll make sure you don’t feel a thing when it comes time to push,” Dayton promises, and as much as I’d like to buy into the notion, I’ve begrudgingly accepted how unlikely that is. The pressure between my thighs leaves me little hope that I’ll be having the medicated birth I planned for.

As Raiden screeches to a halt outside of the emergency department, Dayton rushes around the back of the Jeep to help me out. The next few minutes are nothing short of a blur as several nurses begin asking me a dozen questions, the pain growing more unbearable by the second and making it impossible for me to answer. By the time we make it to a delivery room, I’m screaming in agony, my thoughts centered around one thing only: I can’t do this without Briggs.

47

Colsen

When I finally catch up to Briggs, it’s going to take every ounce of willpower I possess not to punch the bastard in the face. I understand that he’s hurt, but walking away isn’t the answer. This is exactly why Andi still questions our loyalty, though she doesn’t even realize she’s doing it. It’s her subconscious way of protecting herself from being hurt or betrayed again. And Briggs storming out during the heat of an argument is all but confirming her fears. As hard as it can be at times, we can’t allow ourselves to take offense to Andi’s protective reactions, not when they’re only honed as sharply as they are because of the people who’ve continuously failed her thus far.

I stare at the moving blue dot on my phone screen, the distance between us quickly diminishing as I lengthen my strides. When I added Briggs to the tracking app we use, unbeknownst to him, this isn’t what I had in mind if there ever came a time when I had to invade his privacy and use it. I assumed I’d be hunting him down after he spiraled into another bender, but much to my surprise and relief, Briggs hasn’t shown any hint of resorting to old coping mechanisms. That he willingly met with his therapist is still mind-boggling to me, but I’m not the type to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I’m damn near out of breath by the time Briggs’ faded red T-shirt comes into view. I’m at least fifty yards behind him, so it shouldn’t be obvious that he has a tail. I pocket my phone, wanting to be alert and aware of my surroundings, given my current location. We’ve made it to the outskirts of town, a seedier area that Briggs shouldn’t have any business visiting. Cell reception became spotty about a half-mile back, so we’re on our own if shit goes sideways. For a moment, I ponder if he’s leading me to a drug house, but I like to think I can read people pretty well, and Briggs hasn’t given me any reason to think he’s up to no good again. Aside from what just happened, he’s been happier these past couple of months than I’ve ever seen him.