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“I’m not dropping you. Even if I’m doing this with one hand because you broke all twenty-seven bones in the other one.”
Cole opened the doors as Paco struggled with the stairs.
Alex had other business to attend to, or at least, that’s what he said. But she knew something was up. Something that required him to leave his phone behind…which was never good.
Will he miss this? The birth of his children?
A car screeched to a halt, as the driver raced out. It was Alex. Madison relaxed. Paco’s sign was audible. “Thank God,” Paco heaved, as Alex whisked the mother-to-be in his arms.
Like Paco before him, Alex needed a beat to steady himself under the magnitude of her peak weight. Madison spoke as she panted through her Lamaze. “Too heavy?” she asked between breaths.
He strained a reply. “Light as a feather.”
Cole gathered all the robes and towels he could find, laying them on the ground. Jordan and Stone materialized from the next room as Stone assured them, “No activity. No threats.” He raised a brow to Alex.
Alex nodded. “Neutralized.”
Jordan dialed a number, with the speakerphone on. A man’s voice answered. “Sunshine Dry Cleaning. How can we brighten your—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, all hail the queen,” she said sharply. “I have a woman in labor. I need a doctor at this location ASAP—STAT—right fucking now!”
“It’s early,” Madison said, worried.
Alex rested her on the robes, elevating her head under a small stack of towels. “The doctor said this might happen. Early with twins is usual.”
“Not…this…early,” she cried, pain searing through her.
Alex looked around. His heart, stopping to the point of imploding. She was right. It’s too soon. Much, much too soon.
Stone lowered to a knee, his phone to Madison’s face. The kid who defied death lit up the screen like a star. The knife-stab in her gut eased up, and she could breathe again. “Hi, AJ,” she said, still breathing in tiny puffs of breath, quickly correcting herself, “I mean Xander. Have I mentioned how proud of you we are?”
“A few million times,” he joked. His hair, tousled and slightly overgrown, fell in his face, requiring him to flick it away with an effortless gesture. Madison’s heart lifted.The girls are gonna go nuts for that.“Have I mentioned how freaked I was when that bullet whizzed by my ear?” he retorted.
Incensed, Paco grabbed the phone. “Save it for the ladies. I missed you by a mile there, sport.”
Xander rolled his eyes.
Alex shook his head with a smile. “Thank God you dropped to the ground when you did. It made your death very convincing.”
“Just like you taught me,” Xander said, with two fist pounds on his heart, and a peace sign to Alex.
Alex did the same in reply. Everyone stared at him. “What?” Alex asked. “I’m hip.”
Paco patted his back. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Xander’s big, bright eyes widened, the thrill in them catching fire. “Is this it?” He asked. “Are my niece and nephew almost here?”
“Almost,” Madison nodded nervously.
“Does it hurt?” he asked, with a worried frown.
“Nah,” Madison said with a forced breath.Just two little ones in there, tag-teaming shanking my insides.“Any idea for names?” she asked to take her mind each new spike of pain.
“How about Luke and Leah?”
Alex nodded. “Star Wars…I like it.”
“You would,” Jordan smirked. “Though it definitely ranks higher than Spock and Uhura.”
