AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’ll walk out with you, Doc,” Mira says.
I don’t really want her to leave but she doesn’t give me an option to protest. Instead, she gives me an amused wink and slithers out of the room while I’m left with the three men I love most in this world.
29
Kace
The three of us stand in the middle of the hospital room for a while, unable to say anything. Amaya is just as flustered and speechless. We stare, we breathe, we try to pull ourselves together, but all I can think of is how grateful I am to see her.
“Are you okay?” I manage, unsure of what else to say.
“Yeah,” she whispers.
“And the baby?” I ask.
Her face drops. I guess she didn’t see that coming. Yet another cat that’s out of the bag. Another cat that we need to handle, and we need to do it right here, right now. No more wasting time, no more foolish pride, no more distractions.
We have to show up for her. There’s no other way.
“Tanya let that one slip when she told us you were in the hospital,” Finn says with a slight shrug. “You’ll have to forgive her.”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” Amaya lets a heavy sigh roll from her chest. “I should’ve told you sooner. I should’ve told you a lot of things sooner.”
“Amaya, is the baby okay?” I ask again.
She nods once. “I’m having some stress-related issues. That’s what the doctor was telling me. That my cortisol levels are through the roof. No wonder, given what I’ve been dealing with.”
“What happened?” Elias replies.
We look kind of silly, standing here, next to each other, like grunts at the morning roll call. Amaya could tell us our beds aren’t properly made and to drop down and give her fifty pushups, and we’d probably do it.
“I’m sorry,” she says, her voice trembling. I don’t want her crying. I don’t want her stressing out over anything anymore. My instincts kick in, and I leave my inhibitions behind, rushing to sit at her bedside. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I reply, gently caressing her warm cheek. “Don’t cry. We’re here. We’re not going anywhere.”
“I pushed you away,” she manages in between hiccups. “I got so scared because I realized I was pregnant, and instead of talking to you about it, because I had already lied to you about Mikey… oh, God, I was so stupid.”
Elias joins us, leaning in to plant a loving kiss on her forehead. “You weren’t stupid. You were trying to protect your heart. After a dirtbag like Derrick, we don’t blame you.”
“For what it’s worth, we were incredibly stupid, too, for ever doubting you,” Finn chimes in, coming to the other side of the bed and taking her hand in his. “We’re sorry, so sorry. We got to the truth, though. Eventually.”
“The truth?” she asks, giving us a confused look.
“About the DNA test. It was forged,” I tell her. “Derrick and Ramada have both been arrested. Fraud, forgery, bribery. The feds are digging through their drawers right now. I doubt they’ll be getting out of prison anytime soon.”
“Oh, wow,” she gasps, blinking back more tears. “I did not see that coming. Derrick popped by yesterday, I guess to taunt me. He threatened me, saying he would always control me and he would find a way back into my life. I pushed him away, I threatened to call the cops on him. Then I fainted.”
“That piece of—” Elias stops himself from another river of expletives addressed to that human piece of trash. “I’m so sorry, Amaya. I am deeply sorry for falling into his web of lies and deceit. He and Ramada made a good team, I’ll give them that. We disappointed you.”
“I think I disappointed myself the most,” she says.
I shake my head and move closer, then kiss her lips softly. I’d missed this feeling so much, it almost hurts to pull away, if only just to breathe. “Amaya, it’s over. All this nonsense. The fear, the uncertainty, the running away. It’s over, okay? You are the only woman I’ve ever wanted to be with. The only woman we want to be with.”
“I am?”
Finn can’t help but chuckle lightly. “We’re here, aren’t we? It’s not for the Jell-O cups, I promise.”
“They’re not that bad, you know,” she giggles.
