EPILOGUE
Ford
My phone vibrates inside the front pocket of my suit jacket. I pull it out, see it’s Viveka calling, and slide out of the bench in Courtroom 10A. I was watching part of a capital murder trial, really for lack of anything better to do. The one afternoon appointment I’d had canceled on me, and I have nothing but a pile of paperwork waiting for me back at the office.
I’m a master at procrastination, so when I’d popped my head inside to see what was going on, it looked interesting enough I had no qualms with avoiding my paperwork for another hour or so. It’s one of the perks of being a partner and able to come and go as I please.
I connect the call before I make it out of the courtroom, so my voice is very low when I answer, “Hey, baby. What’s up?”
“Leary’s in labor,” she shrieks into the phone. “There’s an ambulance here, and you need to find Reeve and get him to the hospital now.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I say as I start to jog toward the elevator. It’s opening, and people are boarding. “Where are you?”
“We were having Snoopy’s hot dogs in the park, and after eating one bite, her water broke. All over the park bench. And we’re too far from either of our cars, both of which are parked a few blocks down, so I called an ambulance. They’re loading her up now.”
All of this she said comes out in a fluid rush with one word running into the next. Luckily, I’m able to translate most of it.
“Okay, baby,” I croon as I slide into the elevator just before the doors close. “Remember… it’s deep breaths in and out.”
I remember that from the one and only Lamaze class I took with Leary. Viv will now have that job for now until we can get to the hospital.
“How far apart are the contractions?” I ask.
“How the fuck should I know,” she shrieks again, and I can’t help but chuckle—very, very silently so she can’t hear me. I never thought Viv would be the one to freak out in a situation like this.
“I’m on my way to the hospital, V,” I tell her gently. “I’ll call Reeve, too.”
“Okay,” she says almost absently before hanging up on me.
“Is your wife in labor?” a woman asks from my right as I’m pulling up Reeve’s number in my contacts.
Startled, I turn to her. “No, my best friend. That was my girlfriend. She’s with her right now.”
“She’ll be calmer when she’s the one who’s pregnant,” she assures me knowingly. “Don’t worry about that.”
I just blink at the woman, wondering how she went from girlfriend to pregnant girlfriend. I wait for a full-body shudder to hit me at the thought, but it doesn’t come. Instead, I think about how cute Viv would look pregnant. She’d be one of those women who would show off that bump, too, and I bet it would be sexy as fuck.
When the woman touches my arm—giving me a reassuring pat—I realize I’m staring stupidly at her. It’s as if she could read my thoughts because she says, “Such an amazing experience. You’ll enjoy every moment of it.”
Whoa, back the fuck up. I give a hard shake of my head and a curt smile to the woman before turning away to put in a call to Reeve.
He’s much calmer than Viv when I reach him. Because I’m just minutes from the parking garage and my car, as well as only one block away from the office, I offer to pick him up.
He’s there on the sidewalk waiting for me, practically bouncing up and down in excitement. He hops in the car and pounds his fists on my dashboard. “Put the pedal to the metal, dude. I’ve got a baby coming.”
Good thing I’m driving the Porsche.
♦
“Viv is never allowed to be with me if I have another kid and go into labor,” Leary says with an affectionate smile leveled at my girl. We’re standing by Leary’s bed as she holds little Charlie in her arms. Reeve’s on the other side, sitting on the edge next to her.
I’ve got my arm securely around Viv’s waist. Her head is on my shoulder as she stares at Charlie with a goofy grin. She doesn’t even take offense to Leary’s comment.
Instead, she says, “He’s so adorable. I can’t believe he was just in your belly a few hours ago.”
Yes, Leary’s labor went super fast, which is apparently abnormal. From the time her water broke on a park bench until the doctor pulled him free was just over two hours.
All three of us look at Viv, who is so enamored with Charlie she really isn’t paying attention to anything else.
“I don’t know,” Reeve says with a wink. “I think he resembles a little troll.”
Viv just stares at the baby with a stupid smile on her face.
“Trolls are actually cuter,” Leary says with a sly smirk. “The kid’s pretty ugly, actually.”
Viv doesn’t react. She’s not even listening to us, and I have to wonder what’s running through her head as she stares at the baby and ignores all of us. Whatever it is, I find it ridiculously adorable. At the same time, it makes my chest feel strange—all tight and warm at the same time.
“Think we can exchange him?” Reeve asks his wife, who snorts and then dips her head to kiss the sleeping baby.
When that doesn’t get a rise out of Viv, I release my hold on her waist and take her by the hand. “Okay, I think that’s my cue to get Viv out of here. She’s staring at Charlie like she’s going to kidnap him.”
That seems to startle her out of whatever reverie she’s stuck in because she looks guiltily around at the three of us. “Sorry… it’s just… I’ve never seen a newborn baby before. I’m so happy for you, Leary. And you, too, Reeve. And it was all so miraculous, and I know I freaked out, but I was so excited and scared shitless that I was a basket case… I get it. But I’ll be better next time. I swear it.”
We all laugh at her silliness, but I’m compelled to pull her in for a huge fucking hug because I’m not sure I’ve ever liked Viv more than in this moment right now.
No… not like.
I love her.
“We gotta go,” I say hastily as I start to pull her toward the door. Reeve and Leary share a smirk. They know how fucking cute Viv was in the last few moments, and I’m sure they think I want to take her home and get it on with my girl.
And yes… I do want that, but after…
“No, let’s stay a little longer,” Viv pleads. She actually digs her heels in and pulls back.
“No, let’s go,” I say in that alpha-domineering tone that normally gets her to do whatever I want when we’re in bed.
“No, let’s stay.”
“Viv,” I say in exasperation. “I just want to have a moment’s privacy with you to tell you I love you, but for fuck’s sake… I’ll say it right here. I don’t care if Reeve, Leary, and Charlie hear me. They’d be the first to know anyway.”
“Oh, wow,” Leary says in the dreamiest of voices, but my eyes stay pinned on Viveka.
She blinks, not in confusion or surprise, but from the pure emotion welling up so fast in her eyes she can’t control the tears.
“Aww, fuck,” I grumble as I pull her into me. My hand goes to the back of her head, and I press her face into my throat. “Don’t cry, honey.”
She sniffs hard and mumbles against me. “I love you, too.”
“Good to know, baby.” My voice is husky with emotion.
It’s the first time I’ve said those words to a woman, and I think I’ve been feeling this for a while now with Viv, but I hadn’t given it conscious thought. This was the right time to say it.
My eyes search out Leary and Reeve, and both are smiling knowingly at me. I can see it on their expressions. Ford has fallen. He’s off the market permanently, and there’s going to be a day when Viveka will be in that bed with a baby.
First there will be an engagement, a wedding, and more I love you’s.
But it has started.
It’s when I fell in love for the first and last time, and waiting for Viv was worth it.