Chapter 27

Jennie

I was so nervous, I could hardly swallow. If Mags got his hearing back, great. If not, no big deal for me, but I knew it was a big deal for him whether he admitted it or not.

We sat in the waiting room for an eternity, gripping hands but not speaking. When they called our names and I pulled on Mags to get us moving, he shot me a glance that I’d forever remember.

His soul was bared to me. He was equally scared and hopeful, but beyond both of those I saw his pure love for me. I grinned and continued to lead him back to the testing room.

Okay, Mr. Eriksson, this is the big day. Are you ready?

Yes, ma’am, I am.

Dr. Jeffers wasn’t there. A nurse practitioner was doing the honors. She didn’t say anything else to us as she placed the magnet from his new external communicator against the receiver behind his ear, attaching it to his head.

When she was done, she sat down at a computer and tapped away on her keyboard. Mags’ head was pointed down as he waited. She hit one last key and his head snapped up. She smiled and hit another key.

Mags looked right at me. “Say something.”

This was it. The moment of truth. “Can you hear me, Magnus?”

His hand shot to his forehead and he cast his eyes downward. “Say my name again.”

“Oh, Mags. Can you hear me, babe?”

He looked up at me, raw emotion spilled across his face. He pinched the bridge of his nose hard, but his tears came anyway. “Sweet, Jennie. I can hear you.” And then my big, tough hockey guy covered his face, and I sat perfectly still watching as his shoulders shook with such sentiment I felt it in my soul. He didn’t hide it from me. He looked right back at me. “I love you. Say it back.”

I smiled through my own tears. “I love you too, Magnus.”

Magnus

I had no idea the sound of Jennie’s voice, robotic as it was, would hit me as deeply as it did. Each sound I heard was as if it was synthesized. It wasn’t like I remembered, and I was okay with that. I’d been told to expect the difference. But Jennie’s voice resonated within me all the same. She and the baby were my everything.

It was more difficult than I would have imagined getting used to hearing again. There were so many sounds coming from all directions, at first I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be hearing. It was hard to concentrate.

The aftereffects had been explained to me. All of my reactions were perfectly normal. I had to get used to understanding sounds again. I needed to figure out what was directed at me and what was background noise. When people were learning how to decipher sounds as babies, it came to them slowly, but when a previously deaf person suddenly got their hearing back it was like an all-out assault on their senses.

Jennie and I sat out on our deck across from each other, as had been our habit. I was concentrating on separating the sounds of the ocean from the sounds of cars driving by, dogs barking, and kids dragging their bodyboards down the sidewalk.

“You okay?”

I was starting to understand why Jennie hated those two words so much. “Yes, dear.”

Her smile set me at ease, as it always did.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head and smiled. “Yeah. Tired, back hurts, hungry—the usual, but I’m fine.”

“Well, it won’t be long now.” Jennie had a little less than two months to go before her due date. She’d gained almost thirty pounds. I thought she looked beautiful, just like a woman should look when she was carrying and nurturing your baby. She thought she looked like a beached whale.

“I know you’re uncomfortable, but damn, Jennie. You’re phenomenal. You’ve taken such good care of our baby—and me. I wish I could do something for you.”

I again caught myself looking at her lips when she responded and mentally reminded myself that I didn’t need to do that anymore. “I wouldn’t say no to a bubble bath and a watermelon cooler.”

Her warm bath and cool drink was one thing that helped her relax. “You got it. Go run the water. I’ll be in soon.” She rarely asked for anything from me. Finally, I felt useful. If she let me give her a relaxing orgasm in the tub again, I’d feel like a king.

***

Jennie and I settled into our new life. Our home was pretty much set up the way she wanted it, although new wallpaper was going up in the very near future. I’d gotten a new contract with the Breakers that I could live with—five point two million a year for three years. Not bad for a thirty-four-year-old, and aside from all of that, Jennie had been having strong contractions for the last couple of hours.

She was only two days past her due date. “Mags, I think my water broke.”

“You think it did? How do we know?”

“Well, the couch is wet and I didn’t pee.”

Holy fuck. We’d gone over this a thousand times, and I was drawing a blank. “Okay. Um, suitcase, insurance card, and ice?”

She laughed through a gripping pain. “Ice?”

“Shit. Okay, give me a minute.” I sat down to think over my list, but Jennie beaned me in the head with a pillow.

You don’t get a minute. Take me to the hospital.

Without even thinking about it, I signed back. Yes, okay. You ready?

She shook her head as if to clear it. Why are we signing?

“Fuck! I don’t know.”

I sprang up from my chair and scooped her up in my arms, grabbing her bag on the way out the door.

By the time we’d gotten to the hospital, I wished I was deaf again. Jennie’s painful keening was killing me. If only I could take her pain. “I’m so sorry I did this to you, sweetheart.”

She grabbed my shirt with more force than I would have bet she had. “Shut up. It’s fine. I just need to get this kid out of me, okay?”

What the ever-loving fuck was I to say to that? “Um, yes. Okay, sweetheart.”

An orderly beckoned me to follow him, and I deposited Jennie into a wheelchair. He handed me a clipboard and told me to fill it out on the way up to the maternity ward.

I’d texted Izzy and Cage before we left, and to my surprise we passed them, along with Karen, in the hallway on our way to the birthing room. Karen ignored me and gave her attention to Jennie. “How are you doing, honey?”

“I’m doing fine.” Just then another contraction gripped her, proving her words were a lie.

“Okay. We’ll be waiting for the good news. Good luck, Jennie!”

Cage and Karen took a left when we got out of the elevator, to sit in the friends and family waiting room.

Izzy kept with us. Jennie looked at me almost apologetically. “Is it okay if Izzy comes into the delivery room with us?”

Hell, I was just glad she wasn’t kicking me out. “Of course. Whatever you want.”

It turned out to be a good thing. I had no idea Izzy and I would have to hold her legs as she pushed. I certainly didn’t want a stranger doing the honors.

Not in my wildest dreams could I ever imagine a man would be able to do what my wife did in that delivery room. And she did it with such grace. Aside from a few well-placed f-bombs and a shot—well, three shots—to my groin, she was a classy lady all the way. And at the end of her trials, we had a healthy nine-pound, twenty-one-inch baby boy, which I heard cry for the first time with my very own ears. Life was good.