Epilogue
Cameo
Three Years Later
Walking into the kitchen, I open the fridge to find a juice box for Maven. At two and three quarters, she is the light of our lives and as stubborn as her father. When I told Sager what I wanted to name our daughter in Las Vegas, he was in shock, or maybe a little in awe. Before we left the diner, I had to pee again, and when I came out of the bathroom Amelia stopped me.
She told me about Sager’s mother and that her name was Maven. She told me how proud of Sager she was and that Maven loved that he didn’t take after his terrible father. I have still yet to meet his father or his stepmother, but I don’t really mind. They don’t deserve to know Sager or our daughter.
As soon as I shut the fridge door, I hunch over in pain. Setting the juice on the counter, I rub my belly and take a deep breath.
I hear Maven cry in the other room for her juice, and just as I take a step to take it to her, I whimper at the pain and rub my stomach again as the baby kicks.
“Maven Marie!” I call out. She comes toddling into the room with my phone in her hand, a huge grin on her chocolate covered face.
“Mama!” she cries, running right at my legs. She wraps her arms around me, and I reach down to grab the phone from her, which causes her to cry and reach for it back.
“Mama, no! My one!” She makes grabby hands at me, and I ignore them, dialing Sager’s number instead.
“Hey sexy, can I call you back? I’m in the middle of a meeting.” His voice is smooth and dark.
“Sager.” My voice breaks as another contraction hits me. I feel my water break and Maven starts squealing.
“Mama peed! Mama peed!” Her high pitch squeal is loud enough to wake the dead, and then I hear Sager in my ear telling whomever he’s meeting with that he has to go.
“My water just broke,” I finally say as I stand in the puddle with our crazy child still squealing that I peed myself.
“I’m on my way. I’ll be there in five minutes. You going to be okay?”
I take a deep breath and nod even though he can’t see me.
“Cam? Yes or no?”
“Yeah, I’ll be waiting. Please hurry.” I hang up the phone and set it on the counter. Looking down at our little brown-haired beauty, I can’t help but smile even though I want her to stop yelling about me peeing.
“Maven, here is your juice.” I take the straw out and push it through the top and hand it to her before the next contraction hits. Wincing, I hunch over slightly, and she frowns at me.
“Are you otay, Mama?” Her little brown curls move into her eyes, and I reach a hand out to brush them behind her ear.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay when Daddy gets here.” She nods her head and takes a drink from her juice, but she doesn’t leave my side. When I found out I was pregnant again, it sure was a surprise. I mean, we have never really practiced safe sex, and just like the first time, it took a little while.
The front door bursts open and Sager comes charging into the house with Jenner following right behind him. When Maven sees Uncle Jenner, she runs toward him and throws her arms around his legs. He reaches down to pick her up, and she practically chokes the poor man.
“Let’s get this baby out.” Sager grins. He grabs my bag from the living room and gives his princess a kiss before he wraps his other arm around my waist, leading me out the door.
“Good luck guys. I got the princess until you’re ready.” I blow my girl a kiss and she blows one back at me. It’s her favorite thing lately since she learned to do it the other day.
We hold hands the whole way to the hospital, and as soon as they wheel me back, I start to freak out. My first delivery was a nightmare. Everything went wrong, and for a minute, she didn’t breathe. The whole room went crazy, and people were yelling things out and when I looked at Sager, his normally calm demeanor was gone, and I could see the worry written all over his face.
“Babe, it’s going to be fine. Maven is perfectly healthy now, and this one is going to be too.” He grabs my hand and squeezes as the nurses come in.
By the time the doctor comes in for me to push, I’m terrified, and Sager has the nail impressions in his hand to prove it. He’s been amazing, but in the back of my mind, I can still see the day Maven was born perfectly.
When I start to push, Sager is amazing just like always. He whispers sweet things in my ear that makes me want to murder him and never let him touch me again. All the pain is worth it the moment I hear the cries fill the room and everything is perfect.
Our beautiful baby boy is put on my chest, and I can’t help the tears that fall. The nurses continue to move around the room, but I ignore them for the most part. Sager leans down and presses his lips to my forehead, and I can’t help but grin at him.
“He’s perfect,” he murmurs against my forehead.
“What do you want to name him?” I ask, brushing my finger along the side of his cheek. Last night we had settled on two names. He was going to be named either Monroe Joseph or Jackson James.
“Monroe Joseph.” Unshed tears finally fall down my face, and I can’t wait to take this little one home to meet his big sister.
“I think it fits perfectly.”
Sager leans over to kiss Monroe’s head, and he gives his daddy a big yawn in answer.
“I love you, Cameo. Thank you for being the most amazing woman, mother, and wife I could ask for.”
“I love you more.” He kisses my lips, and when I pull away, my attention goes back to the handsome boy on my chest.
Our relationship may have started off on the wrong foot, but there isn’t a day that goes by that I regret. I met the man of my dreams and have two beautiful children to speak for it. Every day Sager makes me feel more loved than Alec could have ever done, and although I hate that I hurt him, I’m glad I met Sager.
I’m glad I took that leap.
He is the air I breathe.