N E S S A

"Come here, Wednesday."

I scoffed at him. Not a chance in hell.

Grayson sat at the piano, giving me that little finger motion that I usually found could kick start my libido. But I knew what he wanted right now. And frankly, my husband was not thinking straight.

"Are you kidding me, Grayson?"

Instead of moving my feet, I smoothed a hand over my pregnant belly. My very pregnant belly.

See this, Everett? This is all your fault. And also the reason why I cannot and will not come here.

"No, Adler. I am not kidding you," he said, flashing an annoyingly adorable pout. "Now get your cute butt over here."

I wrinkled my nose. "Cute?"

I hadn't felt very cute for the last three months or so.

"Yes, cute," he insisted. "Don't you dare talk bad about yourself, or I'll have to describe to you in very great detail how I jacked off in the shower this morning thinking about how fucking—"

"Grayson," I snapped, cutting him off even though a little part of me wanted to know where he was going with that. And an even greater part of me wanted to sit back and imagine it.

He smiled knowingly.

"Yes, darling?"

"I—"

It was annoying how he made me speechless sometimes.

Grayson cocked his head to the side. "You know, once that baby comes out, I'll be more than ready to put another one in. That's how cute I think you are."

"You're going to have to hold your horses on that," I said, ignoring how my hands felt clammy, and my pulse started racing.

I absolutely did not want to have another baby right away. But thinking about those months after our wedding when Grayson hadn't been able to keep his hands off me? Yeah, I wouldn't mind revisiting that. Not that he was particularly good at keeping his hands off me as it was. But still.

I sighed, noting how Grayson had begun to pout.

"I'm not going to sit on the piano, Grayson."

"Yes, you are. Now come here."

"I'll smush it."

He laughed, and it echoed throughout our living room, hitting the wooden beams on the ceiling. "You'll smush the thing that literally weighs a thousand pounds? No, baby. It doesn't work like that."

I made a face.

The angle would be terrible, honestly. It wouldn't be similar to anything he imagined in his head, like the night at the gala when I had on that stunning burgundy dress with a slit higher than I'd ever dare to wear now. I knew that was what he wanted, and I hoped he realized what a different sight he would get.

I tried to look down at the sweatpants I had on. You know, just to compare them with the gown. But I couldn't even see them over my belly.

"I want to play for the baby," Grayson said, walking toward me. He kissed my forehead and then tugged me across our living room, which was cozy and cluttered, considering how much space the piano took up.

"I'll sit next to you," I said, moving to lower onto the piano bench.

But Grayson was persistent. He grabbed a blanket and a throw pillow from the couch, arranging them on top of the piano. Then, cutting out any chances to argue it further, he set me on top of the soft cushioning, picking me up like I weighed nothing.

"I want you here," he said, dropping his voice to that pitch that made my hair stand on its end. "I want you to sit here so I can look up at you while I play. Just like that night I damn near fell in love with you, Nessa."

"But I—"

"But you're carrying our child now?" he cut in before I could say it. "Damn right you are. And that's what I want to see when I look up. Because I want to play for our child, too. I'm so fucking obsessed with the two of you."

Before I could get a response out of my tight, nearly closed throat, Grayson sat down and began playing.

Of course, he played that song. My song. Only it was finished now, and it had words, so this time he didn't just play it. He sang it.

Because I wanted you,
I wanted you anyway.

Grayson had a perfect, gravelly voice. He didn't use it often, but when he did—God, if it didn't make me go wild.

He sang as the notes hammered home beneath me, lighting up my soul like they had that night. I couldn't look away from Grayson's fingers as they moved across the keys, intent on hitting every note. And every note pulled at every string in my heart.

I melted. All of the irritation and discomfort I'd been feeling for days...It all seemed to vanish.

Grayson had tried everything this week. Foot massages, hot pads, ice packs, snacks of every flavor and every type. Nothing had worked.

This. This was what I needed. I'd needed him, and I'd needed music.

The baby liked it, too. Feeling the gentle kick, I ran a hand over my belly at the exact moment Grayson glanced up at me. Us.

His mouth tilted to the side, flashing his familiar wolfish grin. Like usual, his cocky ass knew what he was doing to me. But his steely eyes were also warm and full of love. That was what made Grayson, Grayson. Wasn't it? The perfect mixture of confidence and humility. The love and the heat. The gentle notes and driving force. He had both. He had it all.

"This is the first song I'll teach him," Grayson said, voice husky.

"This one?" I choked out. "Maybe he wants to learn something...I don't know, better."

He shook his head. "Nothing better than this, Adler."

"Maybe he won't want to learn the piano at all."

Grayson made a face like that was unthinkable. But in the end, he shrugged.

"Maybe. But something tells me it'll be in his bones."

"In his heart," I whispered, agreeing.

"Yeah," Grayson said, his hands stilling on the keys. The notes reverberated across the room until he lifted his foot from the pedal. "Yeah, that too."

G R A Y S O N

I watched Nessa waddle across the living room, trying to contain my grin. She'd think I was laughing at her if she looked back right now, but I just couldn't keep my goddamn happiness in. Shit, she was amazing. She was even grumpier than normal lately, but I'd never worshiped the ground she walked on more.

My wife had taken on every milestone of pregnancy like a champ, and I—

Nessa paused near the doorway to the kitchen, leaning against the wall, and I paused. My body froze, rigid. When she breathed, I breathed. When she stayed up all night, I stayed up all night. When she froze, I froze.

But then she shrieked my name, and I vaulted over the couch to get to her that much quicker.

"My water—" she whimpered as soon as I was by her side, panic and excitement threading through her expression in equal measure. "It broke."

Oh, yep. Yep, her water definitely just broke. This was it, wasn't it? Shit, where was that bag? That bag we'd packed just the other day for the hospital? Oh, fuck.

"Grayson!" she yelled when I failed to reply because I was too busy thinking about the goddamn bag and how I would be a dad in hopefully a very short amount of time. A short, painless amount of time.

Nessa buckled over at that moment, though, making a pained face, and I knew my thinking was wishful. Shit, shit, shit. Grabbing Nessa's hand to give her something to squeeze, I scanned the kitchen for the fucking duffel bag.

"Shh," I cooed, trying to be a soothing presence.

But that was apparently the worst thing I could have possibly said.

"Don't shush me, Grayson Everett," she snapped, wild eyes zipping up to mine. "Not when your big-headed child is trying to burst its way out of me. This is your fault, you know."

I couldn't help a chuckle. "I know, darling. Trust me, I know."

Gladly do it again, too, Adler.

Nessa smacked my arm. Yeah, probably deserved that.

"Then do something!"

"Right. Right." Bursting into action, I swerved around Nessa to grab the car keys and the hospital bag, which was in a logical place by the door to the garage. Propping it open, I loaded the car with all of our pre-packed shit as I tried not to let my nerves get the best of me.

This was like a playoff game, a piano performance, and all the surgeries I'd had all rolled into one. One giant ball of anxiety and eagerness.

Meanwhile, Nessa continued to scream at me. "Isn't your entire job built on running fast and retrieving things? Why are you moving like a goddamn turtle?"

I snorted, coming back into the house. Oddly enough, Nessa's response was pushing my own down. I couldn't freak out if she already had that covered. And she was doing it in such a Nessa way. Fuck, I was going to love this life with her. I might be scared as hell, but I was also so goddamn excited.

"Are you laughing?" she squealed, the words laced with incredulity. "I'm going to tell the football league about this severely lacking performance right—"

She broke off, her face scrunching up in a burst of pain.

"I'm right here, baby," I said, rubbing her back through it. And when she relaxed again, I leaned in to brush my lips across hers. "Also, you and I both know my performance is more than fine, Adler."

Nessa smacked me. Again.

"Shut up, Grayson." She straightened, taking the support of my arm as I led her toward the car in the garage. "I hate you."

"I love you, too, Wednesday. And little Tuesday."

The glare that Nessa shot at me seemed like it might have been my last warning before she chopped my head off. But I kind of liked it that way.

****

Nessa didn't stop screaming at me for nearly ten hours, and I wished so badly that I could take her pain away. But no matter how hard she squeezed my hand, I couldn't seem to give her a single ounce of relief. It killed me to watch her, hear her, to feel what she was going through.

But finally, it came. And goddamn, what beautiful, sweet relief it was.

"Nessa," I whispered, wiping away the wetness on my face. "You did it."

Nessa cradled our son in her arms, crying quietly with a dazed look on her face. A smile broke free, followed by a bit of choking laughter.

They were both so beautiful. And healthy. And perfect. Lucky didn't even begin to cover how I felt. Each beat of my heart seemed to echo in my chest like a reminder of how much love I had stuffed in there. Was it too soon to wrap them up and immediately take them home with me?

"We did it," Nessa said softly.

I chuckled. "I'd say you did most of the work, darling." She raised a meaningful brow, and I amended myself hastily. "All of it. You did all of the work."

But Nessa shook her head with a slight laugh. "I needed you, though. Grayson, I always need you."

"You have me," I whispered, grabbing her hand and knocking our heads together as we watched our son sleep soundly. Pink little cheeks, a head of dark hair. The eyes that were closed were brown, and I was in love with the miniature version of my wife before me.

"And Gabriel has us."

I nodded, needing a second to clear my throat before I could talk.

"Nessa."

I waited for her to look at me, for those eyes of hers to meet mine. They were red-rimmed and gorgeous. Deep brown and soulful.

"Grayson," she whispered, her lower lip wobbling.

"Nessa," I repeated, reaching out to cup her face and swiping a stray tear away. Her smile was shaky, but it was there. The beeping of the machines monitoring Nessa's heartbeat stayed steady. Steady as a metronome. My lips curved into a grin.

"I have been in and out of hospitals my whole life, and I hated it. Every single test. Every single appointment. But this time, I'm here, and I...." Pausing, I swallowed down a lump in my throat. "Not in a million years did I ever think I'd be so goddamn happy to be sitting in a room like this one."

Nessa lifted her hand, covering mine. "You never complain. You never talk about that, how much you hate going to the doctor."

"Because I'm alive, baby. Because I gave you my heart, and I don't want to talk about how it's broken. I want to talk about how you've made it whole."

"Stop, Grayson. I—you—" Nessa, lost for words, tipped her head back like she could force the tears back into her eyes. And she wiped at them with a chuckle before lowering her gaze to Gabriel and then back to me. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too." I sighed. "And I love this little guy. No matter what comes his way, he's going to be strong like his mama."

I was counting on that. Because I didn't know what Gabriel had ahead of him. The possibility that I'd passed on my heart defect was there, but I hoped to hell that wasn't the case. 

"It's going to be okay," Nessa said softly, reading my mind. "It's all going to be okay, Wilder."

Her words were like a hug around my heart.

"What if I was his Maman?" she asked suddenly, taking me by surprise. "Instead of Mom. How would you feel about that?"

"I would love that," I answered honestly, grinning broadly. I loved that she wanted to take a little bit of my family and bring it into ours. "You can be whatever you want to be, Nessa."

Her eyes trailed back to Gabriel, and her voice lowered to a hush. Like she was talking to herself. "I think I want to be his Maman."

We sat in silence for a long time, soaking in moments that felt numbered. This day felt fleeting, but I'd never forget it.

So," I said eventually. "Do you think we tortured the others long enough? I want to keep you both to myself, but it's only a matter of time before Beau bursts in here."

"They can come in," Nessa said with a laugh.

Ten minutes later, the hospital room suddenly felt a lot smaller. Bren bounced Emery on his hip while keeping his free hand tucked in Madie's back jeans pocket, and Beau had tried to take Gabriel out of Nessa's grip at least three times only to have his hand smacked by Collins.

"Excuse you," he scoffed. "But I am trying to acquaint myself with my nephew. Fun uncle coming through." He glanced at Emery. "Ain't that right, Emmie?"

She giggled and hid her face in Bren's chest.

And then she abruptly began crying.

"Look what you did!" Collins hissed, elbowing Beau, who grimaced, wide-eyed at the crying baby-almost-toddler.

"It's okay," Madie said with a laugh, leaning down to kiss Emery's strawberry hair. "She's just a little overwhelmed."

The baby telepathy kicked in then, and Gabriel started to cry, too.

"Oh my God," Beau muttered. "What have I done."

I offered to take Gabriel from Nessa, holding out my hands while jokingly glaring at Bren.

"I think your child is a bad influence, Hadaway," I muttered.

"I don't know about bad," Bren said. "But she's an influence, alright. She's got a fiery spirit."

He jostled Emery on his hip, who had already reduced her cries to sniffles, hiding once again in her dad's side.

I smiled as I rocked Gabriel. "We're going to have our hands full with these two, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Bren laughed, meeting my gaze before looking at Madie. "Yeah, I think we are."

Mimicking Bren's move, I found Nessa's face. She had a smile on her face as she watched Gabriel and me. And I couldn't fucking wait to take my family home.