~Beckett

I let Riccardo go, all fight in me gone as I turned to the nurse who stared at us with fright.

“H-How-how is she?” I choked out. “Is she okay?”

The silence that stretched was like an icy hand crawling down my spine. I couldn't take it and that look on her face like she was trying to withhold information from me only pushed me over to the edge.

“Please, say something. I need to know if—”

“Talk, will you?!” Breanna snapped at her, making Aiden wrap his arms around her before she mauled the nurse.

“Her contractions keep coming but she's unable to push. We fear that something bad might happen if she doesn't.”

Those words were like the blade of a knife slicing between my heart.

“Can I go in? I need to be in there with her. She needs to know that I'm here.”

“Oh, absolutely not!” Emmett frowned.

“Are you the husband?”

I nodded quickly.

“Yes, that's me.”

Then she looked at Breanna.

“Your wife specifically asked for her sister.”

I frowned.

“What? Why?”

“Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it's your fault she's in here when she's not yet due!” Breanna snapped.

“It's my baby she's carrying,” I said to the nurse.

“If that's what we're looking at then I deserve to be in there too because that child could as much be mine as it could be yours” Riccardo lets out and I regret letting him live.

The nurse sighs.

“The three of you follow me then.”

“I'll stay here with Emmett and fill your parents in when they get here” I hear Aiden tell Breanna.

I sleepwalked through the entire process of wiping the blood away from my hands and strapping into a blue overall. My brain didn't recollect any information, except the one where I was being ushered into a room with doctors hovering around an elevated bed like wild animals.

The three of us carefully stepped inside and my heart wrenched painfully in my chest as my eyes landed on my wife.

She was lying with a thick pink blanket draped over her parted legs. Her pale face was strained with tears, her blonde hair flying wildly across her face. She was sweating, eyes closed tight with the pain.

“Aubree, you need to push,” a doctor demanded, but she shook her head, groaning in pain.

“I can't,” she breathed, keeping her eyes closed as her legs quivered. “I can't. It hurts. And where's my sister?”

“Here” Breanna let out brokenly, letting go of Riccardo who leaned against her for support. “Hi Angelface. I'm here.”

“It hurts, Brie” she sobbed. “I can't.”

“Aubree...” My voice broke as I moved closer to her, calling her desperately and I wasn't sure if she had heard me but then her bloodshot eyes pushed open and the moment they met mine, my chest felt tight; like I was being suffocated.

“What is he doing here?”

“Rick's here too” Breanna whispered and Aubree tensed. “It's okay, it's okay. Just focus on you right now. They're not going to do anything stupid” she glared at me.

“Beck...” Aubree sobbed and I stepped forward, grabbing her hand. “Your face...”

I nodded quickly.

“Yeah, I trashed his pretty badly too” I tried to joke as Riccardo moved behind Breanna.

“Rick—” she closed her eyes back and hissed.

“Aubree” Breanna whispered.

“It hurts. Please get this thing out of me!” She shouted, squeezing my hand tightly. 

“You need to push” another one of the doctors demanded.

“I can't!” Her nails dug into my flesh.

Fuck!

I thought the books said this was supposed to be memorable. How did women do this frequently enough to populate the whole earth?

“Baby, you can. You just have to push” I said.

This all felt wrong; being in here, holding her, sweating bullets while staring at multiple doctors playing between her thighs.

My thighs.

One of the doctors looked at me with dread in his eyes.

“This isn't good. The umbilical cord is wrapped around its neck.”

My heart skipped.

“What the hell does that mean?”

“That if they don't get the baby out now, it might not make it” Breanna muttered, her expression looking like she'd heard this before.

Yes, with Roman!

But I wasn't here for his birth. I just heard about the fright the baby gave.

“How about a C-section” I suggested.

Riccardo shook his head.

“It's risky, she might not make it. Her odds are higher if she pushes.”

I looked at one of the doctors and he nodded to confirm what Rick just said.

“Aubree look at me,” I begged, but she closed her eyes and kept them shut.

“Please Aubree, c'mon” Breanna spoke.

She slowly opened them, breathing heavily.

“I can't Brie...”

“Yes, you can,” she said. “Ten years ago this was me in this same position you're in right now. And I thought I couldn't but you sang me that ridiculous lullaby mom used to sing for us and told me I could do it.”

Aubree groaned.

“Now I'm not going to sing for you, Aubs, but you are going to bring this baby out in one piece, do you hear me?”

Her fingers tightened and I tried to force a smile.

“C'mon Aubs, just one little push and it'll be over” I cooed.

She took in a deep breath.

“You're sure?”

I nodded, looking back at the doctor who nodded back at me.

“I can already see its head, it's time to push. You have to give me all you've got, ma'am.”

I leaned down and brushed her hair over her forehead.

“You're doing great Aubs, just one more,” Riccardo said.

Breathing down heavily, She bit down her button lip and pushed and pushed— long and hard and it felt like my skin was also going to draw blood from her bear grip.

It didn't stop.

It continued, she screamed every five seconds. More and more... until the cry of a baby broke loose and the theatre stilled in utter silence.

Aubree's legs collapsed immediately and her grip on my hand loosened. I looked at her. She was breathing heavily, her eyes half shut. I didn't understand the emotion swirling in my chest but I wiped the sweat out of her face and kissed her head.

“You did it, baby” My chin trembled. “You fucking did it.”

“It's a boy” the doctor in charge announced and my chest fluttered as I looked up at the wiggling, slime-covered newborn he held.

A boy.

Our boy. 

This tiny little thing could be our son.

It was hard to breathe. I inhaled a shaky breath as my heart thundered in my chest. I wasn't sure what to feel. I wasn't sure how to feel but Aubree had the right idea because she immediately broke into what I assumed were tears of joy.

“Would you like to cut your son's cord?” the doctor asked me and my muscles tensed.

I gulped and looked at Aubree who was looking away from Riccardo. She nodded at me and I walked over to the baby and reached for the scissors. The pressure that pushed down my chest was intense, so much so that I almost passed out. I sucked in a breath and snipped the umbilical cord.

“Well done” Riccardo smiled.

I nodded stiffly at him.

“We're going to run some tests and attach him to a fetal monitor while the mother recuperates.”

“Can I please hold him first?” Aubree croaked, tears still leaking from both sides of her eyes. 

“Just a moment.”

The doctor handed the baby to a nurse who cleaned him up and took measurements before wrapping him up and carrying him over to her. She placed him gently in her hand.

“Look, Rick, Olly has a brother.”

My chest burned and tears dampened my eyes but I blinked them back fiercely.

“Yes, and he's going to be over the moon” Riccardo smiled.

“Alright, Mom and Dads...” the nurse began, tapping onto her notepad, a bad joke to execute, “What would you like to name the baby?”

Aubree looked away from Rick and at the baby and then back at the nurse.

“What about Sebastian?”

“Sebastian?” I asked.

It tasted right.

“Baby Bash” Breanna grinned. “It's beautiful.”

“Okay,” the nurse scribbled something on her tab and looked back at us. “Any middle name?”

I looked back at Aubree who was gently tapping onto the baby's nose.

“Blake.”

“Okay, Sebastian Blake—”

“Nolan. Last name Nolan” Aubree quickly added.

I frowned.

“We need to clear up a few... roadblocks first” she muttered, looking at me.

The nurse closed her tab and stared at her fellow nurses.

“We'll give you all five minutes and after that, we're taking the baby away.”

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

~Aiden

“Oh, he's so beautiful” Breanna cooed for the umpteenth time, staring down at her nephew with so much emotion in her eyes.

“I can't believe you're spending our birthday in a hospital with me, Brie” Aubree shook her head, doing justice to the many chocolate boxes that surrounded her hospital bed.

“I wouldn't be celebrating turning thirty-five any other way, Aubs, trust me.”

Despite everything going on, Aubree giggled. Breanna stopped bouncing the baby gently in her arms and looked up at me.

“You wanna hold him, my love?”

I shook my head.

“I shouldn't,” I said.

“What why?” Aubree asked, her mouth full of chocolate.

I smiled a little and Breanna knew all too well why.

“Because I've never held a newborn baby... or any baby before... except when my sister was born,” I said.

“Oh well it's not that hard, Aiden” Aubree smiled, unaware of the silent conversation between her sister and me. “Show him, Brie.”

Brenna smiled and moved closer to me.

“It's okay, Aiden” Breanna whispered, lifting her arms to me.

“How do I hold him?”

“Hold your arms out.”

I did as she'd said and she carefully transferred the baby to my hand. They trembled as I looked down. My God, he was beautiful. Clear skin light, glossy hair. I couldn't tell the color of his eyes because they were closed, but none of his features resembled the childhood pictures of Roman I'd seen.

He's probably Riccardo's.

But what did I know? It was probably too soon to tell because he'd just been born. A small sound left the baby and my heart felt as though it might explode with euphoria.

I was robbed of being the father to a tiny kid like this ten years ago. I cradled Sebastian, finding it extremely hard to take my eyes off him.

“Are you okay?” Breanna rubbed my back.

“I haven't dropped him so far so yeah” I joked.

Aubree chuckled.

“Our daughter's going to be equally perfect, Aiden. And you're going to be the best dad in the world.”

I finally looked away from the baby and up at Breanna.

“You mean that?” I whispered.

“Oh yeah,” she laughed, kissing the side of her face and leaving her head there.

The rest of the holidays breezed by and I'd never been happier spending every second with Breanna, Roman, and my sister. We'd started new family traditions which we were determined to follow to the letter.

From being named Aubree's son's godfather to learning everything about changing a diaper right for babysitting duties, I wouldn't change any of that for all the money in the world.

The door to my bedroom closed and I heard a lock, making me look up from my laptop screen.

“Okay, Manny's with my parents, Angela just picked up Bash, the house is empty because Iris is out on a date and it's Juanita's day off. So put the laptop away, now” She pulled off her sweater.

I chuckled, taking off my glasses as she got into the bed beside me.

“Yes ma'am” I moved the laptop and let her straddle me.

After two kisses, I flip her underneath me, getting her to squeal. I kissed her and pulled away. Breanna groaned and pushed herself up, close enough to touch her lips to mine. She looked up at me, serious and resolute.

“Don’t make me beg,” she whispered against my mouth.

No matter how noble I’d intended to be, those words coming from her mouth destroyed me. I grabbed the back of her head and sealed my lips against hers.
Breanna’s fingers ran down the length of my back and settled on the elastic of my boxers.

My fingers tangled in her hair as I positioned myself between her open knees. Just as our mouths met again, she slid her hand down the front of my boxers. When her soft fingers touched my bare skin, a low groan erupted. It was the best fucking feeling.

The gray top Breanna wore was the next thing to go. My hand gripped her panties and then slipped them down her legs. I tasted her mouth as I followed the inside line of her leg, and traveled the length of her thigh. My mouth found her folds and she let out a long, faltering breath as my tongue teased, nipped, and sucked until she squirmed, indicating they demanded attention.

I then scooped my hand under her butt cheek and spread her out farther to widen her for my invasion. The other hand danced on her dripping wet folds as my middle finger slid into her with ravenous intent. A second finger joined and then a third which had her back arching to the sky to take as much of me as I’d give her.

“Yes, Aiden, I want you. I want you inside of me,” she breathed out in a motiving moan.

“That’s exactly where I want to be.”

I shifted position and pressed my hips into her with one hard and deliberate thrust.

“Yes,” she screamed out not even caring about the neighbors.

From there we were in a frenzy of movement. She cinched her legs around my waist and brought me in as close as I could physically get. I pummeled her breathing hard in her ear as ecstasy gripped me. Her arms wrapped around my back and her hips met mine clamoring and fighting to get closer and closer until I grounded down hard on her, grunting and pressing while my body shuddered, and I came hard inside of her.

“Aiden...”

“Breanna...” I groaned in pleasure.

If we kept this up, a baby wasn't going to be far behind. But the thought brought me nothing but pure bliss.

When we both drifted down from our high, I looked into her eyes and smiled at the all-familiar look she was giving me.

“You wanna go again?”

“You know I won’t regret it,” I felt her heart beating through her chest as she pushed herself up to kiss me.

“You’ll be the death of me,” I breathed in her ear as I gently pulled myself out of her.

“Nooo, Aiden” she whined, squeezing herself into my side.

I chuckled and kissed the top of her head, adjusting the covers around us. We drifted peacefully to sleep, wet and naked in each other’s arms.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

~Ophelia

I took in the features of the house. And it was undoubtedly a place I'd kill to live in.

How'd he get so lucky?

One of the cars parked in front of the house drove out of the large gate and past our car and I ducked, not wanting to be caught stalking.

“Coast's clear” Dion said and I sat up straight.

I picked up my purse from the dashboard, checked my makeup in the side mirror, and opened the door. The other door opened and I frowned.

“And what do you think you're doing?” I asked.

“Coming with you of course.”

“To do what? Scare the child?” I asked.

He sighed and shut the door.

“Fine, I'll stay here and pretend like I'm not the one who's been stalking your ex-son-in-law's kid for weeks now.”

I smiled.

“Good.”

I stepped out of the car and made my way to the gate.

“May I help you ma'am?” the security guard asked.

I miss being respected.

“Actually yes. Um... is this the house of Mr. Corleone?”

“Yes, is he expecting you?”

“Actually no. It's a surprise. I'm his... distant relative, if you're catching onto the accent” I smiled.

“Oh, of course, ma'am. Please come on in.”

One loud buzz later, I'm walking down the pavement and soon, I'm hitting the doorbell.

There's silence. Then seconds later, I heard loud and fast footsteps from behind the door before it opened.

“Hello!”

Oh my...

He had dark brown hair and the most delicious blue with brown speckled eyes. Slight chubby cheeks that were going to change into an incredibly chiseled jawline in a few years. He was a very handsome boy.

But shame. No one's going to see him become that because he's standing in the way of my fortune and so he has to die.

“Are you lost?” he asked, tugging on the neckline of his sweater.

I blinked away from my thoughts and smiled down at him.

“Oh, no my sweet child. I'm not lost.”

He smiled.

“Your accent is just like Aiden's.”

Strange to address your father by his first name but what do I care? I just need him dead by yesterday.

“If this is Aiden's house like you say then I'm most certainly not lost” I smiled.

“Well he's—”

“What have I told you about getting the door, young man?!” a blonde-haired woman scolded, putting herself between the boy and me.

Ugh, the nanny.

“But you're home” the boy pouted.

“That still doesn't make it okay to just open doors, now is it Manny?”

Manuel huh?

“No Mommy” the boy sighs.

Oh, not the nanny.

“Sorry.”

“Now please go finish your homework before Aiden gets back and we leave without you.”

“Aiden won't leave without me” The boy pumped his brows at his mother.

“Roman.”

“Alright, alright” he laughed and ran off.

“Walk!” the woman scolded, but he was long gone. “Oh, why do I even bother?” she mutters, fully facing me. “Kids, imma right?”

My eyes moved away from the direction the boy ran in and met his mother's.

So Aiden married his surrogate?

I smiled at her.

“I don't know... I never got to have any” I replied.

Her smile faltered a little.

“Oh I'm sorry, who are you?” she asked.

“An old friend of your husband's.”

“Hus... oh you mean Aiden” she giggled.

I nodded. She stepped away from the door and gestured for me to come in. I stepped into the house and my urge to get that fortune grew stronger.

“What's funny?” I asked after she led me to a seat in the living room.

“Well Aiden and I aren't married... yet” she smiled.

“But you have a child together and back in my day that counted as married.”

A small uncomfortable laugh left her mouth.

“I'm sorry, is your old friend expecting you?” she asked.

I let out a fake sigh and marched it with a fake saddened expression.

“Forgive me for coming on too strong, child but, Aiden and I didn't exactly part on good terms, and after all these years... seeing he has a son and a family now I just...”

I lowered my head, trusting my acting to eat its way into this woman's heart.

“Well, I'm sorry for whatever it is that transpired between you and my boyfriend but Aiden's not here.”

Boyfriend?

I looked up at her.

“Will he be long?”

She glanced at her smartwatch.

“I'm not exactly sure...”

I let a troubled expression play on my face.

“But you're welcome to wait for him.”

There it is.

“Oh no, no, dear. I wouldn't want to intrude or trouble you.”

“No, it's no problem at all” she smiled.

“Thank you, dear.”

“Breanna,” she said. “My name's Breanna. Would you like some coffee?”

“Decaf if you have any.”

“We have plenty” she smiled. “I'll be right back.”

She walked away. She was beautiful... every curve detailed and lacking no flesh. Aiden had always had a good eye. It didn't take her long to be back with my coffee.

“Thank you” I whispered and took a sip.

The warmth spread through my body and I sighed happily. The sound of tires rolling down the cobblestone that lined the pavement had Breanna crane her neck at a window.

“Oh that must be him” She got up and walked closer to the front door.

I set my coffee down.

“Roman, Aiden's home!” she announced.

The engine goes off, the car door is slammed shut and I hear two beeps.

This is it.

Footsteps thundered on the floor above me and down the stairs. The moment the front door opened, the boy barreled into him.

“Woah, you look like you haven't seen me in months when I drove you to school this morning” his laugh sent shivers up my spine and I became uncomfortable.

Roman hopped off Aiden and gave him way to sweep Breanna into a kiss. They pulled away and rested their foreheads against each other, sharing sweet smiles.

“Mommy, can we go now? I wanna see the fireworks!”

Aiden chuckled and pulled away, but his eyes didn't leave Breanna for a second even as she spoke to the boy. How he looked at her was nowhere near how he had once looked at Jewel... and everyone else thought they had something special.

This had special written all over it. Extraordinary even.

“Okay fine go get your bag. And walk!” Breanna said.

Why the boy addressed his father by his first name, I was yet to find out.

“Lemme go change and we'll be—”

“Oh wait” Breanna stopped him as he began to walk away.

“What happened?”

“I almost forgot, you have a visitor.”

I shifted in my seat.

“A visitor? But I'm not expecting anyone” Aiden said.

“Well, she's in the living room... Roman tie your shoes you'll trip” She shifted her attention back to the child.

“Aiden, will help me record the fireworks show?”

Aiden rounded the pillar into the living room and I stood up.

“Yeah sure I'll—” Then he met my eyes and froze.

The silence between us dragged and the only sound we heard was the mumbling of his wife about where her purse was.

“Found it” She grabbed it, waving it in the air.

“Aiden” I let out. “My dear Aiden.”

“Manny where's my phone” Breanna asked, fully moving into the living room.

“Your wife is very beautiful” I smiled in her direction. “And sweet.”

Aiden's gaze darkened.

“I'm so glad you found your—”

“Get out.”

Thank you so much for reading! ✨