Unmissable: Haven Falls (Novella 7.5) Read online

  Dr. Branson gets herself situated between Henley’s legs while midwives hover around, ready and waiting.

  Henley’s eyes swivel nervously from mine to Dr. Branson’s, and with a tear rolling down her cheek, she raises her chin. "The contraction is coming."

  “Alright,” Dr. Branson says, “Then let’s get ready to meet your baby.”

  A midwife grabs hold of Henley’s legs and I’m instructed to do the same with the other and I watch on as Henley watches Dr. Branson, waiting for instructions.

  Henley’s hold on my hand tightens and I realize this is it. There’s no more waiting.

  “Alright, Henley,” Dr. Branson says is a calm tone. “Deep breath and push.”

  Henley squeezes the absolute shit out of my hand as she pushes with everything she’s got. Her face goes red as beads of sweat appear over her brow. “You’re doing good,” Dr. Branson says. “Just a little while longer.”

  She keeps going and I worry that she’s about to pass out when Dr. Branson finally gives her a break, but it lasts only a slight second, just enough time for Henley to take a breath before she’s being told to push again.

  It goes on and on and I begin to worry about Henley. I thought she’d be screaming, moaning, grunting, or crying, yet she hasn’t made a single sound, unlike Tully who screamed blue murder which we could hear from down the hall.

  “Alright, take a short break,” Dr. Branson says. “On the next contraction, you’ll have one more big push and then the head will be out.”

  Tears stream down Henley’s face, but she’s a fighter and there’s nothing she wants more in this world than to meet that baby. I press a cool wash cloth over her forehead and remind her how fucking well she’s doing, but she ignores me and everything around her. Right now, for Henley, all that exists is her and Dr. Branson. She’s in the zone and I don’t want to fuck that up for her.

  The next contraction comes on and Henley squeezes down on my hand once again as she takes the deepest breath of her life. She pushes with every last ounce of energy she possesses and with a roar of complete agony, she screams out.

  “Good job, Henley,” Dr. Branson says, getting busy checking over the baby’s face and making sure the cord isn’t wrapped around its neck. “You got the head out. It’s smooth sailing from here.”

  Henley nods, unable to say anything in her exhaustion and I find myself incapable of not looking. I peek down and lay my eyes on my child, and truth be told, it’s kind of gross. My gut is telling me that it’s a boy, but we don’t actually know. Either way, he’s covered in all sorts of gooey shit.

  One thing’s for sure though, I love this child with every piece of my heart. “Baby, you’ve got to see this,” I tell Henley as she focuses on catching her breath. I turn back to look at her and there’s intrigue in her eyes. “You want to see?”

  She smirks back at me and with that, a midwife grabs a mirror.

  The mirror is put into place and not a second later, Henley is sucking in a breath. “Holy shit, that’s…that’s my baby.”

  “Yeah, Spitfire. It is.”

  “He looks disgusting,” she says with adoration.

  I can’t help but laugh. “He sure does.”

  Dr. Branson pushes the mirror away as it’s time to pull him out. A contraction comes on and Henley is instructed to give a small push and before I know it, the tiniest little baby boy is being placed upon my wife’s chest.

  Tears of happiness stream down Henley’s face as she cradles our son while I watch on in awe. I’ve never seen a sight so fucking beautiful.

  The midwives rush around getting towels for our son to start cleaning him up and keeping him warm while Henley and I look on with our hearts on our sleeves. “Hello, my baby boy,” Henley sobs, working hard to reel in her emotions. “You are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever met. I love you so much.” She glances up at me with a beaming smile. “Do you see how beautiful he is?”

  “Yeah, Spitfire. I do. He’s perfect,” I say, leaning down and pressing my lips to hers. "You did it. You’re so fucking incredible.”

  “It hurt so much," she murmurs against my lips.

  “I promise you, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you.”

  Henley nods as I pull back and both our eyes instantly fall back to our son. “Does he have a name?” one of the midwives questions as Dr. Branson works on something between Henley’s legs.

  I glance down at my wife. “Do you want to do the honors?”

  She smiles wide as she wipes the tears off her face. “This is Elijah Harrison Cage,” she announces proudly as all eyes fall back to our son.

  He cries on Henley’s chest and my heart shatters in all the best ways. It’s the voice of an angel; the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard.

  A midwife scoops Elijah up off Henley’s chest and holds him in front of Dr. Branson so she can take a good look. “You look just perfect,” she tells him. “Ten fingers and ten toes, but you need to go get weighed and measured while we say hello to your brother.”

  Henley sighs. “Already?”

  Dr. Branson nods. “Unfortunately, yes. Twin number two is ready to go.”

  With that, Branson sends the midwife with Elijah over to the side to the room to focus on getting him fixed up with all eyes falling back to Henley, though don’t get me wrong, not a second goes by that I’m not aware of exactly where Elijah is in this room.

  “It’s just one more time,” Dr. Branson tells Henley. “Now you know what it feels like to hold your child in your arms, so I promise, with that in mind, it will make round two just that bit easier, alright?”

  Henley nods, taking a deep breath and mentality prepares to tear herself apart for the second time in a row.

  This has been the moment that Henley has been most anxious about during the whole pregnancy. The second she found out it was twins, she was nervous that after going through hell pushing one baby out, that she wouldn’t have the strength to push the second, but she was anxious for nothing.

  Dr. Branson is right and I see it all over Henley’s face. The second she held Elijah in her arms, her world fell right into place and she knew that being a mother was what her purpose in this life really was. She would do anything and everything to protect her babies, even if it means going through a second childbirth just moments after the first.

  Henley is a fucking Rockstar and no matter what, she’s going to kill this. Though, that doesn’t mean that she hasn’t been panicking about raising two babies. She was hoping they were girls because she thought girls would be easier to deal with, but just like me, she could feel it in her gut that they were boys and the thought of raising two kids who are no doubt going to be just like me is kind of terrifying. I don’t know what I’d do if these babies ever got themselves in the kind of shit that I used to get myself into.

  Shit, maybe it’s time I gave my parents an apology.

  Everyone gets back into position and less than five minutes later, we have baby number two placed gently upon Henley’s chest.

  She cries tears of joy, knowing all the hard work is over as she cradles our second son. “They’re exactly the same,” she tells me with a soft chuckle.

  “How can you tell?” I grin, looking down at him as the midwife works on cleaning him up. “He’s covered in all your gooey insides.”

  “I can just tell,” Henley tells me as the midwife with Elijah brings him around and places him in my arms, making me weak at the knees. “They’re exactly the same.”

  I bring Elijah down and place him beside his twin brother and despite his brother still being covered in all sorts of stuff, Henley’s not wrong; they’re identical. So identical that this is no doubt going to fuck me up. I’m going to have to get them name tags or dress them in different colors.

  Henley’s arms wrap around the both of them, needing to hold both her babies as Dr. Branson finishes between her legs. “So, who’s this little handsome guy?”

  Henley beams, the happiest woman in the world with bo
th of her babies cradled safely in her arms. “This is Ethan Eddison Cage.”

  “That’s beautiful,” Dr. Branson says. “Elijah and Ethan Cage. I have a feeling the two of them are not only going to be trouble makers, but they’ll be a couple of heartbreakers as well.”

  Henley laughs, glancing up at me with a knowing sparkle in her beautiful eyes. “If they’re anything like their daddy, then that’s exactly what they’re going to be.”

  I can’t deny it, it’s true.

  Ethan is taken off Henley to get properly cleaned up and as Elijah falls into a deep, well needed sleep so I scoop him up off Henley’s chest and put him down into the bassinet despite how much I want to take him to the recliner couch in the corner of the room and hold him while he sleeps.

  My babies are both safe and doing well, so in this very moment, it’s all about Henley.

  She wants nothing more than to get up and shower, but knowing the risks involved, she settles for letting me play nurse. I help get her fixed up as Ethan is placed into a bassinet and put next to his brother, both sleeping soundly.

  I get Henley something to wear that isn’t covered in bodily juices and she demands a new cool wash cloth to wipe over her face, the whole time not relenting on asking about having a shower.

  Once we’re all sorted and the room finally clears out, we take our sleeping babies and lay down in Henley’s bed, the four of us together as one.

  Together as a family.

  Henley snuggles into my side and with Elijah safely cradled in her arms and Ethan in mine, she falls into a peaceful sleep while I proudly watch over my family.

  Chapter 4

  Henley

  Holy shit. That shower was incredible.

  Well, that could be slightly over exaggerating. After all, it’s just a regular hospital shower, but after the way I’ve been feeling with bodily fluids plastered all over my skin, sweat from head to toes, and of course, my non-stop aching vagina, that plain Jane regular hospital shower went a long way in making me feel somewhat human again.

  Truth be told, it’s probably going to be a while before I start to truly feel human again.

  I know they say that childbirth is the most natural thing for a woman to experience, but whoever first said that forgot to take their meds. Nothing about that shit was natural. It was terrifying. It was hard, excruciating, and easily the most traumatic thing I’ve ever been through.

  If I didn’t have Noah standing by my side and holding my hand, I don’t think I would have been able to get through it. He was simply incredible. I know I sort of blocked him out and ignored everything he said through the whole process, but he was definitely appreciated.

  He’s my man, and today, he gave me the world.

  Times two.

  Twins.

  I still can’t believe it. They’re so damn beautiful.

  It’s such a strange concept knowing that I cooked these babies in my guts. Just 36 weeks ago they were one egg that got invaded by my husband and split in half to create two, beautiful little boys.

  I guess that’s the miracle of life.

  I’m sure over the next few years I’m going to forget about the pain of pushing these sweet angels out and hell, maybe we’ll even consider having another. Maybe we’ll try for a girl, but not just yet.

  I guess I really shouldn’t be complaining so much. Women go through this every day and they have it much worse than I did. I had a twelve hour labor when others suffer through days of that shit. My babies came out quickly and safely while others end up in emergency situations with devastating outcomes.

  I was one of the lucky ones. I couldn’t bear the thought of something so terrible happening to my sweet angels. I don’t know how other women get through it. They must be so much stronger than I am.

  Noah helps me to raise my bed into a sitting position and I cringe as it puts pressure on my lady bits. “What’s wrong?” he panics, looking at me as though he’s desperate to help, but I can’t deny the look in his eye that tells me how damn proud he is.

  The second I gave birth to these babies, something changed within him. I wasn’t just the girl he met in senior year who wasn’t afraid to knock his ass back, I wasn’t the woman who stood before our friends and family and vowed to love him every day for the rest of our lives, I was the woman who he sees above all others, the one strong enough to bear his children and give him the world. He looks at me as though I’m some sort of mythical creature who has completely captured him.

  Either that or he’s just stunned because he thinks I have some sort of magic pussy and trust me, he’d be wrong. What my pussy suffered through today was certainly not magical. One look in a handheld mirror told me it was more like a massacre.

  My poor lady bits. I hope they bounce back.

  I look up at Noah as he continues waiting for my response. “Nothing,” I tell him. “It’s just sore. Could you maybe get me some ice or…I don’t know, something to put down there to numb the pain?”

  Noah grins and I shake my head cutting him off before he can give me some ridiculous joke about knowing exactly what I need to make it feel better.

  Noah calls for the midwife who promptly comes in and gets us sorted before suggesting that it’s time to feed the babies.

  I gawk up at her. How could I have forgotten about that already?

  So much has been on my mind since the second they were born that I haven’t even considered that they could have hungry little tummies.

  I whip my shirt off and pull a boob out as Noah grabs little Elijah and gets him comfortable on my lap. The midwife comes over and she explains what I have to do and after a few attempts, Elijah latches on and does his thing.

  I look up at Noah and we instantly start laughing.

  This is surreal. I mean, is there even anything in my boobs yet? They don’t feel like they’re full of milk, but either way, Elijah seems happy as he busily sucks on my nipple.

  I guess these boys really are like their daddy.

  I feed Elijah until he falls asleep and then switch to the other side with Ethan, feeling as though I have no idea what I’m doing, but I’m sure that I’ll work it out over the next few days.

  I’m lucky that I have Tully who’s just gone through it all with Lily and will be a massive help when I get lost. If anything, an extra set of hands when my world is becoming too exhausting.

  With Ethan in a comfortable position and me feeling as though he’s latched on correctly, I lay back onto the propped up bed and get comfortable.

  I’m just about to suggest to Noah to go and grab Tully and Rivers when there’s a light knock at the door. The door handle turns before either of us has a chance to say come in and before I know it, Tully’s head is peeking through the door.

  A beaming smile cuts across my face as she pushes her way through with Rivers following behind. I want to jump up and down and scream and tell her how freaking happy I am, but I wouldn’t dare wake Elijah like that.

  Tully comes straight for me as Rivers goes to Noah, making a point of not looking at me while my boobs are out on display.

  I do my best to cover up so my brother doesn’t get uncomfortable staring at my tits, though I know he wouldn’t. I think he got over all that shit with Tully, he’s just putting on a show of being respectful. Me though, this whipping boobs out in public thing might be a little much for me, but today is different. Today I lost every ounce of dignity I had when I exposed myself to Dr. Bronson and every midwife in the room. I’m just glad I didn’t shit on the table. I’ve heard some horror stories leading up to this.

  Tully throws her arms around me while staring down at my little Ethan. “Congratulations,” she says with tears in her eyes as Rivers gets a good look at Elijah and scoops him out of his bassinet like a pro. “Look at them. They’re beautiful.”

  “I know,” I agree, still physically unable to tear my eyes away from them.

  “After all this time, I still can’t believe there are two of them. How did you get so lucky?”


  Noah chuckles softly as to not wake Elijah. “That would be my incredibly superior sperm,” he explains. “That bad boy bulldozed his way into that egg and split it wide open.”

  “You’re disgusting,” Tully says, walking across the room to pull her twin brother into a massive hug. “You’re a father now. You’re supposed to stop being so gross. You know, start being a good role model and all of that.”

  “Nope, no way,” Noah says, hugging her back. “Have you guys been here the whole time?”

  “I suggested leaving,” Rivers grumbles, “but Tully insisted we wait just in case you needed us.”

  I shake my head at my best friend. “If I had known, I would have told Noah to go and get you ages ago.”

  “No, no. Don’t be silly. I know how important those first few hours of alone time together as a family are. Trust me, I still cherish mine and something tells me that you do too.”

  “I really do,” I smile, thinking of those fond memories from just two hours ago where we all just laid on the bed together, finally a family for the first time. It was the happiest moment of my life. I’m even going to go ahead and say that it was better than my wedding day.

  I let out a deep breath and give Tully a regretful smile. “I’m sorry I was such a bitch earlier,” I tell her, referring to the less than acceptable things I was saying during my labor. “I wasn’t exactly very nice.”

  “No, you weren’t,” she agrees as Ethan finishes up on my boob and has Tully diving straight for him, as jealous as can be that Rivers got to hold one of the twins before she did. “But just for the record,” she tells me with a wicked grin as she sits on the end of my bed and wraps Ethan back up in his blanket, “seeing as though you’ve now pushed out two babies, I’m going to go ahead and crown you the new queen of loose vaginas.”

  I pout out my bottom lip and try to pull my shirt back on without flashing any more than I already have. “I guess I kind of deserve that, huh?”

  “You sure do,” she grins. “I can’t believe you said my loose flaps would tangle in my legs and trip me over.”