Yes, on occasion—usually UFC fight nights—Jeremy got quite into character, and just as he was about to come, he’d let me know with his best impersonation of UFC’s famed commentator. And then, on most nights, he’d pull out, allowing us to move on to the main event. And, on most nights, I never minded one bit.
But this? This was different.
He leaned forward on the bed, placing his fists down on either side of me. His lips whispered against mine. Then he pulled back, his eyes dancing with delight.
“It’s time, baby. You ready?” he asked.
Without even glancing at the clock, I knew that it was, indeed, time. Our little girl was already letting us know how stubborn she was going to be. Little Ava Victoria Banks was a week overdue, and today, like it or not, she was finally going to make her appearance in the world.
“I’m scared out of my mind,” I admitted.
His eyes softened. Then his hand cupped my face. “You wanna know something?” he asked.
I nodded, not taking my eyes off him.
“I’m scared, too.”
Those three words, which should have terrified me even further, were the remedy for my racing heart.
“I thought you weren’t scared of anything,” I teased.
“Just sharks, baby,” he said softly. “What do you say we face our fears and go in the water together?”
Hot tears filled my eyes, and I needed a moment to take it all in. The memory from all those years ago seeped back in. Even at eight years old, I had known I could depend on Jeremy, and all these years later, he was still comforting me, asking me to face my fears head on with him. My heart swelled with all the love I had for him. That’s when I knew there was no reason to be scared. Sure, we’d mess up and make mistakes. But with parents whose love was as strong and devoted as ours? Any kid would be lucky to be born into that.
“Where you go, I go,” I said with a smile.
It never got old. At least, not for me.
He smiled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “I think it’s the opposite today, baby. You’re going to the hospital, and I’ll be right there with you the entire time.”
I raised an eyebrow. “The entire time?” I asked.
He inhaled sharply then stood and helped me up out of the bed. His hands slid to my waist, and he peered down at me. Or more like at my rounded belly pressed against his torso.
“Can we do it like the olden days? Your dad and I will smoke cigars and drink whiskey in the waiting room, and Lexi and your mom can be there for all the hard stuff?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Nope. No way. You’re my birth coach, Banks. You were there for the fun stuff. You’ll be there for this part, too,” I informed him. Then I got dressed for my hospital stay.
“Okay, okay. I had to try one last time. But I am not holding a leg!” His insistence was unnecessary, because I’d already informed my doctor that Jeremy was definitely not holding a leg. He called it a love sanctuary for a reason; he did not need to witness it as a birth canal.
Jeremy held my hand the entire way to the hospital, and the next time we walked into our house, our lives would never be the same.
I couldn’t wait.
I hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep the night before Ava’s arrival. Sierra had zonked out on the bed next to me as if it were any other night and not the eve of what would drastically change our lives. Every time I’d closed my eyes, I couldn’t stop thinking about what was going to come.
I was having a daughter.
Not only that, but she was going to be Sierra’s daughter. Like, gorgeous, sexy, beautiful, make-’em-fall-in-love-with-you-at-first-sight Sierra.
I finally understood what Nick had meant all those years ago. Ava wasn’t even born yet and I was already making plans. That girl wasn’t leaving her room until she was thirty. Maybe thirty-five.
So, while Sierra slept, I freaked out. I reeled it in. I freaked out some more. Then I reeled in it again, knowing that Ava was going to have the best parents and the best childhood, and the only blemish on her life would be her dirty Steelers-loving uncle.
Hey, it never got old giving Ty crap. Who fucking dey.
When the alarm was about to blare, I switched it off and got out of bed, but not before I gave a still-dead-to-the-world sleeping Sierra a kiss on the forehead. I got ready for the day as if it were any other one. By the time I was done, however, I could no longer contain my excitement. I was like a kid on Christmas morning, and I wanted my gift now.
Right fucking now.
So I Bruce-Buffered Sierra, and even though she might have glared, I knew she loved it.
The hospital trip was a breeze. With Sierra being induced, they were waiting for us with a room ready. Hell, she was only in labor for three hours before she was fully dilated.
That’s when the nerves crept in, and I had half a mind to join our families in the waiting room, but I pushed them aside because Sierra needed me—even if I was freaking out on the inside.
Sierra was panting and grunting, and her face was redder than I’d ever seen it. I tried keeping up with the breathing exercises we’d learned in Lamaze, but the energy coming from her made me think she didn’t want me around. I’d heard those stories, the laughing jokes about the crazy, witchy woman who replaced your wife in the delivery room. The one who threatens your dick, swears she’s never having sex again, and so on. I was fully prepared for that, even had a few jokes lined up for it.
But I never got the chance. That crazy, witchy woman wasn’t Sierra. Instead, she wasn’t saying a word. She wasn’t looking at me. She was so focused on what she was doing that it was like I wasn’t even there.
I wanted to be, so when the latest contraction ripped through her and she was hunched up, I let her torture my hand as I rubbed her lower back.
“Push, baby,” I coached—like a champ, I might add. I wasn’t obnoxious. I was supportive.
Or so I thought.
Her head turned so slowly and deliberately that I had a vision of it twisting all the way around Exorcist style.
Oh shit.
She was aware of my presence. Finally. Her teeth were clenched as she glared at me. I had a feeling I was about to meet crazy, witchy Sierra.
“That’s easy for you to say. You get your ass on this bed, climb into my uterus, and push her out for me,” she seethed.
Then I made a grave mistake.
I laughed.
Now, her blue eyes were wide and bulging, her mouth hanging open. This time, she reminded of Chucky, and I shuddered at the thought. That’s the one thing I couldn’t do. Creepy dolls. Nope, not for me, ever. Especially creepy ginger dolls. No soul and all that jazz.
I probably should have stopped comparing my wife to horror movie creatures in my head, but I couldn’t help it.
“Stop it, baby. You’re going to give me nightmares,” I teased.
Another grave mistake.
I needed to shut up, or I was never going to worship in Sierra’s love temple again.
Fortunately, Sierra began pushing again, and the doctor announced that she could see a head. My curiosity got the best of me, and I stretched my body so I could get a look.
I mean, it’s not every day your wife has a head coming out of her vagina, and my interest was piqued.
My final mistake.
One second, Sierra was squeezing my hand so hard I thought it was going to pop off, and the next second, I was flat on my back, blinking slowly and wondering how I’d gotten there. A nurse was grinning down at me, and I shook my head, trying to regain my sense. That’s when I heard it.
The most beautiful sound in the world.