Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119476 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 597(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
I leave the call on speaker and drop my phone down onto the floorboard before I turn all of my focus to Nora, rubbing her lower back as I try to soothe her. “You're doing great, Pip. Deep breaths.”
“Atlas,” she growls my name in a tone I’ve never heard her use before. “I swear to God, if you tell me to breathe again I am going to lose my mind.”
“Okay, okay.” Shit, man, get it together. Nora needs you to be strong for her. “How can I help?”
“I-I don't know. It hurts. There’s so much pressure. It... it feels like he's—”
Her words cut off mid-sentence as her entire body tenses. I swear, I can see her pulse pounding in her neck.
“Are you...” I force myself to swallow back my fear. “Do you need to push?”
“Already there,” she clips out, her face as red as a tomato as she digs her fingers into the soft leather of my seat.
I watch on helplessly as the love of my life pushes and grunts and groans and wails, until finally—even though it's actually only been moments—she brings our son into this world all on her own.
“His head, Atlas. Get his—”
I fling myself out of the truck and lean in as far as I can, prepared to help guide him earthside.
His ear-piercing cry fills the truck cab in time with sirens in the distance, as I bundle him in the blanket.
“That's... that's our baby, Pip,” I murmur, totally and completely awestruck. I use the tail of the blanket to wipe away the gunk smeared across his chubby little cheeks. “He's perfect.”
She collapses back against the seat, bloody and exhausted—oh, God, is that much blood normal? Fuck! Get. It. Together.
“Lemme hold him, baby hog,” she mutters, her eyelids drooping even as she holds out her arms.
I slide onto the seat next to her and place him on her chest. “James Wilder Morgan,” she coos. “You're absolutely...” She looks up at me, and her eyes may as well be hearts.
“Perfect.”
The sound of a vehicle pulling up behind draws my attention momentarily away from Nora.
“It’s just Ellis,” I murmur softly.
“Look at my guy,” he crows, crowding me at the back door. “He has all ten fingers and all ten toes?”
Nora rolls her eyes and then kisses his wrinkly forehead. “We’d love him even if he didn’t.”
“That’s a good mama.” He leans around me to get a better look at him, only to immediately blanch and back away.
“Do you get gifts when a baby’s born?” he asks, looking a little green around the gills. “I mean, it is his birthday, right?”
“What are you even talking about, man?”
“Doesn’t matter. Gonna get you a gift certificate to get your damn truck detailed. Looks like a crime scene in here.”
Nora cuts her eyes at him, and I worry for a split second he’s offended her, but then she laughs and calls him an idiot.
“I’d say takes one to know one, but you might just be the smartest person I know.”
She scoffs. “Whatever.”
“Well, you are with this guy.” He nods his head toward me. “So maybe I’m onto something.”
“Swear to God,” I mutter under my breath, sounding put out even though I’m smiling. How could I not be? Nora’s okay. Our son is here and seems healthy. Hell, today just might be the best day of my life.
EPILOGUE TWO
NORA
“Are you nervous?” Scarlet asks, peeking her head around the flowy curtain separating us from the ceremony space.
“Not even a little,” I reply, meaning it with every ounce of my being. What's there to be nervous about? Atlas is, without a doubt, my other half. He's my forever. Not to mention, we're already official on paper, today is just to celebrate with friends.
Aside from Ellis and Scar, who are both standing with us as we exchange vows, we both invited a handful of other people.
“Mama,” James babbles, reaching for one of the curls framing my face, but Scarlet redirects him in the nick of time.
“Yes, my love?” I coo, brushing my index finger over his cheek.
“Dada!” He wriggles in my arms, trying to get me to set him down.
“It's almost time to walk to Dada.” I press a kiss to his forehead, only for Scarlet to scold me.
“You're gonna ruin your lips.” I shrug, and she throws her hands in the air. “I swear to God, Nora!”
“If my lip gloss getting smeared because I kiss my baby is the worst thing that happens to me today, it's still a pretty good day, Scar.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she snarks. “I know, your glass is always half full.”
“Indeed, it is.” I nod, trying my best not to smile. She's been crabbier than usual since the rehearsal dinner last night, and while I'm not saying it's because Ellis was dancing with a girl from my foundations of learning class, I'm also not not saying it either.