Page 112 of Can't Win 'Em All
EPILOGUE
SIX WEEKS LATER
“I’m going to kill you.” My eyes were on fire as I watched Rex flap his hands like an idiot and scream for help.
He stopped what he was doing, stared into my eyes, then yelled “help” again. Who did he think he was yelling to? It was ridiculous.
“You’re unbelievable.” I left him to run around the suite like a chicken coming home to roost and grabbed my bag from the closet at the front of the room. It was time. My water had broken—thankfully in the kitchen—and my contractions, while sporadic, were increasing in frequency. “Are you ready?”
He looked at me as if I’d grown a second head. “You’re about to push a human being out of your vagina.” He said it as if it should be news to me.
“Maybe you should stay here,” I suggested. “I’ll call you when she’s here and you can come to the hospital then.” I was already running calculations in my head. “I can call a cab.”
That was enough to snap him out of his panicked state. “I’m not missing the birth of Rexanne.” His gaze was accusatory. “What is the matter with you?”
Yeah, Rexanne was still a thing. He refused to let it go. He was going to be disappointed when I made him sign the birth certificate and the name Rexanne wasn’t on the top line. Lately he’d been pushing for the name Lorelai a little bit. I was starting to wonder if Lorelai—or Rory for short—was always his intention.
That would make him diabolical. I didn’t like the name Lorelai either. He wasn’t getting his way on this one.
I rested my hand on my stomach, grimaced when a contraction forced me to lean against the wall, then briefly closed my eyes. “In or out,” I barked as the pain subsided. “Are you going with me to meet your daughter, or are you going to keep running around screaming for boiled water?”
His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. “I was not screaming for boiled water.”
“You were screaming for help.”
“Yes, well … I momentarily lost my head.” He straightened. “I’m back to being in control.” He put on a big show as he eased toward me. “Are you ready to welcome our daughter, milady?”
I didn’t want to laugh—it would only encourage him—but I couldn’t help myself. My love for him had only grown in the final weeks of my pregnancy. He knew when to be strong because I was feeling weak. He knew when to be smart because I was having a brain fart. And, most importantly, he knew when to step back and let me take control.
He was everything I’d ever wanted in a partner. He was still an idiot sometimes, though. Thankfully, it was in the best possible way.
I slid my hand into his. “I’m ready.”
“Okay.” His earlier traces of panic had disappeared. He took my bag from me but stopped by the door. “Hold on. I’ll be right back.”
I watched, brow furrowed, as he raced down the doorway to our bedroom. Technically, he still had his suite down the hall—we needed the space for storage until we decided what we were going to do about a house—but he spent every night in my suite with me. He’d even talked me into the ghost Elvis mobile in the nursery and a godawful velvet Elvis for the wall. At the time, he’d reminded me that we were mixing two lives. That meant we had to be in this together. I fought with him for two weeks, and then in a moment of weakness, gave in. I didn’t regret it, although when I was feeling petulant I lied and said I did.
When he came back, he didn’t look any different than when he’d left.
“What were you doing?” I demanded.
“I just had to grab something.” He looked distracted as he glanced around. “That should be everything.”
“What did you have to grab?”
This time when he looked at me there was nothing but love reflected back. “My courage. I’m about to be a father, Ruby.”
He seemed so happy, part of me didn’t want to burst his bubble. The other part was annoyed. “Yes, and one of us has to do all the work for that to happen. Shouldn’t I be the one who is terrified?”
“Are you?”
We’d talked about this moment endlessly for the past few weeks. Yes, there was some amount of fear. There was more excitement, though. “Let’s just do it, huh? I’m ready.”
“We’re ready,” he corrected before leaning down to give me a soft kiss. “We’ve got this.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You’re not about to squeeze your big-headed baby out of your vagina.”
“Good point.”
