Page 117 of Trigger's Forever
I immediately turn and find tears in her eyes. “What’s wrong, Red?”
“I’m scared.”
I lean over the side of the bed, kissing her forehead and pushing her sweaty hair out of her face. “You are the strongest woman I know, do you hear me? These boys are the luckiest fucking kids in the world to have you as their mom.”
“What if I mess up?”
“I’ll be right there to mess up with you.”
“I don’t want to mess them up,” she cries.
“Then we won’t. We’ll work our asses off everyday to not mess them up like our parents did. Okay?”
Pebbles nods, sniffling. I wipe the tears away from her cheeks and look up at Maria, who is on her other side.
“You guys are going to be amazing parents,” she says. She leans down, kissing Pebbles’s cheeks. “I’m going right outside, waiting to hear those beautiful cries.”
“No!” Pebbles yells, grabbing onto Maria’s hand. “Please don’t leave me. These are your grandbabies. You deserve to be here.”
Maria nods with a smile. “I won’t go anywhere then.” She straightens her spine and turns her head so Pebbles doesn’t see. From my angle, I have a perfect view of the tear that tracks down her cheek.
“Alright, Heather! Whenever your body tells you, let’s have some babies!”
Based on all the movies I’ve ever seen, I thought it would happen a lot faster. Pebbles pushes with all of her might, and thirty minutes later, Cole Jamie Hart is born.
I cry like a little bitch as I watch the nurses dry off his wet body, earning the most satisfying fucking cries I’ve ever heard. They shove him down under Pebbles gown as he continues to whimper and cry every so often.
As soon as Pebbles starts to feel the urge to push again, one nurse takes Cole from her chest over to the crib. Twenty minutes after his brother, Cade Benjamin Hart takes his first breath.
Pebbles sobs as she holds him to her chest while the nurses work on him. It takes Cade a little bit longer to come around than his brother, so the nurses take him while Dr. Murphy works on Pebbles. I lean down, placing kisses all over her face while profusely thanking her for everything she just gave me.
“I love you so much,” she says, smiling up at me. “Thank you.”
“I love you too, babe.” I kiss her lips before pulling away, allowing space for the nurse to put Cole back on her chest.
“You can come over here, Dad,” one of the nurses says from where they have Cade.
I look at Pebbles, who smiles in assurance as she cuddles Cole to her chest.
I gingerly pad over to the crib that Cade is in. Two nurses surround it as he kicks his legs out and softly cries. “Is he okay?” I ask.
“He’s perfect. He’s a little guy, definitely smaller than his brother, but he’s perfect,” the blonde nurse who greeted us says.
I look down at her badge. “Thank you, Morgan. Can I touch him?”
“Of course!”
I tentatively reach forward, and every string pulling at my fucking heart when his tiny fingers wrap around my large finger.
“Do you want to hold him?” Morgan asks.
“Not before mama does,” I say, unable to take my eyes off the little guy.
The diaper they have on him swallows him up. I’m not used to being around babies, but even I can tell that he is tiny. I back up as the nurses wrap him up, preparing to bring him over to Pebbles.
I’m scared as fuck that they are going to drop him. My Cade looks so fragile. Pebbles has constant tears tumbling down her cheeks as they get her situated with both babies snuggled against her chest, and I have to force myself to sit back down in the stool for fear that I’m going to pass the fuck out.
I can’t take my eyes off of the three of them as I watch them in awe.
