Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 130159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130159 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 651(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
“Be careful, princess,” Beck warned as Heavenly smiled up at Seth. “If Hammer and Liam catch you encouraging the girls to date, your ass will be black and blue for life.”
“Good. I can’t wait. It’s been forever,” she grumbled.
“Well, you won’t have to wait much longer. Once the doctor clears you…” Beck didn’t finish. He’d let Hammer and Liam tell her they’d been keeping track of every snarky, sassy remark she’d made while pregnant.
“Would you like to hold her?” Heavenly asked Seth softly.
He tensed. “I-I…”
“She’s really good,” their girl assured with a hopeful smile. “You’ll love her.”
With every eye in the room on them, Seth hesitated, his face frozen.
Beck’s heart drummed in his chest as he waited, hoping Seth would hold the swaddled pink bundle in his big hands.
Finally, Seth gave their girl a choppy shake of his head. “Y-you keep her. You look happy holding her.”
Heavenly whipped her gaze down to the infant, her chin quivering, but not before Beck saw her fat tears and her crushed expression. Goddamn it.
Seth must have seen it, too. He cleared his throat. “Sorry.” Then he whipped out his phone and headed for the exit, killing all hope that the birth of the twins had helped him turn a corner. “Excuse me.”
September
Seth sat on the roof of Shadows in a white wooden chair, watching the sun sink toward the brilliant orange and yellow horizon. It was a perfect day for a wedding. Beside him, Heavenly nestled five-week-old twins, Ciara and Catronia, in her arms, cooing at them with a sunny smile.
Beneath a towering arch of colorful flowers, Beck stood at the altar, dressed in a sharp black suit. He waited beside Hammer and Liam, who both wore gray tuxedos. They acted like typical grooms, fidgeting and chatting in nervous anticipation.
“Beck looks so handsome,” Heavenly whispered, eyeing the surgeon. “I’m really proud of him.”
When Hammer, Liam, and Raine had announced their formal handfasting ceremony—the closest possible joining to marriage since they couldn’t legally wed—they had asked Beck to officiate. Despite his understandable disdain for organized religion, he hadn’t hesitated to hop online and become an ordained minister. The gesture told Seth how much Beck loved his friends.
“He did good. And he cleans up pretty well,” Seth teased.
“So do you.” Heavenly skimmed an approving gaze down his navy suit.
“Yeah?” he leaned in and growled against her ear. “And you look edible, angel. After this, I want to—”
“Stop whatever you’re going to say, mister. Little ears.” She giggled.
Scowling, Seth glanced down. Ciara’s eyes slid shut. Catronia peered up at him with an curious stare, but still… “They don’t understand what I’m saying.”
“I do, so you don’t even have to finish your sentence. But, um…” There was a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I have a surprise for you later.”
Given her come-hither smile, Seth was game. “Like what?”
“You do know the meaning of the word surprise? You’ll have to wait.”
“You’re teasing me. I might punish you for that.”
The curl of her lips turned even more sultry. “I’m counting on it.”
Seth shifted in his seat. “You’re playing with fire, angel.”
“And it’s so much fun.”
He arched a brow at her. “You’re spending too much time with Raine.”
She laughed, probably because it was true.
Minutes slid by. The grooms adjusted their ties again and watched the door to the roof anxiously—something Beck seemingly ribbed them about. Seth could almost hear the jokes flying now…
Beside him, Heavenly adjusted the babies in her arms, grimacing and repositioning her hold.
“You okay?”
She nodded. “Fine. My hand just fell asleep.”
The twins were tiny enough, but they must feel heavy in Heavenly’s slender arms, especially since they’d grown so much in the last five weeks. She had volunteered to hold them during the ceremony and was clearly enjoying her duty…but she was struggling. He could help out, lighten her load, just for a few minutes, right? It wouldn’t be hard, and it wouldn’t hurt him. So…why not?
“I’ll take one.” Seth reached for Catronia.
She hesitated. “Are you sure?”
“I have done this before,” he assured her with a wink.
But as she settled the baby in his arms, his hands began to shake and he broke out in a cold sweat. Seth tried to breathe through it, tucking the pink-cheeked cutie in the crook of his arm and telling himself it was no big deal.
But it was. He was holding a baby again.
Catronia kicked and cooed. Seth tried to block out the gut-punch impact of her baby sounds and scents. They took him out of the moment and back years, to a place he couldn’t go anymore, down roads he wasn’t ready to travel.
Old feelings—sorrow, guilt, and fury—barraged him. He swallowed tightly, doing his best to shove the emotions aside and focus on the moment. He just had to live through each, one at a time, until the day finally ended. Then all these reminders of his past—and his potential future—would be over.