We fall into a restless sleep after that. I wake up a few times when the nurses come in to check on her, but not once do I remove her body from my arms.
CHAPTER 36
Chelcie
Two Weeks Later
“Asher!” I call from where I’m rocking. He surprised me with the mother of all nurseries and I never want to leave it.
When we decided to move into Coop’s old house, it wasn’t something we decided lightly. I was worried that it would be too hard for Asher to be in his old house. We had made amazing progress in cleaning it out, moving things that were trash and donating the others that didn’t mean anything to Ash. All that was left were the items Ash wanted to keep.
We decided that the first order of business was repainting the entire house. We spent hours painstakingly picking out each color for each room. Then we spent an even more obnoxious amount of time picking out the new furniture for the house. We got rid of everything that had been in my old apartment. Since the majority of it was old stuff Dee had left behind, I didn’t have many emotional attachments.
We did keep all of Zac’s nursery items—except this chair. It’s a new addition.
Designed to resemble the look of a baseball, it’s white in color with red stitching that stands out beautifully. The creamy leather and softness of the plush cushions are enough to make me never want to leave this spot.
It. Is. Heaven.
“Yeah?” He shakes his head when he comes into the room and sees that I haven’t left the seat—again—for the second day in a row. “Sunshine, should I get you one of these in every room?”
Whatever he sees in my face has him throwing his head back and his rich laughter booming in the room.
“It’s not going to happen, so get that thought out of your head.”
“What time is everyone coming over tonight?”
We decided late last week that we wanted to have everyone over for dinner. It means a lot to us that we share this with our family. I’ve been so proud of Asher. After the successful takedown of Dominic, eight other major players in the nasty underworld of drugs, guns, and sex trafficking were apprehended that day. I know there are still times when Asher questions himself if he made the right call, but then I will see him look over at me, his eyes tracing a path from my face all the way to my very large belly. His eyes get all sexy and soft and he just nods his head—coming to the conclusion without any help from me that he is, without a doubt, on the right path. His decision to give up his determination of being the one to take Dom out made it so that some major players in crime are now locked tight behind bars.
We expect that Dominic’s trial will take years. That’s not really an issue for us because there is no way he will ever live his life as a free man again even if he were to have a trial tomorrow. There is just too much stacked against him—all because of Asher.
“I think they’ll be here in about an hour. I wasn’t sure about Maddox and Emmy. Not sure what’s going on with them right now, so I guess we will see.”
“All right, baby.” I lean my head and close my eyes, determined to sleep until the last second possible.
I hear Asher laughing as he walks back down the hall to get the food ready for tonight.
I smile and thank God for bringing that man into my life.
Axel, Izzy, and baby Nate are the first ones to arrive. Izzy gives me a warm hug and we both laugh when our bellies smoosh together.
“Are you still grunting and groaning about having a daughter?” I laugh, leaning over Nate to give Axel a hug.
“I wasn’t. Woman, did you tell them I was complaining about my princess?”
Izzy bursts out laughing, her tiny belly bouncing with her mirth. “Oh my God! You’re already terrible! She isn’t even here yet and you’re going all possessive over her! I tell you, Axel Reid, she is not going to like that when she gets older.”
He pulls himself up, towering over us all at six foot six, pulling Izzy to his side. He cups her under her arms and lifts her right off the ground as if she weighs nothing more than a feather. “You listen to me, babe. My princess will never date. Ever. I’m considering going ahead a looking at homeschool. We need to get all those dicks away from my baby.”
“Your baby?” she mocks.
“You heard me. Just like her mom—she’s mine, and I’m not letting some little prick get near my princess.” He gives her a deep kiss before putting her back down.
“Incorrigible caveman,” she says under her breath, earning her a light smack against her ass.
“Daddy! What’s a prick?”
We all turn our heads sharply when we hear Cohen speak from behind Axel. He looks up at us with his wide smile, chubby cherub cheeks, and his chocolate-colored eyes twinkling with wonder. He really is one of the coolest kids I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen him act up, and the things that come out of his mouth are hilarious.