His Hellcat (Sassy Girls Book 1)(21)
“You okay, Kitten?”
“I’m absolutely perfect,” I quip, grabbing his hand and pulling him back into the cabin. “I believe you promised to show me how to properly deal with my aggression, though.”
“That I did my little hellcat.”
Epilogue
Blake
Three years later…
“Momma, up!” Brenden, my sweet little guy holds up his chubby arms to me. I’m just about to bend to scoop him up when my husband stomps into the room and grabs the little guy, turning him upside-down before parking him on his shoulders.
“I know you weren’t going to pick this monster up, were you little momma?” He asks, one eyebrow quirked up and a smirk gracing his handsome face.
“Yes, I was. I’m perfectly capable of holding my own son,” I whine. Okay, I might have stomped my foot a little, too. I’m so tired of being coddled. “I’m pregnant, not broken. You’re being ridiculous.”
Brenden giggles while tugging his daddy’s hair. “Yeah Daddy, wedicuwous.”
“You’re days away from delivery. Please, just humor me.” His tone is pleading and his eyes are full of concern.
Ugh. I hate when he looks at me like that. I can’t deny the man anything. “Fine.”
He plucks Brenden from his shoulders and puts him on his feet. “Why don’t you go find Uncle Drake, little man?”
“Dwwaaakkkeee,” he squeals, running full-speed down the hall to the guest room.
As soon as he’s out of sight, Hutch has my face cupped between his hands and his lips caressing mine in a soul-searingly sweet kiss. Lust shoots through my body and my brain short-circuits like it always does whenever he touches me. I move closer, but my baby bump gets in the way. He pulls back, grinning at me like a fool. His hands move from my face to my belly, hands cradling his babies where they rest.
“I love you so fucking much, Kitten.”
“I love you too, Hutch.”
“And I love sleep, but this little monster has no respect for closed doors,” Drake interrupts our moment.
My gaze finds my brother standing just inside the room. My heart clenches and I have to steel myself against the grief that wells up inside me. The deep scars that mar the once perfect skin on the left side of his face don’t take away from his good looks, but knowing that the event that caused those scars nearly took him from my life guts me every time. And the haunted look in his eyes keeps me up at night.
“Unka Dwake, up!”
“Yeah, yeah, buddy.” Drake picks him up, tickling his sides and filling our home with sweet baby giggles as he heads toward the kitchen.
“He’s going to be fine, you know?”
Hutch always knows what’s worrying me. He’s spent every day of the last three years chasing worries away and guarding my heart against hurt.
“I know.” I snuggle into his side, taking his strength for my own. “I can’t help worrying… and peeing. These babies of yours are tap dancing on my bladder today. I’m going to go lay down since you won’t let me do anything else.”
He barks out a laugh, slapping my ass as I waddle away. “Someone’s got to make you slow down.”
I’ll never admit it, but the second my tired body collapses on the mattress I’m out from exhaustion. It’s been a hard pregnancy. I was spoiled with Brenden, everything went smoothly from start to finish, but the twins have been hard. Morning sickness—which was more like all day and night sickness—bleeding, and threats of bedrest because of my high blood pressure. Despite it all the babies are healthy and strong. It’s my body that’s causing the troubles.
“Kitten.”
“Hmm…”
“Time for dinner.”
Hutch drops a kiss to my forehead, then helps me from the bed. When I stand, dizziness rushes through me and I wobble. Hutch steadies me and I smile up at him, but my smile falls from my lips when I take in the look on his face. Following his gaze to the bed, I see the large dark circle where I was laying. Confusion hits at the same time as another wave of dizziness. That’s when the world tips the wrong way and darkness clouds my vision. The last thing I see is the stark fear in my husband's eyes.
* * *
Hutch
My wife lays in a hospital bed, tubes and wires hooked to her frail body. Hours ago she was full with the lives of our twins, her skin pink, and smile wide. Now she's fighting for her life. She always seems larger than life. She's has such a zest for everything, never taking a single moment for granted. I'm clutching her hand like it's a fucking lifeline. In a way it is, she's my life and I don't know how I could ever go on without her.