The Risque Contracts Series(48)

“Easy for you to say,” I growled as I bore down. “You’re not the one trying to squeeze a watermelon out of your vagina. Why couldn’t I have fallen in love with a guy who wouldn’t have knocked me up with a ten-pound baby?”

The sound of a baby’s cry saved Brysen from answering. Our baby had made his entrance into the world, kicking and screaming after twenty hours of labor. Finally.

“Holy fuck, Elisa. He’s perfect.”

“A boy?” I breathed out, trying to sit up to catch a glimpse of our baby as the doctor laid him on my belly. We’d decided to wait and let it be a surprise, a decision I’d only agreed to because it meant so much to Brysen. The decision was the right one, making this moment even more special.

“He’s so little.” Brysen’s voice held the same awe I was feeling. We both watched avidly while the nurse dried him off and put a blue cap on his head.

“Would you like to do the honor?” the doctor asked, gesturing toward the scissors in the nurse’s hand.

“Absolutely,” Brysen agreed, grabbing the scissors from her and cutting the cord.

When it was done, the nurse wrapped the baby in a blanket and lifted him up into my arms. At that moment, all the pain I’d felt giving birth melted away as I stared down at this perfect little person Brysen and I had created together. “He looks just like his daddy.”

“I think he’s as beautiful as his mommy.” Brysen’s voice was shaky and honest-to-goodness tears filled his eyes.

My uber alpha guy was moved to tears by the birth of our son, and it was yet another reason I loved him with all my heart. “We need to pick a name soon so we can call him something other than ‘he’ or ‘the baby’.”

Brysen cupped our son’s head in his big hand, his touch incredibly gentle. “Gregory James Mariano.”

A sob crept up my throat at his suggestion—one I fell in love with because it honored my father. “Gregory,” I choked out.

The nurse gave us each a wristband and took the baby to the side of the room. Our gazes were locked on them as she weighed him, took his footprint, and checked his heartbeat and reflexes. “Agpar score is ten.”

“Perfect,” I sighed, relieved to know he was healthy.

“Would you like to try to feed him now, Elisa?”

“Yes, please.” It took a few tries to get him to latch on, but once he did, I could hardly believe I was breastfeeding my baby boy. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from him as he nestled into my breasts, trailing a finger down his soft cheek while he suckled. When he was done, Gregory pulled away from my nipple and fussed quietly.

“Can I hold him?”

“Of course.” I handed our baby over to his daddy and wished I had a camera with me to capture this moment. Gregory looked tiny in the crook of Brysen’s arm. He walked around the room, rocking him gently and murmuring softly under his breath—their first father-son conversation.

The door cracked open and a nurse peeked her head into the room. “Are you up for a visitor? Your sister has been pacing the hallway, waiting for her chance to come in.”

I looked to Brysen, hoping he’d be okay with sharing this moment with Charlotte. He nodded and I beamed up at him. “Yes, please. I think Gregory wants to meet his aunt as much as she wants to meet him.”

The nurse stepped to the side and Charlotte rushed past her. “Gregory? Did I hear you right? It’s a boy?”

Brysen moved toward her, tilting his arms so she could see the baby’s face. “Gregory James, this is your Aunt Charlotte.”

My sister gasped, her hand covering her mouth as she stared down at my baby boy, tears streaming down her cheeks. It took her a moment to gather herself and ask the question I knew she’d been dying to ask since she came into the room. “Can I hold him?”

“Of course,” I answered, and based on how reluctantly Brysen handed him over, it was a good thing, or else he’d never have given Gregory up. He moved toward me, running his fingers through my hair while we watched the aunt and nephew bond.

When the nurse came back in to take Gregory away to the nursery before moving me to another room, Brysen followed them while Charlotte stayed behind with me.

“Insta-love, insta-marriage, and insta-baby. You guys are even better than one of my romance novels.” Charlotte’s voice was wistful, almost yearning.

“I know it might seem crazy, but you’ll understand when you meet the guy for you.”

Her response was so low, I barely heard it as the nurses rolled me out of the room. “What if I already did and I can’t have him?”