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“Okay, great, good. See you there,” I groan, just wanting to get off the phone and focus on my breathing, trying to get the pain to lessen.
“I love you, Penelope.” I hear the childish awwwwwww from Viktor in the background before a sound smack echoes back and then silence.
“I love you,” I pant, pressing the end call button before my own friends ring out their own awwwwwww’s.
“Shut up, all of you!” A choir of yes ma’am can be heard all across the world.
The rest of the drive is quiet before my painful groans, which I let out every few minutes. The cop clears traffic, and everyone parts like the Red Sea, closing behind us. We pull into the hospital, thankfully in one piece. The officer leads us to the ER doors, his sirens turning off, but lights still on.
He gets out of his car, coming over to help me out of the car before the poor man gets manhandled by the little five-foot girl, as Anna helps me out instead. The officer looks at her, stunned as he makes his way to Destiny and says something to her. She hands him the keys, and he goes to get in as Anna leads me inside the door.
“Pregnant lady coming through,” Anna barks at the people crowding the door. She shoves her way to the front of the line at the desk, leaning me on the counter.
“She’s in labor, four minutes apart, very snappy.” My head whips over to her, and she smiles sheepishly, going back to looking at the lady. The nurse behind the desk picks up her phone, telling the person on the other side that one is on its way before ordering a nurse passing to get a wheelchair for me.
The next five minutes are a blur of a whole lot of new people. People crowd me, asking me a million questions I don’t know. They get me to Labor and Delivery, getting me situated in the room where I’ll give birth.
They make me change into a scratchy gown that I fucking hate. All kinds of wires and monitors get attached to my stomach, my chest, and my fingers. They inserted an IV in my hand, giving me pain meds to try to help with some of the pain.
They asked if I wanted an epidural, and I screamed at her yes, feeling bad and apologizing immediately after. She laughs it off, saying in labor, mamas yell at her all the time, and she’s used to it.
The group is surrounding my bed, all of them sitting in chairs. They talk about anything and everything to keep me distracted, my mind off the pain.
The door slams open, and Dmitri and Viktor bust through it. Dmitri pulls Destiny’s chair back from its spot next to me, ignoring her complaints as he is on my side, grabbing my hand closest to him and placing a kiss on every finger.
The echoes of awwwwwwws make him realize we aren’t alone. “Everybody out!” He commands, and they all scurry to the door, shoving each other out.
“Hi, Moss.” His face is soft, love and admiration covering it.
“Everything hurts,” I cry, the tears starting to stream down my face.
“I know, baby, I know. But we’ll get to meet our little girl,” He whispers, squeezing my hand.
The following hours are a blur. I can barely remember anything, and if I do, it’s fuzzy and disoriented. All I know is that she’s here. In my arms, safe. She’s perfect. My nose, Dmitri’s lip, and the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen. We don’t know her eye color yet, as they are too dark when she opens her eyes. She has the most adorable pout on her lips, the bottom one jutting out more than the top one.
Dmitri held my hand the whole time, not even wincing when I felt a bone crack in it. I could hear him whispering things in my ear, too out of it to understand what he was saying.
They moved me to an after-delivery room, a large window overlooking the mountains outside. The group went home at my request, telling them I wanted today just for Dmitri and me. They left with no issue, respecting my wishes but telling me they’ll be here bright and early in the morning.
“What do you want to name her?” The nurse asks, and I look down at my daughter. Her lips pulled in a pout as her dark little eyes bore into mine.
“What about Lily Maeve?” Dmitri whispers next to me, brushing his fingers lightly over her full head of hair. Tears shoot to my eyes at his suggestion. My brightest star in the sky sent me my biggest wish to Earth.
“It’s perfect,” I choke out, tears streaming down my face.
Dmitri leans up and kisses my forehead, leaning down to kiss Lily’s.
Lily Maeve Petrov. My daughter. My light. My life. My future. I look out at the night sky, looking at the one star twinkling in the dark.
Thank you, Mom.
I couldn’t think of any better moment to be in right now. I’m surrounded by the two most important people in my life. My peace starts now, until forever ends, and even after that.
I deserve this.
*This book is an advance reader copy and is to not be distributed anywhere. [email protected]*
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