“I know,” she said softly, her eyes meeting mine in the mirror.

  “We’re gonna have three babies soon,” I whispered, kissing the side of her neck as I ran my hand over her belly. It was disconcerting how hard it was. “Can’t wait.”

  “Me either,” she replied. Taking my hand, she glanced around the bathroom and then shut off the light. I let her lead me out of the room and back down the hallway, stopping a couple of times so she could lean against the wall, panting.

  Jesus Christ.

  At the stairs, my stomach churned. I moved in front of her, just in case she became unsteady, and helped her down, one by one. When we got to the bottom, she smiled at me, her eyes already looking tired.

  Then she looked over, and those tired eyes widened in shock.

  “What in the world?” she breathed.

  A couple weeks before, when I’d realized that Noel didn’t seem to be growing any easier with the idea of having the baby at the birth center, I’d gone to Bas and Cian and laid it all out. I hoped that she’d be ready when the time came. Shit, I’d even prayed for it. But if she wasn’t, and the baby was coming, I wasn’t going to force her to go.

  Noel knew she could have the baby at home. There was no doubt in her mind. We’d discussed it. At length. But because she’d known that the idea of her having the baby at our house freaked me the fuck out—she hadn’t even asked to. I could not force her to go to the birth center.

  For so much of her life, Noel had been completely powerless. She’d been forced to leave everything she knew behind, forced to get married long before she was ready, forced to quit school and have babies. I would never force her or even try to coerce her to do anything she didn’t want to do.

  “Your birthing tub,” Bas announced, throwing his arms out. He’d already blown the thing up and hooked it to the kitchen faucet and the downstairs bathroom faucets with two long hoses. When I’d gone to him with my worry a couple weeks before, Bas had immediately gone into research mode. He’d found some shit about water births during a late-night web search and let me know about the tub after he’d already ordered the thing.

  “My what?” Noel asked, turning her bewildered eyes to mine.

  “Hello,” a familiar voice called, and we both looked toward the front door as she poked her head inside. Andrea grinned at Noel and stepped inside carrying a large box. “I didn’t want to interrupt anything and Titus said I could let myself in,” she said, moving toward us.

  “What?” Noel looked at me just as realization dawned. “You didn’t.”

  “Welcome to your new birthing center,” I replied dryly.

  Noel’s eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.”

  Then, as if knowing she didn’t have to try and beat them back anymore, Noel bent at the waist and groaned, her hand latching on to my arm like a vise.

  “Ah,” Andrea said kindly as she reached us. “Looks like things are moving right along.”

  “You could say that,” I muttered.

  As soon as the contraction was over, Bas and Cian brought the girls over to give Noel hugs and kisses before carrying them upstairs.

  “We’re gonna get our baby?” Ariel asked, excitement making her bounce on Cian’s arm.

  “We’re gettin’ our baby,” I confirmed. “Now go watch a movie with Uncle Bas and Uncle Cian. I’ll come get you when it’s here.”

  “They,” she corrected as Cian carried her up the stairs. “Our baby’s not it!”

  “She’s gettin’ bossy,” I muttered to Noel, making her giggle.

  By the time Esther and my mom came in the front door, Noel had already frantically torn off the dress she was wearing and was kneeling on the floor, her hips rocking from side to side as she leaned against the couch.

  “You’re lucky your mom called me,” Esther snapped at me, going straight to her sister. “I was already on my way to the birth center.”

  “I asked her to call you,” I replied distractedly. Andrea had shown me how to push on Noel’s lower back and I was trying to do that while also seriously worried that I was going to hurt her.

  A little while later, the tub was half full and I helped Noel inside, ignoring her sister and my mother as I stripped down to my boxers and followed her in.

  “That’s it, Titus,” Andrea said in approval.

  Right, Andrea was there, too.

  It lasted for hours.

  Both of us were sweating.

  I’d been so afraid she would have the baby in the car, I hadn’t even had time to worry that I’d have to watch her in pain for so long.

  I started to worry.

  “Doing so well, Noel,” Andrea praised, sitting at her head outside the tub. “You’re doing so well.”

  Tears were leaking down Noel’s face, her teeth clenched in a grimace.

  “Not long now, honey,” my mom murmured from her spot on the couch. She was leaning forward, her hands clasped tightly between her knees.

  “Don’t you just want them to all shut the fuck up?” Esther asked her sister conspiratorially, leaning over to push Noel’s sweaty hair back from her face.

  Noel let out a hoarse chuckle as her hand found mine beneath the water.

  We stayed like that for so long. Our fingers and toes were pruned when Noel shot up onto her knees and announced that she wanted out of the water right now.

  Andrea smiled knowingly and helped me get Noel out, helping her onto a quilt that my mom had brought from home.

  “No, it’s going to stain,” Noel said to me pleadingly when she saw it. “Baby, get something else.”

  “It’s a family quilt, sugar,” I whispered, leaning in close. “Let’s have our baby on it.”

  She let out a sob as she nodded.

  Then she was all business.

  It was like, all of a sudden, things happened in hyperspeed.

  Noel grunted and moaned and the tendons in her neck stuck out so far that they looked like they were about to burst from her skin. She stayed on her knees, her arms around my neck and Andrea on the quilt behind her.

  Her face flooded with color.

  “Almost there,” Andrea called out. “You’ve got a bald baby.”

  “You can see them?” I asked, looking down Noel’s back.

  “I can,” Andrea replied, glancing up at me. “You want to look?”

  “No.” The answer was instantaneous. I wasn’t moving from my spot.

  Noel panted against my neck, and every muscle in her body tightened.

  A cry split the air, and everyone in the room lost their breath.

  “You have a beautiful baby girl,” Andrea said with a little laugh.

  “Another girl?” Noel asked me, her eyes still dazed.

  “Another girl,” I confirmed, kissing her.

  Me and Esther helped Noel onto her side, stuffing a couple of pillows under her to prop her up.

  And then there she was. Covered in white shit. Pissed as hell. Flailing.

  Andrea laid the baby girl on Noel’s chest and my mom tucked a small gray blanket around her.

  “Mom’s pretty tired,” Andrea said softly. “Dad, why don’t you put a hand on baby’s back, just in case.”

  Dad.

  My throat closed as I nodded, resting my hand on her tiny little back.

  My mom’s hand settled between my shoulder blades in almost the exact same spot.

  “She’s so pretty,” Noel hiccuped. “Did you see?”

  She looked up at me, and I almost started bawling. My eyes were blurry but I nodded anyway. “I saw,” I rasped.

  “You are beloved and wanted and prayed for,” Noel whispered, her voice hitching as she pressed her lips against the baby girl’s head. “Welcome to the world, Ruth Hawthorne.” Her eyes met mine. “Daddy and I love you so much.”

  Stay tuned for the next story in the Hawthornes series.

  Myla… or maybe Lou… or perhaps Frankie.

  You’ll have to wait and see.

  Coming Fall 2024.

  Acknowledgements

  I always have such a hard time writing these, because I want to make them different and new, but if I’m honest—the same people who helped me bring this story to fruition have been in my corner for all of the others.

  Thank you to my fella, my kiddos and my parents. Without you I’m not sure who I’d be. I wish everyone was as lucky as I am. I love you.

  Thank you to my team—my beta readers Melissa, Amber, Pam, Michelle and Beatrice… and for the first time, my teenagers. My formatter Paul.

  My editor and cover designer Ellie. You’ve been a friend for so long, and I’m so stoked that we get to work together now. Thank you for stepping up in a variety of ways in the last year, I am so thankful for you.

  Thank you to my friends. Donna, who read my very first book and promoted it on her blog. Nikki, who edited for me for years and became a dear friend in the process. Madeline, who answered a random FB message eleven years ago and has been stuck with me ever since.

  Thank you to the readers and the bloggers and the Tiktokers and the Instagrammers and the Facebookers who show up with every single book, spreading the word better than I ever could. You guys are the best.

 

 

  Nicole Jacquelyn, Titus: The Hawthornes (The Aces' Sons Book 12)

 

 

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