Only One Mistake, page 23
He presses the button, and the nurse comes in while Allison and my mother take turns wetting a rag and putting it on my head. “Michael,” I say with tears in my eyes when another one comes. “I don’t know if I can do this.”
He leans down and pushes back my hair. “You can do this better than anyone else,” he reassures me, and I shake my head.
I go through the longest three hours of my life. Every time a nurse comes in, she is thanking us for the special treats. The waiting room is filled with all of our family, and Matthew and Max keep ordering the nurses food, hoping they aren’t asked to leave. So far, it’s working. “I have so much pressure,” I say, grunting when the doctor saunters in.
“Let’s see what is going on,” she says, and when I open my legs, I hear a gasp. “Okay, the baby is ready,” she says, and the nurse springs into action, calling another nurse in.
“What is going on?” I look around and then at my mother and Allison, who stand side by side crying.
“The baby’s head is crowning,” the doctor says as the stirrups come up, and the nurse places my legs in it.
“Okay.” The doctor comes back fully ready, sitting on the stool in the middle of my legs. “We are going to try pushing.”
Michael stands on my side while my mother and Allison stand on the other side of me. Michael slips his hands in mine. “I love you,” he says as another contraction comes.
“Okay, you are going to push,” the nurse says, and she starts counting from one to ten the whole time I’m bearing down and pushing.
“That was a good one,” the doctor says, and we repeat this for over thirty minutes. At this point, I have no energy left, and all I want is for this to be over. I lie back after pushing. I’m so tired I don’t even have the energy left to wipe the sweat that is pouring down my face. My eyes feel so heavy, and my head feels as if it weighs a thousand pounds.
“The baby is too big,” I say, panting. “It won’t come out.”
“Oh, that is where you are wrong,” the doctor says. “I know you’re tired, but I need one more big push.” She looks over at our moms. “Grandmas, come see your grandbaby.”
They both walk around to stand behind the doctor and both of them gasp. “The head is out, honey,” my mother says, sobbing. Allison just shakes her head as she cries. Allison grabs her phone, coming up to stand behind Michael, ready to catch the shot of the baby.
“One more,” Michael says from beside me, where he has been cheering me on this whole time and telling me I can do it. “You are so strong.”
“We aren’t having any more babies,” I declare, and he just nods at me.
I feel the pressure again, and this time, I grunt out and push with my last remaining strength. “We have a baby.” The doctor smiles while she grabs something, and my mother and Allison just scream. “It’s a big baby,” the doctor says. She tells me to push one more time, then she places the baby on my chest. The sound of wailing fills the room, and I’m overcome with love. It’s a love that not one baby book tells you about. It’s a love you would die to protect. The tears stream down my face as I look down at the perfect human I helped create.
“We have a boy,” the doctor says, and I look over at Michael, who just kisses my head as his own tears stream down his face. “He’s so beautiful,” he says, kissing our baby who lies on my chest. “Dad, if you would like to cut the cord.” Allison steps up and takes a picture of her son cutting his baby’s cord. It’s a picture that will be framed as soon as I can print it.
“Hi, baby,” I say to my son as he opens his eyes and just looks at me. “He looks like Michael,” I say, sobbing out. “How do I carry him for nine months, and he comes out with not a piece of me?” The whole room laughs, and when the nurse comes to take the baby, I look over at Michael. “You follow her, and you don’t leave her side for nothing.”
Allison steps out of the room, and I hear roaring go through the hospital a second later when she tells everyone we have a boy.
I’m a freaking mess. All I can do is cry every time I look down at him. The door opens, and Julia comes in with Alex beside her, both of them with tearstained faces. Max follows them, his face ashen as he looks around and spots Allison, who walks over to him. She buries her face in his chest.
“Everyone,” Michael says, sitting beside me on the bed as I hold our son. “We would like to introduce you to Jamieson Max Horton.” He looks at his father who is silently sobbing, and I look at my mother, who is being held by Julia. “Named after both our fathers.”
Epilogue One
Michael
Three months later
I walk into the house and close the door softly behind me, not knowing if Jamieson will be down for his nap. I listen in the entranceway to know which way to go. When I don’t hear any voices downstairs, I head up to Jamieson’s nursery and stick my head into the room.
His crib is pushed against the wall with the gift that Dylan had made for him. It’s hockey sticks from each of the men in the family glued together with his name in tin across the middle of it. He gave it to him on his christening day as his godfather. I tiptoe into the room and see the bed empty and smile, knowing that he’s probably taking a nap in our bed.
I walk down the hallway to the bedroom and see the curtains still closed. Jillian lies on her side in the middle of the bed with her eyes closed, and right next to her is our son on his side facing her. They own my fucking heart. “Morning,” I say softly when I get close to the bed, and her eyes flicker open.
“Hi,” she says, looking down at Jamieson as he just sleeps. “Did you just get in?” she whispers, and I nod. “It’s like if he doesn’t smell his next meal, he can’t sleep.” She wants to be mad, but then she leans in and kisses his head. “What time is it?”
“Just after ten,” I say, leaning down and kissing her lips. When my alarm rang this morning, she wasn’t the only one who groaned. Practice is back in full force in a couple of weeks, so I am doing my preseason training, and it sucks ass. “I’m going to go shower, and then I can take him and you can sleep.” Jamieson was ten pounds four ounces when he was born, and since then, he’s almost doubled in size. From the time he came out, he’s been a master at eating, and nothing has slowed him down. He doesn’t care much for the bottle, but he will take it if it’s from someone other than Jillian. If he sees her or even smells her, he’s not having it. He wants it straight from the source.
“Why don’t you shower and come join us in bed,” she says, turning back and closing her eyes. I look down at her and wonder how I could love her more. She’s been the best fucking thing that has ever happened to me. And to think our meeting was all a mistake. Shaking my head, I walk over to the bathroom and shower in record time, knowing I’m going to go back to her.
I walk out with the towel around my waist and walk to her side of the bed, slipping in behind her. I grab her in my arms and bring her closer to me. “Why are you in bed naked?” she mumbles when she feels my cock on her ass. She moves her ass from side to side. One thing that has not slowed down is the fact that I want her all the fucking time. Waiting six weeks after Jamieson was born was honestly the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through. No matter how many blow jobs or hand jobs she gave me, nothing was better than sinking into her. When I bend to kiss her neck, she slowly turns over to face me, hitching her leg over my hip. “Nothing says good morning…” she says, rubbing herself against me and then stopping when we hear the front door open and close.
“We are changing the locks,” I say, and she rolls her lips. “Third time is going to be a charm.” I’ve changed them twice already when Alex showed up at two a.m. once out of the blue and then another time when Julia and Alex both showed up in the middle of the night, and we found them in the living room passed out on the couch.
“Hello?” I hear my sister and then feel the blankets move. I look over to see Jamieson’s eyes open as he looks around. His blue eyes match mine as does his face.
“Oh, there you guys are,” Alex says and then stops when she looks and sees the towel by the side of the bed. “Are you naked in the bed with your child?” she gasps, and Jillian just buries her head in my chest. She used to get embarrassed, but now she just rolls with it. “What is wrong with you?” she hisses and comes to the other side of the bed. “He’s awake.”
“For the record,” I say, getting up on my elbow. “He just got up.”
“For the record.” She leans over and grabs him, bringing him up to look at her. She smiles at him. “Your parents are gross.” She rubs her nose with his, and he smiles at her. “But they do make good babies.”
“What are you doing here?” I ask her.
“Mom and Dad were going to take a walk, so we came to get the baby to give you guys some time to sleep,” she says, then looks over. “Or have sex, apparently.” She smiles at Jamieson. “Do you want to go for a walk with me instead of watching your parents bang? I think you do?” she asks him, and he coos at her as if he understands. “When did he eat?”
“About an hour ago, maybe less,” Jillian says. “There is milk in the fridge.” She kisses him up and walks out of the door. We listen to her walk to the kitchen and then grab the diaper bag at the door on her way out.
“Is it bad that I still want to have sex?” Jillian says. “Even knowing that they know what we are going to be doing?”
“Is it bad…” I say, turning her on her back and slipping into her, causing both of us to moan. “That I couldn’t care less that they know?” I pull out of her and slam back inside her, her legs wrapping around my waist. “I missed you.” Bending my head, I bite her lip.
“Liar,” she goads me. “If you missed me…” She lifts her hips. “You would fuck me harder.” I toss the covers off us and flip her to her knees. Grabbing her by her hips, I fuck her as hard as I can. We both moan out as we come together. “I think we should take a shower,” she says, collapsing on her stomach. “I may or may not want to ride you.” I pull out of her and slap her ass, making her moan.
An hour later, I’m in the kitchen when she comes down. She wears her black yoga pants with a white sweater crop top, and her wet hair is piled on top of her head. I smirk when she looks at me. “Would you stop?”
“I can’t help it,” I say when she comes close to me, and I box her in with my arms. “You’re so fucking sexy.” She lifts her face up, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“You aren’t so bad yourself.” She smiles, and I cover her mouth with mine.
“Can you seriously, for the love of God, leave the woman be?” I hear Alex and look over to see her standing there alone. “Like we get it, you love her.”
Jillian laughs, pushing away from me and going to our son, who sees her and then starts to wail. “Oh, what is all the fuss about?”
“He’s been cranky patty for the last twenty minutes, and he finished the bottle ten minutes into the walk,” Alex says, and I hear the front door open and my parents walk in. “They let me come in to make sure you guys were done before they walked in.” She walks to the coffee machine and grabs a cup of coffee.
“I’m going to change him and then feed him,” Jillian says, turning him so I can kiss his cheek. “Thank you.” She smiles at my parents. “For the break.”
“Was it a break with mister poking at you?” Alex asks, and I shake my head as Jillian just laughs, walking away from us toward the stairs.
My parents don’t stay long, and when I walk up the steps twenty minutes later, I can hear Jillian’s voice. “And that’s when I met your dad,” she says as I lean against the doorway. “He was not my blind date.” She tells him our story every single day, and all he does is look at her with bright eyes as if he is taking it all in. She looks up and sees me, her face filling with a smile. “It was only one little mistake.”
“Nah,” I say. Going to her, I crouch down in front of her and look at my son and then back up at her. “It was something so irresistible.”
Epilogue Two
Jillian
Nine Months Later
“You may kiss your bride.” I don’t even have time to react before Michael leans forward and grabs my face in his hands as the cheers fill the room.
“Fucking finally mine,” he says right before his lips crash down on mine. The laughter fills my ears as I pull away from him, and he turns us to face five hundred of our closest family and friends. He puts his hand in mine and raises it high, making everyone cheer louder.
I look over at Julia, who hands me my bouquet, and then behind her as Alex holds Jamieson. She smiles down at him and claps her hands, making him clap his hands. He’s dressed in the same tux as his father. We walk down the aisle, and I look over to see Julia walking my mother down, and behind her, Dylan is trying to get Jamieson off Alex. He just shakes his head at Dylan and then laughs. Dylan puts his arm around Alex, and knowing Jamieson, he pushes it off. He loves his father and me. Julia tries and tries, but Alex, she’s his best friend.
I don’t have one second to breathe because as soon as we are down the aisle, the photographer grabs us to take pictures for the next hour. “I’m starving,” I complain, standing with my husband. “Husband,” I say, “your wife is starving.”
“Well, let’s get you fed.” He grabs my hand and we walk over to the tented area where our reception is taking place. I haven’t seen anything yet. It’s all been a surprise. The only thing I chose was my wedding dress. The rest I left up to Allison and Max since they said they were paying for it. To be honest, I didn’t care if we got married at home in our living room as long as I became his wife.
The sound of music fills the air as we make our way over to the white tent. I don’t know what I was expecting, but it was nothing like I imagined. “Oh my God.” My mouth hangs open as I walk into the tented area, except there is nothing that says tent. Sheer fabric is all around, and the floor is white. White and green flowers hang from the middle of the ceiling down toward the empty dance floor that has Mr. & Mrs. Horton written in the middle of it.
A long white table against the back of the tent for the bridal party is taller than the regular tables on the floor. The back of the bridal table is filled with green and white flowers. Long tables flank the dance floor as people mingle and come up to us as we walk in.
“I’m so happy for you two,” Franny says, coming to us and hugging Michael and then me. She’s just shocked everyone with her announcement that she is moving to Dallas to become a producer on the Sports Talk television show on the most popular sports channel. What is shocking is that she did it without anybody knowing. For the last five years, she’s been working under an alias on a YouTube forum and finally caught the eye of the owner of the media company. From what I heard, Matthew was not happy, but she was doing it anyway. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see some men at the bar I need to get to know,” she says, walking away, and Michael groans beside me as he looks over at the bar and spots Wilson. Her dress is backless as she maneuvers her way to the bar.
“If he touches her,” Michael says, shaking his head. “Cooper is going to spit him like a pig.” He’s about to take a step forward when Alex comes over with Jamieson.
“I’ve tried everything,” she says as he reaches out for me. “I think he’s tired.”
Jamieson puts his head on my shoulder. “Mama,” he says with a sigh of contentment. I rub his back softly as I walk across the dance floor toward a chair and sit with him. Michael comes over with a whole plate of food for me.
“Do you want me to take him?” he asks, and I look down at my son, lying in my arms against my chest.
“No,” I say, rubbing his cheek. “I can’t believe he’s one.” I rub his chubby cheek as he sucks on his pacifier.
“It’s almost time to have another one.” Michael smirks at me, leaning over. My heart speeds up the same way it did when I first met him. He was hot in jeans and a shirt, but he’s even hotter in a tux with my gold band on his finger.
His lips find mine. “Well, you knocked me up without even trying and using condoms.” He laughs. “Can you imagine if we really tried?”
He shrugs. “Not sure what will happen, but it’s always fun trying.” He puts his hand around my chair. “So are we going to try?” he asks. “You told me no more kids.”
I look down at my son and finally let him in on a secret that I found out right before I walked down the aisle. “We don’t have to try for long.” I look up at him, and his eyes go big.
“Shut up,” he says. “When did you…?”
“Right before I walked down the aisle. I was feeling weird yesterday, so I stopped and bought a test and took it right before I got dressed.” With his arm around me, I put a hand on our son. “Our family is going to be plus-one next year.”
“God, just when I think I couldn’t love you more,” he says, kissing my lips. “My heart grows more and more.”
“That may be the second nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” I say, lifting my hand to his face. His blue eyes shine through the tears that are forming.
“What was the first thing?” he asks, and my face fills with a huge smile.
“Why don’t you come and let me buy you a drink.” I repeat the words he said to me not too long ago. The words that changed both of our lives.
“Thank you for saying yes,” he says, kissing me, and it doesn’t last too long before we are being pulled to pose for more pictures.
* * *
Four Months Later
* * *
“May the best team win,” Dylan says when we walk into the locker room right before our game. We play Montreal tonight, so Dylan had a couple of hours to come by and spend time with Jamieson and to catch up with our twin girls. Apparently, when you really try, you score twice. Bianca and Bailey are expected in four months.
“Congrats, Captain,” I say when I walk into the locker room before the game, looking over at Manning. He is playing his one thousandth career game tonight.
