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  Danny was livid. “And then you left her. Some husband you’re turning out to be. She’s been crying for days! It’s all we can do to keep her from going into labor. We’re cleaning up your mess, taking care of your girlfriend, your baby.”

  “The least you could’ve done was told us where you were,” Graham offered, frustrated.

  “I’m here now, mates. No need to be sore about it. We found the mole.”

  “I don’t care about the mole!” Danny roared, and I heard a commotion that sounded like wrestling. “I held your girlfriend while she took off her engagement ring. I was there when Sama got back in her mind because you weren’t around. He tried to force himself on her because you weren’t there in her dreams. Did you even stop to think that when you’re gone, Sama’s got an in? Of course you didn’t think! I was there when you weren’t! Typical Von. Flashy promises with no substance. You can’t behave like this when you’re a father. Irresponsible pile of shite.”

  “She took off her ring? October! I didn’t leave you!” Von shouted in earnest so his voice carried. “Hani, I’m here!”

  I heard more fists on flesh, and shot Boston a look of fear. “I’ll handle it,” Boston assured me, running out to the living room to break up the fight. There was shouting and fighting and too many minutes of a brawl that only confused me.

  Mariang snuck into my bedroom and shut the door, climbing into the bed with me. “Don’t worry. Danny’ll sort things out. Von’s back!” She held my hand with hope shining in her features, but I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t feel anything.

  And then the first contraction hit me. That pang of reality, I felt. I swore in the middle of Mariang’s pep talk, trying to keep my pain as private as possible. After two minutes of “I knew Von wouldn’t leave you,” a more powerful one I couldn’t keep quiet through grabbed my uterus and shook it with a punishing force. “What... Are you in labor?” Mariang asked, wide-eyed.

  I nodded, afraid and in pain. “Get Boston!”

  Mariang ran to the door and flung it open, yelling to the brawling bears for help. They were too tangled in their fight to pay attention to her, so by the time Graham ran into the bedroom, my third contraction was in full swing. I clung to the sheets, breathing through my teeth with my back braced against the headboard. It wasn’t just pain; it was fear that shook me. We were at least twenty minutes from the hospital, and I couldn’t go two minutes without a contraction.

  Boston ran in, his shirt disheveled as he sized me up with a wild look about him, only slightly less scared than I was. I didn’t want to have September in my bed, and I really didn’t want the guys here for the whole show.

  Graham stood at my bedside, motioning for Boston to sit next to me in the bed. I kept my mouth closed through a scream while my body arched of its own volition. Mariang backed away so the guys could do their thing and stop the labor. Boston was afraid to touch me too much while I was in the throes, so he simply held my hand, crying out when I squeezed too hard. Graham was bent over me, one arm around my back and the other palming my belly like a basketball.

  Mariang ran out of the room and shrieked in surprise. “Danny! That’s enough! You two are finished. Absolutely finished! We’ve got a woman in labor in the next room, so stop your fight and focus on the baby. September’s coming tonight if we can’t get October’s contractions to stop.”

  Danny barreled through the door, pushing up his sleeves as if he expected to deliver the baby himself. He had a bloody lip and a surly expression that was determined as he met my eyes. He nodded to let me know that he was here, and somehow that meant that everything would be okay. He shooed Boston out of the way, who was more than grateful to vacate the room and get as far away from me as possible. Danny slid in next to me and mirrored Graham’s hold so I was completely encased in the brotherly strength. Danny pushed a long breath out through pursed lips, reminding me to breathe in between the searing ripples of pain. He caught Mariang’s eye. “Time the contractions, hun.”

  Mariang snatched my phone up off the nightstand and found the timer app, dropping the device twice as she tried to manage both technology and her nerves. She watched me howl and struggle for breath as she held her own belly with one hand. Fear was etched all over her face, and I couldn’t tell if she was more afraid for me, or because she was seeing what grand treats were in store for her when her time came.

  “Look at me. Nothing else,” Danny demanded when I started panicking at the contraction that went on far too long. He jerked my chin so our noses were only inches apart. “Look at me. Don’t I look calm? This is nothing. We’ll get this under control, but you have to trust me.”

  I shook my head, scared and in too much pain for too long. “They’re not slowing down!”

  “That’s because I just got in here. Now that I’m here, everything will be fine.” His voice sharpened. “Say it.”

  “Danny’s here. Everything will be fine.” The contraction eased up, giving me a moment to collect myself.

  Von limped into the bedroom, taking my breath away with how beaten and disheveled he looked. “I’m here. I can help.”

  Graham relinquished his spot and moved to my feet, pulling by holding onto my ankles. I studied Von while still trying to control my jumpy breaths. “What happened to you?”

  “Ran into a bit of trouble trying to find Sama’s mole in Finn’s army. Turns out, my charm only works on you, not military men.”

  “You have a black eye. You’re limping.”

  Von leaned down and kissed my stomach. “Let’s not think on that now, love. Even like this, I’m the most dashing man you’ve ever laid eyes on.” Von’s arm coiled around the small of my back as he drew me from Danny’s chest to lean on his. His lips were dry and the left side of his mouth had a trickle of blood coming down from it, but most of his bumps and bruises were days old. “I didn’t mean to be gone so long. I was detained.”

  “By who? What happened? You said you were going to fix it, and that you were stepping out, and then you didn’t come back!”

  “In hindsight, I should’ve left a note or something with Ezra. I knew if I told you, you wouldn’t let me go. I needed to keep you safe, Peach. I can’t have Sama finding ways to bring you presents. If he can send you good things, he can certainly find ways to send you bad ones. So Finn and I went to Dagat to bring Thad in.”

  “Thad’s here now?”

  “He’s at Ezra’s, locked in my cell in the basement.” Von’s nose crinkled. “I do hope he doesn’t mess my cell up. I have things just the way I like them in there.”

  As confused as I was, when the next contraction hit, I didn’t have anything else in my mind other than agony, and what I could do to get it out of me quicker. I gripped Von’s neck and screamed into his shirt. Though I could tell Von’s arms were weak and something was wrong with his ribs, he held me as tight as he was able. “You left me!” I wailed as I pounded my fist to his chest.

  Von was earnest, his hands gripping me as my body tried to puzzle through how to push out a baby when my brain was telling it not to. “No, hani. I didn’t leave you. I stepped out for what I thought would be an hour or two. I was going to tell Finn to bring his man in, but it got more complicated. I should’ve left word with Ezra. No, no. I promised you I’d never leave you again. I wasn’t running out on you. I was trying to make you safer, to be sure Sama didn’t get his hands on our baby.”

  The contraction left me, making me emotional. “I’m sorry I had sex with him in my brain. I didn’t know he was real! I don’t want the baby to be his. I want September to be yours!”

  Von kissed my cheeks with a note of urgency that made me swoon. “No matter what the paternity comes about as, September is ours. But Sama won’t care about DNA results. He’ll want her. I have to stop him from getting to you.”

  “You didn’t run out on me?” I asked hopefully. I was so turned around in the moment that very little resonated with me, but that solitary note finally did. It rang in my heart and set me spinning.


  Von closed his eyes, in pain at my words that cut too deep for him to admit in front of Danny. “Never. I told you I was all in. I’m sorry I made you worry. We were supposed to be in and out, back by supper. Where is your ring?”

  I pointed to my nightstand, and Von yanked it out of the drawer. He picked up my hand and kissed my ring finger in supplication for forgiveness.

  “Please,” he whispered, holding the ring at the tip of my finger, waiting for my permission before sliding it on.

  I permitted a pregnant pause to rest between us before I nodded. “Please,” I agreed, exhaling when he fitted my finger with the ring that belonged attached to me, reminding me every day that Von loved me.

  His lips brushed mine, and despite our audience, I indulged myself in the fresh air of Von’s kiss. It sucked us both under like letting the water out of a drain, immersing us in shimmering gold and blue that infiltrated our lungs. I breathed in pure gold and Von, and couldn’t recall a sweeter scent.

  We were ecstatic to be together again, making up for lost time as quickly as we could. His lips were full and needy, and I couldn’t get enough. Though he was tired and worn, he devoured me as our park materialized around us, sealing the fate that we were still very much in love.

  I lost track of the time, losing myself in the lips I’d been for too long without. I felt the twinge of discomfort in my abdomen, but pressed on, my fingers feeling Von’s ripples of abdomen muscles as if his body were made of Braille.

  “Marry me,” he begged between kisses, thumbing the ring on my finger.

  “Yes,” I breathed. There was only one answer, and I knew it like a well-rehearsed song only my heart could sing.

  There was another twinge of discomfort a couple minutes later, but I couldn’t be bothered. Von was home, and finally, so was I.

  Ten.

  Danny’s Love

  After the labor faded from screams to kisses to nothing at all, the others pried Von off of me long enough to give us both a moment of clarity. The park faded, and in its place was my bedroom, filled with the brothers and Mariang, who were all a little war-torn from watching a woman lose herself in the throes of labor. I’m sure I looked like I’d been tossed around inside a dryer, but I wasn’t exactly vying for beauty pageant queen or anything.

  “When Von kissed you, did you feel your contractions?” Mariang asked before anyone else could speak.

  I thought it through as I blinked the world back into focus with both Von and Danny’s hands on my back. “I don’t think so. I mean, twice I felt an annoying twinge in my belly, but it wasn’t painful. Just uncomfortable.”

  Mariang lit up like she’d just won the lottery. “Danny, when I go into labor, you have to kiss me.”

  Danny raised his eyebrow. “If you insist.”

  “October, you had two contractions while you and Von were kissing. I mean, we could see your belly tense up, and your breathing hitched, but you didn’t cry out. You really didn’t feel them?”

  I shook my head, still breathing hard from the labor and the kiss. “Dude, get out of jail free.”

  Von finally collected himself, rubbing my belly protectively. “I’ve got you,” he promised. “I’m sorry I made you worry.” He looked around the room at his family. “All of you. This one’s on me. I should’ve left word. I’ll not take off again.”

  Danny muttered under his breath several disparaging remarks as he stood up off the bed.

  Von turned to Boston. “Could you stay with November for a few more minutes, mate? I haven’t showered since I last saw you, and I might actually need to call a doctor, or at least clean myself up for the sexy nurse.” He gave me a wink, but some of the effect was lost due to his other eye being swollen.

  “Sure.”

  Mariang left on Graham’s arm. Before Danny made it to the door, he swung his finger in my face. “Don’t you dare let Von off the hook for this. Take him back if you want to, but don’t pretend like this was all okay. I’ll not go through this again.”

  I hooked my finger through his and surprised him by pulling him down for a hug while Boston made himself comfortable next to me. My arms wrapped around Danny, and as much as I could feel he wanted to resist, he let me hold him. “You love me,” I declared. “Thank you.”

  “Oh, shut it,” he groused with a palpable chagrin that only made him more irritable. Then Danny sat on the edge of the bed so he wasn’t leaning over me, deepening the embrace so he could wrap his arms around me, too, and actually participate in the affection. He let out a dramatic exhale. “You’re my sister. Of course I love you. Now stop going into labor. It’s terrifying.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Danny released me and left for the living room with the others. Boston chewed on his nails, his hip pressed to mine to keep the contractions from starting all over again. “That was something,” Boston commented, his eyes wide from the events of the evening. “Danny being... I don’t want to say ‘nice’, because it was more frightening than that. Whatever that was, Danny loves you, that’s for certain.”

  “I love him, too. I love all of you knuckleheads.”

  “Yes, but that’s to be expected. You’re a good person who has a heart. Danny isn’t, and he doesn’t. That’s a rare thing, that is. He took a swing at his own brother for you.”

  I nodded, swallowing hard. “I don’t want you guys fighting.”

  “I know. It’s just odd to see him care about anything other than Mariang, is all. If you could use your advantage to teach him to smile more or to like the rest of us, that would be amazing.”

  I looped my arm through Boston’s. “Danny loves you.”

  “Von loves me. Danny tolerates the world.”

  “Well, I love you, Boston.”

  Boston shot me a sideways smile. “I love you, too, little sis.”

  Eleven.

  Hormones and Hope

  Von was the perfect cure for keeping Sama away from my subconscious. It also gave the brothers and me a break from each other, which we all desperately needed. Von was pretty banged up, but he still slowly stripped for me as seductively as he could manage so I could examine him after he returned from his shower and kicked Boston out. I swore in astonishment when I saw the injuries his clothes had been hiding. He had bruises coloring his body everywhere in puffs of black and purple, wreathed in red.

  His eyes never left me as I pressed my fingers to various parts of him to test if any ribs were broken, or if the damage went deeper than his skin. “I thought I was overselling how amazing you look pregnant in my imagination, but I was spot on.”

  “I missed you.” I looked up at him, wounded. “You shouldn’t have left like that. You just took off. I could’ve had September without you even in this world!”

  “I honestly thought I’d be back in a few hours. Turns out Finn’s men don’t take kindly to one of their own being accused of being in league with Sama.”

  “I can’t picture you and Finn working together on anything. Is he alright, or does he look like you?” I pushed two fingers to his fourth rib, noticing his sharp intake of breath that told me he was in pain he wouldn’t admit to.

  “Nah, they wouldn’t lay a hand on him. They didn’t know we were working together on this. Finn got me out of that mess, and then we both snuck into Thad’s house when he was alone and stole him out. Ezra’s questioning him now.” Von winced when I touched on another sore spot, but didn’t cry out. “So if this whole Reaper thing doesn’t work out, I could make my fair living at performing middle of the night abductions, I’m certain.”

  I grabbed some kinesio tape from my bathroom and taped up Von’s side so he didn’t move it so much and injure it more.

  We stared at each other for a long minute, and then Von attacked. We stumbled into the bed as his lips crashed onto mine, savoring the taste of me and begging for more – always more. He was eager to make us both feel united, separate as we had been. I welcomed my fiancé with open arms, and legs that tangled through his.

  W
e rolled around in our park, smearing the multicolored grass on our backs and letting it streak our hair. Blue and gold dust was hung around us, suspended and motionless until we rolled over and knocked the particles out of the way in a gust of frenzied motion.

  Our clothes were easily ripped and discarded, letting us be Adam and Eve in our own personal Eden. We made love for what felt like hours, but it was still never enough. Though injured, Von was athletic and limber, not caring to be gentle to his side or anywhere else that he’d been hurt.

  In our park, in the grass, in his arms, in our world I felt the first traces of a hope I’d been pretending it was fine to live without. I felt safe, at home with the man I loved.

  There was a banging sound, like a fist on a wooden door in the heavens above us. Von tore his lips from mine to look up, irritated someone was interrupting our reunion. He bent down and kissed me some more, cherishing my body and all the things that made me the woman who was carrying his baby.

  The knock came again and again, but we ignored it, lost in each other. It wasn’t until Von was ripped off of me that the real world slowly reentered my vision, the park vanishing in slow drips that made me reach out for the haven to return. I blinked in confusion, coming to and finding Danny and Boston in my bedroom, holding back a frantic Von who reached for me with heartbreaking zeal.

  In that moment, I saw how desperate he was for me, and knew he hadn’t really meant to walk out on us. He was here, which was exactly where he wanted to be. “Let me go, Bos! This is our room, and we’re making good use of it.”

  “Calm down, mate!” Boston worked out through gritted teeth. “Ezra needs to talk to October.”

  Danny shoved Von backward with a hearty thrust, and I knew Von was pissed, as well as hiding how much pain his ribs were in at the sudden movement. “Snap out of it, Von! Give us five minutes for her to talk on the phone, and you can go back to your makeout place.”