For now, however, I had to take care of myself and the baby boy in my belly.
Thinking of my baby that the ultrasound tech had discovered plain and clearly was a boy made me smile despite all the pain I was in. I really did have a little Bash growing inside of me. A son was what I’d been wanting, not only because I wanted a little double of the man I loved walking around, but because I’d feared that having a girl would make Lexa think that I loved her less. I didn’t know what I would have done if that had ever come to pass, but I was glad that it wouldn’t.
I loved Lexa as if she were my own and never wanted her to feel any differently because she hadn’t been born to me.
The suddenness of the hospital room’s door opening had me jerking with a moment of fear, still a little unsettled from the day’s events. Bash was across the room in the blink of an eye, his hands moving over the parts of my body that didn’t hurt. A tricky feat since most of my body was one big throb.
Big hands that held the strength of a Greek god skimmed over me so gently that I couldn’t help the tears that filled my eyes. Oh fuck. I’d been so close to never seeing this beautiful man ever again. “I love you,” I whispered for what was probably the five hundredth time he’d joined me at the hospital so many hours ago.
“I love you too, Raven.” He brushed his lips tenderly over my damp eyes, being careful to avoid my fractured cheek. An x-ray—something I’d been against for fear of hurting my son but that the doctors had been adamant about—had shown that it was just a fracture and wouldn’t need surgery. I’d been lucky with the broken wrist as well, since they had been able to set it without any problems.
I left my uninjured hand and pushed his dark hair back from his face. “Did you call Willa? Is Lexa okay?”
Some of the lightning storm that had been flashing behind my biker’s eyes all evening faded and he smiled slightly. “I called her, although she already knew what was going on thanks to Spider. Lexa is fine, just a little upset that she can’t come see you tonight.”
I swallowed hard. “She called me ‘momma’ today,” I whispered. “I should have stayed home with her when she begged me. If I had this wouldn’t have happened. Our son wouldn’t have been put in danger.”
“Stop it,” he gently scolded. “You couldn’t have known that any of this would have happened. You had no reason to think that Bubbles would want to hurt you.” He sat on the edge of my hospital bed and carefully placed one of his gigantic hands on my lower stomach. “You and our son are okay. That’s all I care about right now.”
I covered his hand and we sat there in silence for a long while. When he was beside me, touching me, making me feel loved and safe, my pain was almost bearable. A yawn escaped me and my eyes started to drift closed. Sleep would bring sweet oblivion from this fuck-tastic day.
“Is it okay that she calls you ‘momma’?”
My eyes snapped open at his quietly asked question. When I met his gaze I saw that he looked worried. “Of course it’s okay. I love that little girl just as much as I love you and the baby we’ve created together. Why would you think that I wouldn’t be okay with it? Do you…not want her to call me that?” He’d always given me the impression that he was glad Lexa and I were so close, but what if I’d been wrong? What if he didn’t want his daughter to think of me as her mother?
“No, no. Fuck no, Raven.” The hand on my stomach turned over and he clasped my fingers. “Baby, I’m so happy that the two most important females in my life are so close. I just want to make sure that you are okay with it.” He grimaced and shook his head before giving me a smile that was almost shy. “How would you feel about her calling you ‘momma’ all the time? What if you adopted her?”
“I…” Tears filled my eyes and I had to blink them back. “I would love that, Bash.”
I’d thought that being on board with his suggestion would have made him smile, or kiss me. Something. Instead he just looked incredibly nervous, which made me anxious. He shifted on the bed then blew out a long breath. I bit my lip. “Spit it out, Bash,” I practically shouted when he just continued to squirm around and started to sweat.
He gave me a sheepish grin. “Fine. This wasn’t supposed to be how I did this. I wanted to do it at the party in front of everyone, but at least I’m getting to ask you tonight.” He shoved one big hand into his front jeans pocket. When he pulled his hand out his hand was fisted. Bash licked his lips and swallowed hard, then opened his hand.
If a girl ever says she isn’t all that into diamonds, that bitch is a liar. Every woman on the face of the planet will stop in her tracks to look at those sparkly little gems. They call to her like a siren calling to sailors out to sea. I was no different. And the diamond on the ring that Bash unveiled right then was one of the most beautiful diamonds I’d ever laid eyes on.
Seeing the amazing diamond ring made my brain go blank for a moment, but when it started functioning again and I realized what the ring meant my throat tightened and tears spilled from my eyes unchecked. “Oh my god,” I whispered.
Bash laughed nervously. “That’s not really an answer, baby.”
I blinked in hopes of clearing my vision so I could see him clearly. “You haven’t exactly asked me anything,” I reminded him.
He shook his dark head, a smile teasing at his mouth. “Raven Anne Hannigan, it seems like I’ve loved you my entire life. I can’t live without you—I’ve already tried that and it sucks. I don’t ever want to be apart from you. Will you marry me and let me love you, protect you, and fucking adore you for the rest of my life?”
Well, when he put it like that…
“Yes.”
Epilogue
Jet
The house was quiet. After the events of the day I was thankful to have some downtime. My family knew how to throw one hell of a party and my baby sister’s wedding hadn’t been an exception.
Raven had made Bash wait until after the baby was born before she would marry him. I knew why she’d made him wait and it had nothing to do with her not wanting to be pregnant. She’d been hoping that Flick would have gotten back before she got married. Raven had wanted her best friend there with her as she took such a giant step in her life. But that hadn’t happened, and Bash had started to grow impatient, something I couldn’t blame him for.
Now, a little over six months since the birth of her baby, Raven had officially become Mrs. Sebastian Reid. I was happy for her, but damn, she’d put me through one hell of an emotional day. It had been hard as fuck to walk my baby sister down the aisle, especially when I knew that she wasn’t truly happy with her wedding.
I leaned back in my recliner and turned on the TV, hoping to find something that would help me settle down after the craziness of watching the girl I’d spent my whole life loving like my own child marry the only man that would ever deserve her. At least Willa and Spider had played it smart and ran off to Vegas to get married rather than making me suffer through a big-ass wedding, unlike my sister who’d had to have her white dress. She hadn’t had any bridesmaids, though. Which was yet another thing Hawk had been pissed at Flick for, since he thought she’d ruined our sister’s happy day.