The next picture was of Jesse sitting in a rocking chair with one of the twins in his lap. From the way he was holding his son I could tell he was nervous, probably afraid that he was going to hurt the tiny little guy. But the smile on Jesse’s face and the tears in his ever-changing eyes tore at my heart and a small sob escaped me. The next picture was almost the same thing, except I realized it was the other baby in this one. A dozen other pictures of the babies and I was shaking with the force of my crying.

“They’re so beautiful,” I breathed, holding the phone’s screen to my chest. The last picture was Jesse holding both of his sons, our sons. My guys, all three of them. “Are they really okay?” I asked Emmie. She would tell me the truth no matter how hard it was to hear.

Emmie nodded. “The doctors said it was a miracle that they didn’t have more wrong with them. The breathing thing will work itself out, but other than that there isn’t anything we should be worried about. They are eating great and their diapers are filling up the way they should. They might have to go under the fluorescent light because of their bilirubin levels, but we both know that isn’t unusual. Mia was under there forever.”

The door opened without so much as a knock and the perky blonde stuck her head around the corner. “Everything okay in here, hun?”

My eyes narrowed on the nurse. I had no reason to hate her. I didn’t even know her, for Pete’s sake. But I hated her to my very core. “I’m fine,” I gritted out, dislike shooting out of me at her from every pore in my body.

“Okay, then.” The door shut with a slight snap behind her.

“What was that about?” Emmie asked, her brows raised in surprise. It was usually her snapping at people, not me.

“I can’t stand that chick,” I told them honestly. “I don’t even know why.” Lana’s snort followed by a giggle had us both looking at her. “What?”

“Maybe you could hear me after all…” Lana snickered again. “I might have attempted to wake you up with a few fibs. Like a blonde nurse pawing your man and a few other things.” She shrugged. “Looks like I brainwashed you to hate her. Sorry.”

“Lana!” Emmie scolded, before grinning. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Chapter 15

Nik

I wasn’t able to stay at the hospital around the clock like Emmie was doing. Mia didn’t need to be around all the sickness that was in the hospital and it wasn’t like she could see her Aunt Layla or her cousins anyway. So other than visiting Em and Jesse for a few hours at a time, I kept her home.

Lucy didn’t want to, but Jesse insisted that she go to school today. So I took her to school when I dropped Mia off at her preschool and then picked her up instead of letting her take her usual carpool home again. She had been sleeping in the guest room for the last two nights.

The poor baby was terrified. Not only because of Layla and her brothers, but because of what Jesse and Emmie had had to explain to her about her real dad. I had heard her crying herself to sleep last night, but when I had gone in to check on her she had pretended to be asleep. It ate me alive that she was hurting so much. I couldn’t help but be reminded of a scared little Emmie unsure of what tomorrow would bring.

Mia slept cuddled beside me last night because I hadn’t been able to sleep until I knew she was safely tucked in with me.

As soon as I picked up both of the girls I drove us to the hospital. Shane and Harper were sitting in the ICU waiting room, but their grins told me that something was going right for a change. “How is she?” I asked, placing Mia in a plastic chair beside Harper.

“She’s awake and cranky, from what we’ve heard the nurses muttering,” Shane informed me with a chuckle. “And Jesse is upstairs with the boys, but he should be down soon. They still want to keep them up in the NICU for another night.”

“Can I see my brothers today?” Lucy asked me as she placed her backpack in an empty chair. “Dad said maybe yesterday.”

“I don’t know, Lucy. They are still upstairs and the nurses said yesterday that kids under the age of twelve aren’t allowed in there.” I hated letting her down, but it was for the safety of all the babies in the NICU, not just her brothers that we had to think about. “I’m sure as soon as the twins are moved down to this floor you can see them all you want.”

“Okay.” She sighed and flopped down in the chair beside Mia. “Can I call Harris? I promised him and his dad I would let them know if Mom woke up.”

“Go ahead, sweetheart.” She pulled her smartphone out and her face instantly brightened when she started talking to her friend. I wondered if she had a crush on Devlin’s son, but didn’t want to put that kind of name on it. I was sure that if Jesse thought the same thing he would be going all kinds of overbearing father on her and the boy. Maybe even put a stop to their friendship.

“Where’s everyone else?” I asked as I finally sat beside Shane. I’d been fielding calls from Emmie’s home office all day to help her out, and my head was splitting. I seriously couldn’t understand how Em did all that she did without losing her sanity.

“Drake is downstairs getting us coffee. Lana and Emmie are visiting with Layla. Natalie and Linc stopped by before they left for the airport. Natalie wanted to stay and help Emmie, but Em told her to go and take care of the America’s Rocker shitheads. They were raising hell this morning because Drake told them he wasn’t going to make it next week either.” Shane scowled, shaking his head. “They can’t find a big enough name to fill in for him for the next two weeks. Emmie told Natalie to suggest the first season’s winner.”

“I’ll have to ask my dad,” Lucy was saying in a more animated tone than I had heard in several days. “But I really want to, so I’m sure he won’t say no.”

“Dad won’t say no to what?” Jesse asked as he walked through the door, looking pale and exhausted. He needed a shave badly and probably a week’s worth of sleep, but there was a small smile teasing at his lips.

“Tomorrow is Halloween, Dad,” Lucy reminded him. “And Mr. Cutter is letting Harris go trick-or-treating in their neighborhood by himself. Harris wants to know if I could go with him.”

“With just Harris?”

“Yes…”

I could see the dad-brain working in Jesse’s eyes. Devlin’s neighborhood was a gated community just like ours, possibly even more secure than ours was. There wasn’t anyone in that neighborhood who was on the sex offender’s list—yeah, we’d become obsessed with that thing since the girls were getting older. Harris was also a pretty responsible kid for fourteen. Devlin was raising him right, and the boy always spoke to Lucy with respect.