Blackness Within (51 page)

I know what’s happening, but I’m concentrated on my woman. She’s having tense words with the other nurse. They’re quiet and no one but me notices. I’m getting aggravated watching the posture of the other nurse. I know Natasha can hold her own, but if this bitch is causing problems I’m going to say something.

When Kat’s done nursing, the bitchy nurse takes the baby to Natasha. While Natasha works, the nurse and the doctor talk in whispers before the doctor approaches my woman. I start moving in their direction to hear, “You just got your job back. I’d hate for you to put it in jeopardy so quickly.”

Natasha pales a little and I pounce.

“Hey.”

I feel the Cooper brothers at my back, itching for a fight.

“Can I help you?” the doctor says almost annoyed.

“Yeah. You can get the fuck away from my girlfriend and then apologize for threatening her for starters. Then you can get out of this room and inform administration a complaint is about to be made about your unprofessional behavior.”

“I’m not sure what you think you heard—”

“Save it,” I cut him off with a hand in his face. “Natasha was in here delivering a baby on her own while you got your rocks off in the supply closet. I’m sure the Coopers don’t appreciate that unnecessary stress.”

“Sure don’t,” Kat calls from her bed.

“Now, tell Natasha you’re sorry. And thank her for saving your ass. You’re lucky there weren’t complications. That would be a messy malpractice suit.”

Natasha has been listening intently with a small smile on her lips while I’ve been talking, all the while attending to the baby. Now that she’s wrapped in a blanket with a hat on her head, Natasha moves around Dr. Dipshit and me to pass the baby to her parents.

Kat and Natasha share a sweet smile and Kat thanks Natasha for her help before Cooper wraps her in a tight hug and kisses her cheek. Then Natasha comes to my side. I sweep my arm around her, the Cooper brothers not moving an inch from me. Cara’s at my other side, staring down the nurse.

“Any time now,” I goad.

He clears his throat before saying, “I’m sorry for what I said. That was unprofessional of me. Thank you for your help with this delivery.”

Natasha doesn’t respond, but the Cooper brothers do.

“That was lame,” Sawyer points out.

“Pathetic,” Cole chimes in.

“Awful,” Dane finishes.

I fight not to smile. The doctor twitches uncomfortably, not knowing what to do.

“Run along,” I order as though I’m speaking to a petulant child.

He starts to say something and thinks better when I take a step toward him, ominous and foreboding.

He and the nurse turn tail and run.

“Thanks, O’Sullivan,” Cooper says from Kat’s bedside. The Cooper brothers all clap me on the back and kiss Natasha’s cheek as they go to meet their sister. Cara kisses my cheek before wrapping Natasha in a tight hug. It warms my heart. They’ve formed a bond over the tragedies in their lives. I hate that they went through what they did, but I love that they have each other to lean on now that they’ve survived.

When Cara let’s Natasha go, she glides over to meet the baby with a broad smile on her stunning face. Love that girl.

“Thanks, Sully,” Natasha whispers.

I lean down and kiss her crimson lips, softly with love.

“Never again will anyone threaten you on my watch, Grey. Love you. You were fuckin’ awesome.”

She rests her head against my chest and wraps her arms around my waist before softly saying, “I love you, Sully.”

I hold her a long while, breathing in her peaches and cream. What I just witnessed has been coming more and more over the past few weeks. Natasha is gaining her strength back. She didn’t back down to the nurse or the doctor. While she was nervous as he was threatening her, she didn’t back away or cower. My woman is finding herself and I’m so fucking proud of her.

“I should go check on Shannon,” she mumbles as she pulls out of my embrace.

“I’ll be right over. Gonna go kiss the baby,” I say through a grin.

She raises up on her tiptoes and I lean down to meet her lips halfway. It’s a sweet gentle kiss that I want to take to the next level. I don’t, but I do squeeze her ass once. She smiles against my mouth before swaying out of the room.

“You rocked, gorgeous,” I compliment Kat.

“Thanks for helpin’ out, Brian. I hope I didn’t hurt you,” she says sheepishly.

“I’ll heal. Give me that baby so I can spoil her before I go across the hall and get assaulted some more.”

Kat rolls her eyes at me as she hands me her tiny bundle. I cradle her close to my chest and whisper sweet girly shit to her. She’s stunning. I know babies are usually wrinkly squished blobs, but this little girl is perfection. She’s gazing up at me with deep sapphire eyes that match her father’s perfectly with a nose that mirrors Kat’s. She’ll send Cooper to prison in fifteen years when the boys come calling. I’ll probably end up in the cell next to his.

“This one’s yours right?” I ask Cole as he approaches me.

“She’s mine,” Cole replies with a predatory look about him.

Good man.

His soft blue eyes twinkle as I pass his sister to him. He cuddles her tenderly, telling her how beautiful she is. My heart sails a little higher watching them and even more so when I look to see pride on Cooper’s face and tears brimming Kat’s eyes. They’re great parents, building an unconventional family.

“Where’s my newest girl?” Kav bellows from the doorway, striding in with a giant smile on his face.

Cole tips his arm to show off his sister and Kav stops in his tracks.

“Shit,” he huffs, running his meaty paw over his head. “She’s a prison sentence waiting to happen.”

The room chuckles, but none of us disagrees.

Olivia Marie Cooper, named after her deceased grandmothers, continues to stun my family with her beauty. When our parents and brothers begin to show up, I watch little Jessie place a sweet kiss on her sister’s head and I see love beaming from her tiny face that’s just as breathtaking as the baby’s.

A loving family. A perfect day. Now it’s time to see what Kid is bringing into the world. I hope to hell it’s not another girl. We can’t
all
go to prison.

“We’re all goin’ to prison,” Cal mutters over my shoulder gazing down at our niece, bundled in my arms.

“I won’t let Bubba get you,” I assure him.

Mary-Ann Margaret Kellerman is as breathtaking as she should be. She has auburn peach fuzz and light blue eyes that will end up the same stunning green of Kid’s. And God help us, I see the same steely determination in her features as she studies my face.

I love Johnny and the twins, but I’ve never been more thankful then now that I know Mary-Ann has three older brothers to watch over her in life.

I look up at Kid as she continues to hug my mom and Mary. They immediately started crying when Kid told them Mary-Ann’s name. They cry all the time anyway, but this is a little more intense. I wish Kav’s mom were here to see her legacy too. The look on Kav and his brother’s faces says they wish that even more than I do.

“Ma, stop cryin’ and come hold your granddaughter.”

Her eyes pop up to mine and a loving smile sweeps across her face. She’s not looking at me or the baby though. I look over my shoulder to see Natasha leaning down to take the baby from my arms. That’s what my mom’s smiling at.

“I’ll take her,” Natasha whispers, beaming at my niece.

She scoops the pink bundle away from me and I grasp her arm before she stands up. Her calm seas of grey meet mine and I see why my mom was so intent on my woman. There are tearstains on her cheeks—happy ones.

I kiss away the trails the tears left before I release her. She beams at me before standing up and moving to my mother. I watch the women coo and weep at the baby. Natasha doesn’t stay with them after she passes them Mary-Ann. Slowly, she backs away and watches the love fest from afar. I stand to go to her, only to be engaged by my dad and my brothers. The room is full of family and love.

We laugh and joke, kiss and cuddle, going between Kat and Kid for the rest of the day. I catch glimpses of my woman and at every moment, I fall a little more in love with her. I see her joking with Hugh. I see her whispering with Cara, a supportive hand on her knee. I see her smacking Kav’s chest after he surely says something foul. I see her cuddling Olivia close to her chest before she takes her to the nursery, love and adoration on her face.

I love her more with every breath I take.

Natasha

August

“Hi, Butch,” I mutter into his broad chest as he holds me close.

I love Butch Rossi. He risked his life and his safety to help save me. When Blake told me what Butch did for me, I cried like a little girl. So many people that never met me were willing to help because of the love this strange family has for each other. And I was a part of that because they all knew what I meant to Sully.

Growing up like we did makes this family of criminals and lawmen the perfect place for Blake and I to live. I love it with these people and I feel like they’re becoming my family, my safe place.

Butch kisses my hair and then hugs Sully in that manly way men hug, with back slaps and handshakes.

“Hi, sweetheart,” I greet Sawyer as his large frame unfolds from a chair at the end of Mia’s bed.

He pulls me in for a hug before offering me his seat. I wave him off and go to see Mia. I’ve been coming here to visit Butch and Mia since June. When I learned what Butch did for me, I wanted to be here. To see what he risked for me.

Then I fell in love with the sleeping beauty. With coal black hair, chestnut eyes, high cheekbones and full pouty lips, she’s simply stunning.

Mia’s in what experts call a minimally conscious state. This means she opens her eyes, squeezes hands and sometimes appears to be tracking movement around her room. There’s hope for Mia to make a recovery from this state. I keep that hope in my thoughts every day for this gorgeous young woman.

“Classes start next week?” Sully asks Sawyer, taking the chair next to mine.

“Yeah. Your sister’s a pain in the ass by the way,” he grumbles.

“Which one?” Sully retorts through a snort.

“Cara. She took off yesterday and none of us could find her for twelve damn hours. When she came back to the dorms, she just laughed it off like no big deal. She wouldn’t tell us where she went either.”

“She needs space to live, Sawyer. Back off a little. Let the woman breathe,” I encourage him.

“Uncle Brian, can you explain to your girlfriend that’s not how we work.”

“That’s not how we work,” Sully repeats without explanation.

“Clears up so much. Thanks.”

“When you love fiercely, you protect ferociously, Natasha. Good men protect the women in their lives even when that protection seems to be an invasion. Trust me, when you slack on that job, the consequences are grave,” Butch says with sorrow in his gravelly voice.

“Butch—”

“Sawyer and his brothers treasure Cara. They just want her safe. They weren’t able to protect her when she was younger. That kind of loss makes for indescribable pain just at the thought of it repeating.”

I nod my understanding, but I’m not sure I agree with them. I’ve been torn from my life like Cara was. I need to spread my wings to feel the wind guiding me back to normalcy. If someone was always stifling my flight, I’d feel suffocated…trapped.

I’ve met with Cara about once a week since she’s been away at school. We don’t always talk about our shared experiences. Sometimes we just enjoy each other’s company, shop, laugh, eat and make fun of her crazy family. But there have been times we’ve shared and what I know about Cara, she needs to feel that wind guiding her toward her future.

“I understand wanting to protect Cara. I also understand how crushing that protection can feel,” I whisper to the room.

“Grey,” Sully says softly, pushing my hair away from my face.

I shake my head no at him. This isn’t the time or the place to further this conversation. He kisses my cheek and threads his fingers through mine. The room is silent other than the whir of monitors. It feels peaceful.

Butch holds Mia’s hand pretty much every moment he’s here with her. And he’s here unless he’s working at the GM plant. The only other place you’ll find Butch is with this family that’s brought him into their fold.