Rocket wanted to hurt the young doctor. She’d been saying that for what seemed like hours.
He’d been so excited when Jayme had told him she was pregnant, but now, after seeing how difficult giving birth actually was and how much pain Jayme had been in for hours, he vowed not to put her through this ever again. Having one child was going to have to be enough.
“I see his head!” the doctor said excitedly. “Come here, Dad, and get ready.”
Rocket pried his hand from Jayme’s with reluctance and quickly moved to stand beside the doctor. Considering how long it took for his son to finally decide he was ready to enter the world, the next few minutes went by surprisingly fast. What looked like a slimy alien slipped out of his wife’s body, and he cut the cord where the doctor instructed him to. Then their son was taken over to a table to be weighed and stimulated before he was cleaned up and handed to his mother.
Rocket went back to Jayme’s side and wiped her brow as the doctor finished up between her legs.
“How is he?” Jayme asked anxiously. “Is he all right?”
Before Rocket could reassure her, they heard a loud, pissed-off wail come from the table their son had been placed on.
Jayme smiled weakly up at him.
“He’s fine,” Rocket told her unnecessarily. “And he’s beautiful. I love you so much!”
A nurse brought their son over to Jayme. She placed him on her chest so they were skin-to-skin, and Jayme looked down at him and her eyes immediately filled with tears. “He’s perfect!”
Rocket couldn’t even respond. He was perfect. Their son was absolutely perfect. He wouldn’t have cared what he looked like or if he’d had some sort of medical condition. He was theirs. So he was perfect. Rocket had never been happier.
Life over the last year or so hadn’t been without its ups and downs. Warm Delights hadn’t taken off immediately. It had been a hard first six months, but slowly word had gotten out about the newest bakery in town, and Jayme was finally seeing a healthy profit after all her sweat and tears.
Rocket had been given the opportunity to go overseas for his employer for six months. It would’ve meant doubling his salary, but they’d just found out Jayme was pregnant and he hadn’t wanted to miss a second of it. So he’d declined…without discussing it with his wife.
Jayme was pissed at him for at least a week, before he’d finally sat her down and they’d hashed things out. She was upset he’d made such a big decision without even talking to her about it, and Rocket had a hard time understanding why she was mad when she agreed with his decision in the first place. But they’d worked through that, and their relationship had become stronger as a result.
“Welcome to the family, Connor Rocket Long,” Jayme whispered.
Rocket’s throat closed up and his eyes filled with tears. They’d had some heated conversations over the last few months about what to name their son, as well. Jayme had wanted to name him Rocket Junior, but there was no way Rocket was going to put his son through what he’d gone through when he was a kid. He’d been teased mercilessly. He wanted their son to have a nice, normal name, that no one would make fun of him for. He might get teased for other things, but at least it wouldn’t be because of something Rocket could prevent.
So Jayme had relented on his first name, but still insisted on giving him a part of his father, the man she loved more than life itself.
Their son yawned, opening his mouth wide and letting out a small squeak, before scrunching his eyes closed and sighing.
“Thank you,” Rocket whispered.
“I think that’s my line,” Jayme whispered back, not wanting to wake their sleeping son.
“Nope. Thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for trusting me to treat you right. Thank you for wanting to have children with me. Just…thank you for sharing your life with me.”
Now Jayme was crying. “You’re welcome,” she told him with a watery smile.
If someone had told him two years ago that he’d be where he was today, married, with a beautiful son, he would’ve rolled his eyes at them and told them they were crazy. He’d spent forty years looking for “the one,” and he’d had no reason to believe he’d ever find her. But here she was.
Here they were.
“Come on, Dad, we’ve got to move your wife up to a room and we need to take little Connor back for some TLC,” one of the nurses said.
Rocket straightened, but grabbed ahold of his wife’s hand as they gently took Connor from her.
“They’ll give him back,” Jayme said with a small chuckle. When his eyes met hers, she said, “You were looking at him as if you’d never see him again.”
“I just…he’s a miracle, and I can’t stop looking at him.”
“You’ll have plenty of time to do that in the next eighteen years,” she said dryly, then yawned, much as their son had done.
Rocket mentally shook himself. Jayme had just been through the most amazing thing he’d ever seen in his life. She needed sleep, and food, and for him to get his head out of his ass and to take care of her. As soon as the nurses got her settled, he’d help her change into the nightgown they’d brought from home. She’d want the fuzzy blanket they’d brought as well. Then there was Winnie. She was going to want to see her granddaughter and great-grandson.
“What’s that smile for?” Jayme asked.
“Just thinking about what Winnie’s going to say when she sees Connor for the first time.”
Husband and wife shared a smile. Winnie was still going strong at ninety-two and a half, and sometimes they thought she was more excited about this child than they were.
“Rocket?” Jayme asked.
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Love you too, sweetheart,” Rocket said. Life was good. He was a damn lucky man…and he knew it.
Five years later
“Connor! Stop teasing your sister!” Jayme yelled from the kitchen. She was finishing up dinner and Rocket knew by the sound of her voice that she was at the end of her rope.
Their kids were awesome, but they were also quite a handful. They’d had Kayleigh one year almost to the day that they’d had Connor. They hadn’t planned on having a second kid so close to the first, but they hadn’t taken the necessary precautions after Jayme had been cleared to have sex again.
They’d talked about it, and Rocket had gladly agreed to having a vasectomy while Jayme had been pregnant with Kayleigh. The last thing he wanted was to put any more stress and strain on his wife, and since they both agreed that two kids seemed perfect for their family, it was a no-brainer.
Now they could make love without worrying about unintended consequences. He could fuck his wife without reservations…but of course, that was easier said than done. With two kids in the house, their life was hectic, but they always seemed to find time to connect physically and emotionally.
Connor was a rambunctious five-year-old who definitely took after his father. He was a big kid, and the doctors said he’d be a big adult, as well. Which wasn’t exactly a surprise since Rocket was six-four himself. Connor hadn’t quite learned his own strength yet, and they were working on that. But one thing that Rocket had done from the time he’d brought his son home was impress upon him the importance of looking after those who were smaller or weaker than himself. There was no way any son of Rocket’s was going to be a bully. No way in hell.