She placed her hand over her mouth as tears filled her eyes.
“Yes, Stefan! Yes! I will marry you.”
With a smile on my face, I slipped the princess cut diamond on her finger, stood up, and hugged her tight while my family whistled and clapped.
“I can’t believe you did this.” Our lips met. “I love you so much.”
“After all, I am your prince charming, baby. Thank you for granting me my wish. I will love you forever and always.”
Lily ran over and I scooped her up and the three of us hugged.
“I’m so happy you said yes,” she said. “I knew you would.”
“Congratulations, you two.” Snow White smiled. “Beautiful ring, Prince Charming.”
“Nothing but the best for my princess.”
“Are they single?” she whispered as she looked over at my brothers.
“Just the two on the end.” I gave her a wink.
Chapter 47
Alex
We were sitting at the family table at Four Kinds celebrating Julia’s birthday when suddenly, I felt something dripping down my leg.
“I need to go to the ladies’ room,” I said.
“Are you okay?” Stefan asked.
“I’m fine.” I smiled.
The moment I stood up from my chair, the drip I’d felt turned into a gush.
“Umm. I think my water just broke.” I looked at Stefan.
“What? You’re not due for another week.”
“What’s your point?” I cocked my head at him.
“Oh my God, you’re serious?”
“Why would I lie about that? Oh shit!” I placed my hand on my belly and immediately sat back down.
“Nope. You can’t sit down. We have to go.” He grabbed hold of my arm.
Everyone stood from their seats and Lily ran over to me.
“Does this mean Henry is coming?”
“Yes, Lily. It does.”
“Have that baby before midnight.” Julia smiled as she hugged me.
“Come on, baby. Let’s get you to the car.” Stefan held onto me as he led me out of the restaurant.
We made it to the hospital and one of the nurses took us straight up to the labor and delivery floor. After Stefan helped me change into a gown, I laid down on the bed and practiced my breathing.
“This isn’t so bad.” I smiled at him. “I can do this.”
The nurse who was hooking me up to the fetal monitor snickered.
“Just relax and I’ll be back in to check you in a bit. If you need anything, press this button.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, are you having an epidural?” she asked.
“I don’t think I’ll need one.”
“Honey, trust me. I’ll put in for it.”
About an hour later, the contractions hit with full force, and I couldn’t help but scream.
“Make it stop.” I gripped Stefan’s hand.
“I wish I could, baby, but I can’t.”
“Get the nurse in here and tell her I want that fucking epidural now!”
“Okay. Breathe, baby. Just breathe. I’ll be right back.”
Stefan
I walked out of the room and asked Julia if she could stay with Alex while I went to find the nurse.
“I want to be with Alex, Dad.”
“No, you don’t, baby girl. Trust me. You don’t want to be in there.”
I found the nurse and told her Alex wanted the epidural.
“I knew she would. I have to see how far along she is and then I’ll call anesthesiology.”
After the nurse examined her, the anesthesiologist walked in and gave Alex the epidural. Life was good again. Not just for her, but also for me and my hand.
“I love you.” I kissed her forehead. “And soon our son will be here ready to be held in his mother’s arms.”
“I love you too, but I need for this kid to come out now.” She spoke through gritted teeth as she grabbed my shirt.
I looked at the nurse and she smiled.
“This is nothing. She’s mild compared to some of the women we have up here.”
Two hours later, our son, Henry Liam Kind was born weighing in at seven pounds even. He had a good set of lungs among other things, and I couldn’t help but smile. That was my boy.
The moment the nurse placed him in Alex’s arms, he stopped crying.
“Yeah. I stop crying too when your mom holds me.” I stroked his tiny head.
“Did you really just say that?” Alex laughed.
After the doctors and nurses left the room, I went and got Lily and brought her into the room to meet her baby brother.
“He’s so tiny,” Lily said as she touched his hand. “Hi Henry. I’m your sister, Lily, and I’m going to always look out for you. Just like dad and his brothers look out for each other.”
I couldn’t help but feel the sting of tears in my eyes as I kissed the top of Lily’s head.
After a while, I went and told my brothers and Julia they could come in and meet their new nephew.
“Congratulations, bro.” Sam and my brothers hugged me.
“Another kid. I can’t believe it.” Simon smiled.
“One of my brothers is married, another one is on his way to the altar, and now I have a niece and a nephew. What is this family coming to?” Sebastian smirked. “Sheer madness, I say!”
“You just wait, my brother. Your time is coming.”
“As nice as all this is for you and Sam, I’m happy with my life the way it is.”
“Me too.” Simon smiled. He hooked his arm around Sebastian. “It looks like it’s just you and me, bro.”
After everyone left, I took Henry from Alex, sat down in the rocking chair and rocked my son.
“He looks just like you.” Alex smiled.
“You think?”
“He is definitely your kid.” She laughed. “And he’s going to be quite the lady killer just like his daddy and his uncles.”
“That’s my boy.” I grinned. “But seriously, baby, he has your—your—”
“My what, Stefan?”
“Well, he came out of you, so at least you have that.” I chuckled.
“If you weren’t holding our baby, I would throw something at you.”
I stood up, put Henry in the crib and walked over to my beautiful fiancée.
“We make beautiful babies, don’t we?” I leaned in and kissed her lips.
“We sure do.”
“I love you, future wife.
“I love you too, future husband.”
Two Weeks Later
My brothers and I were sitting on Sebastian’s patio with Henry while Alex took Lily to the store for some new shoes. I offered to go with them, but she said she wanted to spend some one-on-one time with Lily.
“You’re a natural. Look at how well a baby suits you.” I smiled at Sam.
“Julia and I talked last night, and we’re going to start trying.”
“Damn, bro. Really?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah. We’re ready.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for the sleepless nights, constant crying, a hormonal wife and a messy house? A messy house, Sam. A messy house.”