“No, no, no. I love it.” She stuck out her hand, and he slid it into place. “Oh, my. It fits perfectly. I love you, Donovan.”
“I love you, too. Only you.” He drew her back down to the bed and, with a passion reserved only for her, demonstrated just how much.
Epilogue
Two years later
Donovan gazed down tenderly at his wife as he fed her ice chips and mopped her forehead with a cool towel. His life had been nothing short of amazing since marrying Simona. And they had a nice settlement from the lawsuit against Travis to top things off. While their lives had gotten back to normal, the same couldn’t be said about Lorna and Travis. He hoped Travis liked his front-page notoriety as much as he did when he was spewing those lies. And if the rumors were true, the man’s acting career was all but over. Good riddance.
Simona moaned. “I’m tired.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“Did you check on Yasmine?”
He shook his head and smiled. She was still in caretaker mode. “Not yet. I know she’s fine. Between my mom and Nana, she’s probably had enough sweets to fill a Halloween bucket.”
Simona started to laugh, then moaned in pain.
He held her hand, did the breathing with her and rubbed her back until the contraction passed. She had been in labor for five hours and was only four centimeters dilated. He mentally coaxed the baby to come on because he couldn’t stand to see her in pain.
“Go make sure she’s not on a sugar high.”
It took him a moment to remember she had picked up on their previous conversation. “I don’t want to leave you.”
“I’ll be here when you get back. Just promise to hurry.”
“I promise.” Donovan placed a kiss on her parched lips and turned toward the nurse.
She smiled. “It’s okay. I’ll take good care of Simona. She’s one of our best nurses. I’ll come get you if you’re not back before the fun starts.”
Donovan cast another worried glance Simona’s way before heading to the room where his parents, Nana and her new husband, Deacon Mitchell, and Terrence waited.
“Daddy!” Yasmine jumped off her chair, ran across the room and launched herself at him.
He lifted her high and kissed her cheek. “How’s Daddy’s big girl?” Her greetings never failed to fill his heart with love and pride. At three years old, she already loved to read and could count to five. She would start preschool next month, and he would be there to walk her through the doors on her first day.
“Where’s my baby?” she asked.
“It’s not here yet.”
“Why?”
“Well, sometimes it takes babies a while to get here.”
“Do you have to go get it?”
“Ah, no,” he answered slowly. “So, what kind of treats did Grandma and Nana bring?” he asked in an attempt to distract her. Donovan’s father chuckled, and Donovan rolled his eyes.
“How’s Simona, Donovan?” his mother asked.
He lowered Yasmine to the floor. “She’s tired, but she insisted I come and check on this one here.” He tickled Yasmine’s belly, and she dissolved in a fit of laughter. “I need to check on Mommy. I’ll be back in a while.”
“I’ll walk out with you,” Terrence said. In the hallway, he placed a hand on Donovan’s shoulder.
“How’re you holding up?”
“About as well as you were,” Donovan answered with a wry chuckle.
“That bad, huh? I survived, and so will you. As a matter of fact, I’ll be back in that room in about six months.”
His eyes widened. “You and Janae are having another baby? Congrats, man!”
“Yep,” Terrence said proudly. “Oh, and rumor has it Karen and Damian are expecting, too.”
“Hot damn! We’re going to be a prolific bunch.”
“No doubt. Now get in there and deliver my godson or goddaughter.”
The two shared a brotherly hug, and Donovan hurried down the hall to his wife’s room. “Hey, baby,” he said, kissing her lips and stroking her forehead.
“Hey,” she whispered. “They’re not feeding Yasmine too much candy, are they?”
He chuckled. “Probably. She had about a million questions. Wanted to know why the baby’s not here yet.”
“Sure would’ve loved to hear how you answered that one,” she said tiredly.