Claimed By The Devil (Devil's Riders 8)

I drove as quickly as I could go and still be safe too. Things happened fast. Within an hour, she was tucked into her room at the maternity ward, breathing through her mouth like a cute little owl. The gang had all shown up, even though we knew it might be hours yet.

They were crowded in the room and spilling out into the hallway when Melissa’s breathing turned into a low moan.

“That was fast,” Janet said, looking impressed. “Go get the nurse, Donahue.”

I took one look at Melissa’s face and realized Janet was right. Her last contraction had only been a few minutes ago. And this one was way more intense. I took her hand and she squeezed the hell out of it as the contraction went on and on.

A nurse rushed in and shooed everybody out. I waited, trying to look calm for my woman while mentally, I was freaking out. All the things that could go wrong started racing through my head. But I couldn’t show a bit of it.

“This baby is coming now,” the nurse said, going into the hall to call for the doctor.

“You all right, sweetheart?”

“Yes . . . yes, I’m okay.”

She didn’t sound okay, though. She sounded out of breath and like she was in pain. I would have done anything to take that pain away from her. She knew how I felt and that was why she was trying to hide it from me. She was always looking out for me, even when it was my job to look after her.

“I’m here. Don’t worry. Do you want the girls to come in?”

She shook her head and then thought better of it.

“Maybe Janet.”

I went and got Janet with a quickly whispered, “She wants you.” When I walked back in, I saw how pale my wife was and gave her a reassuring smile. We each took a hand as the doctor and nurses buzzed around her. Then it was time to push.

“That’s it. You got this,” Janet told her. We took turns saying encouraging things for the next hour. I could tell Melissa was getting tired. I was on the verge of demanding they do something when it happened.

“Crowning! One more big push. Wait . . . now!”

Melissa bore down with everything she had. A moment later, we were rewarded with a loud cry. I kissed my wife hard and fast. Then Janet kissed her, too. Then we were all laughing and crying at the same time.

“It’s a boy,” the nurse said as she cleaned the baby off. “A perfect little boy.”

She brought the baby over and I helped Meli sit up. The nurse handed him to her and I leaned down to look at him. I barely noticed Janet slipping out of the room.

“A son,” I breathed, staring at the perfect little face. “We have a son.”

“Yes, we do,” Melissa said with a tired smile.

“Does he have all his fingers and toes?”

“Yes,” she said, laughing at me. I would never admit it, but I loved it when she did that. She kept my ass in check.

My heart swelled, bigger than it had ever been before.

“Thank you, wife.”

“You are welcome, husband.”

Everyone came in a few minutes later and cooed over Everette. We’d named him after my father. If we had a girl next, it would be Meg. But as excited as I was about having a big family, I wasn’t sure my wife would agree to going through all of that again. Not for a little while, anyway.

“Are you happy?” I asked her a little while later when everyone had cleared out. I knew they already planned on stocking the house with food and coming over every day to help out. We were more than covered. We practically had our own army of built-in babysitters.

“So happy. Beyond happy. Are you?”

“Melissa, I never thought I’d meet someone like you.”

“Finally notice someone like me, you mean.”

I laughed and shook my head. She’d confessed her school girl crush on me long ago. I’d been surprised, flattered, and very, very glad I hadn’t known or thought about her that way until she was old enough.

“I never thought I’d find the woman of my dreams standing six feet away,” I amended. “I never thought I would have a family of my own. I never imagined any of this. I didn’t think I deserved it until you proved to me that I did, just by loving me back. I am the happiest man in the whole damned world.”

I tipped her chin up to kiss her beautiful lips as her eyelids drifted shut.

“And it’s all because of you.”