“Will you two not pick on me when I’m in labor? I know I should have taken the fucking drugs, but it’s too late now.”
The three women looked at the midwife. She nodded back.
Vida’s head fell back as she screamed in pain.
“I don’t remember it hurting this bad,” Lily said, biting her lip in worry for her friend.
“That’s because you took the drugs,” Vida said, grimacing in pain.
“And because your doctor was scared to death of Shade. I thought that doctor was going to have a heart attack by the time you delivered John. That’s why he refused to deliver that one.” She nodded her head at Lily’s protruding belly.
“Shade’s out in the waiting room. Do you want me to go get him?” Lily asked, only half-teasing. Her friend was in a lot of pain.
“No!” everyone in the room yelled.
“Okay.” But if this wasn’t over soon, Lily was going to give the midwife heck herself.
Three hours later, the three of them were fighting over holding the babies. Lily stood, holding one in her arms at the same time that Sawyer sat in the rocking chair, rocking the other one. Their husbands had taken the other children for dinner and were going to bring them all back to the hospital to say goodnight to the babies.
“Have you picked out names yet?” Lily asked, moving toward the bed to lay the baby back in her mother’s arm.
“Yes, I have,” Vida said, clearing her throat.
Sawyer brought the other one back, laying it against her mother’s other side.
“This one,” she nodded toward the baby who Lily had beside her, “is Callie and this one, Sawyer.”
Lily stood, staring down at Vida as she lay on the hospital bed, holding her precious babies. She didn’t know what to say.
Sawyer didn’t have that problem. “That’s going to drive you crazy. You’ll have double tats with the same names.”
Lily sat down on the side of her bed. “Or how about when we go on vacation and we’re all together?”
“I already thought of that,” Vida said ruefully.
“Then why?” Sawyer asked.
“Because I can have it again, and I don’t want to miss that chance,” Vida explained.
“What chance?” Lily asked, reaching out to cover the small, wiggling baby who had kicked off its blanket.
“Watching little girls grow up again together like we did. When I hear them giggling together, I’ll think that’s Callie and Sawyer. When they’re driving me crazy, I’ll think that’s like Sawyer and Callie. But most of all, I couldn’t think of two better namesakes.”
Lily’s finger touched the cheek of her namesake.
“She’s a lucky girl to have both you and Colton as her parents.
“Both of them are,” Sawyer said.
Lily watched as baby Sawyer grasped her namesake’s finger in a tight fist.
“I have something for you, Lily. It’s on the table there.” Vida nodded at the table beside her bed.
Lily got up from the bed, picking up the thick, yellow envelope.
“I found it a couple of months ago when I was cleaning our spare bedroom out for the girls. I had put some stuff in there that was mine and Sawyer’s from our apartment we’d shared. In one of Sawyer’s boxes were her school folders. Her mom had saved all her school stuff. When I looked through it, I found that picture. I’ll understand if you don’t want it.”
Lily looked at her friend to see Vida bury her face in her baby’s neck. Her shoulders were shaking. Her eyes went to Sawyer’s own pained expression.
Lily’s eyes went back to the envelope in her hands, sliding the picture frame out. She gazed down at the picture in her hands. The picture was of the three of them when they were children, sitting at a small table at Sawyer’s apartment. They were obviously playing school. Vida was cutting something, Sawyer was obviously gluing things together, and she was coloring. Sawyer’s mom had taken the picture when the three had been chatting away.
When Lily looked at the picture, she didn’t see the obvious neglect of her dirty hair, clothes that were out of season, or even the bruise on her cheek. All she saw was the love and affection the three little girls shared for each other at that brief second in time.
Lily walked back over, sitting down next to Vida on the bed. “Thank you, Vida. I’ll treasure it. It was the best part of my childhood. Those days of playing with you two were very special to me. I learned everything any child needed from you two; what I hope to pass down to my children, and what I will always thank you for teaching me.”
Lily lay the picture frame down on the bed, reaching for the sweet baby snuggled in Vida’s arms. Her sleeve fell back, revealing the tattoo on the underside of her forearm. Clusters of forget-me-nots clustered around three white Easter lilies with her son’s name, John Wayne; Shade’s name; and Sawyer, Vida’s, and Beth’s, their children’s names written inside the small forget-me-not flowers. Each Easter lily held a different word—Love, Hope and Faith. Only Colton could have given the tat the final touch it needed. Part of the tattoo was shaded, but the other half was enveloped in a golden light carrying the darkness of her pain away forever, leaving behind the birth of a new beginning to be shared with everyone she loved.
Books By Jamie Begley:
The Last Riders Series:
Razer’s Ride
Viper’s Run
Knox’s Stand
Shade’s Fall
Biker Bitches Series:
Sex Piston
The VIP Room Series:
Teased
Tainted
The Dark Souls Series:
Soul Of A Man
> Enjoy an excerpt from Cathryn Williams’ book
Stand Of Honor (Stand, #1)
Prologue
“Sweep, sweep!” Melanie screamed at her brother. He was in the best position to take down his opponent and there was no time to spare. Of course, Nicholas could not hear his little sister, but he performed the command perfectly on cue. Nicholas had the stamina. He was known for being the best at wearing down his opponents. Once both fighters were on the ground, he was able to force a tap out by applying a choke hold.
The crowd erupted with cheers. Nicholas had been the favorite in this match.
Melanie waited breathlessly until the referee raised her brother’s hand in victory. Once the hand was in the air, she ran past the guards to be near her brother.
Both her father and she reached Nicholas at the same time. Her father was beaming with pride, sweeping Nicholas into a bear hug. Melanie was jumping up and down, wanting to be included in the celebration.
“Dad, Nick, Dad!” She continued to yell until her dad finally put Nicholas down, picked her up, and spun her around. They embraced in a family hug and had a brief moment of silence. This moment had been a long time coming.
Melanie’s father had been training Nicholas since he was thirteen-years-old. Now nineteen, Nicholas was in the running to become the next champion in his weight division. He still had to prove himself by winning a few more matches against some formidable opponents, but he was well on his way to the coveted title.
As Melanie hugged both her brother and father, she couldn’t wait until her father told her that now that she was thirteen, she was old enough to start training to become the next women’s champion.
* * *
Zane felt something pop. He was pretty sure he’d just cracked a rib, but it was worth it. He was about to defeat his biggest rival, Tobias. Zane had already lost to him once and he wasn’t going to let it happen again in this rematch. Even though he had just taken an elbow strike to his ribs, he was able to get his opponent into a leg lock and knew it was just a matter of moments before Tobias tapped out.