Loving Violet (Rockers' Legacy Book 4)

I kissed my way from her temple to the corner of her mouth then brushed a soft kiss over her sweet lips. “I can’t wait to meet my little princess.”

On the other side of the tent, the doctor handed the baby to someone else, and Mandy followed them to where they were already cleaning the baby off. “Dad, do you want to cut the cord?”

Violet gave a soft, happy laugh. “Go,” she urged. “Cut her cord.”

I kissed her again and then sprinted over to Mandy and the pediatrician. Mandy handed me a pair of weirdly shaped scissors and told me where to cut. My hand shook as I did as I was instructed, then I took a moment to look down at Love Bug.

She had a thin layer of light blond hair on her head and the cutest nose I’d ever seen. Her lips were the perfect Cupid’s bow, just like her momma’s, and there was something about her chin that reminded me of Remington the first time I’d met him. She was pink and squalling, with ten little fingers and ten of the cutest, tiniest toes I’d ever seen in my life.

Unable to tear my eyes off our perfect little princess, I asked Mandy. “Do you think she’s going to have any complications?”

“She’s breathing on her own,” Mandy said, and I could hear a smile in her voice. “Doesn’t seem like she has any issues, Dad.”

Some of the pressure on my chest began to ease, and I reached out, gently rubbing a finger down her soft cheek. “Thank God.”

I started to turn to tell Violet our baby girl was perfect when a loud beeping filled the room and stopped my heart. “We’re losing her,” one of the other nurses said.

“She’s still losing blood,” the doctor barked. “I need to find where it’s coming from. She’s only nineteen. I don’t want to do a hysterectomy on her unless it’s a last resort.”

“Vi?” I choked out and started toward her.

Mandy stepped in front of me. “Don’t get in the way,” she told me in a firm voice. “Stay here with your daughter, or I’ll have to put you in the waiting room.”

The tears I’d been fighting earlier filled my eyes, blinding me as I stood there and watched them working on the woman I loved more than life itself. “Don’t take her from me,” I begged. My legs gave out, and I fell to my knees. “Please, Remington, don’t take her from me.”

Chapter 53

Violet

“And then Daddy rode in on a giant black steed and whisked Mommy to the hospital, where the doctor placed the most beautiful little princess the world had ever seen into Daddy’s arms.”

I frowned at the sound of Luca’s voice and slowly lifted my lashes. The room was dimly lit with only a single lamp on, casting a soft glow around the private and spacious hospital room. I shifted in bed, trying to find a more comfortable position, only to wish I hadn’t when the entire lower half of my body protested.

Holy shit, that hurt. It felt like I’d been cut in half and then sewn back together. But even as that thought filled my head, I realized it was kind of true as the memory of my daughter’s birth floated through my head in slow motion.

“But of course, Mommy was so stubborn, she had to give Daddy a heart attack. The room filled with the sound of Mommy’s heart stopping, and Daddy fell to his knees, praying she wouldn’t be taken from him forever.”

I turned my head and found Luca sitting in a reclining chair beside my bed. In his lap, he held a pink bundle that was my love bug. My heart filled to overflowing as he continued with the story he was telling the baby whose eyes seemed glued to his face.

“He cried, ‘No, don’t take the only woman I’ll ever love. Don’t let her leave me. Take me instead.’ And suddenly, her heart started beating once again.” He lifted his eyes from Love Bug, and I saw they were damp with unshed tears as his gaze locked with mine. “And Daddy told Mommy that if she ever tried to leave him again, he would follow her all the way to heaven just to get her back.”

“Luca?” I breathed, feeling like I’d woken up in some alternate dream world where he was saying the only thing I’d ever wanted to hear.

“About time you opened those gorgeous eyes,” he said with a smile that warmed me like nothing ever had before.

“How long have I been out?” I asked, glancing at the baby again before looking back at him.

“About six hours. You didn’t have a hysterectomy, by the way. The doctor found the source of your bleeding and stopped it before he had to take everything.” He absently played with Love Bug’s hands, but his eyes never once left my face. “I got to feed Love Bug, and I have already learned that changing a real baby’s diaper is nothing like those dolls in childbirth classes they give you to practice on. We both cried through that whole ordeal.”

A small giggle left me before I even realized it. “I’m sorry I missed that.”

“You should be. I seriously nearly died today because of you.” His eyes darkened to that murky brown mud color, telling me he was pissed, but the softness of his voice didn’t change when he spoke again. “You’re not going to fire Jenner, by the way. He told me you were going to leave this morning. Whatever put that idiotic idea in your beautiful head, you better erase it right now. I can’t go anywhere at the moment because of football. So, we’re going to be in Tennessee for a while. I’ll take you to California for the holidays, and your parents, Shaw, or whoever else you wish can come to us whenever you want, but your ass—” He broke off and looked down at the baby before clearing his throat. “Your butt isn’t going anywhere without me. Understand?”

“That depends,” I said, my heart pounding against my rib cage.

“On what?” he gritted out between clenched teeth.

“Does Daddy really love Mommy?” I whispered.