Addison takes off her coat and places it over my legs as Serenity comes back, her eyes wide.
“You need to, ah, look and see where the baby is.”
Spike’s eyes widen and he turns to Addi, frantic. Addi turns to me and reaches for my hand. “It’s going to be okay.”
“I don’t know what to look for,” Spike says, his voice full of panic.
“A head,” Serenity says.
He looks like he’s going to pass out as he leans over and looks under the coat. Just as he does, another massive contraction rips through me and I scream. Sweat trickles down my forehead. Addi wipes it away, soothing me with words I can’t hear through my own screaming.
“There’s a head, a fuckin’ head,” Spike yells.
Serenity passes this information on the phone and nods a few times before saying to Spike. “The baby could be here before they get here. All you need to do is guide him or her out, making sure the moment he or she is free that the airways are unblocked. You can do this by just pushing your finger into the mouth and clearing them. Don’t cut the cord, just wrap the baby and keep he or she warm until the ambulance arrives.”
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Spike says as I scream again.
“It’s coming,” I wail, curling up as the urge to push becomes overwhelming.
“Spike, you need to be ready,” Addison stresses, staring at him.
“Cade,” Spike bellows. “Get up there and hold my girls head. Addison, come here, I might need you.”
My man is pulling himself together. Thank god. Cade hesitantly comes over and sits behind me, putting my head in his lap. His big hands rest on my forehead and he swipes my hair from my face.
“You’re doin’ real good,” he says.
I scream again as another push pulls my body forward.
“Nearly there,” Spike says. “Good girl, just a few more.”
I push harder with the next contraction.
“Nearly,” Addison says, her voice soft. “You’re doing so good, honey.”
My head slumps back into Cade’s lap and sweat rolls down my cheeks as I wait for the next contraction. It comes only seconds later.
“Come on, give us one more push,” Spike says. “You can do it, baby.”
I push as hard as I can, screaming out in pain as I feel my baby slip from my body. I drop back down into Cade’s lap with an exhausted cry as I hear the tiny crackle of my baby’s first moments in this world.
“It’s a girl,” Spike says, his voice thick with emotion. “We got a girl.”
Tears run out of my eyes as Cade strokes my hair and says. “You got a girl, honey.”
“We need to wrap her,” Addison says, tears streaming down her face.
Spike pulls off his jacket and he wraps it around his baby girl’s body, securing her for the first moments of her life, in his safety.
“She’s fuckin’ perfect,” he rasps, looking at me with tear filled eyes.
Jackson kneels beside him, his own eyes filled with emotion. Serenity is crying with the phone pressed to her ear.
“Welcome to the world, little one,” Jackson says.
I hear the sounds of the ambulance arriving, and within minutes they are placing my baby in my arms, her daddy’s jacket wrapped around her tiny body. I stare down at her and my eyes well with tears. She’s perfect. Chubby cheeks, pink lips, and a mass of blonde hair. Spike kneels beside me, his hands stroking over my hair.
“She’s so fuckin’ perfect, just like you.”
I stare down at my daughter and I know he’s right – she’s perfect.
ADDISON
“I think she should be called Addi,” I say, sitting on the hospital bed beside Ciara who is cradling her perfect daughter in her arms.
“Dream on,” Spike says, grinning at me.
“What about precious then?” I offer.
He laughs.
“You should call her Jasmine,” Jackson says and I glare at him.
“That’s not the right name for her, father.”
He grins at me and turns back to Ciara. “What about Isabelle?”
Ciara rolls her eyes as Muff pipes up with, “I know, how about Muffy?”
We all burst out laughing.
“Ain’t no way in fuck that’s happening!” Spike says, running his hand over his little daughters head.
“Well,” I say. “What are you guys thinking?”
Ciara looks over to Spike and they both smile. “We’re calling her Mercedes.”
I stare at them. “Like the car?”
“Like the car that was in the garage the night she decided to come,” Spike says and I laugh.
“Ohhh, brilliant.”
I sit beside Ciara on the bed and stroke Mercedes hair. “Welcome to the world, Mercedes. You were born into a biker jacket and you’ll die in a biker jacket. These guys will drive you crazy and send you over the edge, but they are the best family you’ll ever have.”
Ciara smiles at me, and Spike wraps an arm around me. “I always knew you loved me, precious.”
I roll my eyes. “Hell no, there ain’t no way this love I’m feeling is for you, big guy.”
He barks a laugh and we all smile down at Mercedes.
God help us, it seems it’s really only just beginning.
EIGHTEEN YEARS LATER
“Fuck you, Danny,” I bark, flipping my long, blonde hair over my shoulder and glaring at the man standing in front of me, grinning, arms crossed across his broad chest.