Baby Secret (Slade Brothers Book 3) Read online

  All through dinner, I can’t help but notice the way that Autumn is shifting in her seat. When everyone is up getting their cake, I lean over.

  “Do we need to go? Are you feeling okay?”

  She nods. “My back is killing me. Probably just sitting in this hard chair.”

  I reach over and take her hand in mine. “We can go whenever you want. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

  She nods, but I can tell that she’s trying to put on a brave face.

  When dinner and cake is done, Brennan stands to clear the table.

  “Here, let me help,” Autumn offers, standing up. The moment she’s upright, she clutches her stomach and lets out a painful gasp, falling back into her chair.

  Everyone jumps up and gasps. “Are you okay?” I ask, kneeling at her side.

  She’s gritting her teeth as she nods. Her face is turning red and sweat starts to bead up on her brow.

  “Are you in labor?” I ask.

  Finally, she takes a breath. “I think so. That was a contraction. It wasn’t like the false labor pains like before.” Fear fills her eyes.

  “Okay, come on. Let’s get to the hospital.” I take her hand and help her to her feet. The moment she stands, her water breaks, and she lets out a cry as another contraction hits her.

  “I don’t think she’s going to make it,” Celeste says, taking one of her arms and looping it around her neck.

  “How long have you been having these pains?” she asks her.

  “They started last night,” Autumn admits.

  “What? Last night? Why didn’t you tell me?” My anxiety shoots through the roof.

  “I just thought it was Braxton-Hicks, but they’ve been getting stronger all day. I didn’t want to ruin the wedding…”

  “Lay her down in the guest room. I’ll call an ambulance,” Brennan says, rushing for her phone.

  Celeste and I help her to the back of the house where the guest bedroom is located. I lay her on the bed and kneel by her side. I brush her hair away from her face and try soothing her the best I can.

  “The ambulance is on its way.” Brennan rushes into the room. “Celeste, help me get some towels to put under her.” She looks at Autumn. “I love you to death, but that’s a brand new bed.” She offers up a weak smile, and the two of them rush out of the room.

  Minutes later, mid-contraction, they’re back. They managed to find a couple of puppy pads from Milly’s new puppy, and they stick those under her with some towels on top for extra absorbency. By the time they’re done, two EMTs are walking into the room.

  “Good evening, Autumn. My name is Dawn. How are you feeling right now?” the blonde woman asks.

  Autumn shoots her a death glare. “Not too great as you can probably imagine,” she answers through her guiding teeth.

  Dawn smiles. “If it’s okay with you, I’m going to check and see how dilated you are. That will help us determine if we have time to make it to the hospital or not.” Her partner sets the bag down and digs out a pair of rubber gloves. Dawn puts them on and then goes right to work on checking Autumn.

  Celeste and Brennan exit the room, leaving me alone with Autumn and the two EMTs.

  “Ten centimeters. You’re ready to start pushing.” Dawn flips Autumn’s dress up over her knees.

  “Start pushing? Here?” I ask, feeling light-headed.

  She nods. “We’ll deliver the baby, make sure they’re both stable for transport, and then we’ll go to the hospital.” She moves to the foot of the bed. “Okay, Autumn, whenever you’re ready. You feel that contraction, you push. Okay?”

  I fall to my knees beside the bed, holding her hand. “Come on, baby. You can do this. You’re the strongest person I know.”

  She’s crying and shaking her head. “No, I’m not. I can’t do this here. We need a hospital.”

  I shake my head. “You can do this, Autumn. Come on. Focus. Push.” I try thinking over all of those birthing videos she made me watch over the last six months. Living in such a small town, there wasn’t any local classes we could join. We had to do what we could. Just like now. We’ll never make it to the hospital on time. We have to do what we can.

  She lets out a scream and bears down. I hold her leg and watch in amazement. She pushes long and hard, but stops to rest. The whole time, the EMTs and I are rooting her on. Screams fill the room around us as the tiny bones in my hands break and crumble from her death grip.

  Twenty minutes of yelling, pushing, cussing, and threats, I hear the most beautiful sound in the world: my baby’s cry fills the room.

  “Congratulations, you have a little boy,” Dawn says, holding up the baby. And sure enough, it’s a boy. I have a son.

  Tears fill my eyes and fall over my cheeks as she places the baby on Autumn’s chest. She quickly wraps him up in a towel. He’s absolutely beautiful. He has a head full of dark hair. His eyes are big and blue, shaped exactly like mine and every other male in my family. He has her nose and dainty fingers.

  “He’s beautiful,” I say around my tears and she nods, shedding tears of her own. I bend down and kiss her lips, her cheeks, her nose, and forehead. I can’t believe this. He’s finally here. I’m a father. I have a little boy—two little boys. And all because of this one woman. A woman I couldn’t turn away from or ignore. A woman who my soul called to like she was my missing half.

  I wonder if that saying about people being made in pairs is true. Were we made together and then separated from one another with the destiny to find one another again? The way this feels, I completely believe it. I never realized how alone I really was until I met her. Setting my eyes on her for the first time, my heart ached like I’d finally found the piece of myself that I’d been missing. Finally being whole, I know I can never go back to living up on the side of that mountain all alone. I think my heart and soul knew that it had to wait for her. That’s what set me on the path of staying secluded and living the way I did.

  The three of us load up into the ambulance with Drake and Celeste taking Bryce for the night, and then we’re finally off to the hospital to get everyone checked out. On the drive, I can’t do anything but sit back and watch them. Watch the way she holds him close. Watch the way his eyes open and move around, taking in everything before him. Watch as his hand closes around the tip of her finger.

  “We still need to think of a name for this little guy,” Autumn says, watching him sleep.

  “What about Logan?”

  She smiles. “Logan Slade.” She nods. “I like it.” She looks back down at him. “Is that your name? Logan?”

  He makes a little whimper and she giggles. “I think that’s it.”

  I lean over and press a kiss to her forehead, my eyes landing back on him. He’s so perfect, I know I could spend the rest of my life right here in this moment. It doesn’t matter that I’m sitting in an uncomfortable position in an uncomfortable ambulance seat. It doesn’t matter that the shocks on this thing suck and that my back breaks a little more with every bump, or that the smell of the exhaust is giving me a headache. When I look back on this day, it will always be perfect.

  One week later…

  “Oh my goodness. He’s so perfect,” Brennan says as she leans over the little sleeper that Logan is laying in.

  I sit on the couch. “You’re more than welcome to babysit. I think he hates sleep. I haven’t gotten more than four hours at a time since he was born.” I rub my tired, probably bloodshot eyes.

  She giggles but goes right back to staring at him with goo-goo eyes.

  I look over at Colton and nudge his knee with mine. “She’s catching the fever,” I point out.

  He laughs and nods. “Speaking of that.”

  She turns around and comes to sit at his side. He wraps his arm around her, and her fingers tangle into knots in her lap.

  “You want to tell them?” he asks, looking only at her.

  She blushes, her cheeks turning to a bright pink. “I’m pregnant!” she blurts out.

  Au
tumn and I clap, cheer, and give them our congratulations.

  Drake and Celeste look dumbfounded, their mouths hanging open. “You’re pregnant?” Celeste asks. “I’m pregnant too!” She points at her chest with her index finger, eyes wide.

  Another round of cheers come from all of us.

  “Man,” I shake my head and rub my eyes. “This family is blowing up this year.”

  Drake and Colton laugh. “Wish Mom was here to see all these kids,” Drake says, and we all go silent as we think about her. I’m not the kind of person to dwell on the past, and I wouldn’t consider myself a mama’s boy, but it really would be nice if she were here right now. I know she’d be spoiling Logan rotten and claiming Bryce as her own.

  “She can see, wherever she is,” Autumn says, leaning into my side. I wrap my arm around her and hold her close, wishing that she had gotten to meet her.

  Bryce and Milly come running into the living room with their laser tag gear on. Fake gun sounds explode around us, and they’re yelling and screaming. Seconds later, Logan is crying from his little corner in the living room.

  “Your turn,” Autumn says, pointing toward the baby.

  I stand up and chase the kids into the other room before going over to pick him up. In a week, he’s gained half a pound. He now weighs in at seven pounds, thirteen ounces and he’s twenty inches long.

  “Can I feed him?” Celeste asks, leaning forward just as I’m about to sit down with him.

  “Sure.” I hand him off and go to make a bottle. I can hear him fussing the whole way. Just as I’m walking back into the room, he starts to cry. I give her the bottle, and he goes to town like he’s starving to death, even though it hasn’t even been an hour since he’s last eaten. She giggles when he latches onto the bottle and immediately settles. Drake leans in to watch, and Colton and Brennan lean in just a bit closer to get a better view. He really is perfect.

  I take my seat next to Autumn once again, and she rests her head against my shoulder, her eyes immediately drifting closed. Her warmth and scent wash over me. A certain kind of heat radiates from somewhere deep inside of me: it’s happiness. It’s love. It’s friendship and family. It’s home.

  I always thought a home was a house with four walls and a roof. I never knew it took so much more to make it a home. I thought I was home up on that mountain all alone, but I was wrong. This is where I belong. Autumn, Bryce, Logan, the rest of the Slade family, they’re home. This is home.

  * * *

  If you LOVED Baby Secret, be sure to check out Loves Me NOT!

  Loves Me NOT Sneak Peek

  Get ready for Wyatt and Destiny's heart wrenching second chance story! He's a wild child, who loves a good party and doesn't say no to a beautiful woman...until the love his life comes back to town with a secret so big it could blow the entire town up.

  Prologue

  Wyatt-2009

  “Come on, man! One more shot before we go in. You know you’re going to need it with these girls making us dance during every single song,” my friend Mark says, pushing a bottle of Jameson my way.

  “Dude, we’ve drunk half that bottle already. Not to mention wiping out that six-pack while getting ready,” I argue. My vision is already doubling. I’d hate to vomit all over Destiny’s dress. She’d kill me for sure. If nothing else, she’d never let me live it down.

  “Dude,” is all he says, still holding out the bottle.

  I shake my head. Clearly, it would be easier to take another sip than to argue about it. “Fine,” I say, ripping the bottle out of his hands and swallowing down a long gulp.

  When I pull the bottle away, I cough and get the sudden urge to puke, but somehow hold it back as I sputter out, “Let’s go before these girls lose their shit.”

  We climb out of the limo and find the girls waiting for us.

  “About time,” Destiny says, wrapping her hand around my arm.

  “I know. Mark just wouldn’t come off it.” My eyes fall from her beautiful face down to her chest, where her breasts are pushed up nicely thanks to the fancy prom dress.

  She laughs and bumps her shoulder into mine when she notices. “There’s plenty of time for that later, Mister. Right now, you owe me a dance.” She flashes me a smile and her blue eyes light up.

  Seeing her in this big white dress only makes me think of the ring I have sitting at home in my dresser drawer. I know we’re young, but I don’t care. I’m going to marry this girl, and I plan on asking her the day we graduate. Only two more weeks until I have that ring on her finger. I’m counting the minutes.

  I know a guy my age shouldn’t be thinking about getting married. Most guys my age are only talking about going away to college and the fun they’ll have. But I’m not planning on going to college. Why would I when I have a good job waiting for me at my family’s brewery? I’m all set to become director of marketing, and I’ve already learned from the best when it comes to doing that job.

  When we walk into the entrance of the gym, we hand over our tickets and wait in line to have our pictures taken. I wrap my arm around Destiny and pull her close, inhaling her sweet scent. I pull back.

  “Are you wearing a different perfume?”

  She smiles and nods. “Do you like it? It’s my mom’s fancy stuff. She never lets me use it, but it was a special occasion tonight.” She shrugs one shoulder.

  “I like it, but I like the kind you always wear better.” I bend my head down and brush my lips against hers.

  “Next!” the man taking the pictures yells, and we all step forward in line as Mark and Julie go to stand in front of the backdrop.

  “I love the color of her dress. I wish I would’ve found one in that color,” Destiny says about Julie’s light-colored baby blue dress. It’s almost the exact same as Destiny’s, or at least it looks that way to me. They’re both long, puffy, strapless, and form-fitting around their chests. The only difference I see is the color.

  I lean in. “I like you in white,” I say, causing her cheeks to flush.

  “Next!” the man yells again and we go stand on the tape for our pictures.

  Minutes later, we’re on the dance floor, and Destiny is wrapped up in my arms. Blue lights are flashing around us as we move back and forth to the beat of the music.

  “Damn, look at them moves,” Julie says with a wide smile.

  I flash her a grin but don’t respond. Lately, I think Destiny’s been getting jealous when Julie and I have our usual banter. She says I’m flirting, but I’m a natural flirt and do it without even realizing it. Mark couldn’t care less. In fact, he purposely flirts with Destiny. I try not to think too much about any of it. Mark is my best friend and has been since day one of kindergarten. And Destiny and Julie have been friends for years. If nothing else, I hope Destiny sees how much I love her and that I’d never do anything to risk what we have. I hope to end all that doubt when I put that ring on her finger in two weeks.

  There have been many times when I’ve been tempted to give it to her a little early, but I keep telling myself to wait. It’ll be much more romantic on graduation day.

  “Des, bathroom break?” Julie asks.

  Destiny nods and pulls away. “I’ll be right back.”

  I look over at Mark and he nods toward the back corner of the gym. I follow behind him, thinking we’re going to meet up with some friends. To my surprise, he pulls a small bottle of liquor out of the inside pocket of his jacket. He takes a swig and passes it over.

  I roll my eyes, having learned my lesson from trying to argue earlier. I take the bottle, tip it back, and swallow down the liquid.

  “Tonight is going to be awesome,” Mark says, taking one last drink before tucking it away.

  “I probably won’t even remember it now, thanks to you,” I joke.

  He bumps my elbow with his. “That’s the point. You know you had fun if you can’t remember.”

  My stomach gurgles from that last drink and sweat starts beading on my brow. “I’m going to the restroom,” I say, wal
king off.

  “I’m going to go spike the punch,” he laughs out, walking in the opposite direction.

  In the bathroom, I take a piss, wash my hands, and then lean against the sink. I’m fucking dizzy, my stomach feels like I’ve been on a roller coaster for the last 14 hours, and the loud music is killing my head. Is it possible to have a hangover before you even go to sleep? I shake my head and splash some cold water on my face. I quickly pat it dry with some paper towels then look over my reflection. My eyes are bloodshot and hooded. My hair is already a mess and I make quick work of straightening it the best I can. With a sigh, I give up and exit the bathroom.

  The moment I step out of the restroom, my eyes land on Destiny’s back. Her thin neck teases me with her hair pulled up high on her head. Something comes over me and I’m instantly craving her lips on mine. I wish I could just carry her away from all of this. I want nothing more than to spend the rest of the night buried deep inside her. When the three girls she’s talking to walk away, I step up to her back and press my lips to her neck. She tilts her head to the side, giving me more of her. The different perfume she’s wearing burns my nose as I breathe it in, but I don’t think anything of it when she spins around, wraps her arms around my neck, and kisses me.

  My arms immediately wrap around her, pulling her closer to my chest as I deepen the kiss. Something seems off—different. And it’s not just the perfume. The way she tastes is different; maybe she’s had some of Mark’s spiked punch. But the way her tongue moves with mine is different too.

  “Wyatt!” someone yells, and I pull away, finding Julie—not Destiny—directly in front of me.

  I spin around to find Destiny. Hurt fills her eyes as her mouth hangs open, her bottom lip quivering. I look from Destiny, to Julie, who looks just as surprised, and back.