Rebuilding Stone (The Stone Brother Series Book 2) (17 page)

Time is passing quickly in some ways. And, in some ways, it drags.
I like being here in Kentucky. It’s quiet. Boring, really. It’s not that I’m
not having a good time, because I am. I just miss Chicago, where there are
endless amounts of things to do.

Tracy told me the day after I got here that they have to
make their own fun. It’s true. If it weren’t for the bonfires, swimming in the
lake, cookouts, and local sports, this town would be a ghost town. Kelly often
drags me to the local high school games. I almost want to complain but I don’t.
It’s fun watching everyone’s reaction.

Jay and Annie are great. They’re the parents I never had.
Annie likes to shop and she’s taught me an appreciation for flea markets. I’m
here with her today because Maddox’s birthday is next week. I want to get him
something just as special as the necklace he got me. It’s hard shopping for him
because he isn’t the type of guy who wants anything. He is content with
everything he has. I’m at a complete loss.

“Annie, I need your help deciding. I can’t think of a thing
to give Maddox.”

“Well what does he like?” she asks.

“Sports. But, he doesn’t have anything sports related in his
apartment.”

“What else does he like?”

“Being a police officer. He is in the uniform all day. I
don’t want to get him anything work-related.”

“What about sending him a photo of you?”

“Annie, he sees me every night. I doubt he’d want a photo of
me, especially not as a birthday gift.” Annie smiles. “What?” I ask.

“He would if it was the right photo.” She starts giggling.
I’m shocked this left her mouth.

“Annie, I love the suggestion. I’m a little red in the face.
If I weren’t six months pregnant, I would totally do it. But this is not sexy,”
I say pointing to my stomach. I’m not that big but I’m clearly pregnant.

“I’ve made an observation with Noah. I’ll assume it’s the
same with Maddox. They find their wives or girlfriends extremely attractive
when pregnant. I think it’s an arrogance thing. They’re all proud they got you
girls pregnant.” I start cracking up. She hit the nail on the head.

“Alright. I’ll do it. Where do I go to get the pictures
done?” I ask.

“Kelly. She takes photos.”

I’ve noticed pictures around the house and she has talked
about it before. I thought it was more of a hobby because she is a hairstylist
and loves her job. I think Kelly is a great idea. Besides, Kelly has already
seen all of me anyway. She believes in using the bathroom while I’m in the
shower. You can’t be modest and live with that girl.

When I get home, I talk it over with Kelly and she is so
excited. She makes me go shower and do some trimming. When I’m done, she does
my hair. Then, I go find my Chicago Bears jersey I brought with me.

It’s my birthday, and I just got done having dinner with our
group. It was a good time but not having Kerrigan there made it feel
incomplete. She was going to try to make it up for my birthday, but she will be
moving here in a few weeks. Well, temporarily, anyways. At least, I get to go
home and Skype with her. Maybe, if I’m lucky, we’ll have some video sex. Just
thinking about it gets me hard. I stop by and grab the mail. There’s a package
for me. I smile because it’s from Kerrigan. I have no idea what it could
possibly be, but, for the first time in my life, I got a present and it’s from
Kerrigan. Whatever it is, I’ll love it. I feel like a six year old waking up on
Christmas morning. I can’t wait to open it. Once inside the apartment, I rip it
open. First, I read the card.

Happy Birthday Maddox,

I had no idea what to get you. I’m sorry I couldn’t think of
anything better than this. I hope you enjoy it. I love you, and I promise to
try to do better at gift giving when Christmas rolls around.

Your girl,

K

Now, I’m super curious as to what’s in here. I open it up
and, Jesus. I take my time flipping through the album. With each picture, my
dick gets harder. Why the hell would she think I wouldn’t like this? Well, it’s
torment really. All I can think when I see her in some of these positions is
that I’d love to enter her from the back. I head to the computer and hit the
call button.

“Happy Birthday, baby,” Kerrigan answers.

“Damn right, happy birthday. I love my gift,” I smile.

“You do? I’m sorry I didn’t give you something better.”

“Kerrigan, I want this gift for every birthday, Christmas,
and Valentine’s day. You can never go wrong with nude photos. Ever.”

“Okay, good. So, I guess you’ll like the other gift I got
you.” She got me something else?

“Yeah? What is it?” I ask and I watch Kerrigan stand up and
slip her robe off. Dear God.

“Look what you’re doing to me.” I stand up and undo my
pants.

“I can’t wait to slide down your dick again,” she says while
slipping her hands between her slit. Yep. Getting lucky tonight. Best Birthday
ever.

We’re one month away from the trial. I can’t wait to get
this over with and get my very pregnant girl here for good. Kerrigan is staying
here with me until she delivers. She and our son will return to Kentucky after
he turns six weeks. She wants to see the wedding she is planning until the end.
And I want her to have that because she has worked so hard for it. We asked for
and were granted a pushback on the trial. Luckily, everyone agreed that having
her on the stand so close to delivery wasn’t a good idea.

It’s been so nice coming home every day to my girlfriend. I
want to say wife, so I’ve decided to ask her to marry me tonight. I don’t want
to wait any longer. I want a ring on her finger because once her pregnant belly
is gone; there will be nothing to warn the other men that she’s taken.

When I open the door, the apartment smells amazing. And
there she is, barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Maybe Kentucky is rubbing
off on her. I smile. If it did rub off on her, I’m glad. I can now see my
future clearly: Kerrigan as my wife, with our kids running around. I’m not
crazy like Noah. They just found out they are having another. I think Kerrigan
and I will stop at two. We’ve not talked about the number, but of course, if
she wants a dozen, then well, who am I to complain? I walk up behind her like I
often do. I rub her belly to tell my son hi, but then I have to greet my girl.
I lower my hands and slip them into her panties. It never gets old. Her taste,
her reaction to me, and my reaction to her.

“You’re going to cause me to burn dinner,” Kerrigan moans.

“Fuck it. There’s take out.” It’s a shame that whatever she
is cooking will go to waste, but I need to be inside her. I turn off the
burners and take her to the bedroom.

It’s difficult finding a position this late in a pregnancy.
We’ve had to get creative. Tonight I just pull her to the edge of the bed. I
drop my pants and push inside her. Kerrigan hikes up off the bed while her
pussy greets my dick. I don’t know why her stomach turns me on so much, but it
does. I get a steady rhythm going. I place my thumb on her clit and circle it
while I push harder and deeper inside her.

I was really looking forward to the stuffed mushrooms
tonight, but I can’t tell Maddox no. I don’t want to either. I mean Maddox is
amazing. Watching him thrust back and forth with that look on his face as he is
about to cum, well, it’s a major turn on. I have found that Maddox is capable
of going all night—five or six times. I can’t tell you the amount of
times I haven’t been able to walk right the following day. One time, he was
ready for round eight but I was so swollen at that point, there was no way he
was getting his dick in. He settled for a blowjob that I happily gave him. As
much as he wants sex, he spends twice as much time ‘tasting’ me, as he says.
I’m not complaining. When Maddox goes down on me, I can’t put into words what
it feels like. It’s like the second his tongue hits my clit; he becomes greedy.
He always lets out a deep growl and pushes his head closer to my pussy. It’s
like he has been starved and is only eating for the first time in a month. Just
thinking about it nearly sends me into the state of bliss.

Maddox keeps thrusting harder, and I’m about to climax.

“Maddox! Harder!” I yell out.

“You got it!” He winks and does exactly what I ask. When he
pushes inside me, it sends me over the edge, and I start cumming. I grab onto
the sheets and bite down on my lip.

“You’re fucking beautiful, babe,” Maddox says, as he pushes
into me one final time before he finds his own release. I watch as that beautiful
cocky grin crosses his face. When he slides out of me, I hate it. I feel empty
now. I let out a groan.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“There is no better feeling than when you’re inside me.”

“Well I’m ready if you are.” He smiles and just like that,
he pushes into me again.

After our third round of sex, I call for take-out. Kerrigan
is in the bath, and the moment she gets out, I’m going to put a ring on her
finger. I’ve carried this ring around since the day she left for Kentucky. I’ve
thought about doing it a million times, but the moment never felt right. I
wanted to find a way to make it special. I realize now that Kerrigan doesn’t
need a production. She needs to know she’s loved. I plan on showing her just
how much I love her. It’ll be simple. It’s who I am. For some crazy reason she
loves that about me.

The food has arrived, and I realize Kerrigan has been in the
bathroom for over an hour. I decide to go check on her. When I walk in, I get
the surprise of my life. Kerrigan is in the bath rubbing her belly and
practicing her breathing.

“You okay?” I ask.

“Yes,” she responds, “I started timing my contractions, I
think this is it.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure.”

“Well let’s get you out of the bath,” I say, suddenly in a
hurry to get her to the hospital.

As I am helping her get her dressed, she leans on me to ride
her contractions out.

“THIS FUCKING HURTS, MADDOX!” she screams, digging her
fingernails into my back so hard that I’m sure she drew blood.

I try to hurry as fast as I can while gathering all the
things we need for the hospital. I quickly send a text to Noah that the baby is
on his way. We have a system in place: I text Noah and he will text everyone
else. I told him not to rush because this is our first baby, and Noah says it
can take hours, or days even.

“Dammit, Maddox! HURRY!”

And I do. I drive as fast as I possibly can to the hospital.
When we arrive, we go straight up to labor and delivery. Kerrigan has had to
stop several times because her contractions were getting stronger. I’m so
panicked that I want to pick her up and run her up the stairs. Once we get
there, the nurses take us to our room and get Kerrigan hooked up to the
monitors. The room is your typical hospital room. It’s all sterile, which I
know is what you want in a hospital room. Still, I wish it were more inviting.
About thirty minutes later, the doctor comes in to check her. We find out she
is only three centimeters dilated, but she is in active labor. That means we
don’t have to leave like we did the first couple times, when she had Braxton
Hicks contractions.

Dr. Chaney decided to go ahead and break her water. Not too
much longer after that, the contractions become more painful. Kerrigan refused
pain medicine. I thought she was crazy, but she said she wanted it that way.
After another long seven hours of painful labor, and only progressing to six
centimeters, she finally caved and got the epidural. I was relieved when she
did because it was tough watching her go through that. Not to mention, I have
no fingers left for her to break. I smile, feeling so proud that I am here to
help her bear this pain. It’s the least I can do. She’s giving me a son. After
another five hours, it’s finally time to push. I’m moments away from meeting my
son. I grab her hand and place my arm under her back to help support her when
she starts to push.

“Alright, Kerrigan, give me a push. We are going to count to
ten,” Dr. Chaney says.

It’s killing me watching her in this much pain. She is
exhausted, sweating, and her hair is a mess, but she has never looked more
beautiful.

“Again, Kerrigan!”

After a few times of doing this, Kerrigan gives up and
starts crying. “Maddox, I can’t! I’m sorry. He won’t come out!”

“You can, Kerrigan. I promise, you can. Just look into my
eyes and listen to my voice as I count,” I say, and she does what I ask. After
we finish counting, she falls back. I decide to peek because if he isn’t close
to coming out, I’m afraid Kerrigan won’t be able to handle it. When I look
down, I can’t see anything. Well, I can see, but I don’t think I’m seeing what
I should be seeing.

“Dr. Chaney?” I ask.

“He’s coming. I promise. Watch with the next push.”

I do as he says and holy shit, I see the top of my son’s
head. After another hour of pushing, we finally hear the words we’d been
waiting for.

“One more push, Kerrigan, and your son will be here.”

We get to nine, and there he is! I’m a father!

Kerrigan starts crying. I admit I had tears of joy in my
eyes. It’s an overwhelming feeling of joy. I lean down to kiss her.

“Thank you, babe. Thank you. You did amazing. I’m so proud
of you.” I look at Kerrigan, and she has a huge smile on her face. She is so
exhausted.

“Here you go, daddy,” says the nurse, as she hands me my
son. I lock eyes with the most precious thing I’ve ever laid eyes on. I can’t
stop staring and smiling. Okay,
and
crying. I can’t wait for Kerrigan to get her first look at him, so I walk him
over to her.

“Want to meet our son?” I say to Kerrigan.

When she doesn’t say anything, I look at her. Her eyes roll
to the back of her head, and there is a flurry of activity around us.

“Call the OR, let them know we are coming!” shouts Dr.
Chaney.

“What’s going on?” I look to everyone in the room for
answers.

“Maddox, here,” says a nurse, “give me the baby. We need to
check him out. We will update you when we can.”

Just like that, Kerrigan and my son are gone, and I’m left
standing alone in this now cold room. What the hell is happening? What’s wrong
with her? I don’t know what else to do, so I call Noah because he is the only
one I know that might be able to give me answers. He answers on the first ring.

“Is he here?” Noah asks.

“Noah, please find out what’s going on. Please. They just
took Kerrigan to surgery.”

“Of course. What happened?”

“She just delivered our son. I went to show her our baby,
and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.”

“Is he okay?”

“Yes, he’s perfect. What’s wrong with Kerrigan?”

“It could be a number of things. I’ll call and see what I
can find out. I’ll call you back.”

I wait for what seems like forever, but in reality, it was
only maybe five minutes when Noah calls.

“What’s going on?” I ask

“Kerrigan has what they call ‘postpartum hemorrhage’,” Noah
explains. “In most cases, the doctor can manually stop it, meaning massaging
the belly to help deliver the placenta. Once Dr. Chaney delivered the placenta,
the bleeding continued. She has a cervical laceration. They are giving her blood
transfusions. Most of the time they work, but you should be aware they may have
to do a hysterectomy.”

“All I care about is...is Kerrigan going to die?” I am
barely able to utter the words.

“Shit, Maddox, it’s possible. But that is highly, and when I
say highly, I mean
highly
, unlikely.”

I just hang up. I don’t know what else to do.

I pace the floor of the hospital for about thirty minutes,
thinking of all we’ve been through. We both finally found happiness. She has
overcome so much. Please, God, don’t take my wife. I know technically she isn’t
my wife, but I don’t need a legal document that says she is. I might not have
said any vows, but I don’t need to. I just know that I’d love her
for better, for
worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until dea– NO.
God, that can’t happen.

Finally, the nurse comes in. “You want to sit and wait with
your son?” I nod because I want nothing more than to be with the gift Kerrigan
has given me. Kerrigan and I had tossed around names but couldn’t come to an
agreement. I couldn’t agree to the name Kerrigan picked out. Holden Maddox
Stone and she was serious. I laughed when I first heard it. Right now, it seems
so small in the scheme of things. It’s possible my son will grow up without his
mother. When I walk into the nursery, they bring him to me, and I tear up.
There is so much emotion. I’m so overwhelmed with the love I feel for my son. I
never knew how much love a heart could hold. I’m scared I might not see
Kerrigan again. What will I tell Holden? Will he blame himself for his mother’s
death? I won’t allow that to happen. Even in this terrifying time, I know my
son is not to blame. I sit, rocking him in my arms for about twenty minutes,
when Noah walks in. Noah? I’m bursting with pride and at the same time, dying
with fear. I walk Holden over to him.

“Thank you for coming,” I say.

“Of course. Can I hold him?” he asked. I don’t want to let
him go, but I do.

“Sit down, Maddox,” Noah says in a professional tone. He
knows something I don’t.

“No, just tell me, Noah.”

“Kerrigan is going to be fine,” he says. I let out a long
relieved breath. “They had to do a hysterectomy, though.”

My heart sinks to my stomach. Knowing the decision to have
more children was taken out of our hands; my heart hurts for her. But Kerrigan
is going to be fine—that’s all that matters. Holden will have his mom. We
can and will get through this.

The nurses tried to take Holden, but I refused. He is going
to be the first thing his mother sees when she wakes up. It’s another four long
hours before she wakes up. I watch as she looks around and tries to place
things.

“What happened?” she asks.

“You had a lot of bleeding,” I reply. “They took you to
surgery.” She looks around and finally realizes her son is in my arms.

“Is that him?” she asks.

“It is” I walk over and place him onto her chest. She starts
crying and I join her. The love on her face is priceless and a look I will
never forget.

“Kerrigan?”

“Yeah?” She looks up at me with her beautiful eyes.

“Babe, they couldn’t stop the bleeding. They had to do a
hysterectomy.”

“We can’t have any more kids?” she asks with sadness.

“No, babe. I’m sorry.”

“No, no sorrys. We have a perfect son. I’m all right,
really. It’s all right. A year ago, I thought none of this was possible. I mean
it. I’m good.” She says it with such honesty that I don’t give it another
thought to not having any more children. She’s right. We have what we need
right here in this room.

“Yes. Holden is perfect.” I say with a laugh.

Smiling, she asks, “You’re agreeing to Holden?”

“Well, yes. You gave me this gift. It’s what you want. I’m
fine with it.”

“You’re wrong, Maddox. You gave me this gift. Meet Eli
Maddox Stone,” she says.

“You sure?” I ask.

“Yes.”

I smile down at Eli and Kerrigan. All is right in this
world.