Page 82 of Pucks and Likes

“I know. I feel it ripping me in two!” I grit out, pressing my feet against the door panel, hooking my arms around my thighs.

“Oh fuck. How are you doing this?” he asks, his face turning white as he takes off his jacket.

“I don’t fucking have a choice, do I!” I yell back, and when he smiles, I feel a bit better. “Shit, Alex, he’s coming. I have to push.”

“Well, then push, mami. I’ve got you. It’s nice to know he’s impatient like you.”

“And has a big head like you!”

He snickers as he moves between my legs. “When I said I wanted between your legs, this wasn’t what I wanted to be doing.”

“Oh my God, shut up!” I snap, bearing down as I squeeze my thighs in my hands, screaming as the pain burns through my body. I feel like a huge hot poker is being shoved into my pussy, and from the expression on Alex’s face, the situation between my legs must not look any better.

The next few moments are a blur. I don’t even know how I didn’t pass out, but the next thing I know, I hear a baby cry before a sob rips from my big, strong man. I lift my head to see Alex cradling our son in his suit jacket, using the bulb syringe on his nose and mouth like he’s been delivering babies on the side of the Gatlinburg mountains his whole life. Tears gush down Alex’s face as he throws down the syringe and uses his dress shirt to clean our baby’s little face.

When he looks up at me, a cry tears from my body at the unbelievable love shining in his eyes. With his voice so rough and full of emotion, Alex says, “You did it.”

My body still burns as I let my legs fall, and I lean forward to look at our son. He’s a little thing, but he has all ten fingers and toes. His nose is a little button like mine, but his chin and lips are his daddy’s. His eyes are dark, maybe brown, but hopefully the caramel will appear later. His head is full of dark hair, wet against his skin as he cries and wiggles in Alex’s hold. I stroke my fingers along his nose, his cheek, and I’m beyond in love with him.

“Hey there,” I whisper, moving my finger along his full lips. “It’s so nice to meet you, Alejandro Benito Cruz Jr.” I feel Alex’s gaze on me, and when I meet his flooded eyes, I smile. “You’re a daddy.”

Another sob explodes from him as he grabs me by the back of the neck and pulls me to his forehead, our bodies cradling our son. Alex kisses my nose, the corner of my mouth, then my lips before he whispers against them, “Don’t ever question how strong and incredible you are, mami.”

I grin against his lips, feeling like a badass, honestly.

“You are the most amazing woman in the world, and you are all mine.”

Tears stream down his cheeks as our eyes lock, and I slowly nod. While it’s still hard to fully believe his words, I stopped denying them a while back. He wouldn’t let me anyway, and truthfully, I don’t want to fight him on it anymore.

I am his.

I am strong.

And I am incredible.

Especially when I’m with him.

A sob threatens to escape as I say, “I always have been yours, Alejandro.”

His lips quirk. “And you always will be.”

EPILOGUE

Alex

Five months later…

Alejandro Benito Cruz Jr.’s birth was all over the news and social media.

Everyone and anyone heard about my incredible woman giving birth on the side of the mountain, and I couldn’t be prouder.

Or more in awe of her.

I thought watching Elliot give birth was a highlight, but the real highlight is watching her be a mother. She loves my son with everything inside her. She knows what he needs in an instant, she changes diapers faster than I can stop a puck, and even when she’s dog-tired, love shines in her eyes. She is everything I’d want in a mother.

In a wife.

I married Elliot a week after Benito came crashing into our lives. It was at the courthouse, but I didn’t care. We didn’t need all the wedding crap; we only needed each other—and our son. Our families were annoyed that we went without everyone, but it’s kind of our vibe. We do things how we want, and everything else will just be.

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