Page 72 of Lani

Danny walks in with our dinner behind them. I’m starving and craving a huge burger—the greasier the better.

Dad walks over to me, kissing the top of my head. The guys are holding the babies as I rest before they get hungry again.

“My baby, it’s hard to believe that you’re a mom now. What happened to my little baby who begged me to carry her everywhere?” My dad’s eyes shine with unshed tears. I lean up to hug him and I wince when I pull my stitches.

“Be careful, baby,” Trey tells me, and Andy walks over to Trey. I know he’s dying to hold Sariah. “Can I hold her, please?”

Trey grins. “Sure can.” He lifts Sariah in his arms. Andy starts bawling like a baby. “God, I love her!” Danny wraps his arm around Andy, hugging him. “He’s paced the halls for hours.” Danny runs his hand down the side of Andy’s neck.

Caleb is taken by my dad, holding him against this chest. “Fuck, you did good, baby,” Dad grumbles, full of emotion. My mom is a bawling mess right along with Trey’s parents.

Right now, I know it bothers Vinny that he doesn’t have his parents here to enjoy this moment with him.

The girls will be by later once the crowd dies down. I take the food Trey hands to me and I moan at the best-tasting food I’ve ever had in my life.

Jordan and Alisha walk in. Alisha just had her twins a few weeks ago. Yes, we both had twins and apparently twins run in the family and we didn’t know until, well, we both got pregnant with twins.

Mom splits off and takes one of the twins from Jordan, “Nana’s baby!” she coos, and I grin.

“Hi sis, I heard you had a rough day.” Jordan kisses my cheek, Alisha greets me next. “Congrats, mama.”

Hours pass and everyone leaves. I scoot over in the bed, which hurts like a bitch. Trey is on one side and Vinny on the other. We have a baby on either side of the bed. Trey has Caleb and Vinny has Sariah.

We turn off the light and turn on a white noise sound machine. I’m not listening to beeping all night long. I know that’s extra, but it was the guys’ idea.

* * *

The next morning, the nurse comes into the room, bringing in our breakfast trays, and I want to murder her.

The nurses offered to take the babies back into the nursery and care for them for the night, but I just can’t be away from them right now.

But the guys were a huge help. They got up every single time one of the babies cried and helped me take care of them.

I love how hands-on they are.

Trey lifts the bed to a sitting position so we can eat our food. The babies ate an hour ago so they should be fine until we get done eating.

I am so ready for a shower and to change my clothes. “Please don’t open the blinds. I’m not woke up enough for that,” I ask the nurse when she goes to open them and let the morning light beam through my brain.

She laughs. “You got it, sweetheart.”

“You look so beautiful this morning, mama,” Vinny says and hands me my orange juice so I don’t have to reach for it.

I definitely don’t feel beautiful, but I’ll take it. “Thank you.” I rest my head on his shoulder for a beat before I go back to my breakfast.

Our trays are taken away, and the babies are still asleep in their clear cradles. “I think once we change them again, I want to put some clothes on them,” I rattle off when the door opens.

My first thought is my mind is playing tricks on me. The man standing there is wearing a white cloak-type shirt that’s giving me flashbacks of the cult the girls and Vinny grew up in.

He sets his Bible down onto the small tray where we had our food. “I am here to save your damned soul, jezebel, and save these bastards from a life of hell.”

Fury unlike any I have ever felt before hits me to my core. Before I can even speak or react, Trey and Vinny are out of the bed. Trey picks up the guy and slams him down onto the ground as hard as he can. The tray shakes from the movement, causing plates and food to fall to the floor.

Vinny reaches inside of the cradle and hands me the babies, to keep them safe. Trey reaches for the fork that was left over from our breakfast, stabbing the guy straight in the eye. “I am going to love killing you, fucker.” Trey sounds fucking evil, his voice showing a deeper, menacing part of him.

The door is pushed open and I stare in shock at Lynn and Etta standing there. “Pastor Hogan?”

Vinny steps forward to his sisters. Lynn’s lips tremble. “He’s the man that breaks in the girls before marriage to make sure they are pure in God’s eyes,” she whispers.

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