Page 15 of Baby Me

I was on the streets for three years until I turned eighteen. Then, I moved up to living in squalor in apartments that shouldn't be available for humans or any other life form. Every time I tried to get ahead and get out of that situation, something would happen to keep me chained to the impoverished life. I was twenty-eight when the club took me in and had just turned thirty when I got pregnant.

I was about to turn thirty-one in two months, but not before my little one came along. At least I could say I beat teen pregnancy; despite the lifestyle I led early on while trying to survive. I didn't beat the odds at becoming a single mom, though.

"Okay, Davina, you can do this." Sarah coached me as she used a tissue to wipe my face. "It's okay to cry in here, but I want you to know that you are amazing and you're being so brave. You have Neva and me in here and Doctor Harrington will be in shortly. We're all going to get you through this."

"Thank you," I whispered before another contraction hit. When it subsided, I grabbed her arm and pulled her close. "If something should happen to me, you need to contact the Savage Vipers MC. I'm not sure who the father is, but the baby belongs to the club. If anything happens, promise me you will let them know, so that I know the baby will be taken care of."

"You think a motorcycle club will take care of a baby?"

"Better than the foster care system ever will. I ran from that system after I was hurt, please, promise you won't let my baby go there."

"I promise to notify the club if anything happens, but there won't be any need. We're going to get you through this just fine."

A few hours later, I cradled my daughter in my arms while trying to get her to latch on to my breast.

"How are we doing in here?"

"Just fine. It was awful when they took her away," I admitted.

"Aw, sweetie, we would never let anything happen to your daughter."

While I wanted to believe the woman, I knew better. Portia was my new nurse. When they took my daughter to clean her up and do all the things they do to newborns, I'd been moved to a different room for recovery, which meant the labor and delivery nurses were no longer with me. Maybe it was naïve of me to think that I had bonded with Sarah during my labor experience. I was sure that happened to all new mothers, but still, for some odd reason, I expected her to travel with me to the other side of things.

"How is she doing?"

"I'm not sure." I tried to shrug my shoulders and Coral's mouth popped off my breast. She appeared to be sound asleep.

"You need to try to burp her, and then see if she'll try the other side. Always try to get her to take a little from each."

While I burped Coral and swapped her to my other breast, Portia looked over my chart. "As long as everything looks good tomorrow morning, Dr. Harrington will most likely release you both."

Her puckered expression let me know that she didn't like that idea. "Medicaid won't authorize another day unless there's an issue."

"I know." My sigh was heavy enough to disturb Coral. She pulled off my breast and started to whimper. "It's okay, sweet baby. Momma has you. Hush now, we've had a big day and it's time for you to rest up. You're going to need your strength for this life, so enjoy all the quiet moments while you can."

"Isn't that the truth?" Portia asked before smiling and heading back out into the hallway. "I'll be by in a couple hours. If you need me or feel too tired and want the baby to go to the nursery, just buzz us." She pointed to the call button that was positioned on the arm of the bed.

The nurse from the nursery tried to convince me to get rest and leave the baby with her earlier, but I demanded that my daughter be brought to me. I didn't trust them with her, and if that meant I got no sleep while I was in the hospital, then that was what would happen. I would sleep when my little angel slept after we got home.

Chapter 7

Tripp

My gut twisted again, like it did the day I ran into June at the bank the first time. Maybe it was an ill omen, or perhaps just nerves over going out on a pseudo-date with my ex-girlfriend from high school. Again. Maybe it was because she was also a married woman. Maybe it was because of the last time we tried this. What happened after. The night I couldn’t forget. The night that belonged to a different woman, one I hadn’t seen in months.

“Fuck!” I breathed the word out quietly, thinking no one would overhear me until the sound of her chuckles reached my ears. I turned and grinned as she stood near the back of my pickup truck. I brought the truck, since my Harley was being worked on.

“Since you weren’t even looking in my direction, I’m going to guess that was about nerves and not that I blew you away with my appearance,” she teased.

I gave her a full-body once over and had to admit she looked great, though still a bit too prim, proper, and buttoned-up business class for my taste. “You look great. Just nerves, I guess. We’ve had our ups and downs, June.

She nodded thoughtfully. “Haven’t you dated at all since…” The ‘since your wife died’ was left hanging in the air between us and again my gut clenched with the feeling like I was betraying my wife.

“No,” I admitted. “Haven’t been a saint in the years since, but never took anyone seriously.” My gut clenched for a different reason then. There had been that one someone I wanted to take seriously, but it felt like there were too many obstacles in the way to make it work.

“I meant since the last time we tried this.” She was fishing for information to see if I had been with anyone else.

“Not gone out on a date since then either,” I stated. She could read between the lines, considering I hadn’t said that I haven’t been with anyone else. Not that it mattered. I hadn’t been intimate with June since high school.

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