Page 53 of Strip for Me

“I’mafraid you can’t take your baby out of the ward to see anyone,” the nurse tells me, and I glare at her as I stand up off the bed. I’m taking my baby to see Kaiden today, it’s been too long, and it’s not right. I get that they don’t want her to leave the ward yet, because she was early, but there is no reason I can’t take her to another ward for a short amount of time. The last week has been filled with police and statements. We learnt that they have charged Drew with attempted murder, kidnapping, arson, and the list goes on. They believe he will get life for this, and he deserves it.My baby is doing well, I think as I glance down at her in Dominic’s arms as he sits on the guest chair. She is feeding well and finally has on one of the cute babygro’s I bought her. It’s pink and matches the pink hat she has on. She also has a dummy, which Todd bought her when she kept drinking too much milk and throwing it up. The midwives said it was a bad idea, but Jude came in, telling me that they aren’t always right. My baby loves her dummy and is sleeping better these last two days since she had it.

“Why?” I ask, and she narrows her eyes at me.Holy ducks, I’m not in the mood for this.

“Look, please? Kaiden hasn’t seen his baby yet, and . . .,” I let my words drift off as I think of him.

“Maybe just this once, and I’ll go with her. We all heard about what happened to this lady, and that poor man was shot saving her. This baby is safe because of him, and I don’t want to be the one to get in the way of that,” another, older-looking, nurse says, coming over, and I shoot her a relieved look as she places her hand on my shoulder. I pull my long cardigan closer around me, smoothing my hands over my bump. It’s strange to still have a little bump, a week after giving birth, but apparently, it’s normal and will go down.

“Okay, but I’m taking you and if anyone asks, he is your husband. Okay?” the younger nurse says, and I nod. Dominic grins at me as he walks over with our little girl in his arms.

“Let’s go,” the nurse says, she doesn’t look impressed as she glances between me and Dominic but smartly doesn’t say a word. It’s been a week since she was born and Kaiden was shot. I’ve been to see him twice, but he was high on pain relief and sleepy the whole time. I doubt he even knew I was there. Andre said he is more awake today and in less pain, so I called him, and he told me he was okay. He looks pale and in a little pain, but the guys are taking turns being with him and me. My parents came to see me and the baby yesterday, both of them were very worried when they saw the news. Drew is all over it, and so is our past.

“So, are we finally going to hear the name you chose?” Dominic asks me, and I laugh as we walk slowly down the corridor and wait for the nurse to unlock the doors. I glance back at Dominic as he tucks our little baby tighter in her blanket, as the colder air from outside the ward hits us as the door opens. The ward is so warm.

“Yes,” I say as we walk across the empty corridor and get into the lift. The lift takes us down a floor, and we wait to get letinto Kaiden’s ward straight below the maternity ward. It takes a while for the nurses there to let us in, but I walk straight over to Kaiden when I see him in his own room, across the ward. He’s sitting up and watching tv, which he turns off when he sees me. Todd and Andre are sitting in seats in the room, and they both stand as I come in, but I can’t take my eyes off Kaiden. He looks like his normal self, and I’m relieved to see that. His blond hair is messy, but pushed from his eyes. He doesn’t have a shirt on, and from this angle I can just see the top of the bandage where he was shot. I’m so happy he is alive, and all I want to do is hurt Drew for putting him in here. I’m so glad he is in prison, and I hope someone puts him in his place in there.

“Hello, stranger,” I say, my voice cracking a little, and he waves me over. I walk over and take his hand in mine, and I lean over to kiss him. He meets my lips, with far more passion that I expected from a man that’s just been shot.

“You saved me, and I don’t know how to say thank you for that,” I tell him as we pull away, and he shakes his head gently.

“You don’t need to. I would do that again in a heartbeat, and I’m sorry I passed out and couldn’t do more. I was so worried when I woke up, but Dom told me you were all safe. That’s all that matters,” he says, and then looks behind me when our little girl makes a tiny noise.

“Bring her close, then. I can’t come over to you, dickhead,” Kaiden says to Dom with excitement in his tired eyes, and it makes me chuckle as I move out of the way a little. Dominic chuckles as he leans down to introduce our little girl to another one of her dads. It’s a strange thing to call them all her dads, but I know it’s always going to be that way. I love them all, and they all love her. I can see it in the way they stare at her and the small smiles they give. All week, it’s been lovely to see them all with her, and she likes all of them. The only problem is that sheis never put down, and is sleeping on someone all the time. Our little girl is going to be spoilt for attention, I know that.

“I’m going to look after you and be there when you need me. You should know that you have a lot of people in your life that love you,” Kaiden says, and I place my hand on my lips.

“I thought we could call her Caitlyn. It means pure,” I say, and they all look down at her.

“Caitlyn, it’s lovely to meet you,” Kaiden says, and we all chuckle as I wipe the tears away.

This was worth it, all of it, and I finally have my family.

Forty-Six

ELLIE

“Drew Lukason,you are sentenced to life in prison for the attempted murder of Kaiden Mitchells,” the judge says and then starts listing the other charges as I meet Drew’s cold eyes across the courtroom. He smirks at me, and I glare back, standing up straighter. I won’t let him see how much he still frightens me. I hear crying and turn to see Liz, being held by her father as she cries out for Drew.She still hasn’t learnt anything. Liz is heavily pregnant and must be close to giving birth any day now. Some small part of me feels sorry for her, but then I remember what she did. I can’t be the one there for her. Liz’s father looks at me and mouths the word ‘sorry’. I simply nod, in some ways wishing his daughter didn’t make the choices she did.

“Let’s leave,” Andre says to me softly, and I nod, letting him and Kaiden lead me out of the courtroom with Todd and Dom following. I don’t look back, and I don’t want to. Everything has changed in the last few months and most of it was good. The club was completely destroyed, and the insurance wouldn’t pay to have it fixed. We all sat down and spoke, deciding to sell the land to a contractor for a fortune, and the guys decided they didn’t want to strip anymore. They are all smart enoughto find other work, and they all have. Dominic has started publishing books he has written, and I’ve read them, they are amazing. Todd is planning to set up a business remodelling cars, with the help of Kaiden who will find the cars online and set up the advertising. I know that they will work well together. Andre started advertising the toys he made Caitlyn online, and some people started asking to buy them. He is slowly making a business out of his woodwork, and the amount of orders is crazy.

“I’m proud of you, Ellie,” Dominic says as we stop in the corridor. The trial has been going on all week, and we all had to stand up in there and be honest about everything. Drew’s lawyer tried to twist things to make it seem like the guys stole me away and that Caitlyn was his. They tried to make me out to be an awful person, and my guys were close to losing it several times. In the end, it didn’t matter what Drew told his lawyer to say. There was too much evidence and too many witnesses. Watching him being put away for life is like a big weight being lifted from my chest.

“I only told the truth,” I say, and he smiles at me. Kaiden pulls me to his side, and Andre takes my hand as we walk out, following Dom and Todd who walk in front of us. I look over to see Drew’s parents, watching me closely and they give me a look of disgust. I don’t bother looking at them for a second longer, I never liked them anyway.

“I should call my parents and see how Caitlyn is doing,” I say, and they all chuckle.

“No, this is our day, and we are celebrating. Caitlyn is likely sleeping, and your parents are great with her,” Dominic says, and I nod, knowing he’s right. I still feel like I should call to check in, but I did about an hour ago, and my parents would call if there was a problem. I pull my phone out to check for any messages, only seeing one from Jude with a picture of the twins in their Halloween costumes.They are cute. My phonebackground is of Caitlyn sitting up and smiling.She is so lovely and looks more like Andre every day.Caitlyn is six months old, now, and the time has gone so quickly. Every moment, from her drinking from the bottle for the first time or the time she threw up all over Todd when he was dancing with her, flashes through my mind. I remember all the nights where she didn’t sleep, and the guys took turns staying up, making me go back to sleep. I’ve hardly left her side, but neither have my guys. Holy ducks, they are protective of us both since the fire at the club and everything that happened.It’s sweet. I hope today’s verdict means we can move on from this part of our life and enjoy our future. It’s been a lot of secrets, love, and tears to get to where we are now, but it’s so worth it.

“Where are we going, then?” I ask them as we walk to the car. The guys bought a new Land Rover that is a six-seater and massive, but it fits us all in it. I smile when I see the sun protectors on the windows, they are pink, princess ones and Todd got them for Caitlyn. For four guys who didn’t let girls in their house until me, they sure have gotten used to all the pink, baby toys and pink clothes around the house now.

“Home, and we are going to have a movie night, just all of us, and then your parents are dropping Caitlyn back at home at eight,” Dominic tells me as he opens the door and leans against it, waiting for me.

“We haven’t done movie night in a while,” I say with a smile as I missed it. Caitlyn takes over most of the time, and with the court case, Kaiden’s recovery, and adjusting to having a new baby, it’s not been easy to get time alone together. Andre kisses me lightly and then moves away.

“We all think we should have a night like this every week, your parents have offered to babysit, and when Caitlyn is older, she can stay overnight at theirs once a week,” Andre tells me.

“I would love that, I love you all, and thank you for doing this,” I say gently, aware of all their eyes on me, but I know they’re looking at me with love. I don’t need to glance at them to know that.

“We love you, Ellie,” Dominic says, and they all watch me as I look at each of them, hoping they understand how I feel. This is all I could have ever wanted.

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