Page 4 of Hyde

As I’m shoved out of the delivery room and she’s rushed down the hall to be cared for, I fall to my knees.

I’d die without her, is the first thought through my mind.

But that’s the old me, the selfish bastard.

I’d never leave our daughter alone or allow her to grow up without the love of a parent. Staring down the hallway in the direction the attendants took Riley, I brace myself against the wall, forcing my legs to hold my weight and turn to head the opposite direction.

Our sweet angel, Leslee, is with the others and I need to hold her while I wait for word on Riley and our son.

Pushing through the doors into the full waiting room, my nostrils flare and no one says a word. My gaze spans the room until Connal steps aside and I see my sleeping daughter curled up in Charlie’s arms.

Reaching for her, Charlie stands and gently transfers her to me, and I clutch my darling girl to my heart as I slide into a seat.

“Aunt Tabby’s gonna take good care of them, sweet angel. They’re going to be alright.” My voice is barely above a whisper as I make that promise to my girl and give as much information as I can to my brothers and their families.

“Too loud, Daddy. I’m tired,” Leslee mumbles. I hold her tighter, wanting to protect her from every scrape and ding she’ll get in this life even as I sit here terrified and nearly shaking in fear for Riley.

“Charlie? Can you take her to Gram’s? And stay with them?” I ask a few minutes later. I’ve been inhaling Leslee’s sweet scent after I decided that if the worst were to happen, I’m not sure I could function as her dad in the hours following. Looking around, I pick out their guards. “Hyde and Anvil, you stay with them.”

Anvil is older than Hyde, but Joe’s been around us longer and if Leslee wakes up agitated, he has the best chance of calming her down.

Watching them head out, I almost follow them, craving a smoke break to pull my shit together. Shaking off one of my last bad habits, I start to pace instead, terrified that something will happen if I stepped away—even for a moment.

It feels like days, but I doubt it was more than an hour or so when Tabby walks through the swinging door. She immediately gives me a nod, not fucking around since she knows how completely I love Riley.

My head suddenly feels like it’s spinning and I grab the firm counter of the reception desk to steady myself. When my vision clears again, Jake is standing immediately to my right and Russian is at my back, just as I catch the tail end of Tabby asking me if I’m alright.

“Riley’s alive?” I ask, confirming what her nod meant, yet too scared to ask about our son.

“Yes, although I’ll be keeping her under observation for a few days. Your son has been cleaned up and is ready to meetyou,” she immediately informs me. I nod to my brothers as they, collectively, yell their relief and congratulations, before following our doctor.

“Riley will not be able to have any more children, Gunner. I know you saw it when she passed out, but I almost lost her on the table,” Tabby informs me when we’re past the restricted area, reaching out for my arm to slow me down. And I know she wants a moment to fill me in, but I just need to see my wife with my own eyes.

“I’ll get snipped tomorrow, Doctor. What room is she in?” I’m looking at all the whiteboards outside the rooms we’re passing and getting more frustrated by the second.

“Down here, I told Mike I’d be staying with her tonight. I’ll be right across the hall from her room if you need anything,” she tells me, finally stopping at a room and pointing to the door opposite, this one has a sign that reads Staff Only.

“Thank you,” I say, my voice choking up as I turn and give her a quick hug.

“Anything that worries you, wake me. I have set alarms to check on her every two hours,” she assures me and that’s the first time I notice the bags under her eyes.

Entering Riley’s room, there’s a nurse off to the side. She has a clipboard in her hand, but seems more focused on my wife and child than the monitors in front of her.

“Hey,” Riley lets the word out on an exhale, her exhaustion written clearly across her face even as she leans down to whisper to the bundle in her arms. “Daddy’s here.”

“I love you so much,” I tell her, leaning down to cup her cheeks in my hands as I take in her unnaturally pale complexion. Placing my lips against her forehead for a long moment, when Ipull back her eyes flick from me to the nurse and I look over my shoulder to see the pointed look the lady is giving my wife.

“I’m not supposed to hold him yet. Tabby said nothing over five pounds until she clears me,” Riley confesses, shifting him so I can take our boy from her. “I annoyed Tessie until she laid him on my chest, but I swore I’d give him to you the moment you arrived.”

“That explains why she’s watching you like a hawk,” I tease Riley when I take the little bundle before giving the nurse a smile and nod. “Thank you, I promise I won’t let my wife lift a finger.”

Tessie quietly excuses herself and I look down to study our son.

“Since you don’t want him named Alexander for you, what do you think about Xander?” Riley asks just as I feel him let out a little hiccup.

She’s been campaigning to name him after me ever since we found out we were having a boy and even though her grandmother is the only one left alive who calls me Alex, the thought of another generation carrying my birth father’s name left a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t know why we never considered this alternative before, but it’s just different enough that I actually like it. Really, I’d give into Alexander for her at his point, regardless.

“What do you think about Xander Riley Sorenson?” I ask her, keeping my eyes glued to him, fascinated by his every wiggle. “You did all the work, after all.”

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