Page 43 of The Devil's Demise

“We’re almost there,” Enzo says, his voice now urgent yet soft. He had wanted this baby from the moment I found out I was pregnant. We weren’t actively trying. It was kind of like, well, if it happens, then it happens. Then one day, it did.

My beautiful daughter is about to make her entrance and her mom can’t even keep it together. But I’m going to try. I want to savor this moment. Growing her, knowing I was loved and cared for. That I was safe. It was something I never had before. But Enzo made sure I knew that every single day. He had me. No one would touch me again.

We finally arrive, and he quickly parks the car, grabbing our bags and helping me out. “Can you walk or should I carry you?”

I laugh even as I grit my teeth from the pain. “I can walk, babe.”

He nods, and I reach for his hand, holding it tightly. He glances to me, his brows furrowing, his chest rising and falling. It’s cute how nervous he is. It makes me love him even more.

We make it inside, and he demands I be put in a room immediately. He upgraded my room, so I have a suite to myself, and one of the nurses takes me there in a wheelchair, while he proceeds with the paperwork.

Once I’m settled on the bed with the epidural doing its thing, Enzo returns, settling on the chair next to me. A nurse strides inside, wearing pink scrubs, her black hair pulled up into a tight bun, not much older than me. “How are you feeling, mama-to-be? Is the epidural working?”

“Is she allowed to get any more of that?” He quickly rises, rushing a hand past his full head of hair, a few strands draping across his forehead.

I laugh behind him while the nurse eyes me with a twist of her lips.

“I’m fine, I promise,” I tell him. My smile is comfortable now, the pain no longer a burden. But he saw me scrunching my nose at a particularly long contraction and he was not having it.

“Well, if you need more, just press that little button on the remote they gave you.” She places three cups of Jell-O down.

Enzo practically snatches it and press it once or maybe twenty times, but I think there’s a cap they set on that from what they explained. I won’t tell that poor man that.

“I’m sorry this is all you could eat, but I got you a few,” she tells me. “If you need more, just call for me.”

“Thanks,” I say while she fills a cup with water, placing it on the chair beside me.

“The doctor will be in to see you shortly.”

She walks out and Enzo stops pacing for a moment, staring at me. “You need anything, baby? I can sneak you in some sushi if you want.”

I burst with a laugh. “Come sit by me, you big softy.”

He runs a hand down his face as he blows a heavy breath. He comes to settle on the bed right by me.

“Are you doing okay? You know, with everything?” he asks, his knuckles tenderly tracing down my cheek. He knows how much I’d had to deal with when they took Robby from me. He knows that being pregnant, the fear that this baby could be taken, had been there, as irrational as that may be. And he’s been there for me, loving me through all of this “You’re incredible, Jade. I’m in damn awe of you every friggin’ day.”

A rush of emotions swells in my chest, my eyes brimming with incoming tears. “This is hard,” I admit softly. “But I’m okay. You’re here this time.”

“That’s right, I am.” He fiercely picks up my hand and kisses my palm, then places it against his chest. “I swear to you on my heart, baby, no one will hurt you. No one will ever take our daughter. She’s safe, baby, with us. And so are you.”

I sink further into the pounding of the love and aching devotion that seeps through my soul for this man. My husband. The love of my whole heart.

“Hello there.” Doctor Andrews walks in with two nurses, and I rapidly wipe under my eyes. His gray mustache flicks up as he smiles. He’s comforting to be around, always happy, making jokes. He throws on some gloves, then he’s checking how far along I am while I squirm uncomfortably.

“Well . . .” He removes the gloves as he rises to his feet. “You’re having your daughter now.”

“What? Already?” My eyes grow wide, my pulse throbbing in my throat.

“Well, I think you’ve waited long enough, don’t you?” He chuckles, and he doesn’t even realize how right he is. Because I have. I’ve waited forever to hold my baby, to love her, to keep her.

Enzo lowers his mouth close to my ear. “I’m right here. I love you. You’re safe. She’s safe.”

The tears roll down my cheeks as I nod.

The doctor prepares some utensils on a tray, the lights above me flickering brighter. I pull in a long, deep breath, feeling the force down below, knowing she’s going to be here no matter what I want. I do want to meet her. I want to hold her. But I’m scared.

“Okay, when you feel it, push.” The doctor is at my feet again, and when the next contraction comes, I do. I push. I scream. I cry. I let myself feel it all—the intensity of this moment, my soul ripping apart inside me, the memories as I screamed for my Robby, lying on that floor with blood still leaking out of me as he was stolen from me.

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