Page 39 of Dagger

Elise Bell was mine; she’d been mine since she was a young girl with stars in her eyes, and I was a cocky shit who took her love for granted.

For years, I’d been carrying her loss like a boulder, weighing me down and threatening to crush me.

But suddenly, the weight lifted from my shoulders because my head had, at last, caught up with my heart. It was time for my Leesy to finally take her place by my side.

The problem was I knew she would take a lot of convincing.

Six hours later, I looked around the hospital room and sent a prayer of thanks to the big man upstairs for the bounty he’d bestowed on me.

Bowie sat next to Layla on her bed, staring down at the perfect face of his newborn son, who lay in his arms.

I’d never seen him look that way before; it was like he was holding the entire world in his hands. His face was full of joy and, at the same time, so dang frightened I thought he’d shit his shorts.

Beautiful, brave, courageous Layla sat beside him, pale, tired, but happy. She stared between her ol’ man and their son in awe, her fingers touching her baby boy’s.

I closed my eyes as a memory of a time long gone floated through my mind of when Layla and Bowie were kids and how, even then, they’d held a special bond.

“Hope they don’t hurt my girl,” Stevie muttered.

Layla toddled around after Gage, holding her tiny arms out to be picked up. My boy took her hand and led her to the sandpit, plonked down next to her, and started building sandcastles.

Something warm slid through my chest.

I couldn’t believe how they’d gone from two kids holding hands in the backyard to being man and wife with a family of their own. Should’ve known back then that Layla was destined for Bowie. I reckoned a tiny part of my son fell in love with his Doe when he was just a boy.

But then we all knew Stone men loved hard, fast, and forever.

My stare turned to the corner of the room, and the warmth in my chest slid to my gut at the sight of Leesy holding my other grandson while she gazed down at his face in wonder.

When I got to the parking lot, Elise was already at the SUV, helping Layla. Bowie explained how she’d trained as a nurse's assistant and had helped with a few births. Sophie was already at the hospital doing her last shift before she took her vacation time, so we just needed to get Layla to the hospital safely.

When the staff got Layla settled in her hospital room, Elise stayed to assist Sophie, which was just as well, because immediately after the youngest twin was born, Layla began to hemorrhage. Sophie hooked her straight up to an IV and gave her medication to stop the bleeding while Elise helped weigh, measure, and tag my new grandsons.

“My little Sunshine’s gonna be over the damned moon with our boys,” I murmured.

Bowie’s eyes lifted to mine, and he grinned. “She’ll fuss over ‘em for days. Your princess will be twirlin’ with joy down the hospital corridor.”

Pulling my cell out of my pocket, I checked the time. “It’s just past six A.M., so you’ve got a couple of hours until the family descends. You should try and get some shut-eye, Layla.”

“I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to,” she murmured. “I was the same way when Willow was born. I eventually crashed, but not until the next afternoon.”

“Have you got any names picked out yet?” Elise asked softly, trying not to wake the bundle in her arms.

Bowie smiled so wide I could see his damned molars. “Yeah.” He gazed down at the baby he held. “This is Byron John Stone.” Then he nodded to the baby Elise was rocking. “He’s called Finley Steven Stone.”

“We wanted to honor you and my dad,” Layla murmured.

My throat contracted as I swallowed down the crashing wave of emotion.

Pride swelled in my chest as I looked at my new baby grandsons, both safe in the fold of their family.

Bowie shifted Byron into a more comfortable position, never taking his eyes off his newborn son. He was a natural with kids, a born father.

I watched as Elise slowly got to her feet, walked to the bed, and gently transferred Finley into Layla’s waiting arms.

A wave of overwhelming protectiveness surged through me. I rose from the chair, cell still in hand. “Just gonna make a quick call,” I announced before grabbing the door and exiting the room.

In the corridor, I leaned my hip against the wall and stabbed at my phone, putting it to my ear. The line clicked, and Atlasbarked, “Congrats, Dagger. I’ll be in later to take a peek at the new additions of our next generation.”

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