Page 68 of Nova

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Nova

Holy fuckin' shit!

For the second time in my life, I'm becoming a dad. My heart is about to bust out of my chest with the amount of emotion sweeping through my body. I become silent for a beat, lost in my thoughts. Piper is everything to me, and now, Promise is giving me another blessing. I love being a part of The Kings of Retribution—a part of a brotherhood, but being a father defines who I am.

Promise twists, facing me. Reaching out, she runs her finger across my brow, and her touch has me closing my eyes. "You okay? You zoned out for a second," her voice is soft as she sighs. "What a day, huh?"

I bring her palm to my lips, thinking about today's events leading up to this beautiful moment, then kiss her palm. "Aside from the chaos, it's turned into one of the best fuckin' days of my life," I confess, losing myself in the depths of her eyes. What am I saying? I was a goner the very moment I saw her walk into the bar.

Promise's eyes light up. "You're everything I always wanted, Cain."

"I've been waiting for you my entire life, Sugar. Fuck. I'd wait a thousand more lifetimes knowing you would someday be mine."

Promise laughs, with a single tear falling down her cheek. "I'm having a baby." Her eyes widened. "What about Piper?" concern fills her eyes.

"What about her, babe?" I stroke her thigh. "Piper fuckin' adores you," I assure her. "And she'll be over the moon knowin' you're pregnant and that she will have a sibling."

"Yeah?" Promise bites her lip with worry.

"Yeah, babe."

A light knock on the exam room door draws our attention, and Teagan walks in. "Everything good in here?" her eyes dart between Promise and me.

"Never better," I tell her, and Teagan smiles.

"Good." Teagan clutches her clipboard to her chest, her attention focused on Promise. "Okay, let's get you over to radiology for that x-ray. Hopefully, we can have you good to go within a couple more hours."

I help Promise from the exam table, as a nurse appears with a wheelchair.

"Is that necessary?" Promise cradles her wrist.

"For now," Teagan informs her. Sighing, Promise seats herself. Teagan looks over her shoulder as she follows the nurse wheeling my woman out the door. "You can wait here." She informs me when I go to follow her. I give her a look that doesn't faze her. Teagan is in her element. Her brow lifts. "Shouldn't be twenty minutes, thirty at the most."

Fighting every instinct to not let Promise from my sight, I stay put. As Teagan steps into the hall, she reaches to close the exam room door. "Leave it open."

I pace the floor, as I wait. Time slows, and it feels like twenty minutes has passed. Looking at the clock on the wall; I notice it's only been ten. I tell myself she's fine, but with everything that has happened over the past few weeks, my body doesn't want to relax unless Promise is at my side.

Distracting myself, I pull my phone from my pocket, calling my brother. He answers on the second ring.

"What's the word?" he eagerly questions.

I'm bursting at the seams, and want to yell the news at the top of my lungs that my woman is carrying my baby. Instead, I hold it in, reserving it for later. It's not just my news to share. "They took her to x-ray. It looks like her wrist is broken."

"Shit, man. Sorry to hear that." He pauses before saying, "It could have been worse."

"Yeah."

"She's a fighter, Cain." I hear the pride in my brother's voice.

That she is.

"How's Piper holdin' up?"

"She's good, brother. Josie and Payton haven't let her out of their sight. You focus on your woman at the moment. We're holdin' it down here."

Just then, the nurse wheels Promise through the door. "Got to go," I tell Riggs, then quickly disconnect the call, shoving my phone back into my pocket. "What's the verdict?" I ask her.

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