Page 53 of Consequences

Lacey screams loud enough to make everyone wince, and she pushes so hard she nearly pops off the bed. Her head falls back onto the pillow when they’re rewarded with the cry of a little,wriggling baby with a full head of red hair. Girl’s got her mama’s hair and her pipes.

“Holy shit,” Psycho gasps, his hand still clutching Lacey’s as he watches the doctors suction the gunk out of her nose and mouth in complete amazement.

“Do you want to cut the umbilical cord?” the nurse asks with a smile and offers him a surgical instrument.

He looks horrified and shakes his head. “Fuck no.”

The smile falls, and she cuts it. Lex releases Lacey’s hand and laughs at Psycho’s reaction. “You did it.”

“I did it?” she asks, tears falling down her face. “She’s okay?”

“She’s perfect,” Lex whispers and wraps an arm around Colt’s waist.

The baby’s brought over and set on her chest while Lacey sobs. “Hi, baby. I’ve been waiting forever to meet you.”

“Holy fuck,” Psycho mutters, his hand shaking as he reaches out to touch her little head. “That’s our baby.”

“That’s your baby,” Colt says with a laugh. “Look what you two did.”

“We can give you some time alone,” Lex says. “She wanted to meet you as much as you wanted to meet her based on how fast that labor went. I almost hate you a little bit.”

Holding out his free hand, Psycho stops them. “No, don’t go.”

“Are you sure?” Colt asks.

He takes the baby from Lacey while they finish stitching her up, something Colt feels nauseous just thinking about. The craziness that is labor both amazes and sickens him.

Smiling down at his daughter, he offers her to Lex. “Would you like to hold her?”

“I have plenty of time to hold her, Psycho. This is your time.”

“Please?”

Giving Colt a confused glance, she takes the baby. “If you insist. Oh, look at that red hair. Aren’t you just a beautiful little mermaid? Yes, you are.”

Colt gently runs a finger of the baby’s hand, smiling when she grasps it. It reminds him of the first time he held Calla. There’s just something different about a little girl holding onto his finger. A deep-rooted desire to protect her comes out, and in this moment, Colt almost wants another one.

“She’s gorgeous, guys. Really, great job.”

“We know you’re already godparents to… well, everyone’s kids at this point, but we’d be honored of you’d be her godparents, too,” Lacey says, a love-drunk smile on her face with all the pain forgotten.

“Of course,” Lex says with a smile.

She does the typical mommy bounce as she holds the baby, and Colt knows she has the same feeling he does. The sting of longing for the child they should have had this experience with. The child that never came to be.

“Have you picked out a name?” he asks, pushing the painful memories away. He’ll never get over learning they were pregnant at the same time he learned they lost it.

“Lex kind of inspired it,” Psycho says. “Ariel Grace Todd.”

“You are a little mermaid, aren’t you?” Lex coos.

Both parents stare with more love than either have ever felt before, and Colt knows it without anyone needing to say a word. It’s a feeling he’s very familiar with, and the look is unmistakable.

“Where does Grace come from?” he asks.

“Oddly enough, both of our mothers were named Grace. Kind of a no-brainer,” Lacey says.

“Ariel Grace has a beautiful ring to it, doesn’t it?” Lex says and looks up. “Okay, someone better take this baby away from me before I make a break for it. Because I totally will.”

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