Page 81 of Desire Me
“I haven’t. We’re talking about it, but…” She glanced at Saint, and he could see the conflict she’d been going round and round with for days reflected in her eyes. “It doesn’t have to be decided right away. We’ve got time.”
“We do.” Saint reached for her hand, needing to touch some part of her, give her comfort. “Rome might have burned down in a day, but it doesn’t have to be rebuilt that fast.”
“True,” Elliot agreed. “You can—” She glanced at her phone. “Oh.”
Saint held his breath as Elliot read. It didn’t take long.
“Oh no.”
“What is it?” He reached a hand out for the phone. Elliot passed it over.
“‘Emergency,’” he read aloud. “‘Liv and baby in distress. C-section now.’”
“What was that?” King asked, charging over. Saint read the message again.
“What does that mean?” Con asked. He had his arm around Jess, one hand on her slightly rounded stomach, and Saint remembered that they’d announced they were pregnant at the Halloween party.
“I’m not sure, but it’s important enough that he didn’t take the time for details,” Elliot pointed out.
Saint cursed. Unable to sit still, he stood to pace the room. Time seemed to drag as the minutes ticked by, all of them waiting, all of them worrying. Rae watched him walk, worry in her eyes, and he squeezed her shoulder each time he passed her chair. But there was no sitting for him. Danger meant action in his lexicon, and there was no action to be taken here, nothing to do but wait.
And wait.
And wait.
Until finally, at five minutes to midnight, the door to the waiting room opened and Dain entered. Their team lead looked haggard, fresh lines of worry across his forehead and around his mouth. His T-shirt had been pulled from his pants, leaving it wrinkled, and now Dain lifted the tail to wipe sweat from his forehead. They all stood, holding their breath.
A weary smile appeared. “He’s here.”
“He’s here,” Elliot repeated as if testing out the words. “He’s here. He’s… It’s a boy?”
“It’s a boy.”
The room erupted in cheers. There was no taking turns; they all swarmed Dain, the biggest group bro hug imaginable. Elliot was bouncing on her bare feet, screaming, “It’s a boy! It’s a boy!” at the top of her lungs. King laughed. Rae added her congratulations.
And Saint…he just held on. To Dain. To his team. These people were his family, his life, as much as his blood family was. If anything had happened to Olivia and the baby… Relief made his knees weak, and when the others started back slaps of congratulations and hand shaking and tear wiping, he leaned on Rae, knowing she would help him stay upright.
“So what’s the baby’s name?” Jack finally asked.
Dain looked sheepish for a moment. “Noah Elliot Brannan.”
“Elliot?” King and Saint shouted together.
He nodded. “Elliot.”
Saint glanced Elliot’s way. “Well what do ya know, Otter? How about that?”
Elliot stood in the circle of Deacon’s arms, tears streaming down her face. “Dain…are you sure?”
“We’re sure,” he said, smiling.
“Hey.” King smirked. “Now you have to have two more kids. You’ve got two more teammates to name them after.”
Dain laughed. “Let me get my equilibrium back after this one first.”
He’d lived through the fear of losing them both tonight. “Olivia’s okay?” Saint asked.
“She is now. They’re both fine.” Dain glanced around, meeting each and every set of eyes. “It means the world that my family’s here tonight, with us, but I have to get back to Livie.”
