Page 83 of Beautiful Desire

“How’s our little angel doing now?” one asks cheerfully.

I wipe away the tears that have started to fall before turning to answer her. “Getting stronger every day. I’ve got a fighter on my hands.”

Lorraine makes her way to stand beside me, puts one arm around me, and gives me a gentle squeeze as the other nurse begins looking through Lily’s charts.

“She’s strong like her mama.”

Her words bring a smile to my face. It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks. I feel a whole mixture of things, but strong is not one of them. I feel sore, tired, hungry, emotional, and not like myself at all.

My tears fall again, harder and faster this time. Turning to face me, Lorraine wraps her arms around my back and pulls me into a tight hug.

“It’s okay, mama. You’re both going to be just fine. You’ve got this.”

As I pull out of the embrace, I feel the gentlest squeeze on the finger that Lily’s tiny hand is wrapped around, and my heart expands even more. I know it’s her way of telling me everything is going to be okay, and a smile spreads across my face.

“Do you want to take her out and have a little skin-to-skin time?” she asks, already working on the wires to move her.

I quickly make my way over to the chair in the corner of the room and take off the large hoodie I wore today, leaving me in just my bra, and make myself comfortable as both nurses make their way toward me, holding her. Lorraine places a teeny-tiny Lily on my chest and gently covers us with a light blanket, while the other nurse, Brenda, brings the IV pole for all the wires connected to the machines monitoring her vitals.

“Is there anything you need? A magazine, or a book perhaps?” she asks, smiling down at Lily.

I look up at the nurse and shake my head. “No, thank you. I have everything I need right here.”

Turning on her heel, she leaves the room, while Lorraine continues going through her charts and checking the stock within the room. I lay my head back against the hard wooden rocker and listen to Lily’s small coos as she settles herself into a comfy position on my chest.

Twenty minutes later, Brenda comes back into the room and walks over to where we’re sitting. “I need to get Lily’s vitals. So sorry, Elle. I’ll hand her back as soon as I’m done.”

“Of course,” I say through a yawn.

I help her as she takes my sleeping daughter off my chest and walks her back over to her incubator. After a few minutes, my eyelids suddenly feel heavy, so I give in and close my eyes, allowing myself to take five minutes to rest.

* * *

The phone on his desk rings, pulling me out of my daydream. Reaching over him, I answer the call, and Becca’s voice comes through the handset.

“Mr. Lombardi, your nine a.m. is waiting in the conference room. Didn’t Elle call you?”

“Hi, Becca. It’s Elle. Mr. Lombardi will be right there. I just needed some documents signed so I could get them filed away before his meeting.”

While I’m talking on the phone, I register a slight head movement and a change of Dom’s rhythmic breathing from before I picked up the phone to now.

Shit! He’s awake!

Placing the receiver back down, I stand up and remove myself from lying across his back on his desk.

Good one, Elle.

Fixing my lilac dress, I take a step back, clearing my throat. “Sorry, Mr. Lombardi. I tried calling your office phone and texting you before coming in here.”

Trying to keep my eyes focused anywhere but on Dom, I can see him in my periphery as he sits him himself upright, dusting down the front of his shirt. Checking his watch, he quickly stands while buttoning his suit jacket.

Grabbing me by the arms, he lets out a hurried, “Thanks Elle,” before leaving a featherlight kiss on my cheek, tearing open the door, and running out of his office to his meeting.

My hand comes up to touch my cheek where he kissed me, and I try to stop my jaw from hitting the floor.

Where the hell did that come from?

He just woke up. He’s confused.

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