Tiny Precious Secrets – Bonus Epilogue

Allie

Twelve years later…

 

“Mom, I’m scared.”

I squeeze Bug’s hand. She only calls me Mom when she’s sad, frightened, or needs motherly advice. The rest of the time I’m just plain old Allie. Which I’m surprisingly fine with considering how much I think of her as my daughter.

Sweat rolls off her as she pushes for what seems like the millionth time.

She’s been in labor for almost two days. Which is both a blessing and a curse. Because her husband isn’t here yet. He’s been overseas in Italy for the past few weeks, working on Formula One cars. His dream job that he worked for years to get but that came at the absolute wrong time. Darla urged him to go, supporting him even though she knew this was a possibility. He was only going to be there for a month, set to arrive home two weeks before her due date. But this little one—our first grandbaby—decided to throw a wrench in things and come three weeks early.

I squeeze her hand. “It’s okay, sweetie. I know it feels like you’ve been doing this forever, but it’ll be over soon, and you’ll welcome your daughter into the world.”

She glances at the clock. She’s been doing it every few minutes since she started pushing an hour ago.

“He’ll be here,” I say. “He just texted your dad that he’s only a few miles away.”

She nods then screams when another contraction hits. She’s probably cursing herself right about now for not getting the epidural. The first thirty-six hours of her labor weren’t that bad, only mild contractions, so she was sure she could do without. Just like the Bug from twelve years ago, she asks for, but doesn’t always take my advice.

I can tell she’s trying not to push. Hudson, the same doctor who delivered all four of my and Asher’s kids, looks up. “Darla, I know you want to wait for him, but it’s important that you push. Your little girl is getting impatient and wants to meet her mother.”

She shakes her head. “I’m not ready. Maybe we did this too soon. I’m only twenty-six.”

Her contraction ends and she relaxes back against the pillow.

“Bullshit,” Mel says from the opposite side of the bed. “You’ve been ready to be a mom since Chrissy and Alex were born. By the time Sarah arrived, you could change a diaper with one hand behind your back. And then AJ. All I’m saying is if they handed out honorary degrees in motherhood, you’d have been issued one a long time ago.” She takes her hand. “You’ve got this.”

Even after Mel moved away and they lived three thousand miles apart, her and Bug’s relationship never wavered. They were college roommates at NYU. And now Mel and her girlfriend live less than an hour away in the city. They’ve been through thick and thin together. Mel is most definitely her person.

For as much as she hated it when she first moved here twelve years ago, it amuses me that Darla ended up staying in Calloway Creek. But this is where her family is. Her dad. Her husband and his family. Her siblings. Her aunt and cousins. And me. Though I think of myself as her mother, Bug and I are definitely more friends than anything. I’m her Mel when Mel isn’t around. And she’s my Mia.

There’s a knock on the door and Asher sticks his head through the opening. “Everything okay in here? Has my granddaughter made her arrival yet?”

“When will he be here?” Bug yells through a contraction.

“The car is pulling up now,” Asher says. “He didn’t even wait for his bags at the airport.”

“And there’s the head,” Hudson says. “One more push and her head will be out.”

“Run!” Bug yells. “Get him up here. He can’t miss this, Dad.” She collapses back against the pillow then looks up at me. “He has to be here.”

“He will be.”

Less than two minutes go by, not even enough time for another contraction to hit, and the door bursts open. Asher pushes Christian through in a wheelchair, bringing him right over to the bed before handing him his forearm crutches. Asher shrugs, nearly out of breath. “Faster this way.”

“My hero,” I say to him with a smile.

“We have quite a crowd,” Hudson says. “How about you all give Dad a chance to enjoy these last few moments of labor?”

“Thanks for being here for her,” Christian says.

Christian Cruz has been in our lives since the day we moved into the house next door. I could see the connection they had from the very beginning. It took the two of them a while to catch up and realize they felt about each other the same way Asher and I do.

That they are soul mates.

“I’ll always be here for her.” I lean in and kiss Bug’s sweaty forehead. “You are so ready for this. And you’re going to be the best mother.”

She reaches for me. “Only because I had an amazing example.”

Tears come to my eyes as her next contraction hits and we’re ushered out of the room.

Mel, Asher, and I join the others in the waiting area. AJ bounds over and climbs into my lap. Like Christina and Alex, he was an oopsie baby—coming even after Asher had a vasectomy after Sarah was born and we felt like our family was complete. It wasn’t. It is now.

I hug my four-year-old son who is about to become an uncle. I look around the room. Christina and Alex are only a little younger than Bug was when they were born. They’re both super excited to be getting a niece. Sarah is nine, and from the time AJ was born has been the best little helper.

Mom and Dad are here, happy, but not quite ready to accept the fact that they are about to be great-grandparents. Carter and his wife are here as well. So is Mia and her other two brothers.

The room is filled to the brim with people who love Bug and Christian. I hope they know how lucky they are.

Thirty minutes later, Christian appears in the doorway, beaming as he smiles from ear to ear. “She’s here.” His head shakes over and over. “I can’t believe I’m a dad.”

Carter is the first to congratulate his son.

All four of my kids ask in tandem, “When can we see her?”

Christian laughs. “Soon.” He turns to me. “Allie and Asher, Bug is asking for you.”

I hand a sleepy AJ off to my mom and the two of us follow Christian back to their room.

Tears flood my eyes when we enter and see Bug holding her daughter. We rush to her side, eager to meet our first grandchild.

“You did it,” I say, kissing Bug’s forehead. “Oh, Darla, she’s beautiful.”

Asher gives a slow whistle. “Dang, you two kids made one good looking baby.” He touches her tiny hand. “Now will you tell us her name?”

For months, everyone has been asking if they’ve chosen a name. They said they had, but refused to tell us until she arrived, claiming they didn’t want to jinx it.

Bug looks into her daughter’s blue eyes and rubs a knuckle against her soft little cheek. “I wanted to name her after the most important woman in my life.”

I smile. “Mel will be honored.”

Bug and Christian share a look, then Bug says, “Mom, Dad, meet your granddaughter, Allie Cruz.”

***

Be sure not to miss the long-awaited story of Ava and Trevor – The Way Back to Us.

My life was over the instant I saw the officer step foot across my threshold.
I thought my husband was dead. That’s what the military told me.

Now I find out he’s not. But the man he used to be most definitely is.
He doesn’t remember me.
Or one single moment of the twenty years we were together.
He can’t remember medical school, the time we spent apart when he was overseas, or the unsuccessful emotional roller coaster we rode while we battled infertility.
He doesn’t even remember his own family.
He looks into the mirror and sees a stranger.

And now…
Now I have to remind him how we fell in love. How he treated me like a princess. How we were going to spend the rest of our lives together—us against the world.

And what’s more…
I have to tell him I’m pregnant.

The only thing is—it’s not his child.

But one thing’s for sure. If I can’t get him to remember, I damn well plan on getting him to fall in love with me again. Even if it means giving up the one thing I love almost as much as I love him.

The Way Back to Us is a standalone Calloway Creek novel. It follows Ava and Trevor Criss. It’s a small town/second chance/accidental pregnancy/amnesia romance.

Universal Link: https://geni.us/TWBTU