Chapter One Hundred and twenty eight

Ariana's POV;

I squeezed Damien's hand tightly, holding my upper lip in between my teeth. Cold sweat broke out on my face as my heart thumped rapidly in my chest.

It had been over an hour and the baby was yet to come out. I could tell she was getting exhausted from how she was panting heavily.

"You can do this Tracy, come on." Damien uttered. His eyes were glued to the screen and he looked as tensed as I was.

"Baby, you can do it." Aiden looked like he was about to cry but was trying to pull a strong front for her.

"Aiden I hate you!" She cried out weakly.

"I know, I deserve it." He nodded frantically. She squeezed his hand as she writhed her upper body. He winced at the grip.

"Almost there ma'am, you can do it!" A nurse said, rubbing on her knees.

"Yes Trace, you can!" Mom piped up from the other side of her.

We watched her push hard with our breaths held until we heard the cry of a baby.

"Yessss!" Damien and I screamed at the same time, jumping up in excitement as we hugged each other.

"I'm a Dad! A freaking dad!" Aiden put his face in the screen and hollered. No one could be as excited as him.

"It's a girl!" Amy exclaimed.

"We won!" I danced unable to contain my elation.

They didn't have a baby shower so there was no gender reveal and we were left guessing and betting on the baby's sex. Of course I bet on it being a girl because girls are usually love babies and it turned out I was right. Damien now owed me anything of my choice.

"Oh not another one of you!" Damien plopped down dramatically.

Seemed like girls had outnumbered the guys once again.

"Sore loser!" I stuck my tongue out.

"Laugh now that you have the chance." He muttered sourly.

"Hahaha. You owe me big-time!" I said with a cheeky grin before sitting back down.

"Right now, they're cleaning up the new mom and baby. So, I'll see you guys when you get back." She said, bringing our attention back to the screen.

"See ya Amelia." Damien dragged out in a tease making her cringe. She did not like being called her full name just like Damien did not like being called by his nickname. Hilarious!

"I'm so happy for Aiden and Tracy." I sighed, dreamily thinking of having my own kids some day until I remembered that a certain someone didn't want kids. What on earth did those cute little creatures do to him?

"Yeah but you see the pain Tracy had to go through? I don't want anyone going through that for me in the name of giving birth. It's too much to handle." He shook his head.

Apparently, his disposition hadn't changed and unfortunately, it seemed like witnessing Tracy's labour fueled it even more.

I wouldn't lie, it was petrifying to watch. But didn't all that pain become long forgotten when your bundle of joy lay cradled in your arms? As far as I know, everyone appreciated that fact and that's why it hurt even more whenever a stillbirth happens because all the joy one hopes to get, gets snatched away by the claws of death to a newborn who hasn't tasted the world. Nine months gone. Back to square one. No fruits of a hectic labour. So disheartening.

"How many hours to go?" I said, changing the topic quickly.

"About nine."

"Still a long way to go huh?" I yawned.

"Yeah, you wanna make it fun?" His eyes lit in mischief.

"How?"

He gave me a look that I knew all too well.

"Don't look at me like that."

"Come on, what do you say?" He smirked.

"No."

"Why?" He was already tugging at my shirt. I removed his hands.

"I"m going to sleep in that bedroom and don't even think about trying anything funny. In fact, don't think about coming in."

"Where am I supposed to rest?"

I reached over and adjusted his seat just so he could lay down.

"Perfect." I said with a satisfied grin.

The appalled look on his face was priceless.

"Two can play this game Ariana, you're going to beg to have me." He cockily challenged.

I scoffed.

"You wish."

"We'll see about that."

***

"Home!" I exclaimed with a happy sigh as we approached the gates of the villa.

"You seem pretty excited." He said briefly glancing up from his phone that had been his focus since we landed.

"Of course I am, there's a new addition to the family."

My happiness stemmed from a point deeper than that.

I felt so blessed and genuinely happy for the first time in months. There was a jump that came to my heart when everything happening in my life at this point was thought about. It felt amazing to be loved, to feel loved in a place you once felt despair.

Trudging into the house, it was a fanfare of happy faces and excited chatter among both workers and family. It was a beautiful sight.

"I thought you all would be asleep by now."

"We're too excited to sleep." Mom said, coming over to welcome us in her usual motherly hugs.

"She's the most adorable little thing." She gushed unable to hold back the tears of joy.

"I can't wait for you two to have your baby too."

"And here I thought I was free from this." Damien muttered, rubbing hands through his hair.

"Mom, we need to rest, we've had a long trip." He said and without waiting for a response, he kissed her goodnight and mounted the stairs in quick strides.

"See you in the morning." I said to her and followed my grouch of a husband.

***

"She's so adorable." I cooed staring down at the little bundle of cuteness curled up in her cot.

Damien and I stayed in bed till way past breakfast time cause we obviously were tired from our trip and when we eventually decided to get up, we decided it was best to ditch work and just head down to the hospital to see the new parents.

"Can I carry her?" I asked.

"Of course." Tracy gave me the go ahead and without delay my hand reached down to pick her up.

She was so fragile in my palms, as I held her with both hands - one under her tush and the other guiding her jiggly little neck.

"She's beautiful." I whispered staring at the barely open eyes of the curly brown haired beauty.

I rocked her lightly when she got a little fussy.

"Isn't she beautiful, babe?" I asked moving closer to Damien who had been standing at one end of the room conversing in soft tones with Aiden.

His eyes warmed up as walked closer to us.

"She looks just like you when you were younger Trace, so beautiful." He rasped, lightly rubbing on her curls.

I was going to tear up any second from now.

"Why don't you hold her Damien?" Tracy suggested.

"I'm not sure I know how to." He let out a nervous chuckle, taking a step away from me.

"I think you should learn." Aiden piped up, going over to sit next to Tracy to drop a loving kiss on her lips. How cute!

"Babe come on, she's your first niece and I'm sure she's dying to feel your hands on her."

A little bit of a stretch but anything to convince him to accept the idea of a baby.

He puffed out some air and took a glance at me. I urged him on with an encouraging look.

"Fine. But stay close, okay?" He finally agreed despite how clueless he looked.

I handed over the baby over to him carefully. Much to my surprise, he wasn't as awful as I thought he'd be at holding. In fact he rocked her looking the perfect father. My fascination for this man grew in that second.

"This is such an emotional moment and it's not even your baby." Aiden fake sniffed, bursting the little bubble that had formed around the three of us.

The red tint on Damien's ears and cheeks were the highlight of that moment but I couldn't laugh, I just wanted to kiss him so bad.

"Er, I think we should get going." He said looking straight into my eyes before taking his gaze back to the baby whose hands were moving slowly almost like she wanted to grab his shirt or something.

"Don't forget to take your pictures before leaving."

"You took pictures?" I asked.

"Yeah, we're creating memories for her to see as she grows." Tracy said, leaning on Aiden's shoulder with a satisfied grin on her face as she stared lovingly at her daughter.

I wanted that look in my eyes too.

"What are you two going to name her?" Damien piped up.

"Oh that, her name is Sky Eleanor Aiden Smith."

"Aww Sky, a beautiful name for a beautiful you." I gushed in a pouty voice taking the baby from Damien's arms to place her back in her crib.

"We'll see you guys again soon. Take care of them Aiden." Damien said shoving one hand into his pocket as he put the other around me.

"Of course. You, take care of my sister in-law." Aiden retorted.

Damien snorted, cocking his head to the side, exuding arrogance.

"I always take care of her."

"Cocky as always." I flicked his nose and walked ahead, smiling as I heard him bark in laughter behind me.