Fox (Stone Cold Fox Trilogy Book 3) Read online

  I grinned. “Duly noted.”

  Once I walked out of the bathroom, I dropped the tough guy act for a brief moment and let the shock consume me.

  Holy shit. Ivy was going to have the babies today.

  Our babies.

  Before I called Dr. Morrow, I offered up a few words to the Big Guy upstairs.

  “Please, God, let everything go okay,” I prayed. “Please keep Ivy safe and our babies safe and just let this be an easy delivery for them. I wouldn’t be able to survive if anything bad happened. So…please…I know I’m not the nicest person who has ever lived, and I’ve done some shitty things in my life, but please, just keep watch over them today.”

  Once I got that off my chest, I switched to the next top priority—getting Ivy to the hospital safely.

  First, a call to Dr. Morrow.

  Then, another quick one to Baylor. He’d made the move with us to Oregon to stay on as the head of our security team thanks to a small cash incentive, and I was incredibly thankful. Having someone we were familiar with—someone we trusted—protecting us was something wholly invaluable, and neither of us had had a problem with giving him the extra money.

  And with the way the media and paparazzi had been waiting for news on Ivy’s delivery, having Baylor at our backs was the most comforting thing I could think of.

  Six hours later and Ivy was full speed ahead.

  Once we’d arrived at the hospital, it’d been pretty obvious that Ivy’s water had, in fact, broken. Her pants were wet again, and her contractions were getting stronger by the minute.

  She’d been four centimeters dilated when Dr. Morrow had first checked her, and thanks to the swift and speedy care from the hospital staff, Ivy was inside of a delivery room and had an epidural.

  She was thankful.

  I was thankful.

  And, I was certain by her colorful and very loud choice in words, everyone inside Cedar Hills Hospital was thankful.

  Everything went lightning fast after that.

  She’d been five centimeters by the time they had placed the epidural, and in what felt like no time at all, she was fully dilated and ready to start pushing.

  Thankfully, the epidural was in full force, and the only thing she was feeling was pressure and the urge to push.

  Now, we sat inside an OR room—because apparently, sometimes women had trouble delivering the second baby and needed a C-section—and the soft, speedy heartbeats of our babies filled the room from the monitor.

  It was a glorious fucking sound.

  “Oh my God,” Ivy moaned, and I reached out to grasp her hand that was currently gripping the side rail of her hospital bed, her white knuckles plainly visible. “I feel like a bowling ball is trying to shoot out of my vagina.”

  Dr. Morrow smiled down at her as she slipped on sterile gloves. “That’s good, Ivy,” she said. “Just breathe through all of that pressure while we get everything set up.”

  “I want to push so bad,” she said through another moan.

  “You’re doing great, sweetie,” Ivy’s nurse Mindy said as she set up the stirrups. “Just keep breathing and making sure you’re giving your babies all of that good oxygen.”

  A mere minute later, Ivy’s legs were in stirrups, and Dr. Morrow was ready for delivery.

  “Okay, Ivy,” the doctor said. “Next contraction and you can start pushing.”

  “Oh, thank God.”

  I smiled down at her. “So proud of you, baby.”

  “Even though I yelled at the anesthesiologist and threatened to cut off his balls if he didn’t get my epidural in?”

  In her defense, it’d taken him three attempts, and her contractions had been coming every two to three minutes.

  I chuckled. “Yep. Even after that.” I kissed her forehead and whispered into her ear, “Strongest woman I know.”

  “Okay, yeah, I definitely need to push,” she said, and Dr. Morrow nodded.

  “You got this, Ivy.”

  She took a big, deep breath, shut her eyes tightly, and with all of her might, she pushed. The nurses counted beside her, and once they reached ten, they encouraged Ivy to take a quick breath and start pushing again.

  After three rounds, the contraction was nearly over, and Ivy was panting from the exertion.

  “You’re a quick learner,” Dr. Morrow said. “Usually, it takes women a few pushes to really figure it out, but you were already moving Baby A with the first go. If you keep pushing like that, I think we’ll have a baby soon.”

  I kissed the top of Ivy’s forehead and brushed the sweaty strands of hair off her cheek. “You’re such a badass,” I whispered into her ear, and she just laughed and rolled her eyes.

  “Oh yeah, total badass with an epidural.”

  I chuckled, and so did Dr. Morrow.

  “No one’s judging you here,” Mindy said beside her. “And, honestly, with a twin delivery, Dr. Morrow probably wouldn’t have let you attempt a natural delivery.”

  “Very true,” the doctor agreed. “Okay, Ivy, looks like you’re having another one, take a big, deep breath and let the pressure build until you can’t tolerate it anymore, then push just like you did last time.”

  Ivy nodded and did as instructed. And a few seconds later, she leaned forward and pushed with all of her might.

  It only took another ten or so minutes before the nurses started moving around the room, grabbing supplies and placing a baby blanket over Ivy’s chest.

  “Okay, Ivy,” Dr. Morrow said. “Next push and Baby A will be here.”

  Ivy looked up at me and smiled. “Are you ready?”

  “I’ve never been more ready,” I said. “Especially since you wouldn’t let us find out what we’re having. I’m dying to know if there’re two boys or two girls in there.”

  She smiled, and I’d never been more proud of her than I was in that moment.

  “Here comes another contraction, Ivy,” Dr. Morrow said. “Go ahead and push. But this time, do more of a slow and steady push so the baby eases out, okay?”

  Ivy leaned forward and pushed just like the doctor had instructed, and between one breath and the next, the room went from being nearly silent to filled with the soft, screeching sounds of a newborn baby’s cry.

  “Baby A is here!” Dr. Morrow said, and with both hands, she lifted our now screaming baby up in the air so both Ivy and I could see. “And it’s a girl!”

  A girl.

  A baby girl.

  A pink, gooey, wiggly, screaming baby girl with bright red hair like Ivy’s.

  “Oh my God!” Ivy cried, and tears streamed down her cheeks. “She’s so loud and so, so, so beautiful! And she’s a little ginger!”

  I smiled and chuckled, and tears I couldn’t stop started seeping from my eyes.

  Dr. Morrow placed our daughter on Ivy’s chest, and my heart had never felt so full as it did in that moment, watching Ivy stare down at our baby with nothing but love in her eyes.

  It was bliss. And love. And everything.

  Ivy kissed our daughter’s forehead, and her eyes met mine. “She’s perfect,” she whispered, and I nodded.

  “Just like her momma.”

  We stared at each other for a long, heartfelt moment, and I leaned down to place a kiss on Ivy’s forehead and then my daughter’s.

  But the moment stopped before it even really started.

  “Baby B’s heart rate isn’t recovering too well, Dr. Morrow,” Mindy said, and the doctor looked up at the monitor.

  The normally quick and steady bum-bum-bum I’d been used to had dropped down to a slow and sluggish pace.

  “Is everything okay?” Ivy questioned, and Dr. Morrow nodded.

  “Everything will be okay, Ivy. Baby B’s heart rate has gone down a little, but we’re watching everything closely.”

  I looked over at the monitor, and I could tell the green squiggly lines did not look the way they had ten minutes ago.

  “Go ahead and give Ivy some oxygen,” Dr. Morrow instructed the nursing staff.


  “Just take some slow and deep breaths, Ivy, and help Baby B get as much oxygen as possible.” Mindy placed an oxygen mask over Ivy’s face, and I waited with bated breath for our baby’s heart rate to go back up.

  But it didn’t.

  If anything, it only got slower.

  The mood shifted, and the medical staff switched from laid-back to quick and fast-acting.

  More staff came into the room, and I felt like my heart had fallen straight out of my chest and onto the floor.

  “W-what’s happening?” I asked.

  “Baby B isn’t recovering like we’d hoped,” Dr. Morrow responded and stood up from her doctor’s stool. “If the baby were a little farther down, I’d say we could wait it out a little longer, but I’m not liking what I’m seeing right now. I think the safest thing is a C-section.”

  The doctor slipped off her gloves and looked over at Mindy. “Tell them we need the OR staff in here right now. I’m going to go scrub in real quick.”

  “A C-section?” Ivy questioned, and tears filled her eyes. “Is my baby going to be okay?”

  Dr. Morrow moved toward her and placed her hand on Ivy’s belly. “Ivy, I promise you, you’re in good hands. I know this all seems a little scary right now, but we need to move pretty quickly to make sure we get the baby out safely, okay?”

  Ivy nodded, but her lip quivered and her chin vibrated from her emotion.

  Our daughter was taken from Ivy’s arms and placed in the infant warmer, where another nurse was there to check her out.

  And our other baby’s heartbeat had never sounded slower.

  Its sluggish rhythm resonated in the room, and I held my breath between each soft, slow beat that sang out from the monitor.

  I was no doctor, but I knew it was too slow. Too fucking slow.

  “I’m scared, Levi,” Ivy said, and I just gripped her hand tightly.

  “It’s going to be okay, baby. Everything is going to be okay.”

  I tried to reassure her despite the fact that I wasn’t reassured at all.

  I was terrified.

  A scant thirty seconds later, I was escorted out of the OR room while they got Ivy ready for surgery. I didn’t understand why, but they said it was protocol, and they needed to make sure everything stayed sterile.

  Initially, I’d just started out with a hair net, but now, they’d had me put on a mask, white shoe covers, and some sort of yellow gown over my clothes.

  I had no idea what was going on.

  All I knew was that both Ivy and my babies were inside of that OR room and I had no control over what happened.

  It felt like a lifetime in that fucking hallway.

  All the while, staff moved in and out of Ivy’s OR room at a hurried pace.

  I wanted to ask them what in the fuck was going on.

  I wanted to demand that I go inside to be with Ivy.

  But I knew that was counterproductive.

  The medical staff needed to focus, and they didn’t need an emotional and scared father getting in their way.

  I paced the hallway.

  And I paced some more.

  By the time I felt like I’d died a thousand deaths inside that fucking hallway, nurse Mindy opened the door.

  I looked up at her, heart clenched tight in my throat, and prepared myself for the worst. “Everything okay?”

  She nodded and smiled. “Everything is okay.”

  “Really?” I asked, and a new onslaught of tears filled my eyes. “Ivy and the babies are okay?”

  Her smile grew wider. “Your little Baby B had the cord wrapped around her neck, but Dr. Morrow was able to get her out quickly. And once we gave her a little oxygen, she started crying just as loud as her sister. Congratulations, Dad. You have two beautiful, healthy baby girls.”

  I lifted my hand to my chest. “Thank God,” I whispered out like a prayer, and it felt as if the weight of the world fell off my shoulders in an instant.

  “You ready to see them?”

  “Yes.”

  Once I stepped into the OR room, not one, but two newborn cries filled my ears, and I burst into tears of relief and joy.

  And there they were, two pink, wiggly, screaming baby girls beneath an infant warmer, while nurses stood around them, checking them out.

  Thank God.

  I wanted to kiss their little fingers and toes.

  I wanted to hold them in my arms.

  But before I went to my babies, I needed to see their beautiful momma.

  I needed to see Ivy.

  “Can I see her?” I asked, and Mindy nodded.

  “You can sit in that chair right by her. Just be careful around the sterile drape and equipment because Dr. Morrow is still finishing up the surgery.”

  Carefully, I moved toward Ivy and sat down in the chair beside her head.

  With glossy eyes, I gripped her hand and smiled down at her.

  “You did it, baby. Two beautiful girls,” I whispered and she smiled.

  “Two beautiful, ginger girls.”

  Through my tears, I laughed.

  “I love you so much, Ivy,” I whispered and kissed the side of her mouth. “Thank you for making my life.”

  November 29th, 2016

  Levi stood at the corner of my postpartum room, staring down at our tiny newborn daughters sleeping peacefully in their bassinettes.

  Life. Was. Good.

  “How are my daughters?” I asked, and he looked over his shoulder with a smile.

  “Perfect and beautiful and sleeping,” he said. “I swear to God, Ivy, they are the most perfect babies I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  That urged a big, huge smile to kiss my lips.

  Even though I was stuck in this god-awful hospital bed, inside of my postpartum room, I had never been happier.

  It’d been a hell of a delivery. And I’d really thought we were going to lose our daughter, but thankfully, Dr. Morrow had been quick to act, and when it was all said and done, both the babies and I were doing just fine.

  Now, if only I could get back the feeling in my legs and get out of this fucking bed, that would be icing on the cake.

  “How are you feeling?” Levi asked, and even though I was still a little groggy and my body felt like it’d been through the wringer, the answer was instant and easy.

  “Perfect.”

  He quirked a brow. “Really?”

  “Really.”

  He grinned. “Strongest woman I know.”

  “Happiest woman you know too,” I said and then added, “Also, the hungriest. I could really use a cheeseburger and fries right about now…or pizza…or cookies…or basically, anything would be perfect at the moment.”

  He chuckled at that. “The nurse said you could start with some ice chips.”

  I pouted.

  “Them’s the rules, baby. You just had major surgery. You have to ease yourself back into it.”

  “Fucking hell,” I groaned. “Having babies is no joke.”

  “The way you have them?” he questioned with a little smirk. “Yeah, it definitely is no joke.”

  But then his blue eyes got serious, and he moved away from the two plastic baby bassinettes sitting in the corner of the room and sat down on the edge of my bed. “I was so scared, Ivy,” he whispered and grasped my hand with his. “I was so scared I was going to lose you or one of our girls. I think I aged ten years waiting outside that OR room.”

  I lifted my hand and pressed it to his cheek. “I’m okay. The girls are okay. There’s nothing to worry about now.”

  He nodded, and his blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. “Thank fuck for that.”

  “We really know how to bring the dramatics, huh?” I questioned to bring some levity to the situation.

  “Yeah.” He squinted his eyes in amusement. “But I guess since my wife is a famous actress, I should expect some drama.”

  I quirked a brow at that. “Your wife?”

  “Yeah.” He nodded. “My wife.”

  “Maybe I
’m a little slow on the uptake, but I don’t remember the wedding. Did Dr. Morrow marry us while she was putting my organs back in their rightful places?”

  “Minor details, baby.” Levi smirked and leaned forward to press a soft kiss to my lips. “In my heart, you’re my wife. You’re my whole fucking world.”

  “Ditto, honey.”

  “I’m your wife too?” he asked, voice teasing, and I grinned.

  “Nope, but I’m hoping you’ll be my husband,” I said, and I locked my gaze with his. “Let’s get married, Levi. As soon as we can fit it in, let’s do it.”

  “Already planned on it, baby,” he said with a sexy little smirk.

  “What do you mean, already planned on it?” I asked and reached out to pinch the skin of his arm. “Like, you already have plans in the works?”

  He just shrugged, but his eyes were full-on mischievous. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “Levi Fox, have you made wedding plans for us already?”

  “I said, don’t worry about it. Let me handle the details.,” he said and stood up from his spot on the bed.

  “Oh my God,” I groaned, but I couldn’t hide the delirious amusement in my voice. “You’re lucky my legs are still numb or else…”

  “Or else what?”

  “Or else I’d be out of this bed and forcing the secrets out of you.”

  “That sounds dirty, baby.” He waggled his brows. “Can I get a rain check on that for like six to eight weeks from now?”

  “You’re ridiculous.” I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t fight my giggles.

  He smirked at me, but the moment didn’t last long because a soft newborn cry started to fill the room. Shortly after that, both girls were crying.

  Levi walked over to their bassinettes, and without any hesitation, he picked up both girls in his big, strong arms and started swaying them gently back and forth.

  They weren’t having it, though.

  Their little cries only grew louder and stronger, and Levi smiled toward me.