Page 3 of Falling for Lucifer

“ O kay, Ello. One big push for me.”

Those words had been spoken hours ago, and Ellodie was close to giving up. Everyone knew giving birth was hard, but nobody could really understand the depth of the pain until they went through it. At least she didn’t, anyway.

“I promise, Ello, just one more push,” Harley encouraged.

Ellodie bit back her words because she really wanted to curse Harley out. She had been saying one more push for the last hour. Ellodie genuinely liked Harley, though, so she grunted instead and pushed with the last bit of energy she had.

“Good job, Ellodie. You’re doing great.”

Her eyes fluttered open at the sound of the deep voice as she gritted her teeth.

She kept her eyes on the stranger who held her hand through the most painful moments of her life.

Lu, Harley had called him. Her eyes bore into his as she felt all the pressure in her stomach drop down to her pussy before relief flooded her.

Tears streamed down her face from the effort, pain, and emotion of the last few hours, and the handsome man she had just met looked down at her in awe.

“You did it,” he muttered.

A cry sounded through the room, which prompted Ellodie to tear her eyes away from his and look toward the end of the bed where Harley held a baby.

“Do you want to cut the cord, Ellodie?” Harley asked.

The thought of cutting flesh that was attached to her made Ellodie squeamish, so she quickly shook her head while keeping her eyes on her daughter.

“No, you can go ahead.”

Harley carefully handed her crying daughter to Ellodie, who instantly fell in love.

At the same time, fear clawed at her. She didn’t know the first thing about being a good mother.

She didn’t have one to lead by example. The last thing she wanted to do was mess up this little girl’s life.

As Ellodie stared down at her daughter, she memorized everything about her.

The head full of jet-black curly hair, her little scrunched face, and her mocha skin were perfect.

Even her little cries sounded perfect to Ellodie, who instantly knew she would never be able to get enough of her daughter.

“Okay, Ello, Nurse Allie needs to take her for some testing. She’ll get her right back to you, alright?”

Ellodie actually hated the sound of that.

Her entire world shifted, and it was suddenly her and her daughter against the world, which meant she didn’t want to part from her, but Harley was a good doula.

She’d prepared Ellodie for what the birth would be like but also the aftermath, so she sighed heavily and nodded, allowing the nurse to take her baby from her arms.

She could have imagined it, but Ellodie swore her baby’s cries grew louder once she was out of the comfort of her mother’s arms.

“It’s okay, sweet pea. Mommy’s right here,” Ellodie whispered, too tired to muster up a louder voice.

Harley invaded her vision, and it was then she realized she missed the presence of her doula’s brother-in-law. Harley must have noticed her looking around the room, because she smiled and stepped to the side. “Don’t worry. Lucifer’s right there.”

And he was. He stood in the shadows of the corner of the room, curiously observing the nurse with her daughter. Ellodie’s lips upturned at the sight.

“Lucifer?” Ellodie asked. “That’s his name?”

Harley opened her mouth to respond, but Lucifer was the one to speak, never raising his voice and never moving his eyes from her daughter. “You can call me Lu. Just Lu.”

She didn’t blame him. Lucifer wasn’t a very welcoming name, but as she gazed at him, she realized he didn’t look all that welcoming. It said a lot about him that he preferred to go by Lu rather than Lucifer. He clearly didn’t want to seem as intimidating as his name and presence might suggest.

“How are you feeling?” Harley asked, stealing Ellodie’s attention once again. Ellodie’s eyes fluttered again. She was so damn tired and ready to get some sleep, but her baby’s cries reminded her that sleep wouldn’t come easy to her for a long time. She was a mother now. A mother. Damn . . . “Ello?”

Once again, Ellodie’s eyes snapped open, and she offered Harley a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I’m exhausted.”

Harley’s eyes softened in understanding as she squeezed Ellodie’s hand. “I know. You did so good, and she’s beautiful. What do you think? Does she look like an Antoinetta?”

Ellodie’s smile was easy this time. “My Etta, yeah.”

Antoinetta was her grandmother’s name. She passed only five months ago, and that had crushed Ellodie. That woman was her entire heart, but her name, at least, would live on through Ellodie’s daughter.

Harley smiled. “Ello and Etta. I love it.” Then her smile faltered a bit.

“I’m sorry to have to bring this up now, but you have a little more pushing to do.

We have to deliver the placenta. Just a couple of good pushes, and I promise to let you rest. Etta should be ready for you by then too. Does that sound like a deal?”

Ellodie’s heart dropped because the last thing she wanted to do was push some damn more. She groaned and dug her head into the pillow, looking up at the ceiling once again. “Do me a favor, Harley.”

“Anything.” Harley quickly agreed as she waddled back toward the end of the bed.

“When you give birth, I want you to FaceTime me so I can take delight in your pain.”

Harley giggled. “It’s normal for women to take their anger out on their midwifes or nurses, but remember who the real enemy is.”

“Who is that?” Ellodie asked as her eyes closed again. Sleep kept tugging at her, but her baby’s cries in the corner of the room forced her to stay awake.

“The men that put these babies in us.” She wasn’t wrong. Ellodie’s mind flashed to Wesley, her baby daddy, just as Harley said, “Give me a big push, Ello.”

Ellodie bared down, grunting with the effort, as her blood ran hot at the thought of the man who put her in this predicament.

Wesley was a mean ass man. He made her feel like love wasn’t real.

He hadn’t always been like that. She met him over ten years ago when she was in her early twenties and as dumb as a rock when it came to men.

Her parents had sheltered her, and Wesley was her first boyfriend.

He was charming and caring and so damn fine. She thought she hit the jackpot.

But then came the abuse. Both mental and physical.

It had been years since they were an official couple, but Wesley liked popping up on her every few months to disrupt her peace.

He refused to let her go completely. Give her space?

Yeah. He didn’t mind that because it allowed him to be a ho, but he would never truly let her go.

According to him, she was his, and no other man was allowed to have her.

And no other man had. Not even because Wesley was truly running anything in her life, but because he had scarred her.

The day she told him she was pregnant was the happiest day of his life.

Funny how that was the case, but he was nowhere to be found when their daughter was actually born.

She’d done her due diligence and called and texted him when she realized she was in labor, but a huge part of her was relieved he wasn’t there because he would have added even more stress to the moment. Her mom had done enough of that.

Ellodie allowed herself to breathe deeply after pushing for ten seconds. Her head flopped to the side, and her eyes landed back on Lucifer, who had inched his way closer to Etta and the nurse. She found it amusing that he seemed to watch the nurse’s every move.

“Okay, one more should do it,” Harley coached. Ellodie focused on getting the placenta out of her so she could finally relax. She pushed with all the energy she could muster, and once again, she felt a sense of pressure build before it released. “Good job, mama. You’re done. Go ahead and relax.”

Ellodie did just that. She melted into the pillow, thanking God that she had the means to afford this nice birthing center because everything there was meant for maximum comfort.

The cooling sheets and silk gowns felt heavenly against her skin, but she couldn’t wait to get in the shower and have them change the bedding.

For now, she praised God for the small luxuries as her chest heaved.

It only took a couple more minutes before Harley walked over with Etta wrapped in a fresh blanket. Ellodie’s heart melted at the sight of her daughter, and fresh tears filled her eyes as she whispered, “There’s my baby. How is she?”

The question was clearly for Harley, though she kept her eyes on Etta, who seemed to be resting finally, just like her mama.

“She’s perfect. Ten perfect toes and fingers. All her tests came back great. You should be able to leave tomorrow as long as there are no complications overnight.”

“Thank God.” Ellodie placed a kiss on Etta’s head and breathed her in. “She smells so good.”

“That new baby smell.” Harley gushed. “I can’t wait to get a whiff of my own baby.”

Ellodie caught her rubbing her belly from the corner of her eye. “How long do you have?”

“Couple more weeks, which means it really could be any time.”

Ellodie looked down at her daughter for a few more seconds and whispered, “It’s all worth it.” Then she looked up at Harley. “All the shit pregnancy puts you through, . . . it’s all worth it for this moment right here.”

Ellodie watched as Harley blinked tears away as she smiled down at the new mother and daughter. “I can’t wait.” And then, in a softer tone, she asked, “Do you want me to get your mother?”

Ellodie rolled her eyes. “I doubt she’s still here.”

For some reason, a lump formed in her throat after she said those words. She was used to her mother being absent unless it was for something that benefitted her. Who she really wanted was her father, but she knew if she called him, her mother would come, too, and it wasn’t worth it to Ellodie.

“Why would she leave? Do you want me to check?” Harley asked.