Page 31 of The Awakening (The Morton Family Saga #3)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ellie

T he beeping beside me was enough to drive me crazy. I tried to roll over and turn off whatever was making the noise, but a pounding in my head and a sharp pain in my abdomen stopped me. My hand flew to my stomach, where a flat expanse greeted me.

Tears welled in my eyes when I realized what it meant. All these months I had been looking forward to bringing this little person into the world and it had all taken from me by his or her father. My pulse raced, the beeping echoing around the room sped up, and the nurse came running in.

“Mrs. Morton, you need to calm down.” Her voice was reassuring, but I needed to know what happened to the baby.

“Where’s my baby?” I whispered through gut wrenching sobs.

“Relax and open your eyes, Elyse.” Her voice was soothing, and I relaxed a little.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked at the woman with black hair that was graying at her temples. She had kind brown eyes lined with crow’s feet.

She was smiling at me and surely if something terrible had happened, she wouldn’t be smiling. Right? With a nod, she directed my attention to the opposite side of the bed, where Gavin was sleeping, reclined in a chair with a baby on his chest.

My tears fell for another reason now. They were both safe. They were both here with me. Gavin’s soft snores reminded me of that first night we had spent together when he became my knight in shining armor.

The nurse walked over to him and tapped on his shoulder. When his eyes fluttered open, she pointed at me. “She’s awake.”

Holding on to the baby, he sat up in the recliner and studied me. Gavin usually kept his emotions very close to the vest, but his eyes glistened with unshed tears as he looked at me. “Hi.”

“Hi. Do you hate me?” I asked, looking away from him, afraid to know the answer.

“I could never hate you. We can talk about it later, but right now we have a baby to name.” Standing, he brought the mystery bundle to me and placed the swaddled baby on my chest. “I’d like you to meet our son,” Gavin whispered before he kissed me.

“A boy. I was so worried I lost him.” I looked down at his perfect nose and lips. “Maybe you should take him back. He seemed to be happy with you.”

“We’ve been supplementing with formula, but the nurse says he’s going to need to learn to nurse soon. And frankly, it’s impossible for me to do that.” His eyes sparkled as he teased me. “What should we call him? I didn’t feel right about naming him while you were sleeping.”

“You could have. I wouldn’t have second guessed you.” The smell of this brand-new baby filled my nose, and I nuzzled his head. “What were you thinking of calling him?”

“Benjamin Paul Morton.”

“I love it. Are you sure you want him to have your last name? It makes you tied to him and me for a very long time.” I looked up at Gavin, searching his expression.

“I was going to wait until you were home to deal with a lot of stuff, but you should know. Ray died in the accident.”

“He did?”

“Do you feel up to telling me what happened?”

Nodding, I took a deep breath and groaned.

“Take it easy. You’ve got a couple broken ribs,” Gavin said, giving me a half smile.

“When I got to my parent’s dad didn’t want me around and my mom just wanted me to get back to safety. She gave me the keys to her car, and I snuck out the back door while everyone was eating supper.” I licked my dry lips.

Gavin noticed and poured water from the pitcher on the bedside table and handed it to me. My mouth felt like someone had stuffed it full of cotton balls. But the cool water soothed it almost immediately.

“I don’t know how far I got, but out of nowhere, Ray’s truck was behind me.

I had that car going as fast as it could go, but I couldn’t shake him.

After that, things are fuzzy. I know he rammed the back of the car, but after that, everything went black,” I said.

The images felt more like movie scenes than what I’d just lived through.

“You were almost to Billings. That’s where we are now. The accident investigator said that when Ray hit you the last time, his truck hit the embankment at the ditch and about rolled six times. He wasn’t wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the truck.”

Sitting there looking at the baby on my chest, I couldn’t muster up any sympathy for Ray. That man knowingly put me and the life of this baby at risk, and he didn’t care.

Gavin leaned forward in his chair and whispered, “so, the other thing is, I want you to be my wife. I wanna have a big wedding and a party. I want you to get the to have and to hold forever, the big white dress, a honeymoon, and all that stuff.”

Tears sprang to my eyes at what he was telling me.

Gavin and I had settled into a great routine together, and somewhere along the way, he’d become the love of my life.

I’d hoped he felt the same way, but on that last day in Texas, I was sure he no longer wanted me or the child growing inside me.

What he was saying now, knowing Ben and I were what he wanted, elated me.

“Are you sure? I have caused a lot of trouble.” I had to know if he was doing this out of obligation.

“Elyse, Ben has my last name, and I want you to have it too. I mean, you already do, but I want you to be my wife for real. Not just on paper. I have never been more sure of anything.” Taking my hand, he squeezed it and looked like a kid on Christmas morning.

“Yes!” A smile formed on my face when his eyes lit up.

He leaned over and kissed me as the nurse walked in.

“Well, you two love birds, there is a waiting room of people who want to see this sweetheart. Would you like me to send them away?” She leaned against the doorframe and smiled at the us.

“They can come in,” I said.

She left the room, and within seconds, the chatter of the Morton men echoed down the hallway.

The three men walked in, and their hard shells visibly melted.

“I get him first.” Brian stepped close and patted me on the shoulder. “I am glad you are okay, dear. Welcome to the family officially. Now give me my grandson.”

I handed Ben over to his grandpa, wondering how much Gavin had told him.

I looked over at my husband.

“While we were waiting for you to get out of the operating room, I told him everything.” He shrugged.

“And he came clean to us the day you both showed up at Morton Ranch,” Rob added in.

These men would fight to the ends of the earth for their family, but they had to one up each other any time they could.

“You’re not upset with me for getting him in to this?” I scanned the four men, but none of them seemed to be concerned.

“Ellie, you brought Gavin back to us. His mother and I are grateful to you, no matter the circumstances around you coming into our family.” Brian, who had made me nervous when we first arrived on the ranch, just might be the calm father figure I had needed my entire life.

Things between Gavin and his dad hadn’t always been good, which was part of the reason he had been gone so long.

But the man holding my son loved his grandkids without measure, was thriving with all of his sons at home, and had three daughters-in-law who didn’t mind giving him a run for his money if he needed it.

“Jessica wants to know when the wedding is so she can get to work.” Rob said as he tucked his phone back into the pocket of his shirt.

“How about August?” Gavin said, his eyebrows raised and a radiant smile on his face.