Page 124 of Thorns of Deceit

Aiden looked at it and then at the doctor. “You really want me to touch it without gloves?”

Tristan let out a frustrated breath, reaching for it himself. “It’s a habit. Never mind, I got it.”

The doctor worked efficiently, his movements precise and his attention unwavering while Aiden and I watched with bated breath. Tristan made the first incision.

A low whimper pierced the silence. “No… Baby monster… Kill…”

Tristan froze mid-movement as Mom’s soft, broken cries filled the cabin. Her cries turned to gasps, and then to screams as her pain clawed through the numbing agents.

I bit my lip until I tasted blood. “Mom… It’s okay. It’s almost over.”

“M-monster…”

Tristan pressed his lips into a tight line while he worked on her, sweat beading on his brow.

“Your baby is innocent,” I whispered as Mom moved her head left to right. “Just like I was. He’ll be like you and me.”

The room felt suspended in time. Outside, waves slapped gently against the hull, a lullaby at odds with the brutal miracle unfolding inside.

And then a cry broke through the air.

Tristan held up the blood-covered, wriggling infant with his cord still intact.

“A healthy baby boy,” he announced, his tone cautious as he spoke to Mom. “Would you like to hold him?”

“No.” She looked away, her eyes returning to their earlier bleakness as she stared at the ceiling.

“Mom…” I pleaded.

“Get it… away from me,” she whimpered.

Tears broke free as Aiden appeared at my side, his voice tight. “She’s been through a lot. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”

Tristan moved to cut the cord, then quickly cleaned the newborn, wrapping him in a soft white towel and checking his vitals.

“He’s strong,” he murmured.

Mom whimpered again, her eyelids growing heavier. “Monster… Get it away from me…”

I stood frozen, torn between my mother’s broken form and the new life now wailing in Tristan’s arms.

“He’s my brother,” I choked out, but she was already asleep.

Aiden reached over, his voice low but resolute. “We’ll take him.” Gently, he accepted the child from Tristan’s arms and held him, his eyes meeting mine. “If that’s okay with you?”

I pressed a kiss on my mom’s forehead and then joined my husband, wrapping my arms around both of them.

“Yes, we’ll love him and keep him safe.”

“Raise him as our own,” Aiden concluded, and I knew there was no man I could ever love more. “Together.”

FORTY-SEVEN

AIDEN

Raven was snoring softly, curled on her side, wearing one of my shirts. The baby was asleep in a makeshift cradle next to my side of the bed while the silence of the night reigned.

The events of the past twenty-four hours came crashing down on me, along with the startling realization that I could have lost my wife today.