Chapter 18

Luci's POV

My eyes fluttered as I tried to open them, and I winced at the stab of pain as I struggled to move. Oh, man! As much as I loved my baby, I'd be happy to forgo this part of the package. Suddenly, I remembered the events of what happened just before I lost consciousness, and I struggled with a vengeance toopen my eyes. I heard a beeping sound, but my focus was on waking up and finding out what happened to my baby. I knew I was no longer carrying the baby because there was no movement coming from that area, only pain. Dear God, please let my baby be all right.

I felt warmth around my hand, and then I could hear Lester's voice calling to me. His voice was hoarse, as if he'd been talking for hours, and there was a slight catch to it that most people wouldn't have noticed. It was then his words finally registered.

"Luci, please, baby, you need to calm down, love. Stay with me, baby. I need you, and so does our little angel. She's fighting to stay with us and needs you to fight to stay too."

I'd heard those words before. As a matter of fact, I'd been hearing them over and over, but I couldn't say how long that had been going on.

Finally, I felt my eyes opening, and I tried to speak, butall that came out was a croakof noise.

Lester laid his head on me and said, "Thank God! Come on, baby."

My eyes opened, and when I saw Les, I started crying because he looked like he'd been so lost and upset.

His hand came up to my cheek, and he gently caressed me as he said, "Shh. It's okay now. Everything is going to be all right now that I know you're going to be okay."

All I could manage was a whisper as I asked, "The baby?"

The door opened, and my father walked into the room. There was a smile on his face as he came over beside us, and then he looked up at the ceiling and said, "Thank you, God! First you let me see Dolcezza is doing wonderful, and now you've shown me my bella is going to make it as well."

I looked at my father with awe. "I have a daughter? You're calling her sweetness?"

He nodded. "Lester and I agreed we couldn't name her without you, but we needed to call her something so she'd know she was important to us."

I looked up at Lester. "I hadn't gotten as far as picking out names. There was so much other stuff I was dealing with and…"

Before I could say anything further, Lester put a finger over my lips and said, "I'm glad you hadn't chosen a name yet. That means we can do it together."

I grinned weakly. "At least our work has been cut in half because we don't need to bother with boy names."

Lester leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Whenever you're ready. Stephanie bought us a book on baby names. She thought it might come in handy. The book tells the origins of the name as well as the meaning."

"Sounds good." I frowned, thinking of the last time my dad and Lester were together. "Looks like you two are getting on a lot better than the last time I saw you."

Daddy moved over to the bed and patted my hand. "Lester and I have formed a truce. We understand each other a lot better now."

I reached out to him so that I was holding each of their hands and then said, "I'm glad."

The door opened, and a nurse walked into the room. She smiled and said, "Ah. You're awake! Just in time too becauseDr. Thomas has just arrived to do rounds." She moved in closer, took my vitals, and then wrote some things on my chart before placing it at the end of the bed where she'd gotten it from.

A knock sounded on the door, and once again the door opened. This time Dr. Thomas walked into the room, and when he saw me, he started smiling. "Ah, Luci! I'm so glad to see you awake and doing better. You gave us all quite a scare."

"I scared myself too. What happened?"

He proceeded to explain what exactly had happened as well as all the complications that had set in. When he got done, I was even more scared than before as I asked, "So, is my baby going to be all right?"

He nodded. "She's doing much better herself today, and we've passed the forty-eight hours. Of course, there are always things that can crop up, but we are bumping her up and she's no longer on the critical list."

"Can I see her?"

Dr. Thomas frowned. "I suppose if you promise to stay in the wheelchair, the nurse can push you over to the neonatal unit. I don't want you getting upset though."

"I think I'd be more upset if I wasn't able to see her."

He nodded. "That's what I was thinking as well."

He said his goodbyes, letting me know a nurse would be with us in a few minutes and take me over.

It didn't take long for the nurse to join us. I had a feeling she'd been hurried along by the doctor, as he'd known me for a long time and knew how anxious I'd be.

When I saw my baby girl for the first time, tears pooled in my eyes, and I longed to reach out and hold her. But at the moment she was in the incubator, and I knew that's where she needed to be.

The nurse pushed my chair right up beside where the baby was and asked, "Would you like to touch her? We have specialized gloves in the side here where you can put your hands through and touch her."

I perked up. "Yes, please!"

She showed me what to do, and I was awed as I touched my baby for the first time. I turned to Les, who'd come with us, and could see the look of wonder in his eyes as well.

"It's a wonderful feeling isn't it, baby? Your dad and I have been taking turns. When he'd sit with you, I'd come in and be with Angel and vice versa."

My eyes widened. "How long was I out?"

Lester laid his head against mine. "Three days. We were told forty-eight was the magic number, but then you still weren't waking up. I have to say you scared all of us."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Not your fault. I'm just glad you're awake now and things are looking better."

We stayed for several more minutes before the nurse came back over and said, "I need to get you back to your room now. Dr. Thomas was quite firm in the length of time you could be up."

I touched my daughter's tiny head and said, "Momma and Daddy will be back soon, and we'll have a brand-new name for you when we come. I love you!" With that I pulled my hands out of the gloves and allowed the nurse to wheel me back to my room.

Once I was back in my own bed, the nurse turned to Lester and said, "Dr. Thomas was also firm in saying that once we came back, you needed to go home and get some sleep."

I could tell by the clenching of his jaw what Lester thought of that idea. Reaching out my hand, I said, "Why don't you grab a few hours of sleep, andthen when you come back we can talk about names?"

Les still looked like he wanted to argue. Finally he conceded enough to say, "I'll sack out in the waiting room."

I took hold of his hand and squeezed. "I know you want to stay close. I have to admit, I like knowing you're near, but you need to take care of you too. Go take a nap. I know you'll feel better when you come back."

Lester countered my request with one of his own. "I'll sack out for a couple of hours and get one of the guys to bring me a change of clothes so I can shower here."

The nurse laughed, and I looked at her. She shook her head. "You're going to have your hand full with that one. I have one just like him at home, andI never win an argument."

Lester's eyebrow rose as he studied the nurse, and then he smiled. "You're Binkie's girl."

Her eyes widened. "You know Todd?"

For a fraction of a second, Lester looked confused, and then he grinned. "Todd?"

The woman's eyes widened in horror. "Oh, crap! You won't say anything, will you?"

Lester stroked his chin. "Well, let's see."

The nurse sighed. "Okay, you take your nap here, and I'll wake you in three hours and show you where you can take a shower."

Lester chuckled. "Looks like you have yourself a deal."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "If he finds out, I'll know who told, and I promise you, I'll make you sorry."

Lester placed his hand over his heart. "Not a word."

With that, he turned and gave me a bone-melting kiss before heading out.

Once Les was gone, thenurse came over to where I was lying in the bed and made sure I was settled for the night. I had a chance to read her name tag, which said Kelly.She was a nice nurse, and I grinned and told her, "Don't worry about Les. He won't say anything."

Kelly shook her head and said, "He'd better not. Todd wouldn't be happy if he knew one of the guys he works with knows his real name. Of course, I don't understand it. I'd think it'd be the other way around and he wouldn't want anyone to know he was called Binkie."

I laughed. "I see your point."

Stephanie's POV

I checked to make sure I had everything before locking up and heading down to the parking lot. Ranger was giving me a lift to the hospital since I still hadn't been able to replace my car. He'd been very generous with his time since Luci had gone into the hospital. He'd stayed with me the whole time we'd waited to see if she was going to make it, and then he'd driven me home so I could clean up and take care of some necessary stuff. He'd even stopped on the way home last night and picked up carryout for the two of us.

We'd talked for quite a while, and I had to admit that I'd really enjoyed our time together and wouldn't have minded if he'd stayed. I'd been disappointed when he said he'd had to go, but when he stopped at the door and turned back to me, the kiss he'd delivered had all my female parts sitting up and taking notice.

When I left the building, Ranger's 911 Turbo was parked beside the door and he was leaning against the passenger side. The minute I stepped out of the building, he opened the door, and I made my way over and slipped into the car. He bent down, his body crowding me as he fastened my seat belt, and then his lips brushed my mouth, making me moan. He deepened the kiss, and for several seconds our mouths were fused together. When the kiss ended, he rested his forehead against mine and said, "You're pretty potent, Babe."

I looked up into his face to meet his eyes and replied, "You're no slouch yourself."

Ranger chuckled and kissed my cheek before shutting the door and walking around to the other side of the car to climb in. Once the engine was started, he turned and asked, "Do you need to stop anywhere on the way to the hospital?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so. I have everything Luci asked me to bring. Apparently she and Lester are going through the books on baby names today."

The corner of Ranger's mouth lifted in the semblance of a smile before he shook his head. "I hope Luci has the final say for the baby's sake. Last time Lester named something, it was a stray kitten he'd rescued from the river."

I grinned. "What did he name it?"

Ranger chuckled. "Cat."

My eyes widened. "What kind of name is that?"

He took his eyes off the road long enough to wink at me and said, "Exactly."

I rolled my eyes and said, "I'll tell Luci she might want to insure she has veto rights."

Ranger lifted my hand from my thigh and laced his finger with mine as we continued on to the hospital in silence. Once he'd parked the car, we climbed out, and he came around the car to meet me as we walked into the hospital together with his hand resting on the small of my back.

I checked my watch as we waited for the elevator and knew I was too early to see Luci. She'd be in the middle of getting cleaned up, and the nurses were sticklers for not letting anyone in during that time. Turning to Ranger, Isaid, "I'm going to head to the neonatal unit first. By the time I look in on the baby, Luci should be ready for visitors."

He gave a slight nod. "I'd bet we'll run into Les there as well."

Although I didn't say anything, I was pleased that Ranger was joining me. I'd figured he'd want to head out as soon as I was deposited in the elevator. It didn't take us long to get to the neonatal unit, and I let out a sigh of relief that Attila the Hun wasn't at her post this morning; otherwise, we might not have been allowed back to see the baby. Although I understood she was only doing her job, she was a real stickler about who could go back and how long they could stay.

Ranger was right about Lester being with the baby. My heart melted at the look of adoration on his face as he looked at his precious daughter. Although I hadn't thought we'd made a sound, without turning around, the minute we walked into the room, Lester said, "She's a beauty, isn't she?"

Ranger led us over to where Lester was standing and gazed down at the tiny infant lying in the incubator. "She's a fighter, all right. You'll have your hands full when she gets a bit older."

Lester nodded. "She's doing really well. They were able to unhook all the tubes and stuff, and she's breathing on her own and Luci gets to nurse her today."

We all stood there silently watching as the little girl slept. After several minutes, Lester looked at his watch and said, "The nurse said she'd be coming to get Angel to take her to Luci's room." He turned to look at us with a dopey smile. "We're going to choose her name today."

I laughed. "Yeah. Luci asked me to bring the books she'd bought. She hadn't had a chance to look at them yet."

Lester frowned. "Books?"

I nodded. "Yeah. There are seven of them in all."

His eyes widened. "Seven? How the hell can there be seven books on baby names?"

My smile grew wider. "Well, there's one on Italian names and meanings, and then…"

Lester held up a hand. "Don't tell me." He looked to Ranger. "I'm in deep shit here."

Ranger laughed. "I'm sure you and Luci will come to an agreement on a name. You might want to give her final say though."

Lester winced. "You'll never let me forget the only name I could come up with that I liked for that kitten was cat, will you?"

Ranger smiled, and I had a hot flash.

We all jumped as a harsh voice demanded from behind us, "What are you doing in here?"

Lester's look turned fierce as he replied, "I'm supposed to be here. It's my time to spend with my daughter."

The nurse gave a huffy sigh and said, "I was referring to the other two. They don't belong in here."

I moved closer to Ranger.

The nurse I'd dubbed Attila the Hun folded her arms across her ample bosom and glared at us.

Ranger lifted an eyebrow and stared her down.

It didn't take but a couple of seconds for the nurse to flush and her eyes darted to the ground. She glanced nervously at her watch, and then her eyes widened and she declared, "My, is that the time? We need to be getting this little one to her momma for some nourishment."

With that, she moved the cart that was holding the incubator where the baby was and started pushing it toward Luci's room. When she reached the nurses' area, she stopped and handed the nurse a chart. "Kelly, here's the information on baby Beretti."

Lester's jaw clenched, but he remained silent.

Kelly smiled. "Thank you, Hilda May."

Ranger, Lester, and I all looked at each other, and my hand went up to cover my mouth to hide the smile that was forming there.

Hilda May left, and Kelly shuddered.She turned to us and gave a conspiratorial wink. "Now that she's gone, let's get this little lady in to see her momma."

I hesitated.

Ranger leaned down and asked, "What is it, Babe?"

"I was just wondering if we shouldn't give Luci some privacy for this moment. After all, it'll be the first time she gets to hold her baby."

Ranger looked to Lester.

Les shook his head. "One thing I've learned in the past few days is that you're very important to Luci. I'm sure she'd be okay with you coming in. Besides, she's going to want to take a look at all those books you've brought her."

With that, we followed Kelly into the room where she'd just wheeled the baby.

Luci's POV

I'd just pulled the covers up when the door opened and the most beautiful sight met my gaze. My nurse Kelly was wheeling my baby into my room. Tears pooled in my eyes as a whole host of emotions came up to swamp me. When I saw Les and Stephanie following her in, I lost the battle and the tears fell down my cheeks.

Lester came over and wrapped his arms around me. "Shh. It's okay, baby."

I nodded. "I know. It's just…this is everything to me."

Stephanie lifted a bag and said, "I'll just leave these and head out."

I shook my head. "No. I'm glad you're here."

She hesitated.

"Really! Stay for a bit. After all, it's not every day that you get to meet your goddaughter."

Stephanie's eyes rounded.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't tell me that surprises you. Who else would I trust my baby to?" I turned to Les and leaned into him so I could rest my head against him. "Since I'm picking the godmother and not giving you a choice, you get to pick the godfather."

Les leaned down and kissed my forehead. "I totally agree with your choice. And it just so happens, the baby's godfather is here as well. That is if Ranger would agree to honor us by agreeing."

Stephanie looked up at Ranger, and my eyes widened. I had a funny feeling, and the look he sent her confirmed it for me. I smiled, keeping my secret to myself for the time being.

Ranger winked at Stephanie and then said, "I'd be honored to be the baby's godfather." He then turned to me and said, "Just promise me you won't let him name the baby 'kid.'"

We all laughed at that one—well, everyone but Lester. He winced

Stephanie stepped forward and set the bag she was holding on the tray by my bed. "I brought all the books you asked for."

I grinned. "Thanks."

Before I could continue, the baby let out a cry, and Kelly smiled and said, "Looks like someone is hungry."

I was equal parts excited and scared shitless. I was thrilled to be able to hold and nurse my baby, but at the same time she was so tiny I was also scared out of my mind.

Kelly removed the baby from the incubator and gently placed her in my arms. She placed a receiving blanket over my shoulder and adjusted my gown, and before I could do anything else, the baby took hold and started nursing. My eyes widened in wonder at the feelings I was experiencing.

Les wrapped his arms around me and laid his head on top of mine.

Stephanie grinned at us. "I think we'll be going now. But maybe you could give us a call and let us know what name you decide on?"

I was torn. I wanted her to stay, but I felt she was right in that this was mine and Lester's time to be with the baby. I nodded and said, "As soon as we have the name, I'll call."

She sent me a finger wave, and then they left.

Once the door was shut, I looked up at Lester.

He leaned down and kissed me.

It didn't take long for the baby to get her fill, and then Lester took her and gently laid her back in the incubator.

My gaze went to the bag, and I pulled it over to me and riffled through it till I came up with the book I wanted. Although I had Steph bring all seven of the ones I'd picked up, I knew the one I wanted. I looked over and saw Lester was watching the baby sleep.

Smiling, I said, "Lester, please come and sit with me so we can look at this book."

"Just a second, baby."

I rolled my eyes as I smile. I didn't blame him for wanting to watch the baby sleep. She was so precious. Still, I really wanted to find the perfect name for her.

I opened the book, and the firstname that struck me is Alessandra. I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and wondered if I dare suggest the name. I mean, I know that Lester and Daddy weren't getting along to begin with, but they'd declared a truce, and I'd really like my dad to know how much I appreciated all he'd done for me, even though I had tested his patience.

Just then Lester pulled up a chair so he could sit beside me. "I'm ready. Let's look at this book now so we can find a name for Angel."

After about an hour of searching and not getting anywhere, I was starting to get frantic. I finally pointed to one and said, "How about this one?"

"Dominique?" Lester makes a face. "She'll get saddled with the nickname Dom. We can't do that to her."

"Well, what about Ashley or Makayla?"

He nodded and squeezed my leg as he smiled at me. "You can keep those for now. What about Ainsley, Ashlyn, or Liani. That one's Spanish."

I winced. We were getting further and further from what I really wanted to call her, and I wasn't sure how to steer the conversation in that direction.

Lester gently lifted my chin till I was looking into his eyes. "What name is in your heart to call her, baby?"

I looked away, even knowing he wouldn't let me get away with that. He leaned even closer, so he filled my field of vision.

I sighed. "Alessandra."

He leaned his forehead against mine for several seconds as I held my breath, and then when I had to take a breath, he said, "All right. Alessandra Michelle Santos."

I looked up at him stunned. "Really?"

He nodded. "Really. For me, she's my Angel. That's what I plan to call her. And as long as she has my last name, I'm good with your naming her for your father."

"How did you know about Michelle?"

He grinned. "Every name you've written down has had Michelle after it. I figured the name had a special meaning for you."

I grinned. "That's Stephanie's middle name."

Lester kissed me and then asked, "So do we have her name?"

I nodded. "I love you, Les."

"I love you too, Luci. You are everything to me, and now you've given me more with our daughter."