Chapter 30

With one last look at his sleeping wife and daughter, Roman pulled the bedroom door nearly all the way closed, leaving it open just enough he could hear if either of stirred. Then turned and walked over to where Seth sat sprawled out on the couch. "Lexi sleeping?" Seth asked.

Roman nodded then sank onto the couch opposite Seth. He took a moment to listen to the howling wind and for the first time in several hours was reminded that they were indeed stuck in the middle of a hurricane. Once they were in the moment he'd all but forgotten about the storm. "She finished nursing Alea and now they're both sleeping."

Tired, he slid a hand through his hair. "Since it's gonna be awhile before the storm ends and we can get her to the hospital to be checked out, Doctor Amman is going to come back in about an hour."

"He still worried about her bleeding?" Dean handed him a bottle of beer before plopping down in the spare chair.

Roman wrapped his fingers around the glass and nodded. "Yeah. He's assured me that she's not hemorrhaging, but she has lost more blood than he'd like. He's concerned that maybe some of scar tissue in her uterus is causing problems."

"You know she'll be fine, right?" Seth asked. "Lexi is the toughest chick I know. I'm confident she'll be fine."

"Yeah." Roman replied as he closed his eyes and immediately pictured her face so full of fear and pain. He'd never seen her like that before and it bothered him. "It doesn't change the fact that I'm still worried."

"What did Doctor Amman say about Alea?" Dean asked.

Roman smiled now as he thought about his baby girl. What a beautiful little wiggling bundle of joy she was. "She's perfect," he nearly snorted the words. He was still amazed that after all their fears and everything they'd gone through she was here and healthy. "Other than being a couple of weeks early and a little small, she appears to be in perfect health."

"That's fantastic," Dean replied. "Considering how hard you both fought to get her here healthy."

"Yeah." Roman took a long pull from the bottle, set it on the table, then leaned back and scrubbed a hand over his face. "I think I'm still in shock."

"Me too," Seth murmured even as he grinned yet again. "I don't think I told you this yet, but thank you."

Roman felt his brow knit. "For what?"

"For allowing me to be a part of your experience. I mean I've seen a lot of cool and wild things in my life, but this…" He shook his head. "I've never seen something so..." he sighed. "I don't think a word exists that can accurately express what I'm thinking. I mean as gory as all the blood was and as disturbing as it was to see Lexi in so much pain, it was just incredible to watch your little one appear." He toyed with the label of the beer bottle. "Not only was it just amazing to see her emerge out of Lexi's body like that, watching her take her first breath….jeeze." He shook his head. It really was a miracle."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, I have to admit, that was pretty damn cool and humbling." He grinned. "Even I felt like crying when I saw that beautiful little girl of yours."

The heat of embarrassment quickly rolled through Roman, then passed nearly as fast as his thoughts turned back to Lexi. "I'm not too proud to admit that seeing Lexi suffer like that really shook me. I swear I think her screams are going to haunt me in my dreams."

He leaned back against the couched and let his head rest against the top as he closed his eyes. He could see her now, the pain etched into her face, her brow knit with concentration as she pushed their daughter into the world. He could hear her scream, the sheer agony of it that filled the room and echoed off the walls and he forced himself to suppress a shudder as he spoke again. "I mean, I knew it wasn't going to be easy for her, but what I expected to happen and what really happened was so different."

Feeling restless and out of sorts, he shifted again, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees as he ordered his mind to banish the haunting memories. He was emotionally exhausted and feeling completely inept as a husband. The last thing he needed was his mind tormenting him with those images. "I felt so damn helpless, especially when she was asking me for my strength. I couldn't do anything for her."

"That's where you're wrong," Dean corrected and Roman looked over at him, curious. "You were there, Rome. You held her and encouraged her and showed her how much you love her. You gave her exactly what she needed."

Roman shook head. "I couldn't take away her pain. I couldn't do anything tangible to make it easier for her. All I gave her was words and she gave me…" he paused as he drew in a long, deep cleansing breath. "She gave me my baby girl. She gave me Alea Faith and that hardly seems fair."

Seth leaned forward to mimicked Roman's position. "You know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think that she might have done all the hard work in getting your little one here, but now that she is here, it's your job to give her what she needs and keep her safe. Lexi can't do that on her own. She needs you and that's where you're going to prove just how much you love her and show her just how thankful you really are."

Lexi was dreaming of the biting pain swirling through her body as she surfaced from sleep. She shifted, then winced at the confirmation that the pain was indeed real. Her gaze landed on the ceiling and for a brief moment confusion claimed her thoughts, then slowly the memories began. There'd been a storm and she'd given birth to her baby girl.

Beneath the covers she slid a hand down to find the remnants her baby bump. She turned her head and her heart swelled at the sight before her. Across the room, Roman sat in the chair with Alea in his arms, the expression on his face one of pure love and awe as he stared down at their baby girl.

She wished she had her cell phone handy so she could capture the moment in a picture, but there wasn't any way she was going to make unnecessary movements right now. It would forever remain as her private moment in time. An image tucked away in the vaults of her mind.

Her abdomen ached with tiny little cramps and farther below felt warm and swollen. She was sure if she tried to move she'd be treated to some new and creative form of pain. Still, none of it really mattered. Once the bone aching exhaustion passed she could handle the rest. "Hey, daddy," she whispered and realized just how dry her mouth felt.

Roman's attention cut from their newborn to Lexi and his eyes widened. "Hey, how you feeling?"

"Sore." She lifted a hand to her head and swiped the hair from her face. "Exhausted. Thirsty."

He shifted Alea, then pushed up from the chair and crossed to her. With one hand he poured water from a pitcher and handed her the glass.

"Thank you," she whispered, then took a long drink. "How is she doing?"

Roman grinned. "Great. I'm still trying to make my mind believe that she's actually here. I mean I know I'm holding her and everything, but it feels like a dream." His smile faltered just a little as he looked down at her. "You're still really pale. Are you sure you're okay? You lost more blood than Doctor Amman is happy with."

She nodded. "That probably explains part of why I feel so lethargic and exhausted, but yeah, I'm just sore. How long have I been sleeping?"

"Four hours," Roman replied as he eased onto the bed next to her. "Doctor Amman came in to check on you and it scared the hell out of me when you didn't do more than let out a small moan when he touched you. I was worried that the extra blood loss was taking a toll." He turned his attention from her to the window. "Doc said the storm is letting up and we should be able to get you to the hospital soon, but I already feel a little better now that you're awake and coherent."

"Four hours?" Lexi eyed the infant as all thoughts of her own discomfort vanished. "She's probably hungry again."

Roman nodded. "She has been a bit fussy."

"Here," Using what little strength she'd recouped from sleeping, Lexi pushed herself into a more upright position and she let a small hiss escape as she bit back the pain from moving. "Let me nurse her."

Roman eyed her with concern, but handed the baby over. His gaze followed Lexi's as she helped Alea latch and within seconds the infant began to suck greedily. "I know I already said this, but I still can't quite believe she's finally here." Roman stroked a hand along the back of the newborn's head.

"I know," Lexi grinned, then looked up at Roman, lifted her free hand to his cheek. "Thank you."

His brow knit as he stared blankly at her. "For what?"

"For not giving up on me. For showing me that I could have the life I always wanted. For being there for me and loving me."

She watched, her heart filling with love, as the knit in his brow smoothed over. "I'll always love you, Alexandra."

Other than the epilogue, which I will be posting later today (as soon as I finishing editing it.) this is the end of Lexi and Roman's story. I want to thank everyone who has followed and favorited and commented along the way. I know it went up fast and I generally don't write this fast, but this story hit me fast and hard and demanded I write it as quickly as possible. I hope you've all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Now that it's done, I will have to step away again and take care of some real world obligations. To those who have asked about Reluctant Desire, I will be reposting it soon and at some point I will be back with more stories.

Thank you again!

Sienna