The Haven (Book 2 of The Claiming)

Chapter Twenty-Two

I've never seen so much snow before, and I don't think Gus has, either. I giggle as the big fluff ball tromps around in our backyard, creating big paw prints behind him. Suddenly, he flops over and rolls around in the white snowy dust.

I hear the front door open on the other side of the house.

"It's so freaking cold!" Alec cries. I can hear him throwing his computer case on the ground and chucking his shoes off for the day. "Belle?"

"At the back door," I say, my gaze never leaving our silly dog. He's now just sprinting back and forth, back and forth.

I feel Alec's arms come around me, his hands resting on my belly. He kisses my neck. "How are the contractions?"

"Still pretty far apart," I tell him, turning my head to give him a peck on the lips. "Surely in the next few days she'll be ready."

He chuckles. "She should have been ready last week! She's late!"

I place my hands on top of his. "Or maybe everyone else was just expecting her too early."

Alec hugs me closer and kisses the top of my head this time. "You have no idea how thankful I am that she's made it this far... That you've made it this far."

I nestle my head under his chin, always comforted by him being near me.

A week after Walden's death, when I had finally sort of recovered from the shock of killing someone, we found out I was pregnant again. This was surprising for two reasons. One, we were dumb and weren't careful when I wanted us to be, but at the same time it was perfect timing. And two, after seeing our doctor upon finding out, he told me I was supposed to have been unable to carry a child because of the damage that had been done with our first.

He warned us I wouldn't carry full term. At least, there was a huge chance I wouldn't.

Well, surprise.

In the nine months after the battles, New Athens has slowly recovered. The destroyed towers are still being rebuilt, and the surviving families of the neighborhoods in rubble have been moved while construction goes underway. Riah, Chance, and their son have moved in a couple of doors down, which used to be exciting until they asked us to babysit just about every Friday night—the nights Alec and I like to go out to dinner, but it's fine. I'm not mad.

Really, I'm not. It gives us practice, I guess.

Thankfully that'll all end as soon as our little girl is born.

"You want to go out and get something to eat or stay in?" Alec asks me.

Before I can respond, I feel an odd, releasing sensation and then something running down my leg. I stare at Alec, my mouth open in surprise.

"My water just broke," I whisper.

Alec stares back for a heartbeat, smiles bigger than I've ever seen before, and then takes out his phone and calls the hospital to send someone to come get us.

I call Gus back in warily. When Alec is off the phone, he takes me to the bathroom so that I can take a quick shower and change clothes. He then leads me to the couch in the living room so we can see outside for our ride.

"You ready to have a baby?"

"I'm scared," I say.

"I'll be with you through it all," Alec promises.

***

I've never felt joy like this before. Surrounded by family and friends, showing off our new baby girl to the world.

It was a long labor that ultimately brought about issues. A grotesque C-section later, and I'm finally coming to my senses after being drugged more than I thought possible.

Watching Alec hold her warms my heart. His eyes shine with love for the two of us.

My mom and Alec's mom sit on a small couch under a window to the left of the hospital bed. "Have you finally picked out a name for her yet?" my mother pesters once again. "You've had nine months to consider thousands of options!"

"Yes, we have a name for her," I say with fake indignance.

She grins at me.

"Well?" Alec's mom prompts, leaning forward on the sofa.

Alec swings his legs over the side of the hospital bed where he's been lying with me while I've been recovering. He stands with our child in his arms, careful not to make any jerking movements. Our dads wander into the room further after having been standing close to the doorway talking quietly in serious tones. The mood in the room lightens when Alec shifts our daughter in his arms for our parents to see her sweet, round sleeping face.

"Grandmas and Grandpas, meet your granddaughter, Mave," Alec says proudly.

I can't help but smile as our mothers fawn over her and her new name. Alec doesn't stray for too long, though. He brings her back to me and rests her gently in my arms. He eases back onto the hospital bed and scoots close to me.

My living, breathing Mave. Whole and complete. Perfect in every way.

I glance up at Alec and realize he's watching me, not our daughter. He kisses the top of my head and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "I think Grayson would have been a good big brother," he says softly so that no one can hear.

"I do, too," I reply.

"Maybe Mave will be a good big sister."

I glare at Alec, but I know he can see I'm teasing. "Too soon! I'm sore and tired and want to get this one out of diapers before we even think of having another."

He shrugs and laughs. "Just throwing the idea out there..."

I nudge him with my shoulder lightly. "Nice try."

I gaze up at him and smile. "You know I love you more than anything in this world, don't you?"

Alec kisses me on the lips as if we're the only two people in the room. "What about Mave?"

"That's a different kind of love," I explain. "I love her more than anything, too. As a mother loves her daughter."

"Ah," he says. "Then it won't make me a terrible father to say that I love you more than anything in this world, too?"

I grin. "No, it makes you an even better father."

I rest my head on Alec's shoulder, everything in my body relaxing. His familiar scent in the hospital atmosphere gives me all I need. The sound of our parents chattering fades to a low drone as I start to drift for the thousandth time since the surgery

Alec reaches over and touches Mave's little foot, tucked away in a bundle of blankets. "We're going to love you, little Mave," he says to her, so quietly that I can barely hear him.

I look at Alec and then at our beautiful baby girl. "Always."    

A/N: And that's a wrap for this story! I've decided to go ahead an write about their daughter because I've run out of things for Alec and Belle to do, and I'm ready for a new love story! The voting was pretty tied anyway, so all good! The next couple books will be about Mave's struggle with the royal family in New Athens (not in the same way Belle did) as well as the queen of Bayfell seeking revenge on New Athens in a conniving way to get back at Belle for killing her husband. The next book is titled The River, and you can find it in my other stories! 

Thanks for reading and supporting! You all are the best!

A/N (Nov 2022): If you like fantasy/romance, feel free to check out my new story Winter & Wing, too!