Tell me to breathe one more time, and I swear I’ll castrate you, Richard Jones !” I screamed.I heard Dan burst into laughter, and Connor looked at me.“Wow, Isabella . That was uncalled for,” he said.“No! What’s uncalled for is you making me feel worse than I already do. I don’t want to know when another contraction is coming! I don’t want you to tell me to breathe! I know you’re trying to help me, but all I need from you, babe, is silence.”Richard stared at me and took my face in his hands. “I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean—”“I know you didn’t, Richard . It just hurts so badly, and I want it to be over,” I said as I interrupted him.“I know you do, and I can’t wait to see our daughter. She’s going to be beautiful, just like her mother.” He smiled.A tear fell from the corner of my eye and down my cheek as another contraction started; the worse one yet. I looked over at Henry.“Please, Henry, give me an epidural. Please, I’m begging you.”“Isabella , I can’t. You’re not dilated yet.
Richard I followed them out of the room and stood there as they wheeled Isabella down the hall. I was scared shitless and worried. If something happened to them, I didn’t know what I’d do. I would never forget the look on Isabella ’s face as they wheeled her away from me.“I’m going to make sure that Isabella and the baby are fine,” Henry said as he put his hand on my shoulder. “Get changed and I’ll see you in operating room.”I nodded my head as Isabella disappeared from my sight. Nurse Bailey handed me a pair of light blue scrubs and told me to change in the bathroom.“She’s going to be all right, Mr. Jones . Now hurry up and put those on.” She smiled.As I walked into the bathroom to change, Anita went to the waiting room and sat with my family. I quickly changed, and when I opened the bathroom door, Nurse Bailey was standing there, holding a mask in her hand.“You need to put this on before we go into the room. It’s for the baby’s safety.”As I took the mask from her, she led me
They’re beautiful, Richard . Thank you.”“You’re welcome, baby.” I smiled.“She’s probably hungry again,” Isabella said as she looked over at Julia.“I’ll feed her.” I smiled. I walked over and took her out of her bouncy seat. The minute I held her, she stopped.“I think she missed her daddy today.” Isabella smiled as she set the food on the table.I sat down at the table with her and attempted to eat. The minute I picked up my fork, Julia started to scream. Isabella got up and warmed a bottle for her. She went to take her from me, but I wouldn’t give her up.“Let me feed her, Isabella . You go and eat. You’ve been with her all day.”“But you worked all day. I can feed her so you can eat your dinner.”“No, now give me the bottle, and let me feed my daughter.” I smiled at her.“Okay.” She smiled back as she handed me the bottle.When I put the bottle in Julia’s mouth, she instantly started to drink it. As I looked over at Isabella , she glanced at me and ran the tip of her tongue acros
“Bye, my beautiful little girl.” Richard smiled as he kissed Julia on her head. “And goodbye to you, my beautiful wife,” he said as he kissed me on the lips.“Bye, babe. Good luck and call me.”He gave me a small smile before the elevator doors closed. I took Julia upstairs to change her diaper. Since I couldn’t stop thinking about the trial, I was pissed that Richard wasn’t talking to me about it. I wanted to be there for him, but since Julia had been born, I hadn’t had time to think about anything else but her, and I was exhausted all the time. I changed Julia’s diaper and carried her downstairs to find my phone. As I grabbed it off the kitchen counter, I dialed Anita .“Hello, bestie. Did you and Connor have amazing sex last night?” she asked.“Good morning, Anita , and yes, we did have amazing sex, but that’s not why I’m calling.”“Oh, I thought you’d want to talk about it,” she said with a disappointed tone.“Are you busy today?” I asked her.“I just have a few errands to run. Wh
I shook my head. “I miss Julia, and I want her home,” I cried.“Aw, Isabella . Come here, baby,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me. “She’ll be home soon.”Suddenly, I heard voices coming from downstairs. I jumped up from the bed and flew down the stairs. When I saw Anita and Dan by the door, I grabbed the car seat from Dan’s hand.“Julia, Mommy missed you so much,” I cried as I took her out of her car seat and held her tight.“God, Isabella . Are you okay?” Anita asked.“She’s fine,” Richard said as he came walking down the stairs. “She just missed Julia.”Richard walked over and kissed Anita on the cheek. “Thank you for looking after her,” he said, and then walked over and shook Dan’s hand. Richard kissed Julia on the head and told her how much he missed her.“What’s going on with you?” Anita asked as she sat down next to me.“I missed her, Anita . It was the first time we’d been apart since I found out I was pregnant, and it was hard.”“Aw, sweetie,” she said as she put her a
“Hello,” I said as I tried to sound as if I wasn’t crying.“Hi, baby. Why is Julia screaming like that?”I couldn’t hold it together anymore as I broke down. “I don’t know. She just won’t stop and I don’t know what to do for her,” I cried.“Is anyone else there with you?” he asked.“No, I’m here by myself. Richard, I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She just won’t stop crying.”“I’m on my way, Isabella ,” he said as he hung up the phone.I tried to tell him not to come home, but he had already hung up. I held Julia up over my shoulder and patted her back. She screamed. I bounced her as I walked up and down the stairs. She screamed. I sat in the rocking chair and tried to rock her. She screamed. I literally was going to lose it. As I walked back down the stairs with her, Richard stepped out of the elevator. He walked over to me and took Julia. As he looked at me, he wiped the tears from my eyes.“Maybe I should call the doctor,” I said.“How long as she been like this?” he asked.“Abo
“Hold on. I’m leaving too. I’ll walk out with you.” Cassidy smiled.“But, Cass—”I walked over to Richard and put my hand over his mouth. “She thinks he’s hot. Let her go.”“Seriously?” he mumbled.I removed my hand from his mouth and kissed him softly. “Leave your sister alone.”“I didn’t say anything,” he said.“Not yet you didn’t. But you have that look.”Richard looked at his watch. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” He smiled as he put his arm around me.Richard We both climbed into the Range Rover, and I sat there with my hands on the wheel. I looked over at Isabella as she looked at herself in a small mirror. When she stopped looking at herself, she turned her eyes to me.“What?” she asked.“I can’t believe what Cassidy did in there.”“Why? She saw a hot guy and she took advantage of the situation.”“Oh, so you think he’s hot?”“Yeah, he’s cute,” Isabella replied as she put on her lipstick.“I bet you thought he was hot back in college too,” I said as I pulled out of the parkin
“Where are you going?”“To check on Julia,” I said.“Why? She’s only whimpering. Maybe she’s having a nightmare about you chasing all her boyfriends away.”“Very funny, Isabella.”“It’s okay, Richard. She’ll be fine. If she starts to scream, then we’ll get her, but until then, she’s just probably trying to get comfortable.”I pulled on my boxers and lay back in bed. “You’re right, babe,” I said as I wrapped my arms around her and stared at my daughter through the monitor.Isabella One month later…Ashlyn’s trial had been going on for about three weeks, and Richard was under a lot of stress. Julia had started to sleep through the night, so that made things a little easier for us. Richard and I worked out at the gym every morning before he went to the office, and Mason watched Julia. He was so good with her, and it was easy to see how much he loved her. Landon confided in me that he was happy that we hired Mason as Julia’s nanny because all Mason had been talking about in California wa