Every Beat of My Heart (New York Sullivans 0.5) - Bella Andre Page 0,25
extraordinary as mine.”
Drake was a renowned painter, Suzanne was a brilliant computer programmer with a thriving tech company in Manhattan, Harrison was an expert in medieval history at Columbia University, and Alec owned a very lucrative business building private planes just outside of New York City.
William looked extremely proud—but somewhat anxious too—as he looked over at his children. “I know they are. Despite their father.”
“William.” Mary put her hand on her brother-in-law’s face, one that was similar enough to her late husband’s to make her heart twinge every time she looked at him. William had lost his wife not long after she’d given birth to Drake, their youngest. Thirty years later, Mary could see that the five of them were still reeling from what that loss had done to their family. For so long, she’d hoped they could heal what was broken. She still did. She told her brother-in-law yet again, “Whatever you need, whatever your kids need, you’re not in this alone. You have me. You have all of us.”
She could see how close to the surface his emotion was as William nodded. “I know.” He forced a smile for her. “It’s always good to be reminded, though.”
Mary was about to say something more when she suddenly heard a gasp from behind her. Dylan and Grace had been dancing—with both Mason and Grace’s very large pregnant belly between them—but now they were standing still in the middle of the crowd.
With so many children and grandchildren of her own, Mary had seen this look enough times to guess what had just happened. “Grace, honey?”
Grace’s eyes were big as she said, “My water just broke.”
As if her words had been broadcast over a loudspeaker, several of Dylan’s siblings quickly gathered around their brother and his wife, with Dylan’s parents, Claudia and Max, getting there first. Mary smiled as she and William moved back on the dance floor to let them all in.
Mary’s sister-in-law Claudia put her arm around Grace. “Have you started having any contractions yet?”
“I’ve had quite a few Braxton-Hicks cramps over the past week, so I figured that was all they were today too. Especially since I’m still two weeks away from my due date.”
Grace and Dylan had Mason already, so Grace wasn’t a novice to childbirth. Still, the second baby often had a way of coming faster than you expected.
“How far apart are your contractions?” Claudia asked.
Grace opened her mouth to answer, then winced instead as another contraction hit her. “Maybe two, three minutes,” she finally replied.
Dylan looked stunned. “If I’d known you were in labor this whole time—”
Now that the pain had passed, Grace calmly put her hand on her husband’s cheek and said, “I didn’t even know. And I’ve done this bef—” She hadn’t quite gotten out the full sentence before another contraction hit.
“That’s a heck of a lot faster than two minutes,” Dylan’s sister, Mia, noted.
“Marcus, Nicola,” Ford, Mia’s husband, called out, “we’re going to need a doctor.”
“I’m already on hold with the hospital.” Nicola moved closer, a cell phone up to her ear. “They’ve just paged the on-call doctor. And Marcus is getting a bedroom ready.” She grinned at Grace and Dylan. “This is so exciting! Why don’t I take you both inside?”
“Mommy”—Mason tugged at Grace’s skirt—“are you going to have the baby now?”
Dylan lifted his little boy up and smooched him on the cheek. “We sure are.”
“Yes!” Mason pumped his fist. He clearly couldn’t wait to be a big brother. “It’s taken forever.”
Tatiana Landon, Ian’s fiancée, held out her arms to the little boy. “How about we spend some time having fun together while your mommy and daddy make a beautiful baby brother or sister for you?”
Just because Tatiana was one of the biggest movie stars in the world didn’t mean she cared one whit about a toddler getting her dress dirty or wrinkled. Neither did Dylan’s brother Ian. Becoming a billionaire hadn’t changed him—he’d always been a great, and protective, older brother.
“Aunt Mary, Uncle William,” Dylan said, “could you let Rafe, Brooke, Adam, and Kerry know we’d love for them to come up to the house when you see them?”
“Of course, Dylan.” Mary gave her nephew a hug. He’d met Grace and baby Mason when she had come to interview him for a feature in a boating magazine. It had been love at first sight for all three of them.
Mason went happily into Tatiana’s arms as Grace and Dylan headed into the house to meet the physician who was on the way.