Page 58 of Cross + Catherine: The Companion

The Daughter

Cross POV

“You okay?”

Cross looked up from the sound of his father-in-law’s voice to find Dante had finally arrived at their house. How long had Cross been leaning against the wall in some kind of awful fucking daze he just couldn’t shake?

Hours.

It had to be hours.

Cross blinked. “Yeah, I’m just—”

“Tired,” Dante said. “This is a long fucking process, I know.”

Nodding, Cross straightened up, and felt his spine crack. Jesus. That kind of hurt, but it felt good at the same time. How was that even fucking possible?

What a day.

A beautiful day.

But still …

“Go grab a quick nap,” Dante told him, tipping his head to the side as if to encourage Cross to move. “In the spare bedroom, or something. Cat is downstairs getting some food warmed up that she brought over, so I don’t think Catherine will even notice you’re gone.”

Cross frowned. “I don’t think I should. That wouldn’t be very fair to her, would it?”

Dante cocked a brow. “Listen, you need to sleep, too. Because when that little girl is here, Catherine’s not going to be. This is exhausting—she’s running on adrenaline right now. But once the baby gets here, all that adrenaline goes away, and her mind needs to recharge. Who do you think is going to be left with the task of taking care of the baby?”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh. Go—I’ll cover for you, anyway.”

Cross grinned at the way his father-in-law almost sounded … conspiratorial about Cross taking a fucking nap while Catherine had to labor through the early contractions. She had been laboring for eight hours now—all goddamn night. The birthing classes they took to prepare for this day had told them this portion could take hours, or even a day or two, before it would move onto the next phase when they would recommend she come into the hospital.

Catherine was fine with that.

Then, she was going to demand an epidural.

Her plan was clear.

Cross saw no issue there.

None at all.

“Don’t make me tell you again,” Dante said, jerking his thumb to the side, “this is going to take a while, Cross.”

“All right.”

He could hear the running shower that Catherine had been using as a stress reliever for the last hour even as he slipped into the spare bedroom down the hall from their master bedroom. He didn’t know how long their hot water tank would hold up considering when he went into the bathroom, it seemed like she had it turned up to just below scalding.

But whatever made her happy.

Jesus, right now, that was all he cared about.

Soon, his little girl would be here.

His principessa.