Page 59 of Cross + Catherine: The Companion

Perfect little Cece Catherine.

The next Donati girl.

Cross’s head hit the pillow on the spare bed, and he was positive he fell asleep before his eyes even closed fully.

He still felt bad.

He should have stayed up.

His body was done.

Cross woke up to the sound of beeping. A familiar beep that made him want to curse, and ignore it altogether. It only took him one second of being awake for panic to settle into his chest, and remind him why he shouldn’t be fucking sleeping in the first place.

Catherine.

Labor.

Shit.

Cross jumped up from the bed, and grabbed his cell phone at the same time—the offending device being the thing that was making all that beeping noise. He checked the screen as he headed out of the spare bedroom.

Any updates?

His father.

Another text he missed from Zeke.

Is my Goddaughter here yet, or what?

Damn.

How long had he been sleeping, anyway?

Cross checked the time on the phone as he took the stairs of their Newport home two at a time. He blinked at the time staring back at him.

He’d only slept a little more than an hour.

It felt like way more.

Well, maybe he shouldn’t complain, then.

Cross quickly typed replies back to his father, and Zeke. No news yet to tell, and he would let them know when something changed, but not to hold their breaths.

His foot hit the downstairs hardwood floor, and he hesitated at the sound of laughter coming from the kitchen area. And also, music.

What in the fuc—

“Come on, now,” he heard Catrina say, “don’t give me that look Catherine. I swear this is what your father did for me—worked like a charm, baby.”

“It did,” Dante agreed.

“You really think I want to dance right now, Ma?” Catherine asked, laughing.

“Dancing moves the baby down. Dancing helps. Dancing makes you happy.”

“So dance,” Dante added.

Cross quietly moved down the hall, and poked his head around the kitchen entryway. Sure enough, his very pregnant wife was being slowly cajoled into dancing to a very fast, modern song that he recognized from the radio.