AllFreeNovel
Share Us
As Ava passed her friends, they each gave her a kiss and had tears in their eyes.
As Ava and Susanna walked down the maternity ward, they saw Steven first. His eyes widened, and then they crinkled as he closed the space between them.
“You should be home in bed,” he reprimanded, sounding like such a doctor, and she felt a tinge of worry. She hadn’t wanted Sally to know about this, and she hoped that her friends hadn’t broken that promise.
“Sally doesn’t know, does she?” Ava asked and Steven shook his head.
“BJ told Mason and me when Sally was asking for you both. We lied and said that you had gone into Dallas to go shopping.”
Susanna smiled and so did Ava.
Ava reached out and touched Steven’s hand.
“Thank you and congratulations.”
Steven smiled wide.
“Thank you. Mason and I still can’t believe it. Baby boys,” he said as he shook his head, and Susanna laughed as she looked at Ava.
“Come on, Sally is about to pass out.”
“I bet. We’ll only be a minute,” Susanna said.
“That’s right and then you better get Ava home to rest,” Steven added firmly.
Then he pushed opened the door and there was Sally, holding a bundle in her arms as six-foot-three muscleman Mason held another small bundle. Both were smiling down at the babies.
“Look who I found after their hours of shopping in Dallas,” Steven interrupted and Sally smiled wide.
“Come in, come in. They’re here. Two baby boys,” Sally whispered excitedly. Ava couldn’t help but smile as she approached. The moment she laid eyes on their angelic faces, her heart soared with appreciation for life and love. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Congratulations. They’re so precious, Sally. How are you feeling?”
“I feel great. A bit tired, but I am so excited.”
“Do you want to hold him?” Mason asked as he turned toward Ava and winked knowingly.
She swallowed hard as he passed the tiny bundle to her.
“That’s Jackson, and Sally is holding Jake,” Mason told them as he stood there smiling wide as any new, proud father would be.
Ava held baby Jackson and stared down at his tiny, little fingers and rosy cheeks. She didn’t care that the painkillers were wearing off and her breast was aching. She felt the gift of life in her arms and running through her veins. Somehow, Ava knew that she was cancer-free. Life was a miracle, just like these babies. The tears rolled down her cheeks, and she looked up at Susanna, seeing the tears in her eyes as well.
“This is the best day ever. Happy birthday, Jackson and Jake,” Ava whispered as she rocked the baby in her arms and released a sigh of relief she had been holding inside for far too long.
Chapter 7
Colton was brushing down one of the horses as Evan was adding piles of hay to the stalls. “I don’t get why she won’t answer her cell phone, and the fact that she left town for a week doesn’t sit right with me either. Sally had the babies. There’s no way Ava would leave now.” Evan lifted a
pitchfork of hay and began to fill in the area for the horses.
“Maybe she was scared. I don’t know, Evan. It took a lot for me to even go on that first date, and by the second, I was fixin’ to make her ours, but she’s young and women aren’t always who they seem. You know that firsthand.”
“Something isn’t right,” Evan said as Everett entered the barn. They said hello then continued to work.
“What if we drove by there or called Chad and Michael to find out where the hell Ava went to and when she’ll be back?” Evan suggested.
“Are you two talking about Ava, from Dixie Chix?” Everett asked.
