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Chapter 11
ALEX
Istandoutsidethe airport, my bag in one hand, my phone in the other. I scheduled an Uber while I was waiting in line to get through customs, and yet it is still running late. Fuck. And Hunter is still at camp, so he can’t come to pick me up. He won’t be back until December third, meaning I won’t even get to see him until the new year due to Hamburg. At this rate, it’s going to take me forever to get home. I don’t even know if Rachel is home. I’ve been so incredibly busy and it’s not like Lucas and Seth ever pick up the fucking phone. I just may kill them when I see them.
Well, maybe not Seth. I think some rough sex will get me through being pissed off with him. But Lucas will definitely die for not keeping me updated. I groan and look at my phone for the hundredth time. The driver is stuck in the airport traffic. For some odd reason, everyone seemed to go on vacation this weekend. Oh wait… Now I get it. I groan and look skyward, cursing my luck.
It’s fucking Thanksgiving weekend. Everybody is returning home. Of course the airport is fucking crazy. Shit. I’m never getting home at this rate. I return to pacing, because it’s all I can really do while I wait for my Uber to arrive. Rachel is fine, so I don’t have that much to worry about. The c-section went well. Maria appears to be healthy, yet all I want to do is see Rachel…and Seth. I’m gone way too much and I should have been there for the birth to at least hold Rachel’s hand. I’m going to feel guilty about this for the rest of my life. I know it. I shouldn’t have gone to Toronto. I should have told Susan to fuck off. Although she probably would have dropkicked me if I even tried.
This photoshoot went better than the one in LA. Susan was impressed I showed up, and even more impressed I kept focused despite worrying about Rachel. It was hard not looking at my phone every two seconds. I gave it to an assistant to hold who texted Seth in my place. Thankfully, I at least had that. I gave her specific instructions to inform me if anything bad happened, and still worried about Rachel all through the photoshoot. On one hand, I’m happy my career with Puma and Susan as my manager is a bit more stable. Still, I wish I didn’t have to make sacrifices. I leave in a few days for Hamburg. All I have are these last couple days to be with Rachel and Seth and meet little Maria.
This fucking driver needs to get here soon so I can be with them.
As if the gods above heard my pleas, the driver arrives, then we spend the next hour in even more traffic trying to get out of the airport pickup lanes. I drum my fingers on my leg, staring out the window at the cars surrounding us, telling myself everything will be fine. Most likely Rachel will be sleeping by the time I get home anyway and will be in no mood to discuss Toronto or how the hospital went. I suspect Seth and Lucas will be exhausted as well. I have time.
After two hours spent in the car, I finally make it back home, finding the house unusually quiet. Before I can even find my keys, the door is thrown open, and I see Seth wobbling before me with dark circles under his eyes.
“Hey,” I start, but before I can say anything more, Seth throws his arms around me and pulls me into a tight hug.
“I missed you,” he murmurs in my neck. “I missed you so much.”
I lean into his touch and wrap my arms around his waist, pulling him close. “I missed you too,” I whisper. “These trips are getting to be a bit too much.”
“Then don’t go to Hamburg.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “Seth—”
Seth pushes me away, his eyes wide and worry blaring back at me. “I mean, do go to Hamburg. I support you in all that. Jesus…” He runs his hands through his hair and turns on his heel, stalking toward the couch. “I don’t mean to sound so unsupportive. I’m just tired.”
I drop my bag on the floor and kick the door shut before following him toward the couch. “You look it. Are Maria and Rachel sleeping upstairs?”
Seth groans and dumps himself on the couch. “No,” he says while tilting his head back and closing his eyes. “They’re still at the hospital. They still need to run some tests on Maria and Rachel is healing from the operation. They should be able to go home in three or four more days. I only came back to get a quick shower and a change of clothes for Rachel.”
I sit on the edge of the couch next to him and the moment my bottom touches the cushions, Seth rests his head on my shoulder and nuzzles me. “You haven’t been answering my texts,” I say, trying not to sound accusing and failing miserably.
“Sorry,” Seth murmurs. “I’ve been so busy with the doctors and helping Rachel. She’s in a bit of pain.”
“Where’s Lucas?”
“With Rachel,” Seth yawns. “I didn’t punch him. We had a heart to heart. Kinda. He won’t write about our sexy time in his new book.”
I have no clue what he’s talking about. I didn’t know he was thinking about punching Lucas. And what does Seth mean by Lucas isn’t going to write about our sexy time? Before I can ask him, Seth’s eyes open and soon I’m staring into those chocolate brown orbs. He presses his body into me, his lips brushing mine faintly, just enough to make my heart flutter.
“I really did miss you,” he whispers. “Probably more than I should have.”
I nuzzle my nose against his and grab his chin. My lips hover above his and my heart nearly stops when I hear his breath hitch. “I missed you more than I should have too,” I whisper before kisses him deep and hard. Seth’s body melts into mine and I allow him to climb on top of me, to show me just how much he missed me.
***
About an hour later I find myself much more relaxed and following Seth down the hall toward Rachel’s room. The walls are impossibly white, and the faint smell of lemon cleaner fills my senses. Nurses pass us by, hardly sparing us a look while they push pregnant women on wheelchairs toward their rooms. Moans fill the air and there’s a couple arguing in the corner with a doctor hovering nearby. I guess the maternity ward never sleeps.
My attention is drawn to the door before me, labeled 403, and I look over at Seth, who is smiling tenderly as he pushes the door open, revealing Rachel inside. Lucas stands next to her, looking just as exhausted and worried as Seth, while Rachel cradles something small and bundled in pink to her chest. Her head lifts and her eyes widen on me, her smile growing as she says, “Alex! You’re back already?”
“Already?” I ask while briskly striding toward her. “What do you mean by ‘already’? I feel like I’ve been gone for years.” I pause to kiss her forehead before turning all my attentions to the little bundle in her arms. “Is this our little girl?”
“Alex,” Rachel says softly, “I’d like you to meet Maria.”
Maria blinks up at me in response. She looks so snuggled and warm cradled in her mother’s arms. Her head is covered in a matching pink hat. She’s wearing the tiny bear pajamas I remember picking out with Hunter and Lucas when we went to Babies R Us a month ago.
