Chapter Fifty

She couldn’t believe it. Ethan Devry showed up at Joan's house like a knight in shining armor, here to rescue her from Landen's obnoxiously hardheaded theory that he was the father.

Even after she told him, he still didn't believe her. She'd given Landen years of her life, and for what? For him to cheat on her in their shared apartment and then come back to grovel as if she should forget what he did to her.

Aria's heart thudded quickly against her chest at Ethan's blue gaze and the blanket of scruff on his strong jaw. He looked tired, but in a way that showed Aria her disappearance had affected him. The heavy tension between Ethan and Aria weighed on her chest, leaving so many things unsaid that she wanted to get off her chest but without an audience. His eyes screamed so many things at her, tearing her up on the inside, a silent conversation weighing between them.

Until Landen ruined it—again.

"I can't believe this, Aria. I'm not the father, this uppity jackass is?" Landen said, his voice fading in and out of Aria's earshot.

Ethan shoved Landen's shoulder, and Aria sensed his temper slipping from its formulated place.

Landen pointed his finger in Ethan's face. "Don’t touch me. You're not raising this kid, and I want a DNA test, I don't believe for a minute that this isn't my child."

Ethan's light chuckle slid underneath Aria's skin and raised goosebumps against her arm. "Well, believe it," he said. "Because I'm taking care of my child, and I don't give a damn about what you think about it."

Landen shoved Ethan, and before Aria could blink, Ethan slugged him in the jaw, sending him back onto Joan's living room table. Shards of wood flew around him, and Aria yelped in surprise at the impact.

Joan's mouth dropped from across the room. "Oh my God!" she shouted.

Ethan wasted no time jumping on top of Landen and hitting him again. It must have taken Landen a few minutes to regain his sanity because he took several blows before he shoved Ethan off and staggered to his feet.

Aria staggered up, using the couch as a crutch to get out of their way, holding her stomach, another contraction hit like a hurricane. "Oh my God," she mumbled, falling to her knees.

Joan bolted over, catching her shoulders and holding her up. "Are you okay?"

"My water, it broke," she whispered. "I need to go. Get me to the hospital." She held on to Joan's shoulder as she ushered her toward the door where they stopped abruptly.

"Hey!" Joan screamed, breaking up Ethan and Landen's tussle. "Aria's water broke. Can someone please help me?"

Ethan looked around, finding Aria's hospital bag in the corner, and looped his arm around her waist. "Put your weight on me, you're riding with me."

Aria didn't have time to argue; she wrapped her arm around his shoulder and let him help her to his car. She heard Joan and Landen arguing somewhere in the distance, but her pain radiated throughout her body and erased her ability to care.

Ethan helped her into the passenger seat, put the seat back, and raced around to get into the driver's seat, turning on his emergency lights they sped toward the hospital.

Aria felt Ethan's hand wrap around hers, and she squeezed every time a contraction hit her. It was a pain she couldn’t describe because it blinded her vision and raised goosebumps against her skin.

The hospital staff raced outside when Ethan parked underneath the huge awning above the hospital entrance and got out. The next few moments were a blur for Aria. She was put into a wheel chair and taken to the operating room. Her hands began to shake the closer they got to the room.

Anxious tears raced down her cheeks. She heard heavy footsteps behind her, and then the sound of voices. The male nurse pushing her, stopped, and turned around to look down the hallway.

"What's wrong?" she asked, clamping onto Ethan's hand with a death grip. "Is it Landen?"

Ethan nodded, cracking his knuckles with his fingers.

The nurse looked down at her and then over at Ethan but didn't say anything as he pushed her into her room. Nurses raced to get her bed ready and instructed her to get into her hospital gown.

Aria felt herself begin to unravel and changed her clothes before behind helped into her bed. Another contraction doused her, bringing vomit up her throat.

Ethan bent down beside her, his bright blue eyes lingering over her sweaty face. "You're doing great. You're going to be great," he said softly.

She closed her eyes and smiled, hearing the room door open, and Landen shoved his way through. Two male nurses tried to hold him back, but he sidestepped them. "Aria!" he yelled. "Tell them I'm the father. You can't really believe this guy is the father?"

Ethan stood up, walking through the nurses readying Aria for birth, and shoved him out into the hallway. Aria couldn’t see what happened from her place on the bed, and frankly, she didn't care.

The nurses all glanced at each other as a fight emerged in the hallway, and two of the nurses went out to check, but by that time, she was getting her epidural, and her mind began to wonder far from her shivering place on the hospital bed.

Several minutes later, Ethan walked back inside, his shirt ripped, but he was alone, and the sound of Landen's voice had disappeared.

"What happened?" Aria asked.

Ethan wiped the corner of his mouth. "I took care of it."

One of the nurses walked up to hook Aria up to an IV and smirked. "Mr. Hot Hands knocked your little stalker out."

Aria's gaze shifted toward Ethan. "I wasn't going to miss this because of him. I'm here for you now, and you don't have to worry about me leaving, ever again."

He caught the tear that cascaded down her cheek, and he leaned over to kiss her mouth.

"Alright, Aria," Dr. Larrimer said, walking into the room, putting on her gloves. "Let's have a baby."

***

Aria woke to a silent room, her heady dizzy and a feverish dream riding her thoughts. What had happened? She wasn't sure. Tiny fragments of her memory came back, and she remembered Ethan and Landen arguing.

Her gaze swept over the room, her eyes landing on a little bundle of joy resting in a hospital bassinet, all wrapped up and toasty. Tears threatened Aria's eyes, her emotions rolling down her cheeks.

She listened for Ethan in the bathroom, but after several seconds, she realized she was alone. Her Lil Man began to squirm and wiggle around, and she reached over to roll him toward her, picking him up and staring into a pair of bright blue eyes.

"My baby," she whispered, bringing him down to her chest, she pulled her gown out of the way, and tried to help him latch. With each passing minute, her anxiety began to grow.

Had Ethan left?

Gotten cold feet?

Did her giving birth do it for him, and he ran as soon as the nurses left? She stroked her fingers against her baby's face and tried to hold back her tears. Ethan wouldn't knock Landen out just to run afterward, would he?

Aria glanced over at the cart that held her water bottle and reached around until she found her cell phone. Joan had texted her about coming to visit in an hour or two, and Aria's bottom lip began to tremble. She didn't know if it was the hormones, the pain killers, or the thought of telling Joan Ethan had bailed that made her cry.

Maybe all three.

Aria watched as her baby fell to sleep, his little face at peace, which was all she ever wanted. She pulled the portable hospital bassinet back over and leaned up to lower her baby inside.

The door to the hospital room opened, and she wiped the tears away from her eyes, not wanting anyone to see how sad she felt.

When the nurse walked in, Aria felt herself sink further into the bed. "Good morning, Aria. You're awake. How are you feeling?"

Aria moved around a bit, feeling the sting down in her lower abdomen. "In my stomach."

She put her hands on her hips. "That's normal. You did an amazing job," she said with a smile. "And I'm going to go over your discharge information so you can go home."

Aria realized quickly she didn't have a ride since Ethan was gone.

"I'll call my friend Joan," Aria said, a croak in her voice.

"What about the father? I thought he was taking you?"

Aria shrugged, keeping her gaze down on her shaking fingers, she tried to keep herself from crying. "I—I don't know where he is," she whispered.

The nurse rushed over and bent down to hug Aria. "Sweetie, I think he went—"

The door opened, and Ethan walked inside, a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bag of baby items in the other. His blue eyes sunk into her, and his grin spread across his face.

"You're up," he said. "I've been waiting for you."