Craving Cecilia: The Aces' Sons by Jacquelyn Nicole

Author:Jacquelyn, Nicole [Jacquelyn, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction
Publisher: Nicole Jacquelyn
Published: 2020-08-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Cecilia

Was I hurt? Yes. My ribs throbbed every time I moved and the cut along my side stung and pulled. My cheek and jaw ached every time I made any expression. My mouth felt like raw hamburger from the inside of my cheeks being forced against my teeth. My stomach still churned from being hit, and even water made me nauseous.

I knew what he was asking, though. Was there a physical reason I wasn’t speaking?

No.

I just couldn’t make myself do it. I’d open my mouth to say something, to argue or agree, and I couldn’t. It was as if when I’d trapped all the sounds inside myself, I’d locked the door and lost the key. They were stuck inside my head and every time I tried to let them out, everything just shut down.

I couldn’t fix it no matter how hard I tried. Not even when they’d come up with the plan for Olive to travel separately from me. I hadn’t even been able to tell her goodbye, and that killed me.

“It’ll come back to ya,” Mark said, his hands smoothing over my hips. “Just give it a little time.”

I hoped he was right.

“Sounds like another car is pulling up,” he said. I was swinging open the bedroom door and flying through it before he’d even risen from the bed.

The front door was already open and my dad was standing in it. Beyond him, Forrest was climbing out of his SUV.

“All good?” my dad called, stepping out onto the porch.

“Yep,” Forrest called back.

I slid past my dad and hurried down the steps as Forrest lifted Olive from the box on the passenger seat.

“Here you go, mama,” he said, handing her to me. “I fed her that milk you pumped this morning, but it’s been a couple hours and she’s about ready again, I think. She’s a good road trip partner, slept most of the time and didn’t bitch once about my music.”

I barely heard him as I lifted Olive close to my face, running my cheek along hers. The weight and feel and smell of her comforted me in a way I couldn’t explain. Relief hit me so hard I found myself swallowing back a sob.

“Your music sucks, Forrest,” Lu said, coming up behind me. “Come on, hun. You guys better come back inside.”

I nodded and let her lead me back to the house.

“How’s she doing?” my mom asked as I sat down in the recliner. “She doesn’t look any worse for wear.”

Setting the baby down with her tush against my belly and her head near my knees, I unwrapped her. Forrest was a doctor, or at least had the training, and he knew how to take care of a newborn, but I still had an almost overwhelming urge to make sure everything was as it should be. I needed to be one hundred percent sure.

“All limbs, present and accounted for,” my mom joked. She squeezed my shoulder. “I know today was hard, sweetheart, but you did good.”

I nodded, still focused on Olive.

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