Double The Love (BWWM Pregnancy Romance Novel) (11 page)

Liam handed Maya over to
Jasmine and fished out his phone to take a picture. Once he had a few good
ones, he texted them to their parents with a message that read:

Greetings grandparents. I've arrived. Come
to Saint Francis Memorial to meet me. Love your granddaughter, Maya.

Liam’s phone buzzed to life as
soon as he pressed the send button. Of course, It came as no surprise to him
that it was Jasmine’s parents calling instead of his.

“Is this some kind of joke?”
Keith questioned when he picked up.

“No sir,” Liam said in a proud
voice. “She’s beautiful isn’t she?”

Keith’s response was far too
jumbled to make out. There was a pause on the line as he relayed the news to
his wife, and she squealed before taking hold of the phone. “Liam? Is this
true?” Diana spoke up, firing off one frantic question after the other. “Is my
grandbaby here? Is Jasmine all right?”

Liam said nodded even though
she couldn’t see him. “Jasmine’s fine. She did great, but things got
complicated and she had to have a c-section.”

“Complicated?” Diana exclaimed,
immediately on edge. “What does that mean? And why didn’t you call us sooner?”

Liam sighed and rubbed his
neck. “It was Jazz’s choice,” he admitted. “She didn’t want me to call you
until we had good news to relay. You know how stubborn she is. But you don’t
need to worry. She just got too tired to keep pushing, so she had a c-section
instead.”

“And the baby?”

“She’s beautiful. I could go on
and on about how amazing she is, but I think you should just come and see her
yourself.”

“Which hospital again?”

“Saint Francis Memorial.”

“That was the one Jasmine was
born in!” Diana said, although it seemed as though she was talking more to her
husband than to Liam.

 
“I know,” Liam said, reaching down to stroke his daughter’s
forehead. She already had a head full of gorgeous dark hair, a trait she’d inherited
from her mother

“Liam?” Keith spoke up. “We’re
leaving now. What room are you in?”

“Uh, hold on,” Liam said,
walking out into the hall to look. “13B, in the maternity ward,” he clarified a
few seconds later, reentering the room.

“Great,” Keith said. “Tell
Jasmine we’re on our way.”

Chapter eighteen

Liam was changing Maya’s diaper
when Diana and Keith entered the room. Diana smirked at her husband as she
stood behind him and watched.
 
“That isn't tight enough,” she remarked, making their presence known.
“You don’t want it to fall off do you?”

“Hey, you’re free to do this,”
Liam pointed out, scrunching his nose at tar-like mess that had all but glued
itself to his daughter’s behind.

Keith snickered. “Well I'm
impressed,” he remarked. “I never thought I’d see Liam Manning changing a
diaper.”

Jasmine pulled herself upwards,
allowing her parents to draw her into a tight hug.

“Now wait a minute,” Diana
said, going back over to Liam. “That's not pulled up far enough. It needs to
rest snuggly over her belly.”

“Jazz!” Liam sighed, giving her
an exasperated look.

“Mom, stop breathing over his
neck would you?” Jasmine spoke up. “He needs to learn all this stuff, and the
only way he's going to do that is through trial and error.”

Diana reluctantly backed off,
coming back over to her husband’s side to kiss her daughter on the cheek.

“Should we let grandma spend
some time with you now?” Liam asked Maya when he finally got her diaper to
cooperate, snapping the buttons closed on her onesie.

Diana eagerly took hold of her,
and Liam took the opportunity to sit down for what felt like the first time in
hours.

“Maya,” Keith said, trying the
name on for size. “I like it. It was my mother's name.”

“I know,” Jasmine told him.
“That's why I chose it.”

“So when are you coming home?”
Diana questioned, cutting right to the chase. She sighed when Jasmine didn't
respond. “Jazz, we won't take no for an answer here. Maya needs stability, and
you and I both know that LA doesn't have any of that to offer her.”

Liam was quick to intervene
before the situation could unravel any further. “Maya and Jazz are moving in
with me,” he said, speaking firmly. It wasn't something he had a chance to
discuss with her yet, but the look on her face told him that she approved.

Diana looked surprised. “Liam,
you're twenty-four. You're just starting to flourish in your career. The last
thing you need right now is the distraction of a baby. Besides...a downtown
bachelor pad isn't any place for an infant.”

Jasmine shook her head. “You
should see it mom. It's not like that at all. He set up a nursery and
everything.”

“That's nice, honey, but I
still think—”

“Look, Diana, with all due
respect, Maya is my daughter,” Liam interrupted. “You and Keith have done a lot
for me over the years, and I wouldn't be where I am today without the two of
you, but you've already raised two great girls. I think I can take it from
here. I already took time off work and everything.”

Diana looked skeptical, but she
stepped aside to tend to Maya without protesting any further.

“Liam,” Jasmine spoke up once
they were finally alone again. “You can't go taking time off work this early in
your career. I won’t let you.”

“Jazz, it’s fine, alright?”
Liam said as he took a seat beside Maya's bassinet. “I let the partners know
you were pregnant when I was offered the job. They knew I’d eventually have to
take a paternity leave. Besides, it’s not even really a leave. They’re letting
me work on case file organization from home.”

Jasmine reluctantly agreed, and
Liam had her and Maya moved in by the end of the week.

“Here’s your discharge
paperwork,” Dr. Everett said, handing Jasmine a large manila envelope. “Make
sure you don’t lose it. You’ll need it to register Maya's birth.”

Jasmine nodded and tucked it
away inside her pursue.

“I’ll go get someone from
transport to help you out to your car,” Dr. Everett continued. “Good luck to
the both of you. Your daughter is beautiful.”

Liam thanked her and bent down
to make sure Maya was secure in her car seat.

“Will you slow down?” Jasmine
requested when they were about halfway home.

“Jazz, I'm driving well below
the speed limit as it is,” Liam countered.

Jasmine squinted at the
speedometer and relaxed when she saw that he was telling the truth. “Sorry,”
she mumbled, glancing back out the window. “I guess I’m just a little on edge.”

That was an understatement.
Becoming a mother had activated a gene of paranoia inside of Jasmine that
hadn’t been there before. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to turn it off.

“I am too,” Liam admitted,
reaching out to stroke her hand. “Do you know how many times I double checked
the child locks?”

They both laughed.

“Thanks,” Jasmine said.

“For?”

“For offering to let us stay
with you. You didn’t have to do that.”

Liam glanced away from the road
for a moment to look her in the eye. “You don’t have to thank me,” he assured
her. “It’s an honor.”

Chapter nineteen

Shortly after Maya turned eight
weeks old, Jasmine decided it was time she have a conversation with Liam about
them moving in with her parents. He was back at the office full time now, and
the loneliness of being home alone all day with a newborn was starting to take
its toll on her.

When she wasn't crying, she was
juggling shitty diapers and refilling bottles with lukewarm breast milk. It was
as far removed from her former life as she could possibly get.

Liam picked up on the sudden
change in Jasmine's mood, but he chalked it up to hormones and he didn't dare
comment on it. Things were tense at the firm right now due to the impending tax
season and the IRS’ many casualties. The last thing he wanted to do when he
came home at the end of the night was have another strained conversation.

Jasmine sighed into her phone
when Liam informed her that he'd be working late again. She hung up without
saying anything and sat down beside Maya’s playpen, taking a moment to gather
her thoughts.

At this point, it went without
saying that the novelty of becoming a new parent had worn off.

Jasmine sulked her way through
the rest of the evening, and she was on the verge of collapsing from emotional
exhaustion by the time she put Maya down for bed.

All the streetlights were on
when Liam finally returned home. He quietly made his way up to his room, but he
paused when he noticed that Jasmine's door was wide open. When he stepped
forward, he found her sound asleep on top of all her blankets. Being careful
not to wake her, he crept in and pulled the comforter out from under her,
lightly draping it over her body.

Jasmine began to stir when she
felt Liam climb in bed beside her. “I'm sorry I'm so late,” he mumbled.

“I'm sorry I hung up on you,”
Jasmine said, meeting his gaze in the darkness.

Liam smiled and tightened his
hold on her waist, but Maya began crying before he could get too comfortable.

“I got it,” Jasmine said,
prying from his grip and pulling on her robe. She expected him to leave now
that the moment had been ruined, but he remained still and was still there when
she returned twenty minutes later.

“Enough with this moving out
talk,” Liam spoke up as she snuggled back up beside him, catching her off
guard. “I want you here, Jazz. None of this is worth it to me if I can't come
home to you and Maya every night. Just tell me what I have to do to make you
want it too.”

Jasmine turned to look at him.
“It's not that I don't like it here,” she told him, beginning to ramble.
“You've created an amazing life for us. I don't want you to think I'm not
grateful. It's just...this being a mom thing is a lot harder than I expected it
to be. Maya isn't taking well to breastfeeding, and I haven't written anything
new in months. I feel like I'm losing sight of myself...and it's terrifying.”

Liam remained quiet as Jasmine
continued putting everything she was feeling out in the open. Words of
encouragement weren't what she needed right now. What she needed was to vent.

“And another thing,” Jasmine
added, propping herself up on her elbow. “I don't want you thinking you can't
date because I'm living with you.”

Liam failed to contain his
laughter.

“Laugh all you want,” Jasmine
remarked. “I know you, Liam. Since when do you not have an interest in the
opposite sex?”

“Easy,” Liam said. “I was six
years old, and the most beautiful girl I'd ever laid eyes on slapped my
basketball from my hands when my parents were moving us into our new house. I
hated her, and yet, every girl I’ve given the time of day since then hasn’t
come anywhere close to having the effect on me that one look from her does.”