Melody of the Heart (Runaway Train #4)(67)

“A little.”

We were on the last leg of a Southern tour that had kicked off in Atlanta and then did a sweep through the Carolinas, Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, and as of last night, Mississippi. After shows in Alabama, we would head home. Because there was no flying involved and she could put her feet up, Lily’s doctor had approved her to come along. I didn’t like the idea of leaving her behind in her third trimester anyway.

“What do you think about this?” Jake asked, as he strummed a catchy beat.

My brows furrowed. “It sounds familiar.”

“How the hell would it sound familiar if it just came out of my head?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. It just does.”

“Fine, smart ass. What does it sound like?”

Racking my brain, I then started to strum the melody that was in my mind. Jake snorted. “I so did not just play something that sounded like Hey Jude.”

“Yeah, you did.” The Beatles fan in me kept playing the song not only because I liked it, but because I wanted to aggravate Jake.

When Lily sucked in a harsh breath, I stopped playing. “What’s wrong, babe?”

“Nothing is wrong. You wouldn’t believe how strong Michael started kicking then.”

“Ooh, I wanna feel,” AJ said, as he abandoned the arroz con pollo he had been making for us.

She frowned. “He stopped.”

“Bummer,” AJ muttered.

Absently, I started strumming Hey Jude again. Lily started laughing. “He must like the song because he just started kicking again.”

My brows shot up. “Seriously?” Wanting to prove the theory, I stopped playing. “Is he still kicking?”

Lily grinned. “No, he stopped again.”

With a groan, Jake said, “Jesus, you’ve already bred another Beatles freak.”

AJ motioned to my guitar. “Start it up again, so I can feel him.”

Once again, I began playing the opening to Hey Jude. This time, I started singing along to. Taking AJ’s hand, Lily placed it on her stomach. “Feel him?”

AJ’s eyes widened. “That’s so f*cking cool!” He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Forget a future musician like his pops. I think we have a soccer star on our hands.”

“Oh, he knows how to kick. I’ll give him that,” Lily replied.

Although he tried looking disinterested by it all, Jake asked, “Is he still doing it?”

Lily nodded. “You want to feel?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Jake said, “I guess so.” He sat his guitar down and stood up. Leaning over, he put his hand where AJ’s had been. A small smile twitched on his lips. “He is strong.”

When I stopped playing so I could feel my son kick, Lily dissolved into giggles. “He’s stopped again.”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jake smirked at me. “Guess you’ve got the answer to what to name the kid.”

“Jude,” Lily and I said in unison.

“Yep, Jude Paul Vanderburg,” Jake replied.

And for the remaining two weeks of her pregnancy, whenever we would play Hey Jude, our own little Jude would give us a kick or two to let us know he was happy with his name.

LILY

THE PRESENT

“You were on the road right up until you delivered?” Giovanni asked.

I laughed. “Well, not exactly. We were almost home then. So I had about three weeks before Jude was born.”

Giovanni glanced between me and Brayden. “Were you alone for the delivery or was Brayden there?”

With a smile, Brayden said, “Thankfully, we were between tours at the time. Plus, it was right after Christmas, so that’s usually a slow season for us.”

“And what was it like having your first baby?” Giovanni asked me.

I couldn’t fight the smile that lit up my face at the memory of having Jude. “It must be something about his sweet temperament because he was the easiest delivery of the three.”

“I think it has something to do with women being difficult,” Brayden countered.

“Ha, ha,” I replied.

“What do you remember exactly?” Giovanni questioned.

Easing back on the couch, I happy sigh escaped my lips. “I remember everything really. How I woke up that morning to find my water had broken.”

“I thought she had just peed the bed,” Brayden mused.

I smacked his arm. “Anyway, we bundled up and went to Northside Hospital, which coincidentally was the same hospital where Brayden was born. I don’t think we were there more than an hour when it was time to push.”

Brayden laughed. “Jude was ready to make his appearance that’s for sure. With the girls, I think we were there ten or twelve hours before they decided it was time to come out.”

“That’s true. The girls were a bit more finicky about being born.”

“Who all was in the delivery room with you?”

“My mom wanted to be there, so we let her stay in. She was good to stay in the back and let it be about me and Brayden.”

“There was probably more than one time that she had to hold my hand to keep me from freaking out,” Brayden admitted.

I laughed. “That’s true. I’ll never forget how pale he was.”