A Very Merry Hockey Holiday (Assassins #6.5)(3)

“I hate it,” Fallon complained under her breath and he smiled, but then he noticed as she moved, she cringed.

“You okay?” he asked, pulling out of the parking spot.

She shrugged. “My sides and back are killing me for some God-awful reason.”

“Well, you are pregnant. You’re not in labor, are you?”

She scoffed. “Please, Emery is not going anywhere. She is stubborn.”

“Like her mother,” he said with a knowing grin, but Fallon didn’t seem to think he was funny.

“Mom, you’re okay?” Aiden called from the back, and when Lucas looked in the mirror at his almost teenaged son, his heart hurt a bit. He’d missed so much of his life, but it just meant that he made every single second with Aiden count. He was his best friend, and Lucas was thankful for that. He was worried time would hurt them, but it was love at first sight for the two.

“Yeah, sweetheart, I’m sure it will pass,” she said, waving him off. “You ready for your game?”

“He’s gonna score me a goal!” Asher shouted out.

“No! He gonna score me a goal,” Stella pouted and Lucas chuckled.

“I’ll score you both a goal, and yeah, Mom, I’m ready,” he said and that seemed to please his younger siblings as Lucas pulled into the sportsplex. He really was a great big brother; he was a great kid, his favorite. Not that he would tell any of the other kids that.

Pulling into a spot, he shut the car off and then got out to get Stella since Aiden would help with Asher. Opening the back, he unhooked her car seat but saw that Fallon hadn’t gotten out yet.

“Babe, you good?”

She nodded but didn’t answer him, and that didn’t sit well with him. As he threw Stella on his hip, she wrapped her little arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Daddy, I love you.”

Okay, maybe Stella was his favorite. He was completely wrapped around her sweet little finger. Smiling, Lucas kissed her nose and promised, “I love you way more, my sugarplum.”

She giggled happily before he shut the door. Still eyeing Fallon through the window, he walked around the truck and watched as she cringed in pain. He knew right away that something was wrong.

“Hey Aiden, take Stella real quick for me.”

“Everything okay, Dad?” he asked, taking Stella like he’d been asked. Lucas nodded as he threw the door open, looking in on his wife.

“You okay?”

Still not answering him, she sucked in a deep breath. Opening her eyes, she met his gaze, and he could see she was in more pain than she wanted to admit. “Yeah. Not sure what is going on. I think it might be Braxton Hicks.”

Man, he hated those pains. She’d had them horribly with Asher and Stella, but it usually meant that it was almost time for the baby to come. “They suck and I know that, but it means she’s coming.”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod, taking his hand, but as soon as her foot hit the ground, her eyes went wide.

“Fallon?” he asked.

“Mom?” Aiden asked then, taking a step forward, holding the back of her arm. She sucked in a deep breath, her nails digging into Lucas’s forearm as she took another deep breath.

Looking up at them, she said, “I either just peed my pants or my water just broke.”

“Oh crap,” Aiden said, his eyes as wide as saucers.

“What’s going on?” Asher asked, confused.

“Mommy! You have to use the toilet!” Stella scolded her, and all Lucas could do was laugh.

“Everyone back in the car! Time to have a baby!”



Fallon looked down at the little bundle of pink and felt completely euphoric. Looking just like her daddy, Emery Elaine Brooks came in at a whopping nine pounds, Fallon’s biggest baby, and was the most gorgeous baby she had ever seen. That was hard to say because she had three other beautiful children, but Emery was stunning. Her cheeks were the perfect color pink, her long black lashes kissed her cheeks, and her lips were bright red and currently puckered out as Fallon grinned down at her. She had been having pains all day but assumed it was indigestion or Braxton Hicks. Obviously she was wrong.

As she looked down at her sweet baby girl, she knew she had a lot of apologizing to do. Not only had she cussed out and threatened her assistant but she also had been a bitch to Audrey. She was always like that when she was pregnant, and while she loved her children, and more than loved making them with Lucas, she knew that Emery would be her last. There was no way she was going to put anyone else through nine months of crazy bitch-ass Fallon. Running her finger down Emery’s jawline, she smiled.

“Momma’s last sweet baby,” she whispered, touching her lips to her forehead. The birth wasn’t bad, really easy, fast, and with a grin, she thought maybe she was a pro. Nowhere near Elli Adler pro-status, but she had this. And just like that, she thought maybe she would have another, but then the door opened and her family filed in and she knew she had her hands full.

“Mommy! You have my sister?” Stella yelled through the room, startling Emery. Letting out a sound of distress, Emery cried as Fallon smiled and looked at her little firecracker. Stella had one volume. Loud. And Fallon was sure it came from Lucas’s side of the family. Because she wasn’t loud…

“Sugarplum, you can’t be loud with the new baby,” she said softly as Stella crawled into bed with her, looking down at her sister. Laying her head on Fallon’s shoulder, Stella placed her little hand on her sister’s chest and let out a sigh.