บททั้งหมดของ The Hockey player's submissive professor : บทที่ 131 - บทที่ 140

JUNO HAYESNINE MONTHS LATER Santa Ynez Valley Regional HospitalI breathed through the next contraction like the midwife taught me, deep in, slow out, except it felt like a freight train was trying to exit my body.Rhett’s hand was in mine, bones grinding under my grip. I heard him let out a pained grunt but he didn’t pull away. He hadn’t left my side once in fourteen hours of labor.“Push, Juno, we can see the head!” Dr. Patel’s calm voice cut through the haze. “One more big one, you’ve got this.”I bore down with everything I had, a guttural sound ripping out of me that didn’t even sound human.Rhett’s face was white as a sheet, eyes huge, fixed between my legs like he was watching the apocalypse and the second coming at the same time.“Jesus fucking Christ,” he whispered, voice cracking. “Baby, I can see, holy shit, that’s our kid.”I would’ve laughed if I wasn’t actively splitting in half.Another contraction hit. I pushed again, screaming through clenched teeth.“There we go, sh

JUNO VOSSSanta Ynez Valley – December 25thRowan’s voice came through the baby monitor.“Ma-ma. Da-da. PWESENTS. NOW.”Rhett laughed into the pillow, the sound sleepy-rough and perfect. “Kid’s got the Voss family impatience dialed to eleven.”I was already sliding out of bed, stealing one of his flannel shirts and a pair of fuzzy socks. He caught my wrist before I got far, tugged me back for a slow, lazy kiss that tasted like sleep and ugh, morning breath.“Merry Christmas, wife.”“Merry Christmas, husband.”We found Rowan standing in his crib like a tiny dictator, hair sticking up in every direction, clutching his stuffed goat and bouncing so hard the crib rocked.“Down! Santa came! DOWN!”Rhett lifted him out. Rowan wriggled free the second his feet hit the floor and took off at full waddle-speed toward the living room, yelling the entire way.The tree was lit up like a runway, presents spilling everywhere, rocking horse front and center with a ridiculous red bow. Rowan skidded to a

RHETT VOSSFive years later,Santa Ynez Valley – Juno’s 45th birthday, late afternoonThe plan was in motionNina, Cassie, and Zoe had whisked Juno off for a “girls’ spa day” complete with mimosas and facials and whatever the hell women do during that time. So the second their car disappeared down the driveway, the ranch turned into a war zone of glitter, extension cords, and children who should never be trusted with helium.Mason and I wrestled a twelve-foot “HAPPY 45TH, PRINCESS” banner across the barn rafters while Rowan (eight now) and Joel (five, Nina and Mason’s walking natural disaster) used the helium tank as a flamethrower substitute.“Joel Mason Reyes-Voss, drop the steak knife or I swear on everything holy...” Mason vaulted over a hay bale and tackled his son just as the kid tried to scale the kitchen island like Spider-Man.Rowan, perched on the loft railing, yelled down, “Technically, Uncle Mason, you taught him how to throw knives last summer!”“Shut it, nephew!”Sage (s

JUNO HAYESSanta Ynez Valley – Early Morning“…I'm so happy you're in my life, Rhett Voss,” I muttered, rubbing my hand over my husband's fringe and then his little beard under his jaw and his mustache. His mouth opened slightly, drooling on the pillow a little. To be honest, if someone had told me that I would be happily married and married for eight years and with two kids aside from Cassie, I would have laughed in their face, and then if they had said I would be married to Rhett Voss, my master, the man I first met in that dim room, that I had officially signed the contract that bound us together, I would have called the authorities to literally lock that person in a mental institution.I chuckled at myself and then leaned in to kiss his slightly open lips and scrunched my nose at the morning breath, not that I was any better. I stood up from the bed, stretched a little, and just stood there, staring at the slowly rising sun, and I smiled. I wanted to make it to the hill so I could

JUNO HAYESThrough the thick haze of pain and medication, little whispers reached my ear.“Why is Mom not waking up?”Even without opening my eyes, I knew that voice anywhere, that was definitely Sage.“Is Mom dead?” came Rowan’s deep southern rumble. Yes, that boy, at his young age, already sounded like a grown man. No wonder he kept thinking he was twice his age.Then Rhett’s low, calm voice cut in. “Don’t you dare say that. Your mom is alive and well. She’s just sleeping off the pain after Emmanuel knocked her silly.” Firm, a little sharp, pure protective dad.Silence hung for a second, then a tiny sniffle from Rowan. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t purposely open Emmanuel’s pen. Please believe me.”The corner of my mouth lifted on its own. I believed him. One thing I’d drilled into my kids from the start: never lie. Rowan knew he wasn’t lying, and I knew Rhett knew it too.“I know, son. I know. Don’t cry,” Rhett murmured, voice softening.Big mistake.The second those words left his mout