Reflecting On Wishes (The Wishes Series) (23 page)

“Come on, Angel. Stop quitting. Push yourself!”

She sincerely considered taking a chance of falling just so she could take a swing at his pretty face.

“I’m not quitting damn it! Stop pushing me, D.”

For God’s sake, he’d even snorted at her!
A red haze clouded her vision and she damn near cried. That’s one of those things she really hated about herself at times…getting so mad that she cried.

He was i
n her face again with his hands at her waist, holding her steady and when she wobbled he replied, “I’m supposed to push you, Angel. Otherwise you wouldn’t push yourself to do more when I know damn good and well you can. You did yesterday, and the day before that, so do it today and stop complaining about it.”

“I’m not complaining. I…” she stopped when he snorted again. Maybe she was complaining a little but she was sore as hell and frustrated that things weren’t moving along faster.

“This would go a lot better if you’d listen to me and do what you gotta do, baby. I know it’s not easy. I know you’re tired. I’m not trying to hurt your feelings or ride your ass about it, but I know you got more in you. Now, come to me. Six more steps maybe, seven at the most.”

He was in her face—
again
, his tone was softer, more loving, but his breath….
good Lord!
How could such a sexy man with incredible personal hygiene have such terrible breath? Wasn’t it bad enough she was sore and aching? That she was wobbly and frustrated all to hell? But to top it off the man of her dreams, her physical therapist and best friend had the worst breath ever in the mornings. And not just the immediate morning either. No, not Dakota. He had to drink that rancid smelling crap until lunchtime when she thanked the heavens that he ate some food and sucked on a breath mint afterwards. When she took a step, the tin in her pocket rattled. She wasn’t feeling so enamored of her chosen partner right now. He didn’t even know how hard it was for her to be nice day after day, breath after breath, melting away at the stench of her least favorite beverage ever. He had no clue the sacrifices she made for him.

She took another step, gripping the bar so tight her knuckles were white. She was proud of the step she took, but getting more pissed off because he didn’t move back, instead he kissed her forehead. Usually, she considered that a sweet and endearing gesture. Today however, it brought her another whiff of the stuff that could peel paint from the walls.

“Back up, D…seriously. Get outta my face or get the hell behind me.” Her tone was sharp and highly irritated.

He laughed. He really had the nerve to laugh
! Especially when he didn’t even move back.

“I’m staying right here in front of you. Each time you sway,
it’s always forward. Besides, I like looking at your beautiful face when you’re all pissed off like this. It’s pretty sexy.”

Sometimes she hated him for that grin of his. It wasn’t fair for the guy to be so s
exy when she was so freaking irritated at him.

That was the last thing she needed. Him saying she was sexy when she was mad. The jackass had a lot of nerve. She teetered when she let go of the bar and fished around in her pocket, yanking free the tin of mints King had given her earlier and chu
cking them right at Dakota’s face, not caring if it pinged him in the eye or in his smart mouth. As luck would have it, he caught it, but the shock that registered was well worth it.

“Eat a mint for fuck’s sake! If you’re not getting outta my damn face you either need to stop breathing on me or eat about five of
those sons-a-bitches. Otherwise I’m gonna knock your ass out, step over you and finish these last five steps!” Angel was breathing hard from her outburst and sweating when she gripped the bar again and leaned against it.

The roar of laughter from King and Tank
, and the surprise on Dakota’s face set her off in a fit of giggles that landed her sitting on the floor at his feet holding her stomach while she laughed so hard tears ran down her face.

Dakota tossed the tin of mints in his hand
a few times before opening it up and tapping some in his mouth, making a show of crunching them loudly as he crouched down next to her. He cupped his hand over his mouth and nose to check his breath, then he was on her, kissing her mouth, her face and blowing his cinnamon breath at her nose.

See, that’s how they worked through things. Tears
, cursing and laughter.

Dakota pulled his F-150 into a parking spot at the
Women’s Regional Center
where Nahni was checked into the labor and delivery wing. Beside him sat a very anxious and excited Angel who looked like she was chomping at the bit to get inside. Once the truck was in park, she opened her door, slung her bag over her neck to hang at her waist, and was easing out of the truck by the time he got to her side. He hurried to get her chair out of the truck but couldn’t hide the pride in his eyes watching her remain steady on her feet while holding on to the door.

“You’re not excited or anything are you?” He grinned at her, popping the locks on the door and walking beside her as she hurriedly wheeled herself inside the building.

“Hell yes I’m excited! I’m going to be an aunt today to the most beautiful little girl in the world. I feel like we’ve waited forever for her to get here. I can’t imagine how excited Nahni and Rage are right now.” Angel was smiling from ear to ear as they went through the foyer and hung a left towards the gift shop. A bundle of pink roses later and they were heading into the elevator, pressing three for the labor and delivery floor.

When Rage called to let her know they were on the way to the hospital, Angel had screamed out her excitement, scaring the life out of everyone in the gym. But once Dakota saw the grin on her face he knew what it was for. They had both taken a quick shower in the changing rooms and Angel made a trip upstairs to her suite to get her bag and the gift she purchased for her niece.

The doors to the elevator slid open and they were immediately greeted with sounds from the television that hung high in the corner of the waiting room. Drew Carey was hosting
The Price Is Right
and an elderly lady was spinning the wheel. Vito was near the window, alternately looking out at the parking lot then back at the television wringing his hands together as he paced. Rage was nowhere in sight.

“Hey, Papá. How’s Nahni doing?”

Vito turned and smiled, holding his arms open and bending to wrap his daughter up in a hug, kissing her cheek.

“She is doing
well so far. We haven’t been up here long. They are getting her settled and hooked to the monitors. Rage said he would come tell us when it’s okay to go in and see her.” He sat down in a chair next to Angel and tucked her hand into his work roughened one.

“It’s good to see you again, Dakota. Thank you for bringing Angel. I was across town picking up some parts and had to drop them off before I came up here. Now I wish I would have stopped by the house and changed first. I still got grease on me from working out in the shop this morning.”

“It’s good to see you too, Vito. I wanted to be here. You guys are like family to me.” Dakota sat down on the sofa that was covered in a striped green and crème colored fabric. The coffee table in front of them was glass topped with a small potted plant in the center. The frame was a black iron with delicate filigree details. There were two matching sofa tables against the wall under the television. One held magazines and pamphlets and the other had a coffee pot and hot tea. The site of the coffee pot made him smile, remembering earlier that morning when he got pegged with a tin of cinnamon breath mints. Angel must have joined him in his line of thinking because he looked over at her and she nodded towards the coffee and winked at him.

“Papá
, do you want something to drink?” She squeezed his hand lovingly.

“I don’t recommend the coffee, Vito. Angel has an aversion to it. It makes her throw things. Just warning you…”

“Oh stop it, Dakota.” Angel chuckled, explaining to her father what happened earlier that morning.

“I
better go with the tea then, ya think? Sure don’t need to get her fired up none do I?” Vito winked at Dakota, before he looked back to his daughter. “So you’re taking more steps now huh? When are you going to let your old man see his baby girl walk again?” Vito had a misty look in his eyes. Pride was evident.

Dakota handed Vito a foam
cup filled with hot tea. “Feel like showing off for your dad, Angel?”

Pride didn’t even begin to explain how Dakota felt when Angel smiled up at him and held her hand out to him. She was shaky when she stood up, but quickly steadied as she put her other hand in his as well. He too
k a step backwards and she followed him, her eyes never leaving his. Her long cascading waves of rich dark brown hair brushed her waist. The spaghetti strapped dress she had on was a soft, caramel hued cotton that stopped just above the knee, showing her strong calf muscles as they quivered under the strain but held strong. Her father stood up and walked to stand beside her, his eyes wet with unshed tears as he took one of her hands.

***

Angel walked across the waiting room with the two men that had shaped her life in ways she could never thank them enough for. When she stopped and turned, her papá wrapped her in his arms and rocked her as he told her how proud he was of her. It was remarkable to her now, to see just how similar the two men were. Both were extremely protective, loving, hardworking, and knew how to push her to better herself. They weren’t the coddling type but the love they gave her, each in their own way, was something she would forever be thankful for. Not to mention they both could handle her temper and took care with her when her emotional state was shaky at best. As a little girl she, like many others, always said she wanted to marry her papá. When she got older, she hoped to find a man as respectable, smart and caring as him. Today, she realized the man she dreamed about was right there by her side.

“Oh my God, Angel. You’re walking! When did you start doing that? C’mere baby sister…” Rage had such a shocked look on his face that it made her laugh. It only took two steps to reach him and when she did, it was to his outstretched arms.

With a kiss on his cheek she whispered, “Okay, enough of this, I need to sit before I fall.” 

Dakota had her chair behind her before she got the sentence out and she gratefully sat down. “I’ve been working on
it in therapy for a while now and getting a little further every day.”

“Wow, Nahni is going to be so excited to see that!” Her brother looked a little tousled. His shirt was wrinkled and his hair was standing in spiky sprigs that were as untamed as his carefree attitude.

“Speaking of Nahni, how is she? Can I go in and see her yet? And how are you doing?”

“Come with me and we’ll let her tell you how she’s doing. As for me, I’m terrified and excited all at the same time. I’ve never been one to panic but when her water broke, mine nearly did too if you catch my drift.” Rage gave her his cute boyish grin, his cheeks a light shade of pink.

He led them down the hallway to room two-twenty-two and pushed the door opened. “Nahni honey, Angel, Dad and Dakota are here. Feel up for a visit?”

“Oh, Angel I need a hug! Can you believe it? She’s going to be here soon and I
can hardly wait!” Nahni was propped up in her bed in a pink hospital gown with machines hooked to her belly monitoring the baby. For a woman in labor she looked beautiful. Her fair skin had a rosy glow and her eyes were bright with excitement. Her long blond hair was piled in a messy knot on the top of her head with a few straggling wisps against her cheeks.

“I’m so happy for you guys, Nahni.” Angel said as she pulled up next to her bed and held onto the bed railing to pull herself up to stand. Nahni’s mouth dropped open and she gasped, holding her arms out and squealing.

“When did you? How long have you? Oh my God you’re standing!” Nahni hugged her tight, squeezing the breath out of her.

“I can’t breathe, Nahni!” Angel laughed, pulling back and kissing her sister-in-law on the cheek. She held tight to her hand as she sat back down next to her.

“Maybe later I’ll show you how far I can walk but I just did that trick for Papá and Rage so I’m kind of weak kneed right now. I don’t want to greet my new niece from being sprawled out on the floor.”

Nahni wiped the moisture from her eyes and grinned.

“Dakota, get over here and let me hug your neck. Thank you for taking such good care of my sister.” Nahni kissed his cheek and hugged him tight.

“My pleasure. I happen to be pretty attached to her if you hadn’t noticed.”

Angel felt her cheeks warm.
Hadn’t everyone noticed?
The man hadn’t left her alone no matter how hard she had tried to push him away.

***

The wait for baby Vega didn’t take very long. She, like the rest of the family, believed in getting from point A to point B as fast as possible. From the time Nahni’s water broke to the time she gave birth only four hours had passed. Dusk was settling when Elena Rose drew in her first breath and released it with a healthy wail. Rage was normally a tough guy, full of smiles and laughter, but when he held his brown eyed baby girl for the first time, tears left salty trails down his cheeks. It only took a moment for him to fall head over heels in love with his tiny, six and a half pound bundle of fiery temperament. She obviously was none too pleased from being pushed out of the warmth of her mother’s womb and into bright lights with unfamiliar people toweling her off, measuring and weighing her. But once she settled in her father’s arms and he spoke to her, she stopped in mid-wail and blinked up at him as if she were trying to focus. It was Nahni’s turn to cry then. She watched in wonder as father and daughter stared at each other while the nurse cleaned her up. All the pain of childbirth meant nothing, and was only a faint remembrance as she looked at the most beautiful site she’d ever had the pleasure of seeing.