Hammers & Heartstrings (The Riley Siblings #3)

14. Noah

NOAH

“ D oes Mommy haves the tummy bugs like I did?” Clover asks as I pick her up and plant her on my hip while we head to our gate.

If I wasn’t so goddamn worried about her, I’d be fucking pissed at Aggie for doing this to us, to Clover.

“Yeah baby, I’m sure Mommy”—my throat goes tight as I try not to choke on the word—“just has a tummy bug.”

“And she didn’t wants to get us sick too cause she loves us.”

Fucking A . “Right.”

Clover starts tracing the tattoo on the side of my neck and smiles. “I’m gonna make Mommy a picture. A picture of our family so she cans get better faster and come homes.”

Just keep driving that knife through my heart, kiddo .

Jesus, I can’t believe this is happening, and I can’t fucking figure out why. Everything has been as close to perfect as it’s ever been, perfect and incredible since Aggs and I finally got real with each other two months ago. At least, I thought it was. Maybe I was just so high on my love for her that I didn’t see the signs sooner, didn’t see that Aggie was pulling away again or some shit.

Except she fucking wasn’t.

I know her too goddamn well to start blaming myself for not seeing this coming, which means something happened the last time we were together that sent her running scared. But what the fuck was it?

It couldn’t have been my solo project, could it?

So, maybe I forgot to tell her the details of my contract with Lenny, but you can’t really blame me. Being in a solid, committed, clear cut and very real relationship with my goddamn soulmate is a pretty big distraction. Especially after having years of bullshit to make up for, but I don’t know why the album would be a problem after I told her everything.

And to think Aggie was upset just because I forgot to tell her in the first place is silly. I forget shit constantly and it’s never made her mad. Frustrated? Sure, but never mad, definitely not to the point of blowing me off for days at a time. This is something else, something big since Aggie won’t even talk to me and as soon as my meeting is done tomorrow, my ass is coming back out here to get to the bottom of it. Hell, I might even cancel on Lenny at this point.

“Right, Uncle Vin?”

My eyes flick to his, totally oblivious to whatever my peanut was chattering away about.

He nods. “Right, Princess. Mommy will love a picture of our whole family. It’ll definitely make her all better.”

“See Daddy, Mommy will bes better and she’ll comes home after I gives her my picture of our whole family.”

If only it were that simple. “Our whole family, huh?”

Clover nods proudly. “Yep. I’m gonna draws uncle Jax and Uncle Vin. Tanky. Gramma Linda, Uncle Knoxy and Auntie Hazel, Uncle Blakey and Auntie Sid. My new cousins too, cause theys have to be in the picture but I’ll needs a big piece of paper cause Sloane and Jack and Holden and Charlie make four and that’s a lots.” She holds up four fingers to emphasize her point. “And I’m gonna draws gramma Loraine, Pop Pop, papa Charlie and my angel mommy in the clouds cause they’re all angels watching over us. Then in the middle is gonna be Daddy and Clover and my real mommy cause we’re the middles of the whole family.”

Jesus .

I think I’m gonna fucking cry.

“Oh!” Clover shouts in my ear. “I most forgot all of Uncle Knoxy’s kitties and the big fat bunny and Uncle Blakey’s puppies! They’re our family too!”

Only if I can get Aggie to remove her head from her ass. Otherwise, it’ll just be us and Jax and Vin, something I don’t want to get used to again.

I press a kiss to her temple as they call our flight. “That is going to be an amazing picture, peanut.”

She nods. “Yep. And you cans give it to Mommy when you comes back to pick her up tomorrow.”

I probably shouldn’t have told Clover that’s what was happening since I’m not sure if it will. I’m not even sure if I still have a best friend let alone future wife and mother of my child to bring home with me.

“Of course, baby. The next time I see... Mommy , I’ll make sure to give her your masterpiece. Why don’t?—”

Vin crowds our space as the line of passengers starts to turn, looking around and whispering like there’s some sort of commotion behind me.

I swear to God if it’s the fucking paps, I will lose my shit. I’m in no mood to deal with those vultures right now, it was bad enough when we got grilled in New Orleans over Aggie’s solo trip to her gyno or the red eye she caught to come out here. I will definitely end up with a lawsuit if anyone tries to fuck with me at this point and so far, my disguise, if you can call it that, has worked.

“What’s going on, Daddy?” Clover hugs my neck a little tighter as she looks for whatever is causing our line to stop moving. “Is the plane okay?”

I nod and rub her back. “It’s fine, peanut. Everything is...” Everything is more than fine when I turn slowly as the first few lyrics of one of my songs—one of the first ones I ever wrote about a poor boy who loved a girl so much he followed her to another state—are belted out by a smoky fucking voice I’d know anywhere.

And when my eyes land on the source, fuck me, I’m toast.

Aggie is standing on a chair, acoustic guitar in front of her, her fucking gorgeous face tear stained while she sings with so much power, so much fucking talent, it actually takes a minute for everything to register.

Aggie is here.

She’s at the fucking airport standing on a fucking chair outside my fucking gate, belting out words that really strike a chord with me because I wrote them about her, while she plays guitar for the first time since her da died.

Aggie is here, and she’s singing to me .

“Mommy!” Clover screams and possibly blows out my eardrum. “Daddy, look it’s Mommy! And Uncle Knoxy and Uncle Blakey!”

I frown as I nod, but sure as shit, Knox is standing on one side of Aggs, playing another acoustic guitar rather awkwardly and impressively for a dude in a sling. Blake is on her other side with a... oh my god, he has a fucking bass drum strapped to the front of him, the mallet in one hand a drumstick in the other and those two are providing my kitten with not only instrumental support but vocal as well.

Something none of them have done since Charlie’s funeral because he was the one who taught them to play and sing, the one who taught me to play and sing. I still have the guitar Charlie and Linda gave me when I turned ten and I play the fuck out of it when I miss my family.

I start walking toward them, my body moving totally on its own, as if being drawn to this siren like a sailor lost at sea.

Aggie can fucking sing, always has been able to, but she’s never done it publicly and sure as fuck not in the middle of a fucking airport with more power and passion than ninety-nine percent of the artists on my label.

Aggie takes a shaky breath as I stop a few feet in front of her, a fire burning in those gun metal grey eyes. Then she takes my breath away.

Every lyric, every fucking note, all of it is packed full of so much emotion, so much goddamn love, it completely guts me. These words—words about personal struggles, feelings of despair and worthlessness, regret, love and a cry for redemption—it all speaks to me so fucking hard I might actually cry. I might cry because my soulmate is telling me everything I need to know with my fucking song .

Yep.

I’m totally gonna cry.

“Please don’t go,” she whispers as Linda comes out of nowhere and takes her guitar. “I’m so sorry, Noah. So please, don’t go.”

My throat is so fucking tight and my heart is slamming against my chest.

I literally have no words, none. I’m a fucking songwriter and my kitten has single-handedly rendered me fucking speechless with the most profound display of love I’ve ever received, something I don’t deserve in the least because if anything, I should be the one performing some grand gesture to make up for years of hurting the only woman I’ve ever loved. I don’t deserve this, and I don’t deserve Aggie at all, but thank god I’m a selfish prick because I’m going to keep her, anyway.

“Mommy!” Clover reaches for Aggs and almost jumps from my arms to hers. “I missed you so much, Mommy. Are you betters now?”

She takes my peanut from me, holding my stare through my shades for a minute before she hugs Clover hard. “I’m getting better, punky. I just missed you so much that I needed to see you before you went home.”

Clover starts wrapping one of Aggie’s dreads around her finger while she beams at her. “You wants me to kiss you better like Daddy does when I have a boo boo? That always makes me feels better.” Then she does, gives Aggs a kiss on the forehead, on her nose and cheek and when my kitten squeezes her eyes shut tight with a smile, a few tears rolling down her cheeks, Clover frowns. “Maybe Daddy should gives you kisses too.”

“Your kisses are perfect, baby.” Aggie gives her a watery smile. “I’m feeling better already.”

“Then why are yous crying?” Clover uses her tiny hands to wipe away her tears. “You shouldn’t bes crying if you feels better.”

Aggie takes a deep breath, glances at me, then looks my peanut in the eye. “I just love you and Daddy so much, punk, that I can’t help but cry a little. I was worried that I wouldn’t get to see you before you left but I needed to try because I couldn’t let you go without telling you how sorry I am for making you miss me, without telling you and Daddy how much I love you both.”

Fuck .

I really need to say something.

Anything.

I just can’t seem to get my mouth to work.

“It’s okay, Mommy.” Clover smiles as she cups Aggie’s face and squishes her cheeks. “You didn’t feels good and we just wants you to bes better so you can comes home with us. Uncle Knoxy and Uncle Blakey will takes good care of you so you can come back to the big house.”

My kitten smiles, then turns to me. “Knox and Blake definitely helped me, punk. They helped me understand why I wasn’t feeling good, and said it’s okay, but I shouldn’t let it keep me from being with you and Daddy. They helped me see that you and Daddy are the only thing that make me feel better, so I shouldn’t stay away.”

I look over Aggie’s head at her brothers, Hazel bawling into Knox’s chest, Sid bawling from Blake’s phone that’s pointed directly at us while Linda cries uncontrollably and hangs onto her sons for support.

Team Riley for the win, man. I’ll never not be grateful for them.

“I’m so sorry, Noah.” Aggie repositions Clover on her hip, my peanut a little oblivious and a lot content being in her real mommy’s arms. “I didn’t mean to worry you, didn’t mean to shut you out, I just?—”

No more talking.

Nope, I cut off Aggie’s mildly unnecessary apology by gripping the side of her neck, pushing my glasses and ball cap up, then kissing the hell out of her right there in front of hundreds of people.

Her words don’t matter because her actions said all I needed to know.

Aggie loves me, she loves my daughter, and she’s not pulling away. She might have been scared enough to try, but she loves us and that’s bigger than any fear she may have when it comes to making this work for the long haul.

“I love you.” I sigh against her lips and take her face in my hands. “I love you so damn much, Aggie.”

She sniffles and closes her eyes. “I love you too and I’m just so sorry, I never should have?—”

I kiss her again as I shake my head. “It’s done, baby. Whatever happened is done and all that matters is right here and now. You’re ours and we are yours, forever.” Then I arch a brow as Linda takes Clover from her. “You stole my thunder, though.”

Aggie frowns. “What?”

“Yep.” I nod and wrap my arms around her waist. “Beat me to the punch. I had one hell of a plan for when I came back tomorrow, my own grand gesture, if that’s what it was going to take to bring you home.”

“You’re my home, Noah.” She slides her hands up my arms, wraps me in a hug and buries her face in my neck. “You and Clover are my home, and I was a fool to think I could walk away.”

I smile and hug her tight before I pull back and wipe away her tears. “Not that it matters, but what happened? I thought everything was perfect, Aggs, I thought you were happy. Ultimately, I don’t care about anything except knowing you’re still my best friend, that you’re going to be my wife and Clover’s mom, but I can’t figure out what I did to make you run. It wasn’t the solo stuff, was it?”

She shrugs, “Maybe a little. It surprised me for sure and the thought of you still being in the thick of that lifestyle regardless of the measures taken to avoid it scared me, but what really did it was the thought of bringing our kids into that world with the slim possibility of losing you to it again.”

Well, that makes a hell of a lot of sense.

My recovery has been smooth for the most part, but after seeing me at my absolute worst, I can understand Aggie worrying about the possibility of my dumbass fucking all that up by diving back in headfirst.

I’m just going to have to include her every step of the way so she can be involved and see that it’s not going to happen. I have way too much to live for to let my career drag me down and try to kill me again.

“Totally valid, kitten.” I lean down and kiss her. “But while I understand it, I’m going to prove to you that you have nothing to worry about, nothing to be afraid of anymore. You and Clover are more than enough motivation for me to keep my shit straight.”

“And the baby.” Aggie smiles.

“And the baby.” I nod. “I can’t risk any… wait, what? Baby ? What baby?” What is she... “ The baby?”

She nods and places my hand on her stomach. “Our baby.”

My eyes go saucer wide before they dart to her belly, as if I have x-ray vision and can see what she means.

Oh my god .

Oh my fucking fuck .

“ Our baby?” I splay my hand over her belly and press my palm gently against it. “You’re pregnant?”

Aggie nods again. “Seven and a half weeks. Due at the beginning of March.”

“When? How? When did, how did?—”

“I’m not going to explain how , Thor.” She smirks. “But that Harley must be good luck or something, because it happened around then. I found out at my appointment and planned to tell you and Clover that day, but then I had to fly out here.”

I must be smiling like a lunatic. “You’re having my baby.” I drop my forehead to hers, keep my hand on her stomach as a few tears roll down my cheeks. “We made a baby.”

Aggie kisses me, cups my face and smoothes her thumbs under my eyes. “We did. And he or she is going to be huge because neither of us were small.”

I snort, then kiss her once, twice, three times. “I fucking love you, Aggs.”

“I love you too.”

Then I lift my head and make a huge fucking scene because I’m so fucking happy, I have to.

“We’re having a baby!” I shout to the group of gawkers. “My best friend in the whole fucking world loves me and she’s having my baby!”

Aggie laughs as she blushes, shaking her head in embarrassment, but doesn’t stop smiling. Not even when I start jumping up and down and screaming like a maniac, grab our daughter, who is also screaming all the things about being a big sister and prance around the terminal like we’re both nuts.

“Oh my god.” My kitten covers her face. “You’re ridiculous.”

“No, we’re happy .” I correct as I stop in front of her, then pull her hands away and hang onto the left one. “We’re happy and in love with you and we want your forever.” Clover reaches behind her neck and takes off her necklace, the one that has Aggie’s engagement ring on it, and slides it off the chain. “Marry me, Aggs. Marry me, be my wife, and help me raise our babies together.”

She’s crying again as Clover puts the ring on Aggie’s finger. “And bes my real mommy for real.”

Her eyes dart to mine and I nod. “We want you to adopt Clover. You’ve been her real mommy since she was born, but we want to make it as official as it can get. Marry me, adopt Clover and be ours forever.”

“Yes,” she whispers. “Yes, to all of it.”

“Yay!” Clover shouts as she hugs us both. “Today is the best day evers!”

It really fucking is.

Today is the best fucking day ever.