Never Fall for the Bad Boy (The Best Mistakes Book One)

Eleven

After what felt like hours of pacing, Winter's family finally arrived, fear evident in everyone's eyes. The waiting room was crowded with everyone there, along with Trevor and Gavin and Ren.

Of everyone, Winnie seemed the most frantic. It was clear that her mother had faith in the hospital. With so many kids she was bound to have had to be here for accidents of all sorts. Joey looked pretty worried, but his wife did a good job of calming him down. She knew exactly what to do in this sort of situation. However, Winnie was pacing all around, gnawing on her fingers.

I made my way over to her and placed my hands on her shoulders. She turned around, eyes fearful. "What if something happens to our babies?" she asked. I frowned.

"Nothing is going to happen. Look at Jason, he's a great kid. These babies will be healthy and happy and safe," I assured her, pushing my own fears to the back of my mind.

"You say that now. But we have a ways to go and then the rest of our lives to worry. You don't know what it's like. I worry constantly about Jase and the babies. He's a trouble maker, broken bones, bruises all over. It scares the shit out of me," she admitted.

"Hey, I worry too. I worry about these babies and you, and I worry about Mark. But everything will be fine. Nothing is going to go wrong and soon, the doctors will come over here and tell us that Madi is fine." She chewed on her lip nervously. "C'mon, let's go for a walk.

"I can't. I have to be here," she protested. I took her hand and started pulling her away from everyone.

"All of this stress is bad for you and the babies. You need some air," I insisted. She reluctantly nodded and let me lead her away from everyone. "You're not the only one who's scared. You've done this before, I haven't. I'm terrified of being a father. I'm scared I'll mess up. But you, you have nothing to fear. You're a great mother to a great little boy and will be to these kids too."

She smiled slightly and rushed foward, hugging me tightly. "Thank you," she whispered into my chest. It was barely audible but I still heard it and it sent a rush through me to hold her so close.

Ren appeared around the corner. "The doctor wants to talk with you and your family," she said. Winnie unwrapped her arms from around me and followed Ren back to the waiting room.

"Madison is fine. What she had was an asthma attack in one of the most extreme forms. Because she's so young, her lungs aren't as strong and tore slightly. She is out of surgery and should be fine," a woman said, smiling warmly at Winnie's family.

Winnie visibly relaxed into my arms. We all forced Winnie to go home when visiting hours were over, but her mother and Joey stayed to be with Madi.

"No. I can't go home," she said, not getting into the car. I sighed. She was stubborn.

"You need to eat and rest. For the babies," I reminded her.

"Fine. Then take me to Paul's. I can't go home. It'll feel weird. Madi's room is right above mine," she said.

"That's almost an hour away. You can stay with me tonight," I told her. She smiled thankfully at me then frowned.

"What about Jase?"

"He's fine with your sisters. You deserve a night off. You won't have much freetime soon," I pointed out. She sighed but agreed.

We didn't bother to stop back at her house. She could wear a t-shirt of mine and boxers. Even with her baby bump. She was close to ten weeks now but looked more like she was five months.

We got out of the car and I let her in through the basement door. It was late and Winnie was clearly tired. I led her to my room and handed her a pair of boxers and a t-shirt. She got changed in the bathroom and I stripped to my boxers while she did so.

Winnie fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, so I went upstairs to see what the guys and Junior were up to.

They were playing poker around the kitchen table, being pretty loud. "Hey, man," Callum said.

"Hey, keep it down okay? Winnie's sleeping."

"Why didn't you bring her home?" Trevor asked.

"She refused to go home. Madi's room is right above hers and she feels guilty. She wanted me to take her to her brother's. He lives almost an hour away so I took her here," I answered.

"She holding up okay?" Cal asked.

"She thinks she's a bad sister and mother for letting this happen but it wasn't her fault. She had no control over it. She's scared something will happen to the babies or Jase," I explained.

"Why? She's a great mother. It's because of her attentiveness that Madi got to the hospital in time," Trevor said.

"Must be a mother thing. My mom always worried about me whenever I got so much as a scrape. Believe it or not, she was actually a good mother at one time," I said.

"Yeah, whenever I so much as coughed my mom acted like I was dying," Callum laughed. I grinned.

"Seriously though, she's been freaking out and I don't know what to do. I keep assuring her that Madi will be fine and that Jase is healthy and that our babies will be too," I sighed.

"Ugh. Why so much baby talk. I still can't believe you actually want to be a dad so young. Seriously, this will ruin your life, bro," Junior said. I glared at him.

"First of all, I'm not a complete asshole like you are. I'm also a lot older than you were and know what responsibility is. I've been practically raising Mark. He's been staying with his dad. Mom relapsed and I don't want him around her," I said.

Mark's father was married to my mother for about a year before they divorced. Not long after Mark was born, his father got into a bad car crash and was in a coma for three years. During that time, Mom started to drink and use drugs. When Hank woke up, he tried to get custody but because of his fragile condition, was denied it. However, Mark got to see Hank still and Mom didn't care where he went. He usually spent the night with me or his father.

"I'm gonna crash. Night guys," I announced, heading downstairs and crawling into bed with Winter, pulling her close to me.