Page 92 of Shattered Trinket
“I can’t… I can’t give you babies!” she wails, burying her face into Jeremiah’s chest, and my eyes widen.
As he whispers something to her, she nods in response, which has him taking a deep breath. With his arms wrapped around her, he looks up at us before his eyes briefly meet Micah’s, and with a nod, he silently communicates with him, making Micah sigh.
“She can’t have kids. It’s just one more thing Victor stole from her. The internal damage caused from… some of the things he did left her infertile. I thought she told you all,” Micah eventuallysays, rubbing the back of his neck and staring at Jeremiah and Cozy with a familiar longing.
As her sobbing resumes, Jeremiah affectionately rubs his face against Cozy’s hair. I can’t help but notice how her hands tightly grip his shirt while her deep sobs resonate throughout the tiny room, making it feel even more constricted. With a quick glance at my brothers, I can see the reflection of my own emotions mirrored in their eyes. It’s a bittersweet realization that our family will never experience the joy and chaos of little versions of us running around and filling our home with noise, but we all agree that having Cozy by our side makes it worthwhile. Slowly and carefully, one by one, me, Ridge, and Zeke kneel down beside her in the confined area, reaching out to touch her with our hands.
“Ducky, we dinnae… Kids arenae the most important thing in the world to us. Sure, we figured we’d have them one day, but it’s no’ a deal breaker for us,” Zeke whispers, glancing at me and Ridge.
Her sobs quiet just a bit as she listens, and we both nod in agreement when she peeks out at us.
“Kids or no kids, we just want you, Smalls. We don’t want you just to give us babies. We want you because… because we fucking love you. Something that’s not hard to do,” Ridge tells her, holding her hand in a tight grip like he’s afraid she’s going to leave him, leaveus.
“And if kids are something you want in the future, there are ways for that to still be possible,corazón. But no matter what, we wantyou.We’re not going anywhere unless it’s chasing after you if you decide to run. Which I really hope you won’t do because Jeremiah will follow, and probably Micah, too, and that just means we’d have to pack all three of you back home with us. Jeremiah’s pretty heavy, and I’m sure he’d put up a hell of a fight,” I whisper jokingly to her, hoping she’ll give me a smile.
Her watery giggle breaks the tension, and we all exhale in relief. As Micah passes her some tissue, she wipes her nose, her eyes wide and hopeful as she leans against Jeremiah.
“You love me?” she asks softly, her voice tight and high, and I reach out, carefully pulling her into my arms, and she comes without a fight.
“I love you more than anything in this world,Sirenita. Since the moment you stepped out of Mama Valley’s car and stood in front of me, I’ve known I’d never be able to let you go if you gave me the chance to be yours. I don’t want anyone but you, ever, because you’re it for me. No other omega will do, I’m afraid,” I whisper, kissing her tears away before she presses her lips to mine.
When she pulls back, she glances over at Zeke and crawls over to his lap.
“And you? Do you love me?” she asks him, and he cups her cheeks with his large hands.
“I’d walk intae the Underworld tae face Hades just like Hercules did for Megara, Ducky. I’d jump right intae that pit o souls without a second thought tae pull ye back. So yeah, lass. I love ye. Ye’re ma home. Ma very heart an’ soul.”
His Disney reference is met with collective groans from all of us, except for Cozy, who lights up with delight. She fuckingbeamsatthe Scottish bastard, and now I wish I’d used one as well because I know how much she loves those movies. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she nuzzles her nose against him, feeling his contented purr in response as he returns the affectionate gesture.
Then, she looks at Ridge, holding her arms out for him. He quickly grabs her, pulling her into his lap last.
“And you, Alpha?” she asks him quietly, almost shyly.
A strained sound escapes from the back of his throat as he nods, his grip on her hips so intense that I worry it might leave bruises.
“I do. I love you very much, Cozette. I don’t have pretty words like my brothers to express how much I love you, but I know if I lose you, I won’t survive it,” he tells her, his throat bobbing as he swallows.
Overwhelmed with emotion, tears stream down Cozy’s face as she throws herself at him, her hands gripping his cheeks as their lips lock in a desperate kiss.
“I love you, too. All of you. And I-I don’t want to lose any of you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about… about not being able to have kids. Things were just going so good and—”
Ridge silences her with a firm grip on her cheeks, kissing her with an intensity that makes it seem like his entire existence hinges on it.
“It wouldn’t have mattered if you told us sooner or not, Smalls. We still wouldn’t have changed our minds,” he tells her when he pulls back, tucking one of her errant curls behind her ear like we’re always doing.
She sighs and lays her head on his chest, looking around at us all with red-rimmed eyes.
“I like your family,” she says to me, a small smile on her lips and I smile back.
“I’m glad. I’m sorry they upset you, though,amor,” I respond with a frown and she shakes her head.
“S’not their fault. They didn’t know,” she says sleepily, blinking her eyes.
“I’ll tell them. My abuela Mickey was worried when you left.”
“What if they don’t like me anymore?” she asks, her voice small and sounding sad to my ears.
“This won’t change anything, baby. I promise. They already love you, and niños and niñas or not, they’ll still love you. You’rehard not to love,” I tell her, reaching over to run my finger down her cheek.