Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 102

Cora's POV

The contractions are three minutes apart now, and they are like clockwork. I feel the pain come over me and grit my teeth until it passes. My stomach is hooked to a fetal monitor so they will know if either of them goes into distress. I am worried about Collin, but I don't want to stress Ava and Marlowe out. I have been there for over 4 hours, and I am dilating slowly. The nurse said that it was because it was my first time. I am scared to ask about Collin again because Alderidge had taken a picture of Collin, with the knife sticking out of his chest, and when Marlowe saw that, she had cried hard, for 10 minutes after that. I am not going to do anything to cause her to get upset again. Ava has been getting me the little ice chips to chew on, as I cannot have food right now, and I was kicking myself for not eating lunch. I really didn't anticipate the day going into the crapper like it did. I actually thought Maddie was smarter than to do what she had just done. Did her need for vengeance override her common sense? Because it wasn't a very smart idea to do what she had done. Collin had told me when I saw him last, that she didn't back up the video, or put it on a flash drive or anything, it was just in her cloud and on her phone. I pray she didn't sell it like she had told Collin that she would do when he told her a week ago that they were done. Livi told me when she came through to check on me, that she had talked it over with Nicolas and they had decided to put everything on Maddie together to get her the highest number of years for her in jail. If they get the maximum amount that Nicolas is going for, she will get over 100 years in prison. The biggest charges would be for the vicious assaults on the off-duty detective and on Collin, where she would be charged with assault with a deadly weapon, at a minimum for both of them, and attempted murder on Collin. I am just glad that she won't be a threat to my babies. I was really concerned about them, and I am 5 cm dilated right now, but I need to get to 10 before the babies are ready to go. I feel like crying because I want Collin here with me. I feel bad for wanting him to come because he literally just got stabbed, but I haven't had him for the entire pregnancy, well the last 5 months, and I need him here now. I wanted him to hug me and tell me that everything was going to be alright. I need to see him, so I know that he is alright. My parents are on the way now. I didn't call them until they got me checked out and made sure that the babies were alright. I lay back down on the bed and looked at the clock. In a minute, another contraction is going to hit me, and it is going to hurt. I feel a tear slip out of the corner of my eye and I am trying not to have a pity party, but it is not the pain making me sad. I needed Collin, but I couldn't say the words because Marlowe was so upset about how hurt he had been. Ava was super worried too. I don't know that he is alright and that is what is causing me to worry so much. I haven't even discussed baby names with him yet. I had picked two names, one of which I really liked, with meaning to both families, but I don't know if he is going to love them or not. Both have a lot of meaning to them, except I wanted to speak with him about it before they were physically here. That was one of the things we missed from not getting to see each other. I want to name our son, Thomas Anthony Lauder; Thomas is both Collin's and Alderidge's middle name. I picked a name starting with an A as a tribute to both our fathers with the same initial, but I couldn't pick either of their names as I couldn't decide between them, so I went with Anthony. I wanted to name our daughter, Abigail Shae Lauder. Abigail is Marlowe's middle name and had been carried on through generations as a first or middle name. Shae is, of course, my middle name, as well as my mother's. They were not 100% set in stone, but I liked them both. If Collin wanted to change them, we could certainly talk about it, and decide together.

I heard a knock on the door and called out for them to come in. I have been here for almost 5 hours and have been checked twice. Once when I got here and once an hour ago. So, I am assuming that they will be checking me every two hours until the babies decide that they are ready to make their appearance. My mom and dad walked into the room, and I started bawling. I feel like a coward because I have been happy and ready for the babies this whole time, and not that they are about to show up, and Collin isn't here. I am scared and worried about him. My mom hurries over to me, strokes my hair, and tells me, "It will be OK, Cora. The pain you feel right now will go away soon, and you will be left with two beautiful babies. I am so excited about seeing them today. I saw what happened to you both today on a news snippet, the "fashion show fiasco" is showing all the time now on social media. Is Collin OK?" she asks me, and I start crying harder.

"I don't know mom, and I am worried about him" I cried out to her. Mom pulls me into a hug and kisses the top of my head. "Collin will be just fine, honey. I am sure as soon as he can get free, he will be coming here to see his babies come into this world. I know that he would like nothing better".

I nodded like I believed her, but I saw him lying on the ground, with his blood flowing down and staining the runway floor. Every single time I close my eyes, I see it. I need to stop thinking about it. I just needed to be strong, for the babies and for Collin. If something bad had happened, Alderidge would have come back and gotten Marlowe, so Collin must be OK. My dad is standing on my other side, and he squeezes my hand in support and smiles gently at me.

I heard another knock on the door about an hour later, and I looked up to see Collin entering with his dad right behind him. I started crying again, but this time tears of joy as I held my arms out to him for him to come and hug me. Well, at least with his free hand, his left arm is in a shoulder sling to keep him from moving it around too much. Collin hugs me with his right arm and gives me a kiss before telling me, "I got here as fast as I could, baby. They wanted me for observation, but I told him that my babies were about to be born and he understood and released me. Plus, we will be here the next 24 to 48 hours so they can still keep an eye out on me, just in case".

I have a private room, as Marlowe wanted everyone to be able to be in there while they could. So, I bear down when the contractions hit and just try to get through them, and it is easier with Collin here with me. He is speaking sweet words into my ear and holding my hand through all of them. It still hurts, but Collin just being there and me knowing that he really is OK, helps me to be calmer. I enjoy how well my parents and Collin's parents get along. My dad was talking about finance with Alderidge, who was surprised at how knowledgeable my dad was about it.

"I thought you said your dad was in marketing, Cora?" Alderidge said to me.

"He was, it was the last thing he did for them. The nephew of the owner had just graduated with his degree and wanted dad's job, so dad got transferred into marketing, but finance is where he wants to be", I told him.

"He should put in with Jerry, for one of the Account Manager positions available. I will vouch for him, as I can already tell that your dad is extremely good at it, just by speaking with him. He knows his stuff and we would be glad to have him working for us at Lauder Financial. I will text Jerry that your father and I will be in on Monday. That way, Jerry can speak with Abbot as well, but I see this as just a formality, you are a huge asset to us, Cora, so to have the two of you working for us, I see even bigger things coming up in our future". Alderidge told us.

I smiled over at dad, pleased that he would have a job that he loves again before another contraction hit and took the smile off my face. After the contraction, I cleared my throat and spoke to the room, "I had put some thought into the babies' names, but since Collin and I were rarely together we have not discussed it and decided yet. Since they are about to make an appearance, I think that we should go ahead and decide. I will tell you my choices and I hope you love them both, but they are not completely set in stone. I wanted to name our son, Thomas Anthony Lauder, with Thomas being both your and your dad's middle names, as well as for the man who probably saved me from miscarrying the twins when the reporters showed up and assaulted me. And I went with an "A": name, as I couldn't choose between my dad's and your dad's name", I said, and I saw that both Collin and Alderidge tear up at my words, but not interrupting me. I continued on, "I wanted to name our daughter, Abigail Shae Lauder. Abigail, because that is Marlowe and Ava's middle names as they have been passed down for generations, and Shae for both my and mom's middle names. What are your opinions on their names?" I asked them.

I see my mom and Marlowe crying and nodding and coming over to get Collin out of the way so they can each hug me and tell me they love their names. I saw Thomas, who had been sitting quietly near the door to watch who came and went, with a tear coming from his eyes and smiling and nodding at me. Collin and Aldridge also teared up that the baby would also be carrying their middle names. My dad was also nodding as well, and I saw everyone was good with the names I picked out.

"I love the names you picked out, but I do want to change one of them if you are OK with it, Cora," Collin tells me.

"Which name did you want to change?" I asked him.

"I want to change Anthony for Adam. I would like to make our son's name be Adam Thomas Lauder", I told Cora.

"I am totally OK with that. I like the name Adam, and I owe Adam for helping you, and staying with you, as they took me first so they could get you secured properly and ready to transport", I told Collin.

"It is more than that, the doctor told me that Adam probably saved my life. I know you wanted to pull the knife out to help me as you were scared, but where Maddie stabbed me, it was less than a half-inch away from an artery. I don't mean to scare you but, if you had moved it even a little, taking it out, I would have bled out onto the runway, and died right in front of you. Adam called out as he came to help me, and saved my life. He has also helped you when you were on the plane to Paris when you passed out. I wanted to do this in honor of him. He is a good man, and he saved my life today, so I hope you like it. I moved our names to the middle." Collin motioned to his dad, himself, and Thomas over by the door, "as now the twins can go by "Adam and Abi", and I thought it sounded cute for the babies" as Collin finished and Marlowe was holding onto Alderidge and crying hard into his shoulder. I have tears coming down my face as well because I WAS going to pull it out, it was a knee-jerk reaction, and it could have cost Collin his life. Thank God for Adam and I started nodding vehemently at Collin.

"Their names are perfect, Adam and Abi. I love their names, and I can't wait to meet them," I said through my tears. I owe Adam everything now. Thank God he was there at the show, or I could have accidentally killed Collin. I cry harder with that knowledge. Maddie would have been even happier if that had happened, if it would have been me to actually kill Collin trying to wiggle the knife out of him, instead of her stabbing him. I would have had to live with that the rest of my life, and the guilt of it might have killed me.