JAY JAY POV
"Keifer, Tita Seriana protected this for you and Keigan, Keiran... please don't sign it!" I screamed, my voice cracking from the effort. I knew how much those papers meant. It wasn't just money; it was the Watson legacy, the safety of his brothers, and everything he had built to keep us safe.
But I could feel it. A sharp, localized pressure at the base of my spine that radiated forward. Not now, baby. Please, just hold on a little more, I begged silently, gritting my teeth.
"Sorry, Jay," Keifer whispered, his eyes full of a broken kind of love that made my heart bleed. He looked like he'd accept any humiliation if it meant I got out of here alive.
Yuri smirked, signaling his men to bring the paper forward. He was so focused on Keifer's surrender, so busy gloating as he looked at me, that he didn't realize I wasn't just a helpless girl anymore. Living with the Watsons and being around the Section E boys for years had taught me things. Specifically, Percy had taught me a trick for certain types of knots—a way to shift your weight and slip the friction.
My ropes were already loose. I felt the last loop slide off my wrist.
Yuri stepped toward Keifer, leaning in to loosen the ropes on his right hand so he could sign. But just as the tension snapped, Yuri's expression turned from a smirk to a mask of pure, cold malice.
In one swift, blurring motion, Yuri pulled a hidden blade and drove it straight into Keifer's stomach.
"KEIFER!" I shrieked.
The sound of the blade entering felt like it happened to me. Keifer gasped, his face turning ghostly pale as blood immediately began to bloom across his white shirt.
"You think I'd let you live after this?" Yuri hissed in Keifer's ear. "I just wanted the signature before the execution."
Adrenaline—the kind that makes you forget you're forty-two weeks pregnant—surged through me. I lunged out of the chair, my feet hitting the cold concrete. I didn't think. I just grabbed the heavy iron rod sitting on the crate next to me.
I swung it with every ounce of strength I had left, fueled by the sight of Keifer's blood.
CLANG!
The rod connected squarely with the back of Yuri's head.
"Fuck!" Yuri roared, stumbling forward as his vision blurred. He dropped the knife, clutching his skull as he collapsed to one knee.
I didn't stop. I threw the rod aside and scrambled to Keifer's side, my hands shaking as I tried to undo the rest of his restraints.
"Keifer! Stay with me! Gago, don't you dare close your eyes!" I sobbed, pressing my hands over the wound in his stomach. The heat of his blood was terrifying.
"Jay..." Keifer wheezed, his hand weakly reaching for mine. Even now, with a hole in his gut, he was looking at me like I was the one in danger. "Get... out... the guards... go..."
"I'm not leaving you!" I yelled, finally snapping the last cord.
Just then, the warehouse doors blew open with a deafening bang. Flashbangs filled the room with blinding white light.
"Drop the weapon! Police! Watson Security!"
I shielded Keifer's body with mine, staring down Yuri as he tried to crawl toward his gun.
"Touch him again," I hissed at Yuri, my voice sounding like a stranger's, "and I'll finish what I started with that rod."
Suddenly, the world tilted. A pain ten times sharper than anything before ripped through my abdomen. I gasped, falling back against Keifer's chest.
"Jay?" Keifer gasped, his voice full of panic.
I looked down. The concrete was wet, and it wasn't just from the blood.
"Keifer," I choked out, grabbing his hand and pressing it to my bump. "I think... I think the little guy is tired of waiting."
"Get up," Keifer growled, his voice rasping as he forced himself to stand. He was clutching his side, blood soaking through the gaps of his fingers, but his eyes remained fixed on Yuri with a terrifying, predator-like coldness.
The warehouse was swarming with our men now. The sound of heavy boots and the clicking of safety locks echoed against the rusted walls. My heart was thumping against my ribs—not just from the terror of being kidnapped, but from the sight of my husband bleeding out right in front of me.
"Get him to the warehouse," Keifer commanded his guards, pointing a trembling, blood-slicked hand at Yuri. Yuri looked like a broken doll as he was hauled up by his collar. "And don't let him die. Not yet. He still owes me for touching my wife."
The guards nodded, dragging a cursing Yuri away into the shadows. Keifer immediately turned all his focus to me. He was pale, his breath coming in short, shallow hitches, but he wrapped his arm firmly around me. Even as he leaned on me for support, he was trying to carry my weight.
"Keifer, you're bleeding too much! Stop moving!" I cried, my voice shaking. I tried to press my hands over the wound in his stomach, but he just shook his head.
"Almost there... get into the car, Jay," he grunted, guiding me toward the armored SUV waiting at the entrance.
Every step I took felt like a white-hot knife was twisting in my lower back. The pressure in my gut was becoming unbearable. I collapsed into the leather seat of the car, and Keifer tumbled in right after me, his head landing heavily in my lap as he hissed in pain.
"Driver, hospital! NOW!" Keifer roared, his voice cracking with the last of his strength.
The car lurched forward, tires Screeching. I grabbed a cloth from the emergency kit in the seat pocket and pressed it hard against his stomach.
"Keifer, stay with me, gago!" I sobbed, the tears finally blurring my vision. "Don't you dare close your eyes! We've been married for less than two years, you can't leave me to raise this Watson brat alone!"
He let out a weak, pained chuckle, his hand reaching up to find mine, squeezing it with whatever strength he had left. "You... wouldn't dare. You'd be... too lost... without me, Mrs. Watson."
"Then stay awake and prove it!"
I gasped as another contraction hit—the strongest one yet. It felt like my body was being ripped apart. I arched my back, a guttural scream escaping my throat. Keifer's eyes flew open, the haze of blood loss clearing for a second as he saw me in agony.
"Jay? Hey, look at me," he whispered, his bloody hand cupping my face, pulling my gaze to his. "We're almost there. Just breathe, baby. You're a Watson. You're the strongest woman I've ever met. Stay with me."
"I'm trying!" I shrieked as the car sped through the city streets. "But your son is literally trying to punch his way out!"
"He's just like his dad," Keifer murmured, his eyes fluttering as his head slumped against my leg again. "Impatient... and already... obsessed with you."
"Keifer! KEIFER! Open your eyes!"
The car screeched to a halt in front of the emergency room. I looked out the window and saw the nurses rushing out with stretchers. Help was here, but as I felt the undeniable, terrifying urge to push, I realized the real battle was just beginning.
"Help!" I screamed, clutching Keifer's unconscious hand. "Help my husband!"
"Call Keiran and Keigan!" I shouted at the lead guard as the hospital doors hissed open. My voice was raspy, my throat raw from screaming. The lobby was a blur of white lights and rushing scrubs.
Keifer was pale, his shirt a mess of dark, drying blood, but even as they tried to separate our stretchers, his grip on my hand was like a vise. He wasn't letting go.
"Put us in the same room," Keifer ordered the head nurse, his voice vibrating with that deadly authority that didn't diminish even when he was fading.
"But sir, you're bleeding internally, and she's already in the transitional stage of labor—it's not sterile or—" the nurse started, her face pale.
"Do what I said, damn it!" Keifer roared, coughing immediately after. "I don't care about the rules! She stays with me!"
The nurses and orderlies fumbled, terrified of the bleeding man who looked like he'd burn the hospital down with a single look. They scrambled to push our stretchers together, our wheels clacking against the tile in a frantic rhythm as they rushed us down the hallway.
"Ahhh!" I yelled, my back arching as another contraction ripped through me. It was constant now, a tidal wave of pain that made the room spin. "Keifer, it hurts! It hurts so much!"
"I'm right here, Jay," he hissed through his teeth. He was lying on the stretcher next to mine, his hand squeezing mine so hard I could feel his pulse. "Look at me. Don't look at anything else. Just me."
I turned my head, my hair matted with sweat. Keifer looked like hell. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was slick with perspiration, but he held my gaze as they wheeled us into a large private suite.
"Doctor! We have a stab wound to the abdomen and a woman at ten centimeters!" one of the nurses shouted.
The room became a chaotic storm of activity. Doctors were cutting Keifer's shirt away while others were checking me. The metallic smell of his blood mingled with the sterile scent of the hospital.
"Don't... don't you touch her unless... she says so..." Keifer wheezed at the OB-GYN, even as a surgeon started prepping his own wound.
"Keifer, stop talking!" I sobbed, a fresh wave of pain making me want to scream at the top of my lungs. "Just stay alive! You promised!"
"I'm not... going anywhere..." he gasped, his knuckles white as he held onto me. "Push, Jay-Jay... our boy is waiting."
"It's a girl, you gago!" I shrieked, and with one final, bone-shattering surge of agony, the world seemed to explode.
In the background, I heard the doors burst open again.
"Kuya! Ate Jay!"
Keiran and Keigan had arrived
"Sorry, but you have to get out!" one of the nurses shouted, pushing Keiran and Keigan back toward the hallway. I managed a weak nod to them, seeing the fear and worry in their eyes before the doors swung shut, locking them out.
Hours had passed. Hours of agonizing pain, screaming until my throat felt like it was bleeding, and watching the doctors work frantically on Keifer's side. He had been treated—stitched up and bandaged—but he refused the heavy sedatives. He needed to stay awake. For me.
Ignoring all the protests from the medical staff, Keifer forced himself to stand up. He winced, his face draining of color as he limped to the side of my bed.
"Almost there, come on. He's right here," Keifer whispered, his voice shaky but full of a raw, desperate strength. He took both of my hands in his, his palms still stained with the battle we had just survived.
Tears were rolling down my face, soaking into my hair and dripping toward my back. I was exhausted. My body felt like it was breaking in two.
"Almost there, Mrs. Watson," the doctor encouraged, her voice calm amidst the chaos. "Two more big pushes and you're done."
"Keifer, I can't... I don't have anything left," I sobbed, shaking my head. The pain was so loud I couldn't think.
Keifer leaned down, his forehead pressing against mine, forcing me to find his eyes. The intensity in his gaze was the only thing keeping me anchored.
"Jay-Jay, look at me. You can't give up, not now, baby," he started, his voice cracking with emotion. "I kept... I kept my promise. I didn't close my eyes. I'm right here. Now it's your turn. Bring our baby home, Jay. Bring him home to us."
He squeezed my hands, his grip the only thing I could feel.
"You're a Watson," he hissed into my ear, a dark, proud smile flickering on his lips despite the pain. "And Watson's don't stop until they win. Push, Jay! Push for me!"
I let out a primal scream, gathering every last shred of energy I had. I pushed with everything—every memory of our months apart, every fear I'd felt in that warehouse, and every ounce of love I had for the man holding my hand.
"One more! One more, Jay-Jay!"
I squeezed my eyes shut, Keifer's name a silent prayer on my lips, and gave one final, bone-shattering push.
The world went quiet for a split second, and then—the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. A sharp, loud, angry cry filled the room.
"It's a boy!" the doctor cheered. "Healthy and loud!"
I slumped back against the pillows, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I looked at Keifer, and for the first time since I'd known the cold, untouchable King of the Watsons, I saw tears streaming down his face.
"You did it," he whispered, kissing my knuckles as they placed a small, crying bundle onto my chest. "You brought him home, Jay-Jay."
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