by Brynn Paulin
Chapter Nine
~ McKenna ~
I closed my laptop at the sound of something dragging. “What are you doing?”
Daniel looked up from where he was lugging a large box from our storage area. “It’s Christmas in a few days. We need to get the tree up. You just keep working. I’ll do it. You want it by the slider? Now that it’s started snowing, it will be pretty there, I think.”
Despite things going so well between us the past days, I hadn’t even thought of decorating. It was probably all the sex. We worked…we got in bed together. We worked…and Daniel found something to bend me over or he took me against a wall or straddling him. So much sex. So little complaints.
Now, I felt the tingling of my holiday spirit coming to life. Grabbing my phone, I cued up some holiday music before I returned the cell to the counter and went to join him. “I think putting it by the slider will be great. Just make sure we can still get out.”
“Of course.” He cupped the back of my head and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Do you want to get the box of ornaments? I checked, and it’s light.”
That didn’t surprise me. Daniel wasn’t coddling me, thank God, because I would never put up with it. But he’d downloaded a pregnancy book to his reader, and I swore he was devouring it. He knew more about being pregnant than I did.
I headed over to the storage area, which was actually about the size of our bathroom, to get the ornaments. The space had been a selling point for this apartment, absolute gold in this city.
As I grabbed the box, I felt a small twinge in my belly. My brow furrow and I stood still, waiting to see if it would come again. It didn’t. I carried the ornaments out to the couch and set them down.
Standing still again, I watched Daniel put together our small four-foot artificial tree. Our first tree… I grinned while I remembered our “discussion” about it when it was purchased. He’d wanted a big six-foot pine that would have taken up at least a quarter of our small living space. His family always had a big tree; so had mine. But I’d talked him down off that ledge, promising that when we had a house, he could get whatever size tree he wanted.
Now, that we were having a baby, we’d be thinking of that sooner rather than later. I wondered if he’d considered that. Setting down the box, I watched him fluff the branches. My teeth sank into my bottom lip. God, he was attractive. We’d been out of bed for barely two hours and I wanted to jump him.
“Stop staring at my ass.” His voice was a little muffled as he worked.
“But it’s so…”
He glanced at me over his shoulder, his eyebrow raised.
“I have the ornaments,” I offered.
“Uh-huh.” He turned and stalked toward me.
I backed up just as another twinge hit me. This one stronger. I gasped, bending slightly, an arm across my middle. Daniel flew across the space separating us. “What is it?”
“I don’t know. A strong twinge.”
“We should go to the doctor.”
“No. I’m okay. We should finish the tree. It just surprised me. It didn’t hurt. Okay?”
He shook his head, and fear remained in his eyes. “Promise you’ll tell me if anything—”
“I will,” I interrupted before he could say words that terrified me. “Promise.”
His nod jerked. Obviously, he wasn’t soothed.
We worked together on the tree, Daniel covertly eyeing me the whole time but not in the sexy way I’d like. Every few minutes, he not so nonchalantly suggested I might want to sit down or take a nap or “let me do this while you rest.” I was ready to growl.
Needing a break from his “hints” I headed for the bathroom. I didn’t feel great, to tell the truth. At least it wasn’t morning sickness, I guessed.
* * * *
~ Daniel ~
I’d just finished putting the star on the tree, hoping that now I could get Kenna to take a rest, when she came back.
“Daniel,” she whispered. I swung around, the foreboding I’d been feeling falling heavier in my gut. Kenna was ashen and looked as if she might fall over. She reached out a trembling hand to hold onto the doorframe.
“What is it?” My words were choked as I sprinted toward her.
“Th-there’s b-blood.”
“We’re going to the hospital.” There was no discussion. It didn’t matter if she protested. I’d carry her there. Hell, I was carrying her, anyway. Barely taking the time to do more than grab our coats, masks and her purse, I dashed out of the apartment and downstairs to the parking garage.
She dug out her keys, and as soon as I had her settled in the passenger seat, I raced to the driver’s side. Kenna didn’t say a word as I pulled out into the snow that had shifted to near-blizzard proportions. I heard her slight gasp every so often, but when I glanced over to see if she was in pain, I saw she quietly cried.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered when the hospital came into view. “I know now how much you want this. I’m sorry you didn’t know from the start. That…” Her breath hitched, and I reached over to squeeze her hand.
“I love you. All I need is you. Let’s see what the doctors say before we borrow trouble. Okay?”
She bit her lip and nodded.
I parked in the ER lot. We both pulled on our masks, then I ran around to Kenna’s side and lifted her out. Again, she didn’t protest, which just told me the extent of her distress.
A guard came out with a wheelchair as we approached. “What’s going on?” he asked while I set Kenna in the seat.
“My girlfriend is pregnant, and she’s bleeding.” I swallowed around the knot in my throat that choked me. My breathing rasped hard. My chest squeezed my lungs.
“Well, let’s get her inside.” He turned to wheel her through the doors, and I followed. He looked over at me. “I’m sorry, but only patients are allowed into the hospital.”
“But—”
“It’s the rules to keep everyone safe. I’m sorry.”
“But—” Damn it, I couldn’t just leave her. She needed me with her.
“Daniel, I’ll call you,” Kenna interrupted gently. Then winced. “Oh damn it. My phone’s at home next to my computer. I…”
“Sir, we really should get her inside” the guard said when a second attendant walked out to see what was going on. “We’ll make sure that you’re contacted. Please wait in your car.”
“Okay.” It seemed like all the air had leaked from me as I wilted, knowing she needed a doctor more than she needed me. I had to stand down. It was the right thing, even if I hated it. “Kenna…”
She looked up at me, anguish on her face while they took her.
“I love you.”
She mouthed the words back at me.
I stood there, staring, feeling as if my world was being ripped away from me as the glass doors closed between me and the woman I loved. She needed me, and there was nothing I could do. Arguing would only delay her care.
I shoved my hands through my hair, ignoring the snow coating me while I watched until she disappeared from my sight, the last I saw of her was her looking over her shoulder at me again, tears flowing down her cheeks. I raised my hand and gave a weak smile, trying to be strong while my eyes burned.
Somehow, I made it back to the car. Sinking into the seat, I dropped my head against the steering wheel and let all my fear and frustration rain out.
Chapter Ten
~ Daniel ~
I startled as my phone rang. It had been eight hours since Kenna had been taken in. I’d called a few times, but they didn’t tell me anything, only promising I’d be contacted when she was ready to be discharged. They had told me it would be today. Knowing that, I’d left once to go to the gas station a block away. Otherwise, I was here. Waiting. Losing my mind.
“Yes,” I rasped into the phone as I snapped it to my ear.
“Is this Daniel McKenna?”
“Yes,” I replied urgently, praying for news. Any news. Please let Kenna be okay. Please!
“I’m in the ER lot. Just tell me where and when.”
The person calling gave me directions, and fifteen minutes later, I was in front of the door where Kenna was being discharged. I ran around to the passenger side and opened it. Ignoring the person who’d wheeled her out, I lifted Kenna and pressed my lips to her temple for a moment before I bundled her into her seat.
After thanking the attendant, I raced around to the driver’s side again, vaguely thinking that I’d done that a lot today. I pulled around the corner and slipped into a parking spot. I had to say something, and I couldn’t be driving for it.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yes, Daniel, I—”
“That’s all I need to know,” I interrupted. My fingers clenched on the steering wheel as I stared out the windshield. “Before you tell me anything else, I want… I have to tell you. I love you. You. And before we separated, before we were idiots, I bought you a ring. I planned to ask you to marry me on Thanksgiving.”
She gasped, and I turned to look at her. “I still want to marry you. Please, Kenna. Will you? All I’ll ever need in this life is you. Even if…” I couldn’t finish. It was too soon to mention what we’d lost. I knew she’d have to tell me everything later. Soon. After this. And we could share the pain together. I ached from not being at her side to hold her.
“Yes. Yes, of course Daniel. I love you, and I do want to marry you. You’re all I need, too. But you need to know…” She grasped one of the hands I still clenched on the wheel and brought it to her. Brought it to her belly and spread her fingers over it, pressing my palm in. “It’s not just us. That was terrifying, but we didn’t lose the baby.”
“What?” I gasped, afraid to believe, afraid I’d heard wrong. My emotions stole my ability to breathe properly, making each inhale and exhale jagged with the pain I’d been restraining.
“The doctor said it’s something that can happen. Body adjustments, breakthrough bleeding. She wanted to monitor me, and they did an ultrasound to make sure everything was okay. I wish you could have been there.”
“So do I.”
“I have a picture, though you really can’t tell anything right now. I was dehydrated so they made me have IV fluids. And she prescribed meds for the intense morning sickness. The constant bouts of it aren’t helping anything. I have to take it easy for a week and I have an appointment with her next Friday.”
I stared at her. “You’re…we’re…”
She smiled softly. “Yeah. Still want to marry me?”
She giggled when I glared at her. Taking off my seatbelt, I leaned over the console so I was in her face. “You are never getting away from me Kenna Daniels soon to be McKenna.”
She groaned. “Kenna McKenna? I’ll sound like a kids’ book character.”
“Hyphenate. Or I’ll take your last name. Daniel Daniels is fine with me. As long as you’re mine.”
She wrapped an arm around my neck. “I don’t really care about the name either, as long as you’re mine.”
“Always. I’ll always be yours,” I promised. “Let’s get you home. Do we need to stop at the pharmacy?”
“No, they filled the prescription here.”
With a nod, I put the car into gear and slowly drove home, intent on getting my precious cargo there safely. Once we were at our building, I pulled my move of running around to her side.
“I can walk,” she protested, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and laying her head against my neck.
“I know. Humor me.”
“Okay,” she agreed wearily.
I wasted no time getting her settled in bed upstairs, then went to my bags. When I returned to her, I dropped to my knee. My heart raced, despite our earlier talk. “You already said yes, but I’m asking again. Marry me?”
Kenna moved so she sat before me. Her hand pressed to her mouth as she stared at the large cushion-cut diamond I’d bought her. “Daniel,” she whispered.
“I love you.”
“God, I love you so much. I was so unhappy without you.”
“Never again,” I promised. “That will never happen again. When we have problems, just like everyone else does, I will fight for you. I will fight to keep you always. every day of my life.”
Her hand cupped my cheek. “I know. I know you will. I will, too.” She held her fingers toward me. “Yes, I’ll marry you. I’ve always been yours and I always will be.”
The ring slid into place, and I moved closer, kissing her lips and sealing my love and our forever once more.
Epilogue
~ McKenna ~
Four years later
My hand settled over my slightly rounded belly as I watched my three-year-old son and daughter race around our backyard. Twins had been a surprise when Daniel and I had gotten our second ultrasound. I wasn’t sure if Daniel was going to faint or start yelling for joy. There had been some epic victory fist pumping happening in that darkened room. And ever since, I’d teased him about his super-sperm that must have evolved after his skateboard incident, like some lab accident in a comic book.
Yeah, I knew that wasn’t how things happened. The twins came from me. The sex from him. Didn’t matter.
As it turned out, that was why I’d been so sick and why my body had a little trouble adjusting.
This time, there was only one baby. A boy. And from the way he was kicking today, I thought maybe he was anxious to meet his siblings and run with them. This little one had been as big of a surprise as his brother and sister. So much so that I’d question whether Daniel’s original doctor knew what the hell he was talking about. For a guy who had almost zero chances of having kids, he was doing pretty well.
A body pressed behind me where I stood leaned against one of the pillars holding up the roof of our covered porch. His hand cupped my belly right below where my palm rested.
“Aren’t you supposed to be manning the grill?” I teased.
“It’s warming up. The family won’t be here for twenty minutes, and the terrors we need to worry about are chasing the dog in the yard.”
I chuckled. Despite his words, there had never been a dad who loved his kids more. He cherished them for the miracles they were. And they kind of were terrors and had been since they’d started crawling. God help us when they started plotting together to overthrow the world.
“How’s our slugger today?” he asked, rubbing my stomach.
“Trading up baseball for soccer. Or football. Few more months and we’ll get to see those little arms and legs in action.”
“Can’t wait.”
Neither of us cared about sleepless nights or diaper changes or any of the exhaustion that went with parenting. We both adored every minute of it—and whenever possible, we adored each other, too. We knew what gifts we’d been given, both in our kids and each other. If the quarantine hadn’t come around, if Daniel’s friend Geoff hadn’t helped him pull the stunt to get him back in the apartment, things could have turned out so different.
“I love you,” I murmured, and tilted my head to gaze up at him.
“I love you, too, baby.” He brushed his lips over mine, and I leaned back into him. He was my support and rock, my best friend and lover. We’d kept true to our promises to one another and even put them in our official wedding vows—we fought for each other every day. And when any issues came up, we fought even harder. Not against each other but for each other. Because we had a love that was worth fighting for, and we would never risk losing it again.
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Books by Brynn Paulin
Steamy in Sweetville
Postcards in the Sand
Cuddle Up, Buttercup
Bolthouse Security
Pursuing Pansy
Claiming Caylee (coming soon)
New Midgard
Viking’s Claim
Viking’s Touch (coming soon)
Wall Street Princesses
Billionaire’s Halloween Princess
Billionaire’s Runaway Princess (coming soon)
Tales Undone
The Prince’s Syn
Oh My Scot
Falling for Forever
Cherish Cove (Home For the Holidays)
Jingle Belle’s Rock
Ex Scrooge Me
Loving St Nix
Cherish Cove (Beach Please)
Light My Fire
Reclaiming Love
Beach Please
Dare to Love
Half Past Normal
Billionaire’s Bunny
Quarterback Leap
Penalty Call
Switched Up
Flipping for Love
Merry Loves Bright
The Bad Boys
Bad Boy Biker Boots
Bad Boy Bossy Pants
Bad Boy Babymaker
Daly Way
Belonging to Them
Plays Well With Others
Fill Her Up
One for the Team
Briar’s Cowboys
Roped by the Team
His Old Kentucky Home
Eye of Her Storm
Santa Secret
Mad About Her Cowboys
Tradition Bound
On Your Knees
In His Chains
Chain Me Up
Cruentus Dragons
Dragons Blood
Blood Bought
Blood Mates
Taboo Wishes
Punished
Kidnap and Kink
Yuletide Greetings
Mr. Smith’s Whip
Dick Does Jane
Sybil Disobedience
Billionaire Club
Blind Date With the Billionaire
Billionaire Auction (co-author Tia Fanning)
Stranded With the Billionaire
The Billionaire and the Beast
The Problem With Billionaires
Malloy Brothers (with Dakota Rebel)
Billionaire’s Christmas Cruise
Billionaire’s Beautiful Runaway
Billionaire’s Best Frienemy
North Springs
Stocking Full of Cole