by Marla Monroe
She eased out of bed and walked to the bathroom. She wanted a shower to rinse away the night’s sweat and the evidence of her tears. The nurses would be coming to make rounds soon. She wanted to be back in bed by then. As it was, she made it with plenty of time to compose herself. They took her vital signs and assured her that the doctor would be making rounds soon.
It was her plan to ask that she be able to go home the next day. She needed today to regain all her strength and think. She figured she would need all her strength both physically and emotionally to deal with the bothers. She had little doubt they would come to see her today. She hadn’t decided yet if she would see them. It would serve them right to suffer for awhile. She had never thought herself a vindictive person, but for this, she would be. They had betrayed her trust, and she couldn’t easily forgive that. But for the sake of her unborn baby, she would let them back into her life. They had the means to assure the child had everything they needed. Maybe it was wrong to stay with them for the welfare of her baby, but she had to do what she thought best. Staying with Randall and Marcus was the best move she could make in her situation.
Breakfast didn’t appeal to her in the slightest, but she choked down some toast and the orange juice. The eggs turned her stomach, and the bacon was a bit too greasy for her taste. She waited another thirty minutes before the doctors showed up to talk and check her over.
“Can I go home tomorrow? I’m tired of lying around doing nothing.”
“When you go home, you still can’t do anything for another week or so,” the doctor told her.
“I don’t care. I want out of the hospital. No offense, but I really have had enough of this place to last me a life time.”
“If you eat better tonight and in the morning, I’ll look at letting you go.”
She smiled and vowed to eat everything on her plate if that was what it took to get out. Now she had to decide what to do about Marcus and Randall. She had nowhere to go and no way to get there. She needed their help whether she wanted it or not. Then she remembered she had no car either. She wondered how badly the car was and if it could be fixed. Something else she would need them for. She wouldn’t lie to them about why she was going back with them. She didn’t lie.
* * * *
The next morning Randall and Marcus grabbed breakfast in the hospital cafeteria and planned their strategy to win Darla’s love back. Randall sipped his coffee trying to wake up. First they had to get in to see her. The one thing they had going for them was the fact she had nowhere to go but home with them. They would use that shamelessly, too. Once they had her home they would woo her. Randall glanced over at Marcus as he finished up his second cup of coffee. Neither one of them had slept well.
“What do we say to her, Randall?” Marcus asked.
“The truth. We love her and don’t want to live without her in our lives.”
“Well, first we have to get in to see her. She may have told them not to let us in,” Marcus reminded him. He grimaced as he turned the cup up and swallowed every last drop.
Randall stood up and stretched. “Let’s go.”
He’d put it off longer than he should have. It was already eight thirty. She would have finished her breakfast by now. Surely she would let them in to talk. They had a lot to talk about. Not the least of it was the baby.
They reached her room without anyone telling them to stop. Randall held out hope that she would be receptive of their help. If she would, then half the battle would be won. With this thought in mind, Randall knocked on her door.
A soft voice called out for them to come in. Randall walked in followed closely by his brother.
“Good morning,” Randall offered.
“Good morning,” she returned.
So far, so good. Marcus walked over and took her hand. He kissed it. Randall held his breath to see how she would react to that. She didn’t pull her hand away. Marcus smiled. Randall shoved his hands in his pockets.
“I’m sorry, Darla,” Marcus said. “I can never say it enough.”
She didn’t say anything at first. Randall almost held his breath. They had a long wait as she studied them. He wondered what she was thinking about. Contemplating whether to forgive them or not? Finally, she seemed to have made up mind, her face relaxing into and easy smile. Not a big one, mind you, but a smile none the less.
Unless she was into torture, they had a chance of getting back in her good graces. She looked as weary as they felt. He looked over at Marcus. He could tell his brother wanted to grab her and hug her. They both refrained though. Not only because she was hurt, but also because they couldn’t be sure how much she wanted to punish them. The devious smile on her face assured him that they would suffer before it was over with.
“Darla, you need to rest. Why don’t you let us take you home where you can recover?” Randall asked.
“They are letting me go tomorrow. I don’t really have a home to go home to, do I?” she told them, her voice cracking.
They wanted her to come to their home where they could take care of her. Randall knew better than to push, but she had to know that they wanted her.
“You have a home with us, Darla. Let us take care of you, please,” Marcus said.
Randall studied her face and knew the minute she capitulated. Her face looked so devastated. As if giving in and going home with them had robbed her of something. She held their happiness in the palm of her hand, and because there wasn’t a vindictive bone in her body, she didn’t crush them. Instead, she was giving in and going home with them. He saw it as a major step toward forgiveness. Now he needed to prove to her she could trust them from now on. It wouldn’t be easy, but he and Marcus were up for the task.
Marcus beamed at him from across her bed. She looked from one to the other of them and sighed. She seemed to put everything in that sigh. All her energy and focus seemed to be on them at the moment. She was sizing them up to see if she could believe them or not. He held his breath and knew his brother was as well.
“Fine, I’ll go with you, under one condition.”
“Anything that is mine to give is yours, Darla,” Randall told her.
“We want to make you happy,” Marcus added.
“As soon as I know for sure that I’m getting to go home, I’ll let you know,” she told them.
“Um, we were hoping to stay here with you in case you need anything,” Randall began.
Marcus cut in. “That way we’re available as soon as you are ready to go.”
“There’s really no need for you to spend the night here. I’m coming home…” She quickly changed it to, “I’m getting out of the hospital. That will be soon enough, I think.”
Randall decided to let it go. They would pick their battles. One more night in the motel wouldn’t kill them. He glanced over a Marcus and could see his own disappointment reflected on his brother’s face.
“I’ll bring something for you to wear out of here,” Marcus said.
“Oh, um, yeah, that would be great.” Darla blushed, and Randall grinned.
He couldn’t help herself. She was so damn cute when she blushed, and she blushed at the weirdest things. Like his bringing her something to wear out of the hospital.
They sat with her for several hours then when she began to nod off, they said good-bye and promised to be back the next morning to be there when the doctor came by. Marcus bent over and kissed her good-bye. Randall squeezed her hand and winked at her. She gave them a little half smile back.
“That went fairly well,” Marcus said once they were down the hall.
“Yeah, I think she realizes she has nowhere to go and needs us. That may be the only reason she is allowing us to take her home,” Randall warned him.
“I don’t care what the reason is. She’ll be with us under our roof. We can work on her there.”
Randall smiled. That was Marcus, forever the optimist. He checked them in once again. It was decided that Marcus would make the trip back to the ranch to gather up some clothes f
or her to wear home from the hospital. Randall would remain behind. He wanted to be there in case they asked to see him or she did.
After Marcus left, Randall played their conversation back in his head looking for any sign of weakness he could exploit. He wasn’t proud of it, but all was fair in love and war, and they were a little bit in both.
* * * *
As soon as the men left, Darla broke down and cried. She had something to blame her weeping on now, the baby. She pulled the covers back a little bit and rolled her gown up in order to see her tummy. There was nothing there to prove she was pregnant, but sometimes she got those fluttering feelings in her stomach. She placed a hand over her abdomen and imagined her baby growing there in her womb. The wonder of it wasn’t lost on her. The truth was she was secretly happy she was pregnant with their baby.
They should have been open with her from the beginning about checking into her past. Shoulda, woulda, coulda, it was in the past now. She had to worry about the future and make plans in case they couldn’t work things out.
She drew in a deep breath. Fear began to seep inside her. Fear that she would lose the baby. Fear that the baby wouldn’t be normal. Fear the brothers didn’t really love her. Saying the words didn’t make it so. She’d learned that from her ex. She didn’t have to be told twice. It was why she wasn’t sure she could trust Randall and Marcus. They had said the words way too soon as far as she was concerned. You don’t just fall in love at first sight. That was a fairy tale told to young, impressionable teenagers. Realistically, you couldn’t fall in love in the snap of the fingers.
Love took time to grow and mature. It was one of the reasons there was an engagement period before couples got married. They got to know about each other and discover their partner’s likes and dislikes. The fact that she pretty much knew theirs since she had cooked and cleaned for them didn’t go far since they didn’t know about her.
Sure, they knew all her sensitive places and how to make her scream, but not what made her laugh and what made her cry. That was the kind of relationship she wanted. Could she have it with them? Only time would tell. For now, she would bide her time and watch them closely to see how they really felt about her. She was convinced they were in love with the idea of being in love.
Darla leaned back in the bed and rested her eyes for a minute. About the time she was drifting off, the phone rang. She almost let it ring since she didn’t know anyone there who would call her at the hospital. The ringing grated on her nerves, and she answered it on the fourth one.
“Hello?”
“Darla? Hi, honey.” It was Ann Sanders, Randall and Marcus’s mom.
“Hey, Ms. Sanders. How are you doing?”
“Doing fine. What about you? When are they letting you go?” Ann asked.
“Actually, they are talking about letting me leave this afternoon. I’m going to hold them to it, too.” She waited for her to say something about Marcus or Randall, but she didn’t.
“Do you need a ride? I’ll be glad to come pick you up. You can even stay at our house if you think you’ll be more comfortable there.”
Darla felt tears clogging her throat. Ann was being so nice to her despite that she was causing her boys trouble. She swallowed around the tears before she could speak.
“Thank you so much, but Randall and Marcus are picking me up.”
“Oh, that’s great. I sure hope you are able to work things out, Darla. We only want what’s best for you and the baby,” she said.
“Me, too, Ann. No matter how things turn out between us, I will always let you see the baby since you will be the only grandparents he will have,” Darla told her.
There was silence on the other end of the phone. For a minute, she thought Ann must have hung up. Then the other woman spoke.
“Thank you, Darla. You don’t know how happy that makes me.” Ann‘s smile was evident in her voice now.
“Maybe once you’ve healed up some, you can come to the house and we can visit some.”
“I’d like that,” Darla said. And she would. She genuinely liked her. She was not only friendly, but understanding as well. She seemed to have the patience of Job.
They talked for a few more minutes and then hung up. Darla felt better for her talk with Ann. The other woman hadn’t tried to get her to forgive her sons or change her mind about them.
For the first time in a long time, she didn’t have to go to work at a certain time. She didn’t have a dress code, and she had nowhere to be. She smiled to herself and decided on a shower. She would have to keep her shoulder and head dry. The logistics on doing that eluded her.
A nurse came in a few minutes later, and she explained what she wanted to do. The nurse knew what to do, and she got her shower and dressed in a fresh gown when the doctor came by. He tried to talk her into staying just one more day, but Darla insisted she wanted out. She’d do whatever he said to do if he would let her leave that afternoon.
Less than ten minutes after the doctor left, Marcus walked in the room with a small bag that proved to contain some of her things.
“Where’s Randall?” she asked.
“Parking the truck. It’s hard to find a spot for a rig like we have.” He smiled and gave her a sweet kiss before flopping down on the chair.
“I’m going to change clothes. The nurse should be in any minute now for me to sign my discharge paperwork.”
Marcus smiled. “That’s great! You’ll be home before you know it.”
Darla couldn’t help but smile back. His smiles were always contagious.
She picked up the bag with her clothes and walked into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She dug through the bag and realized they’d thought of everything. She had deodorant, toothbrush and toothpaste, her brush, and a hair clippy as well as several outfits to choose from. She was impressed. They obviously knew their way around a woman’s needs. She blushed. Needs brought back flashes of their night together. He and Randall knew all her secrets. They knew her needs and what she liked and didn’t like with sex. She quickly shoved aside those lusty thoughts and busied herself getting dressed to leave.
Just as she walked out of the bathroom, there was a knock on the door and the nurse walked in.
“I see you’re already dressed to leave. Surely we’ve been good to you,” she said with a smile.
“You’ve all been super. I just don’t like hospitals,” she told her.
Once the paperwork was filled out and explained, Darla was ready to walk out. The nurse shook her head.
“No you don’t. You don’t get to walk. You have to ride,” she said with a knowing smile.
Darla figured there was no use in arguing with the woman, so she capitulated and waited for the wheelchair.
Marcus had been quiet all during the exchange. Now he spoke up.
“You look real nice in that outfit,” he said. “It brings out the color of your eyes.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
He picked up her bag and opened the door for the nurse when she knocked. Darla sank into the wheelchair, suddenly glad to have the ride. She wasn’t sure her legs would have supported her all the way to the truck. Getting dressed had taken a toll on her. Marcus followed the nurse while talking on his phone.
“We’re on our way out now. You might want to pull the truck around to the outpatient entrance,” he told Randall.
Whatever Randall had replied was short since Marcus flipped the phone closed and replaced it in its holder at his waist.
“Who’s been taking care of the ranch all this time? It seems like every time I woke up, one or both of you were there.”
“We took turns, and Jim helped Randall out while he was here,” he told her.
“Looks like your brother is here and ready to go,” the nurse pointed out.
Darla looked up and sure enough, the big rig was parked at the entrance along with a bundle of balloons and a bouquet of flowers. Tears filled her eyes, but she managed to keep from letting them fall. How would she
ever be able to leave them after all they’d done for her? Somehow she had to find it in her heart to forgive them, but right now, it hurt too badly.
Chapter Eighteen
Marcus and Darla talked most of the way home. Randall listened but didn’t join in. He had too much on his mind. Between the ranch, the weather, and Darla, he was stretched mighty thin. The thing was she was his priority. Taking care of her and figuring out how to get her to stay with them took precedence over everything else. His love for her knew no boundaries. Somehow he had to convince her that he and Marcus truly, deeply loved her.
As they neared home, Randall noticed that Darla had grown quiet and appeared tired. This was her first outing since the accident, and the trip had taken well over an hour. It was no wonder she was asleep on her feet. He grinned. It was actually her sweet ass. Her head rested on Marcus’s shoulder. They looked good together.
Marcus raised his eyes and met Randall’s. They were in perfect agreement. Darla would accept them and complete their family. The baby was an added bonus—provided she didn’t lose it. There was still a chance she would miscarry. More than asking that the baby be healthy, Randall didn’t overload the good Lord with petty requests. He saved up his prayers for the really big things that mattered. Darla and the baby mattered.
Marcus caught his attention as he pulled to a stop in the drive under the covered garage.
“I’ll carry her in if you can start unloading,” Marcus offered.
Randall laughed. “You think you’re sneaky, don’t you, little brother?”
Marcus shrugged, relinquishing his hold on the sleeping woman in his arms. Randall could tell it cost him to let her go. That one woman could bring them to their knees seemed impossible to imagine. Still, history was full of men who’d fallen thanks to their love or lust for a woman. Look at Sampson and Delilah.
Randall followed Marcus inside, carrying their woman in his arms. He took the stairs without a problem, but negotiating the bed proved to be troublesome. She was sleeping so peacefully that he hated to wake her up. Still, she needed to get undressed and into bed. It had been a long day for her. She was still recovering from her accident. He suspected she shouldn’t be out of the hospital yet anyway.