The Captain's Baby Bargain

by Merline Lovelace

  Twenty minutes later, Suze left her sister-in-law’s house wearing a pair of black slacks and a sleeveless, amber-colored linen tunic. Since her feet were two sizes larger than Penny’s, she slipped into the sling-backs she’d bought for the wedding and belted the tunic with the matching, cream-colored belt.

  She clipped her hair up as a concession to the heat but couldn’t bring herself to put up the T-bird’s top. As a result, she had to make herself presentable again when she pulled into a visitor’s slot outside the headquarters of the 137th Special Operations Wing. She sat in the vicious sun, raking her fingers through her hair, twisting it up again, while her gaze roamed the buildings and hangars visible from where she’d parked.

  She had a feeling she knew what had prompted this invitation to meet with the 137th commander. He knew her background. Knew, too, that his unit could make use of her training and hard learned experience.

  She’d taken a few minutes to Google the 137th before leaving for her meeting with its commander. The wing’s long and distinguished history stretched back to 1947, when it began life as a fighter group flying the F-51 Mustang.

  Now the 137th was transitioning to a new platform. Smaller, sleeker and crammed with the world’s most sophisticated avionics, communications and surveillance equipment. Suze could see several of the MC-12 Liberties parked on the apron. From where she was standing they looked like corporate turboprops, which is precisely how the modified Hawker Beechcraft Super Kings had begun life. She couldn’t wait to get an up close and personal tour. When she was ushered into the colonel’s office, however, Amistad suggested a chat before he had one of the MC-12 pilots show off his baby.

  “I’m sorry Gabe couldn’t make it,” he said when they’d settled at the small round table against a wall that displayed all the unit awards the wing had won. “I understand why, though. Our fire crews didn’t return to base until well past midnight. I image Cedar Creek’s mayor stayed on scene for hours after that.”

  “He did, and he said to tell you how much he appreciated your engines responding as quickly as they did. He’ll send an official thank-you as soon as he can.”

  “No problem. And actually, you’re the one I really wanted to talk to this morning.”

  At her questioning look, he flicked a glance at her wedding band. “You know how the rumor mill works. Word is, now that you and Gabe are back together he’s moving to Phoenix with you.”

  “The rumor mill has it right.” She hesitated, then filled in the rest of the blanks. “We’re also going to have a baby.”

  “I heard that, too. Not that it makes any difference for what I’d like to propose.”

  She’d guessed what was coming before he laid the offer on the table.

  “Our civil engineering chief plans to retire next year. He’s an Air Reserve Technician, with more than thirty years under his belt.”

  Suze’s knowledge of Air National Guard operations was sketchy but she understood that an ART combined two worlds. As a civilian, an ART worked the same job in the same place, generally keeping fairly normal duty hours, until retirement.

  At the same time, ARTs were members of the Air Force Reserve Command. As such, they wore their uniforms and rank. And like all members of the Guard and Reserve, they were subject to mobilization and deployment.

  “The position is competitive,” Amistad confirmed, “so we’ll advertise it Air Force–wide. But with your background and experience, you’d have a real shot at it.”

  When she started to reply, he held up a palm.

  “You might not deploy as often as you do now, but I can’t make any promises. Last year we sent various elements of the wing to a half-dozen hot spots around the world. The difference is, you’ll home base here, in Oklahoma City, between deployments.”

  Suze’s first thought was that this could be the best solution for both her and the Air Force. If she requested separation due to pregnancy, her unit at Luke could fill her vacancy. No work-arounds, no tagging someone else to deploy in her place.

  Separation due to pregnancy would also allow her the time and the leisure to experience the full spectrum of motherhood. A time, her sisters-in-law warned, stretched from gestation to delivery to that scary postpartum period that would have her swinging from “Isn’t the baby the most precious thing you ever saw” to “I need out of this freakin’ house now!”

  And, as the Colonel had stressed, she would home base here, in Oklahoma, instead of moving from assignment to assignment and base to base for the next thirteen or fourteen years. And that kind of stability meant Gabe could explore higher public office, as everyone seemed think he should.

  Balancing all the potential positives was the prospect of working the same job in the same place for the next twenty or thirty years. She’d joined the military in the first place for the travel and excitement and adventure it offered. She loved the challenges and the fact that every transfer, every assignment meant new challenges, new adventures.

  Except...she had to think of more than just herself now. And having a baby would certainly offer all kinds of challenges and adventures.

  “I don’t want an answer now, Captain. Think about it. Talk it over with Gabe. Get back to me when you’re ready. And in the meantime...” He pushed away from the table. “How about an up close and personal tour of the MC-12 Liberty?”

  Her escort was standing by. Like many Air National Guard pilots, Captain Marv Westbrook was older and more experienced than most of his active duty counterparts. He was also just back from the ten-nation NATO operation to retake Mosul.

  “Flying so low and slow got a little hairy at times,” he admitted in what Suze knew was a monumental understatement, “but we provided real-time intelligence, surveillance and recon to the coalition forces. You’ll be impressed as hell when you see the comm and sensors packed into the Liberty.”

  She certainly was. She was even more impressed when Marv wrapped up his part of the tour and turned her over to the 137th’s Chief of Civil Engineering. For the next hour she happily immersed herself in the world of rapid runway repair, explosive ordnance disposal and emergency humanitarian relief projects.

  * * *

  Seriously impressed by the 137th’s operation, Suze said goodbye and made her way back to the T-bird. She’d put up a protective windshield screen but still eased onto the hot leather of the driver’s seat very carefully. It took some maneuvering to keep the backs of her arms from making contact with the hot leather but she keyed the ignition and soon had the AC blasting.

  She was still parked and waiting for the steering wheel to cool enough to wrap her palms around when her cell phone chimed. Caller ID showed “unknown caller” but the area code was local. Thinking it might be someone she’d just talked to at the 137th, she answered.

  “Captain Hall.”

  “Hey, Suzanne. It’s Dave.”

  She went blank for a moment before connecting the voice to her former classmate, Freckle-faced Forrester. “Hi, Dave.”

  “I got your mobile number from Gabe. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “’Course not.”

  “I called him to let him know I’m on my way home and will bring a damage assessor out to check out the house this afternoon.”

  “Be prepared,” she warned. “From what I could see, it looked pretty bad.”

  “That’s what I heard. Listen, I heard you’ve got a meeting with Colonel Amistad. Sure wish you’d come talk to me before you sign on with the Guard. Like I told you, I could...”

  “What makes you think I’m joining the Guard?”

  “Hey, this boy ain’t as stupid as he looks. First, Alicia tells me you’re renting out the house but restricting it to a short-term lease. Then Gabe lets drop that you drove over to talk to Colonel Amistad despite the wild night I know you both had. So I figure it’s about something pressing and made a few calls.”

  She barely heard his eager prattle. Her mind was still wondering if Gabe had known the Colonel wanted to recruit her.

&nb
sp; “And speaking of wild nights... I heard what you did, Suzanne. Climbing aboard that dozer was pretty slick. And exactly why I want you working for me. I’m telling you, girl, the oil and gas business has done a one-eighty since the slump a few years ago. You could make four, five times what you’re making now.”

  She shook herself out of her whirling thoughts. She didn’t bother to tell Forrester it wasn’t about the money. For her or for most of the men and women she served with. Hell, many of the junior enlisted troops in her squadron qualified for food stamps.

  “Sorry, Dave,” she replied. “Not interested.”

  “Just think about it. Talk it over with Gabe.”

  Which was exactly the same advice Colonel Amistad had offered.

  Feeling as though she was being yanked in a dozen different directions, Suze put the convertible in gear. To her disgust, she’d barely reached the front gates before her bladder reminded her that she’d once again downed too much coffee. Her stomach chimed in to suggest that a bacon cheeseburger wouldn’t be out of order. Yielding to their urgent demands, she pulled into a conveniently located Braum’s just a short distance from the base.

  She hit the ladies’ room first. Mere seconds later, the dark stain in her underwear sent her running out of the fast food restaurant. Big, sprawling Tinker Air Force Base to the east of Oklahoma City maintained a fully staffed medical clinic. But Tinker was a good thirty minutes away.

  Shoving the T-bird into gear, she headed for the new healthplex closer to home.

  Chapter Ten

  Gabe got the text while he and the fire chief still had their heads together with the state inspectors. He’d put his phone on vibrate so as not to interrupt their discussions and had let several calls go to voice mail. Then Call me. Now! popped up on his screen.

  “’Scuse me, I need to take this.” Frowning, he cut away from the others and stabbed Suze’s speed dial number. “What’s up?”

  “I’m at the ER at the healthplex. I had some vaginal bleeding.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “Mostly.”

  “The baby?”

  “I’m... I’m not sure. They’re going to run some tests.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  He made a quick excuse to the others and hit Ole Blue on the run.

  The healthplex was only minutes away, thank God. Yet the drive seemed to take a lifetime. Gabe’s stomach churned with every hiss of the wheels on the pavement. All their hopes, all their newly devised plans, had centered on the unexpected, unanticipated, miraculous result of their night together in Phoenix.

  If Suze lost the baby...

  If they didn’t have the child to help stitch their marriage back together...

  Jaw locked, knuckles bone white where he gripped the steering wheel, Gabe tore into the hospital parking lot.

  Opened just a few years ago, the ultramodern facility looked and felt more like a gleaming hotel than a medical center. Even the freestanding ER offered unique lighting, soothing colors and a long, curving row of spacious exam rooms that minimized the clinical setting and maximized patient comfort.

  Suze was in exam room three. She was wrapped in a hospital gown and sitting on the edge of the bed as a lab tech unsnapped the rubber tie banding her upper arm. Gabe’s heart squeezed at the emotions that flashed across her face when she saw him. Relief, worry, guilt all rolled into one.

  “The bleeding’s stopped,” she related, stretching out her free hand to take his. “The doc doesn’t think it presages a miscarriage but...” She stopped, bit her lip, forced herself to continue. “But he’s ordered several tests.”

  “This one checks your hCG,” the tech confirmed as she matched the information on the label attached to blood-filled vials with the data on Suze’s wristband. “That’s a hormone produced by the placenta during pregnancy. Doc Terry’s also ordered an ultrasound. They’re waiting to take you down now. I’ll let them know you’re ready.”

  She snapped off her gloves and tossed them in the trash, then picked up her plastic carrier with its rack of samples. Gabe had his arms around his wife before the tech was out the door.

  “Oh, God.” She buried her face in his shoulder. “I was so scared. Still am. I should’ve come in last night.”

  The whisper was so low and muffled Gabe wasn’t sure he’d heard right. “You were bleeding last night?”

  “A little, but I checked a dozen sites on the internet and...”

  “Christ, Suze! You checked the internet?”

  She pushed back a little. “I also called Kathy. She said spotting is fairly normal this early in a pregnancy.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?”

  “You were working the cleanup from the fire and I...”

  “Are you ready, Mrs. Hall?”

  A cheerful young orderly in cinnamon-colored scrubs rolled in a wheelchair. Gabe was still trying to digest the fact that Suze hadn’t told him about the spotting as he walked with her down several long, spotlessly clean corridors.

  The radiology tech was ready for them. “Hello, Ms. Hall. I’m Hector Alvarez. Doctor Terry’s ordered an ultrasound of your abdomen. Have you had one before?”

  “Yes, a few weeks ago.”

  “Then you know what to expect.” He helped her get situated on the table, draped a sheet over her upper thighs and rolled the hospital gown up to bare her belly. “When was the last time you ate?”

  “I had some instant oatmeal around eight-thirty this morning.”

  “Nothing since?”

  “No.”

  “How about liquids?”

  “Coffee. But it’s pretty well flushed out.”

  “Great. We should get some clear images. Okay, here we go.”

  He squirted the warm gel on Suze’s still-flat belly and began to move his wand. Like Suzanne, Gabe kept his focus on the screen. He’d seen copies of his various nieces’ and nephews’ ultrasounds stuck to his sisters’ fridges with magnets. But when the tech pointed to the tiny, curled form nestled in his wife’s belly, he experienced a swift, hard jab of delight.

  “That’s it?” he asked the tech. “That little peanut?”

  “Yep, that’s your baby.”

  Suze kept a death grip on Gabe’s hand. “Is it okay?”

  “The radiologist will have to review the scans but I’m not seeing anything to concern me.” He worked the wand in a slow circle. Dropped it lower. Stopped and worked over the same spot again. Suze was watching the screen and missed his slight frown.

  “Would you turn a little onto your left side, Ms. Hall? There. That’s good.”

  With quick efficiency, he placed a series of electronic markers and clicked several images. Gabe leaned closer, straining to see whatever had caught the tech’s attention but he’d already moved the wand to a different angle. He clicked several more images, slid the wand lower, clicked again.

  “Okay, that should do it. The radiologist will review the images and zap a report to the ER toot-d-sweet. I’ll just clean off that gel, and you’ll be good to go.”

  The same cheerful orderly wheeled Suze back to the ER. A nurse followed them into the room. “Doctor Terry’s reviewing your lab results now. He’ll be in as soon as he gets the radiology report.”

  “Good, in the meantime...” She nodded to the bathroom. “I need to go.”

  “No problem. Just ring if you need help.”

  While his wife emptied her bladder, Gabe leaned his hips against the marble windowsill. His glimpse of the ultrasound tech’s small, quick frown had churned a gallon of acid in his gut. It had also kept him from letting Suze know how pissed he was that she hadn’t told him about the spotting.

  Granted, she’d been asleep when he got home last night. But she’d stirred enough to ask him what time it was. At the very least, she could’ve called him when she got up this morning.

  Hell! Maybe she had. He whipped out his phone, checked the calls that had gone to voice mail and saw one from her. Cursing himself for not taking it, he listen
ed to the short message.

  Nothing about spotting. Nothing about calling Kathy. Only that she was heading for the meeting with Colonel Amistad and would see Gabe when she saw him.

  There was no message from his sister, either. Jaw tight, Gabe vowed to have a discussion with Ms. Kathleen Hall Sheppard about that when he got Suze home.

  But that, they discovered when the ER doc came in a few moments later, wouldn’t be today. Terry looked more like a cage fighter than a physician. His shaved and shiny bald head gleamed even in the ER’s subdued lighting, and his shoulders strained at the seams of his white coat. His approach matched his appearance. He was brusque and to the point, which both Gabe and Suze appreciated.

  “Your tests look good, Ms. Hall. Your hCG level is elevated, as it should be. That and the ultrasound confirm your placenta hasn’t abrupted.”

  “So I’m not losing the baby?”

  “I don’t think so. A lot of women experience bleeding during their pregnancies.”

  Suze collapsed against the raised bed back. “That’s what Kathy told me. My sister-in-law,” she explained. “She’s a neonatal intensive care nurse here.”

  “Kathy Sheppard?”

  “That’s her.”

  He turned his cool, penetrating gaze on Gabe. “You’re Kathy’s brother? The mayor of Cedar Creek?”

  “Right.”

  “We treated your fire victims here in the ER last night. One of the boys was transported to the burn unit at Integris. The other kid and his mom are upstairs.”

  “I know. I’m going up to see them before I leave.”

  Terry nodded and turned back to Suze. “Spotting is common, but heavy bleeding like you had this morning concerns me. Did you overexert yourself and lift something heavy in the past twenty-four hours?”

  Her mouth twisted in a grimace so full of guilt that Gabe supplied the answer.

  “My wife’s a combat engineer. She can operate just about every piece of heavy equipment in the Air Force inventory. She helped us last night by climbing aboard a bulldozer and plowing a firebreak.”

  The doc’s eyes narrowed. “Damn! I just made the connection. You’re the Captain I read about in the paper some weeks back.”