“Thank you, Zach.”
He rises from his seat and leans over me, pressing a gentle kiss to my lips, so gentle in fact, his lips are barely touching mine, obviously thinking that I’m so fragile I may break. I grip his shirt and tug him towards me, deepening the kiss, and that’s all it takes before his tongue is tracing the seam on my lips and dipping inside my mouth, tasting me.
“I see you’re feeling better,” a voice says. Zach and I break apart to find the nurse from earlier standing at the door, a slight blush reddening her cheeks as her eyes flick between us. “How are you, do you still have a headache?”
“It’s not as bad as it was, more like a dull ache now,” I reply. “So what’s the doctor's report? When can I go home?”
“Doctor White wants to keep you in for observation for the night. You have a mild concussion and a gash to the head which they've stitched up. We took a blood sample when you arrived, the results should be back any time now.”
“Okay, thanks.”
She smiles before leaving the room.
I turn to Zach. “Would you mind going to mine and picking me up a couple of things?”
“Of course not.”
I give him a list of things I need, clean clothes and toiletries, and he presses a kiss to my lips before leaving.
∞∞∞
I’m dozing, in that state of being half asleep and half awake at the same time when a female doctor walks in, she’s around her late thirties, her blonde hair scraped back into a bun. She smiles when her eyes find me. “Hi, I’m Doctor White, I’ll be your doctor while you are here. how are you feeling?”
“Better than I did earlier, my head still hurts a little but nothing unbearable.”
“I’m glad to hear that. Well we’ve had the results of your blood test back and it appears you’re pregnant.”
I’m stunned into silence as my mind tries to process what I’ve just heard.
Pregnant? I can’t be pregnant, can I? I mean, I’m on the pill.
“I’m pregnant?”
“Yes.”
“But I don’t understand, I’m on the pill.”
“The pill isn’t one hundred percent effective, sometimes conception is still possible. Is there any possibility that you forgot to take it?”
I think hard. Could I have skipped a day by accident?
“I’m not sure.”
“Well, either way, congratulations…” she trails off, her eyes scanning over my face that’s void of anything. “unless it’s not something you want?”
Waves of different emotions wash over me all at once, shock... confusion... fear... happiness...
Am I happy? I'm going to be a mom, again. I let that sink in for a moment.
At that moment, the door to my room opens and Zach returns with my overnight bag.
Zach. I’d completely forgotten. How the hell do I tell him I’m pregnant? Will he be happy? Mad? I don’t know. My stomach drops at the thought that I’m going to have to tell him.
“Hey,” he says, dropping the bag down on the floor at the foot of my bed.
“Hey.” I smile. He kisses me before sitting beside me on the chair by my bed.
“I’ll leave you to it,” Doctor White says before exiting the room, giving me a comforting smile.
I remain quiet for a moment, my heart pounding in my chest.
“Are you okay?” Zach asks.
“My um… blood test came back…”
“Okay?”
“I’m pregnant, Zach.” There, I said it.
He blinks rapidly. He stands up from his chair and paces slowly around the room. I wait for him to speak but it doesn’t come.
“I know this is a shock, it is to me too and I know the timing isn’t great after everything that’s happened, and I get it if you don’t want this. I can understand if you’re angry,” I ramble.
Timing has never been my thing. Things happen to me at exactly the wrong time, and considering how little time Zach and I have been together, who knows how he’s feeling about this.
“Angry?” he repeats slowly, turning to me. I can see his eyes glistening with tears. He closes the distance between us and takes my face in his hands and kisses me. “Gwen… I’m the happiest man alive.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Having you and Lucas in my life has changed everything for me. I want more. I want you, and Lucas and our baby.” I break into a sob as Zach climbs onto the bed beside me and gathers me into his arms as I cry against his chest, soaking his shirt in my tears. “I’m hoping these are happy tears.”
I nod. “Yes. I’m so happy, Zach.”
He kisses the top of my head, careful not to touch the bandage the covers my stitches. “I know this wasn’t planned, but we’ll get through it, together. I love you.”
“I love you too.” I snuggle into his body and let my eyes flutter closed, revelling in his warmth. His hand glides down my body and comes to rest on my belly which he rubs delicately.
“I’m gonna take care of you… of us. I promise,” he says. That’s the last thing I hear before sleep takes me again.
Chapter 50
Zach
Gwen feels so good in my arms that I don’t wanna fall asleep. I want to keep holding her, feeling her warm breath wafting over my chest, watching her chest rise and fall steadily, deep in sleep.
Everything has happened so fast over the last couple of hours that I haven't had time to let it all sink in. From being about to leave for Boston and getting that call from Lucas, finding Gwen unconscious on her floor and being terrified that she could die, that I would lose her, to the biggest shock of them all... Gwen is pregnant.
I’m going to be a father.
I’m going to be a dad.
My mind is swimming with thoughts, unable to focus. Gwen is pregnant with my baby.
I peer down to where my hand is resting against her belly, it’s strange to think there’s a little baby growing in there. My baby.
I can’t wrap my head around that fact. I’m feeling so many emotions it has me so confused. I’m in shock, it’s not every day you get told you’re going to be dad. I’m terrified, what if I’m bad at it and it turns out I’m a shitty dad? What if I screw up and mess the kid up for life? What if something happens to me and the kid has to grow up without a dad like both me and Gwen did for the better part of our childhoods?
But above all of these, I’m happy. I'm so beyond happy I can’t quite put it into words.
Kids have never been my thing, and to be brutally honest about it, I never really wanted them. I could never picture myself ten years down the line helping my child learn how to ride a bike, or how to tie their shoelaces, patching them up if they scrape a knee while out playing, or seeing them off on their first day of school.
I could see none of those things... until now.
Spending so much time around Gwen and Lucas, being a part of their family has made me want it. I want to be a dad.
Flashes of the future pass through my mind. Will I have a son or a daughter? Will they have dark hair like me or be a fiery redhead like Gwen? I wonder what their first words will be, and what their laughter will sound like when I tell a really bad dad joke.
Lying here next to the woman I love with all my heart, the woman I want to spend my life with, the mother of my child, I make a silent promise to never leave them, to always be there when they need me. I promise to tell them how much I love them and how much they mean to me every chance I get.
I promise to be the best dad I can be, my child will never want for anything. I want to be like the dad I had before I lost him when I was eight. Even as young as I was, I could see what a great man he was, what a great father he was to me. If I ever needed anything, no matter where or when, he was there. He was a man I could trust, who I could look up to and count on. That’s the kind of father I want to be.
It’s a couple of hours before my eyes begin to drift closed, and dream of a future filled with so many possibilities.
Chapter 51
Gwen
The next morning, I wake up, wrapped in Zach's arms, his hand still resting on my belly. It’s still as weird a feeling as it was the first time around to think that there’s a little baby growing inside me, the thought alone has my stomach churning with both nerves and excitement.
I lie awake in silence for a while, content in Zach's arms.
The look on the nurse's face when she walks in and sees Zach fast asleep beside me on the hospital bed tells me she isn’t surprised. I’m guessing she came in at some point and saw us but decided to let us be.
“Morning,” I say in a hushed voice.
“Good morning.” She raises her eyebrow and glances towards Zach, fighting back a smile. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. A lot better actually.”
“I’m glad to hear that. We'll get you checked over once more by the doctor, but I don’t see any reason for you to be here any longer. She'll be doing her rounds in about a couple of hours or so, if you want some breakfast and a shower?”
“Mmm... a shower sounds good.”
“I hear a congratulations are in order.”
“Thank you, I still can’t quite believe it.”
Zach stirs beside me, stretching. His eyes blink open as he glances around the room, his eyes landing on the nurse. “Hi.” He stretches and yawns.
“Hello,” she greets. “I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, let me know.”
“Okay, thanks.”
She smiles, glancing between us once more before leaving the room.
“Hey, I’m gonna go grab a shower,” I say, shifting off the bed gingerly, not wanting to make any sudden movements just in case. I grip the side of the bed and Zach jerks up off the bed and comes to stand beside me, placing a hand on my waist. “What are you doing?”
“I’m coming with you. Someone’s gotta be there when you can’t walk by yourself.” He smirks, repeating the same words he used on me just a couple of months ago.
I glance back at him and cock an eyebrow. “We are not having sex in a hospital shower.”
“Who said anything about sex?” he asks, feigning innocence. I can see by the look in his eyes that he’s thinking about it.
“No sex.”
He crosses his heart and raises his right hand in the air. “I swear.”
I fight back a smile.
We make it to the showers and Zach helps me strip before undressing himself, and of course, he’s hard as a rock, his cock jutting out of his body, pointing directly at me. I look up at his face and tilt my head, my eyebrow raised.
He shrugs. “I can’t help it. Once he’s up he ain’t coming down.”
“Idiot.” I laugh. “Well, we’re not having sex,” I repeat.
He steps forward, towering over me, only a couple in inches between us. “Are you sure about that?” he asks in a low sultry voice, skimming his hands from my hips, up my body and coming to a stop at my breasts where he begins circling my nipples with the pads of his thumbs.
My head falls back, and a gasp escapes my lips. He gently walks me backwards until I’m under the stream of warm water, careful not to get my hair wet because of the bandage and my stitches. My back is against the cold tiled wall which sends goose bumps over my skin. He bends forward and his mouth latches onto my left breast and begins sucking while his hand squeezes the other, teasing the hardening tip between his fingers, and I let out a moan.
“Zach, we can’t do this. Not here.”
We can’t possibly have sex in a hospital shower, can we?
“Are you going to stop me?” he asks, nipping at my nipple as sparks of pleasure shoot straight between my legs.
I pause for a moment. The cocky bastard knows damn well I can’t say no to him.
Am I going to stop him? Hell no.
I grip his face in my hands and crash my lips to his in a frenzied kiss. He lifts me gently and my legs lock around his waist as he slowly lowers me down onto him and he fills me.
He thrusts into me slowly, careful not to hurt me and we make love up against the wall of a hospital shower.
Who said romance was dead?
∞∞∞
After our shower, we get dressed and step out to find a woman leaning up against the wall, towels and toiletry bag in hand, eyeing us both, knowing exactly what we were doing. As we walk by, she tuts and shakes her head before going into the shower room. I look up at Zach and fight to hide my smile.
When we return to my room, Rose is sat in the chair by the bed with Lucas sat sideways in her lap. When he spots me his eyes light up and his face breaks into a huge smile.
“Mommy!” He leaps off Rose's lap and bounds towards me. I drop to my knees and catch him as his arms wind around my neck. I squeeze him tight, burying my face in his neck. My eyes well with tears as I sit here with my son on my lap.
“Hey, baby. Am I glad to see you. Are you okay?”
“Yes.” He nods.
“Zach told me what you did yesterday. When you called him, you saved my life, baby. Thank you. I’m so proud of you.” I press a kiss to his forehead. “You’re such a clever boy.”
I lift him carefully and rise from the floor and place him on my lap when I sit down on the edge of the bed.
“How are you, darlin'?” Rose asks.
“I’m alright. Thank you for taking care of him.”
“Of course, I’m just glad you’re alright, you gave us all one almighty fright."
∞∞∞
A short while later there's a knock at the door and two police officers step into the room. The male is tall and stocky, and the female, is about the same build as me. They ask to speak to me about what I can remember from yesterday, and being the only witness, they ask to speak to Lucas too.
I tell the officers as much as I know. My memories are still a little foggy, broken pieces of speech and images flashing in my mind. Once I’m done giving them my statement, they call Lucas back in, and being his legal guardian, they allow me to stay.
“Okay, Lucas,” the female officer begins. “Take your time, and remember you’re not in trouble, we just need to know what happened to your mommy yesterday, alright?”
He gazes up at me and give him a comforting squeeze, silently telling him that I’m here for him as he sits beside me on the hospital bed and he turns back to the officer and nods.
“Okay Lucas, do you think you could tell me what happened first?”
“Me and mommy plays Lego!” He grins before pausing. His face falls a little. “Josh came and mommy tol’ me t’go to my room.”
“What happened after you went to your room?”
“Josh shout at mommy and I covers my ears.”
“What else?”
“Mommy tells him to let go. I goes out of my room, but mommy tell me no.”
“What did you see when you came out of your room, Lucas?”
“Josh grab mommy. Josh hurt mommy,” Lucas says, looking down to the ground, fiddling with the hem of his blue and yellow striped shirt.
“Then what?”
“I goes back to my room. Josh keep shouting. Then bang!”
“Bang?”
Lucas nods. “Bang! Then quiet. Josh say a bad word then front door shut.”
“Josh left after he said a bad word?”
“Think so. I comes out of my room…” Lucas trails off, his chin starting to tremble.
“What did you see?”
“Mommy on floor. She bleeding. I try wake mommy up, but she won’t wake up.” He begins to cry, and I pull him to me, sitting him on my lap and holding him against my body, rocking him in my arms.
“Mommy’s fine, baby. You saved me. You’re such a brave boy,” I praise him, kissing the top of his head.
“Your mommy’s right, Lucas,” the female officer says. Lucas turns his head to look at her. “You were so brave. When you called Zach, you saved your mommy’s life.” She smiles.
I have never been so proud of my beautiful boy until now.
Once they get the information they need, they leave to go and question Rose in another room, after she told them that she lives next door and heard the whole thing.
While the police are questioning Rose, the doctor comes in and checks me over, satisfied with my condition, she discharges me, telling me to take it easy.
The Promise Page 22