At home, it had been easy to stay away from her most of the time. In a hospital, it wouldn’t be that easy. And then there would be hotel rooms too. I needed to make sure to get her a room all her own.
After packing up and putting my shoes on, I went down to the garage. She’d already put her luggage in the back of the car and was waiting in the passenger side.
Just as I placed my bags in the back, I heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up in front of the house. Pressing the button to open the garage door, I saw that it was the ambulance to pick up Grandad.
Aspen got out of the car. “They’re here. Let’s tell him that we’re going to be right behind him, Ransom.” She walked to me, taking me by the hand to pull me along with her.
We waited by the ambulance until the paramedics came out with my grandfather on a stretcher. “I hate seeing him this way,” I said.
“I know you do.” Aspen leaned her head on my shoulder. “At least he’s going to a place that will be more likely to help him get over this.”
Nodding, I agreed, “At least there’s that.”
Grandad’s eyes were closed. It looked as if he were sleeping. Aspen let my hand go to touch his cheek as the paramedics stopped before loading him into the back.
“Lucius, we’ll be right behind you,” she said gently.
His pale blue eyes opened, and he looked at Aspen. “Are you coming too?”
She nodded. “Of course I am. I don’t want you to worry one bit. I won’t leave your grandson alone for a minute.”
He reached out from under the blanket to take her hand. “You’re a good girl, Aspen. Thank you.”
I began to feel a little misty eyed, and I had to clear my throat to stop the emotions that were building up inside of me. “Okay, Grandad, like she said, we’ll be right behind you. See you at the hospital. You just rest, and the trip will go by a lot faster. That’s what you used to tell me when we took long trips.”
“Not to worry. I’ll be sleeping. They’re gonna give me a little morphine to make sure I feel no pain.” He winked at me. “See you guys at the other end of this journey.”
Aspen elbowed me in the ribs; her lips were so close to my ear that I could feel the warmth of her breath as she whispered, “Tell him that you love him.”
I took her hand in mine, squeezing it. “Come on. Let’s get in the car.”
She came along with me, but I could feel disappointment radiating off of her. She would have to learn that my grandfather and I didn’t talk that way to each other. We were men, damn it.
Letting her hand go when we got to the garage, she made her way to the passenger side of the car. As I watched her go, I felt kind of bad for not being more gentlemanly toward her. “Hold on.”
She stopped and turned to look at me. “For what?”
I hurried past her to open the door. “Allow me.”
A light laugh filled my ears. “Oh. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” It was the least I could do since she was doing so much for me.
I knew that putting off her classes wasn’t anything she had planned on doing. Getting that degree was her number one priority. Or at least it had been before this all happened.
I’d knocked her off her path. I hadn’t meant to, but I’d done just that.
Not only because of what was going on with my grandfather, but also with the babies. She hadn’t even thought about becoming a mother until she met me. Her whole plan was to get that degree and start her career. I’d really put a monkey wrench in those plans of hers.
But she never complained even once about any of it.
I wasn’t sure any other woman would’ve been as agreeable as Aspen was. I’d been lucky that she was the one who’d accepted this deal.
Sliding behind the steering wheel, I couldn’t help but smile. “I know you meant well, but my grandfather and I do not exchange ‘I love yous’.”
“Well, maybe it’s time that you started doing that.” She eyed me. “Aren’t you going to tell your children that you love them, Ransom?”
I hadn’t thought about that. “I’m not sure what I’ll say to them.” I started the car and then backed out of the garage to follow the ambulance.
Putting on her sunglasses, she clucked her tongue in disapproval. “You’re not sure, huh?”
“No, I’m not.” I sure hoped this trip wouldn’t be filled with her telling me how I needed to do things. So, I thought I would give her some insight into how I was. “It’s been years since I’ve said those words to anyone. I think I told my mother and father that I loved them when I was around eight or something like that. Then I got too big to go around throwing I love yous at anyone.”
“No one gets too old to say I love you, Ransom.” She shook her head as her expression told me that she didn’t like what I’d said. “I want you to tell our children that you love them.”
“We’ll see.” I pulled up behind the ambulance, waiting for it to leave.
“I don’t want to hear that.” She tapped the top of my leg with one finger. “I want to hear that you will always let our children know that you love them.”
“To be fair, they’re not born yet. You’re going to have to let things play out, Aspen.” I knew I was fond of the babies she carried, so I gave her that, “I do like the babies already if that makes you any happier.”
“Slightly.” She looked out the window as the ambulance pulled away from us. “This is going to be a long trip. I looked it up, and it takes about eight hours to drive to Houston from Lubbock.”
“Yeah, I saw that too.” It would’ve been smarter to take the private jet, but I wanted to do the ride the way my grandfather had to. It made me feel more like a part of what he was going through.
“Maybe we should play a driving game to make the time go by faster,” she came up with. “Maybe something like who can spot the most blue cars or something like that.”
I didn’t need any game to play to make time seem to pass more quickly. “I think we should just listen to the radio and let that distract us.” I turned on some country music and laughed as she wrinkled her nose.
“Oh, please no.” She pushed the channel she liked. Some pop crap. “This is more like it.”
“I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree.” I put the radio back on the station I liked. “While I’m driving, we listen to what I like. While you’re driving, we’ll listen to what you like.”
“Fair enough.” She picked up her cell to entertain herself. “You haven’t accepted my friend request yet.”
“What?” I asked as I pulled onto the highway behind the ambulance.
“Facebook. I sent you a friend request last night.” She tapped the screen of her phone. “And you haven’t accepted it yet.”
“I haven’t been on it yet.” I picked up my cell and handed it to her. “Here. You can accept it for me. The passcode is sixteen, sixteen.”
She took my cell then looked at it for a long moment. “You know, this feels kind of weird. Like intimate.”
“I don’t see how.” I chuckled.
“It’s kind of like a thing boyfriends and girlfriends do.” She looked at me. “What are we to each other, Ransom?”
I didn’t know how to answer that question at all. Saying that we were co-parents sounded like it wasn’t enough. Saying that we were boyfriend and girlfriend just wasn’t true at all. But then I thought about what she’d just done for me, and it hit me. “You and I are like best friends, Aspen.” I took her hand and squeezed it. “You’ve done more for me than any friend I’ve ever had. I hope I can repay you for all that you’ve done for me.”
I did realize that I’d paid her to have my babies. I hadn’t paid her to be with me through the hard times that came along with my grandfather’s poor health though. Aspen was my first real female friend. And she and I were closer than I’d ever gotten to a woman.
The smile that curved her pink lips made my heart happy. “I like that. Best friends. That sounds nice.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Aspen
Houston, Texas – October 1st
The entire month of September had passed with us in Houston with Ransom’s grandfather. The treatment Lucius received was intense. We never knew from day to day if we’d come into the hospital to find he’d passed on during the night or not. I couldn’t leave Ransom alone. It wasn’t in me to leave him.
The semester had been shot. I was able to drop the classes I’d signed up for early enough to be fully reimbursed.
I’d made a decision. Ransom and I sat in the waiting room as a team of doctors were busy in his grandfather’s room. “I’m putting off going back to school until the babies are at least a year old.”
The look on his face made my heart ache, he looked so happy. I knew I’d surprised him. “Are you sure?”
Nodding, I went on, “They’re going to need me. I don’t want a nanny raising them.” I hadn’t talked to Ransom about the thoughts I’d been having. But now seemed like a good time to do that, since we had nothing else to do. “I’m going to finish my degree, but I’m going to take my time doing it. I can take a couple of hours, say three days a week, to finish the degree. I want to focus on our children. Nothing has ever been more important to me.” Then I wondered if Ransom would be okay with me not making any money. “If that’s okay with you of course?”
His eyes narrowed. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
Shrugging, I said, “Because I won’t have a job.”
“Like I care about that.” He laughed as he shook his head. “Aspen, you do recall that I’ll be paying you for living with us, right?”
“I don’t want you to do that.” I’d been feeling like that was too much for him to be doing. “They’re my kids too. Why pay me to live with them?”
“I’m going to pay you anyway. No matter what you say.” He smiled, and I found it to be pretty sexy. “You know, that makes me pretty damn happy that you want to be there for the kids.”
“Glad to hear that.” I fidgeted in my seat as his cute smile was doing things to me that I shouldn’t be feeling.
The attraction I’d felt for Ransom never went away. It grew and grew. I was sure that one day or night, I would lose my battle with my will and throw myself at the man.
Our hotel rooms were adjoining each other. We met outside of them each morning before leaving for the hospital where we stayed until night. He and I were together so much more than we’d ever been. Feelings were developing. Real ones.
As the door to his grandfather’s hospital room opened, and the doctors came pouring out, Ransom took my hand. “Let’s go see what they’re doing with him now.”
The doctor in charge came to us. His stoic expression told us nothing. “Mr. Whitaker, Miss Dell.” The doctor nodded. “We’ve got some news I think you’re going to like.”
Ransom let my hand go, and then put his arm around me. I felt his heart pounding in his chest. “You do?”
The doctor nodded. “You see we’ve gotten the test results back this morning. It seems the treatments have worked. There’s no sign of any cancer. The mass in his lungs is gone. Of course, he’s very weak from the treatments, but he’s going to get better from here on out. We’ll keep him here to do physical therapy for another two weeks, but he’s on the road to recovery. The treatments will stop.”
Ransom’s grip on me nearly caused me to stop breathing it was so tight. “He’s cancer-free?” he asked as if he couldn’t believe it.
“He is,” the doctor answered.
Ransom looked at me, and I couldn’t help myself. I burst into tears as he pulled me in for a hug. “He’s going to be okay!”
“I’m not going to lose him,” Ransom whispered. “I’ve prayed and prayed for this news.”
“Me too.” I couldn’t stop crying. “This is a miracle.”
Then I felt something odd. His body shook and a sob followed. This man who’d been so emotionally strong was crying on my shoulder. “He’s going to come home, Aspen. I was so worried that we would be going home alone.” He held me tighter. “I can’t believe this.”
He’d never told me that he’d worried about his grandfather not coming home. It must be because I hadn’t been open enough for him to talk to me about things he feared. “I’m here for you, Ransom. Anything you ever need to talk about, I’m here to listen.”
“Thank you, Aspen. You mean the world to me. You’re everything to me,” his words stirred my heart and soul.
“You mean everything to me, too, Ransom. I mean that.” I kissed his cheek then pulled my head back to look at him.
Seeing tears fall from his gorgeous blue eyes made me want to kiss them all away for him. But I knew this wasn’t the time to do that. “Come on. Let’s dry our tears and go see him.” He let me go and went to grab a nearby box of tissues.
Sucking it up, I took a tissue he offered me and dried my tears before he took my hand. He led me into the hospital room that Lucius would only have to stay in for a short while longer.
Looking at the man who now had his life back, you couldn’t tell he was on the road to recovery. The treatments had taken him down. He lay still in that bed, eyes closed, chest rising and falling in slow waves.
Ransom placed his hand on Lucius’ shoulder. “You beat it, Grandad.”
“I know.” His eyes opened, and he looked at his grandson first and then me. “You’re going to have me around for a little while longer.”
“I’m so happy that you’ll get to meet your great grandkids, Lucius.” I ran my hand over his arm. “I’m so glad they’ll get to meet you.”
“Me too.” He smiled. “I can’t wait.”
Ransom came up with an idea, “Hey, I’ll ask one of the doctors if he can bring in something so you can hear the babies’ heartbeats. That ought to inspire you to get this physical therapy thing going. I can’t wait to get you back home.”
“I can’t wait to be home.” Lucius looked at me. “Would that be okay with you if I got to hear their little heartbeats, little momma?”
I had to laugh at him calling me that. “Little momma, huh?” I nodded. “Yeah, that’ll be more than okay with me. We want you back home where you belong.”
“You’re an angel, Aspen. Has my grandson ever told you that?” he asked me.
Ransom smiled at his grandfather. “I’ve told her how much I appreciate her and how special she is to me. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“He makes me feel special, Lucius. Not to worry.” I felt the slight twinge of hunger in my belly. “I’m going to grab some breakfast. The babies are getting hungry.”
Before I could walk away, Ransom took my arm. “I’m coming with you. He needs to rest anyway.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, turning us both back to his grandfather. “We’ll let you sleep, and we’ll pop back in after lunch to visit you.”
“Good.” Lucius closed his eyes, ready to sleep.
Ransom took me out of the room, his arm still around me. I couldn’t help it; I loved the way it felt, and I wanted Ransom to know that. I’d kept my mouth shut for too long. I wanted things to move forward.
He and I had been through a very tough time, and it looked like that time was close to being over. Life was too short to waste time on things like worrying if he would push me away when I reached out to him in a physical way.
Before I could open my mouth, Ransom kissed the top of my head and said, “God, I’m happy you’re with me. I didn’t realize how much I needed you. I’ve never had a better friend than you, Aspen.”
And there it was, the word ‘friend’.
Suddenly, I didn’t think the time was right after all. “Thank you, Ransom. You’re a pretty great friend too. I’m glad I could be here for you through all this.”
I began to wonder if the time would ever be right to tell him that I wanted more. Our relationship was blossoming, but not in the way I wanted it to. My body yearned for his. But he didn’t seem to h
ave the same yearning I did.
Leading me to a table in the cafeteria, he sat me down. “I’ll get us something to eat. You sit down. I’m sure this has been hard on you physically. You’ve gotta keep those babies inside of you healthy.”
“Okay, thank you.” I watched him walk away, finding myself biting my lip as I looked at his butt. “Why can’t he want me the way I want him?” I muttered to myself.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my chair. “He’s easy on the eyes, isn’t he?” One of the nurses who’d been around Lucius said.
I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why I was jealous of the woman. She was chubby, didn’t even try to fix her mousy blonde hair, but kept it in a bun at the base of her thick neck.
“I didn’t mean for anyone to overhear that,” I mumbled.
“So, you two are not a thing then,” she said as she stared at Ransom. “He’s free.”
Panic struck me. The girls I’d seen Ransom with in pictures were just like this woman; she was the kind of girl he had sex with. He didn’t have relationships with any of them, or so he’d said, but he did screw them.
I was sure this nurse just wanted to get screwed by him. She wasn’t looking for a relationship, just a piece of him. And I saw red.
“Free?” I asked. “I wouldn’t say that. I am carrying his triplets.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. You’re his surrogate.” She looked at me. “His grandfather told me.”
Instantly, I hated that our personal information had been discussed. I made a note to talk to Lucius about telling people things about us that they didn’t need to know. “How unfortunate.”
She looked at Ransom again. “I heard the news about Mr. Whitaker. He won’t be here much longer. I think it’s time to make my move.”
I don’t know what got into me. Ransom wasn’t mine. And for all I knew he wouldn’t ever be. But I stood up and looked right in that nurse’s dark brown eyes. “Ransom is not free. He’s mine. And if I catch you saying anything inappropriate to him, it will be your ass.”
The Virgin's Baby_A Forced Marriage Romance Page 13