by Kayt Miller
“Roni, it’s your mother. I know you’re getting released from the hospital today. Can you please call us as soon as you get home? I wish I were there. I feel like I need to take care of you. And, um, we wanted to know if you got the results yet. Okay, bye. Love you, Dove. Call us.”
The third message is a hang-up. I don't have caller I.D. so I can’t tell who it was. It’s probably just mom trying to catch me again.
I call my parents first. Surprisingly, they’re jubilant about the pregnancy news. “I told Mick he couldn’t tell anyone so please don’t let on that you know. Okay?”
Dad chuckles, “I don't blame you, honey. They’re quite a gossipy little group.” Dad pauses and adds, “You’re going to be a wonderful mother, Dove. Just wonderful.” He sounds emotional which makes me emotional.
“Dad,” I murmur. “Thank you.”
“And your young man is going to be a wonderful father. He loves you, Roni. He told me so.”
“That reminds me… you told Mick I loved him?” I say annoyed.
“Oops, sorry honey. It slipped out. Forgive me?”
“Yeah. I forgive you. Geesh, dad.”
Dad laughs into the phone. I hear mom giggling too. I must be on speakerphone.
It’s then that the weirdest sensation rolls over me. Contentment. I’m happy. I’m fulfilled in a way. I love my family, I love this baby already, and… and Mick Flynn loves me. Me!
Something equally as warm hits me. I love Mick Flynn right back. I need to tell him tomorrow––before his surgery.
Grabbing my cell phone, I call Bill Phillips back. “Roni?”
“Yes. I just heard your message. What did you need?”
“I’ve got another proposition for you.”
Wow, Chris must have really screwed up for Bill to work this hard. “Another proposition?”
“Hear me out. I’d like to offer you the same money––double what you were making.”
“Bill…”
“Let me finish, please, Roni.”
I wait in silence.
“Same pay and you work exclusively with Frank McCormick and EnerSport.”
“But…”
“The other part of that is you can work from home. I’ll pay for whatever you need to set up a home office. I’ll pay for your Internet and for a business line to be added to your telephone. I want you back, and we both know Frank wants you back.”
“I’m just not sure, Bill. It sounds great, but at some point, you’ll require me back in the office. I don't know if I can do that.”
“Chris and Trisha no longer work for P&P.”
“What? Why?”
“I saw the footage in the elevator, Roni. I heard what they said to you. I heard the threat. I had no idea they were like that. I knew a few things but was shocked to hear how they spoke to you. They will not be in this building anymore.”
I just hope they’ll leave me alone.
“One other thing that may help sweeten the pot. Apparently, Martha never completed your paperwork related to your resignation. Which means you haven’t quit, technically. We’ll just call it a paid leave of absence. You still have your health insurance and…”
“I’ll do it!”
“Wow! Excellent. I’ll have Gloria call you tomorrow to set up the delivery of your new computer and anything else you may need. Fax machine, copy machine, desk, you name it. Whatever you think you’ll need to get back to work.”
The question is where will I put those things. My place is small. I’ll just have to rearrange and purge. It’s been a while since I’ve done that anyway.
“Great. Thanks, Bill.”
“Do me one favor, though. Call Frank McCormick in the morning and let him know you’re back and you’ll start work with him after you’re all set up. Will you? He’s driving me nuts,” Bill chuckles.
“I will. Can you email me his contact information again?” I give him my private email address and hang up. “Oh, my gosh! This is so perfect.” I pat my stomach and speak to my little gift. “You and I are set little one. No matter what happens with your daddy, we’re going to be okay.”
Chapter 54: Mick
Getting prepped for surgery is nerve-racking. I’ve only had a tonsillectomy when I was young, and I’ve had my wisdom teeth removed; other than that, I’ve never gone through something this complicated.
My family is here, but I’ve been waiting on Roni to appear. I called her last night letting her know when I’d be going into surgery. She’s only got a few minutes until they wheel me downstairs. At that moment, I see a beautiful blonde walk into my room. “Finally,” I sigh with relief. “I was afraid you wouldn’t make it.”
“Sorry. Traffic was crazy. Are you nervous?” she asks tentatively.
“Yes. Even though I know what to expect, it’s still scary. Not gonna lie.”
She walks over to stand next to my bed. She leans the front of her legs on my bed and places her hands on the bed rails. “I know. But, I read up on your procedure last night, and I know you’re going to be fine, Mick. It’s a piece of cake,” she says snapping her fingers.
“I know. I know. I just think I need a kiss to help me get over these nerves.”
Roni giggles and I love the sounds. “A kiss? That’s what’s going to get you through this? You’re such a playah, Michael Flynn.”
“Not anymore.” I look at her with a serious expression. I mean it. Not anymore.
She stops laughing and leans down to kiss my lips. “I love you, Mick Flynn. Playah or not.”
Our lips meet, and I feel a sense of relief rush through me. I pull back, “Thank God, Roni. I can’t stand the thought of you not loving me. My heart would break.” I blink as I look up at her.
“Well, it’s true. I love you. You’re going to have a successful surgery, and you’ll be good as new in four to six weeks.”
“Four to six weeks? You really did read up on it, didn’t you?”
“I did. I learned that an open fracture is a surgical emergency. Antibiotics are started as soon as possible in the emergency room.” She points to my one and only I.V. “The next steps in controlling the risk of infection are to cleanse the wound and remove as much contamination as possible from the skin, soft tissues, and bone. This procedure is called debridement and irrigation and is typically performed in an operating room. Depending on the severity of your injury, you may require several debridements and irrigation procedures.”
“Did you memorize something for a medical journal?”
“Google. Same thing,” she giggles again.
“They have been working on cleaning the wound every day. Now I know why. Thanks, baby. Now, kiss me like you love me.”
She leans down and kisses me with tongue and everything. I’d laugh out loud if my dick weren’t hard as a nail. “Better stop or you’re going to have to give me a hand job. Ooh, or better yet, a blow job.”
“And the pervert is back. Just hurry up and get done with surgery. We can talk about a hand job later,” she winks as she walks out the door.
When they wheel me out of my room, my family are all standing on the either side of the hallway as I roll past like I’m some type of celebrity. “Jesus, Flynn’s. Go sit down. This is all so weird. But, not you Roni. I want to look at you before I go under the knife,” I say dramatically.
She leans down and kisses me softly, “You’re going to be fine, baby. I’ll kiss it all better when you get out.”
Fuck, I’m getting hard again. “Shh, damn woman, you’re seriously gonna have to blow me in the elevator down to surgery if you keep that up.”
Laughing loudly, she says, “See you soon, Mick.” She squeezes my hand, and they roll me away. Please, God. Let me live through this. My girl and my baby need me.
I wake up in a fog. Bright lights are overhead, and I hear the hustle and bustle of busy people around me. The sound of voices around me gets clearer the more I blink awake.
“Michael, what’s your last name?”
“Flynn.”
“What day is it?”
“Um, Thursday?” I’m really not sure. This week has been a blur.
“Good. You’re in recovery, Michael. Surgery went well. The doctor will be in to speak to you in a few minutes. She’s already talked to your family and your wife.”
“Wife?”
“That’s what she said. Rest easy. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
My wait isn’t long. It was long enough for me to remember things. I had surgery on my broken leg. A leg I broke in a car accident. I’m married. I’m married?
“Michael?”
I look up and see that sexy doctor from the other day. I try to give her my sexy look, but she laughs. I guess I lost it when I got married. Shit, am I on morphine again?
“Am I on morphine?”
“Yes, we’ve given you morphine for pain. It should kick in shortly.
“No. Crazy on morphine,” I slur.
She ignores me and tells me about my procedure. “The surgery went exceptionally well. You can plan to start moving in four to six weeks from now. From there you’ll work with a physical therapist to get back to one hundred percent.”
“One hundred percent,” I repeat.
“There was no damage to ligaments, so there’s optimism that you’ll be ready in time for physical therapy in four to six weeks barring complications. The bones did rupture the skin, so infections are possible. We’ll keep a close eye on that.”
“Rupture,” I mumble.
I catch her laughing again, and I don’t like it. I scowl at her. “Roni.”
“We’ll get your wife in here soon. We’d like for you to wake up a bit more.”
“No! Roni!” I shout.
“All right. All right. We’ll get her. Sit tight.”
“Tight. Sit.” I try to raise my upper body from the bed, but a bunch of hands stop me.
“No, no, no. Lay still, Michael.”
Chapter 55: Roni
“Mick? Are you okay? It’s Roni.”
“It’s Roni! I love you so, so, so, so, so, so much, baby. My wife,” he says with glee.
“Um, Mick? Did they give you morphine?” I look up and see his nurse.
“Yes. They gave me morphine.”
“Great,” I groan.
“Ooh, look Roni. The Pixies are back. They really like me. They loooovve me, just like you do. They’re so pretty. And sparkly.” he says in awe. “They aren’t as pretty as you are, though.”
“Thank you, Mick. You’re pretty too.”
“I am? You think I’m pretty?” he smiles. “No, wait, I’m a guy. I can’t be pretty.”
The nurse beside chuckles and says, “Oh, yes you can.”
“The doctor said the surgery went well and you’re going to be good as new.”
“The doctor is hot!” he emphasizes ‘hot.' “I’d totally do her if you weren’t in the picture.”
Okay. I’m not sure how I should take that. I’m not going to get all worked up since his statement before this was about flying pixies. “Maybe I should step out of the picture. Divorce you so you can get with that. Hell, she is hot, I should do her,” I say laughing.
He gasps, and I see a tear appear in the corner of his right eye, “No!” he whines. “No, don’t leave me. I love you, Roni. I have loved you since you kissed me in the taxi, you naughty little vixen. Oh, wait! If you do her, can I watch?” he moans––like a sexy moan. “God. That’s so hot.”
Now he's flirting with me. The tears are still there, but now he’s giving me his sexy eyes. “Okay, Mick. Time to sleep. You’re exhausted.”
“Oh, okay. Night. Love you,” and he’s then he’s out like a light.
The nurse and I laugh out loud. “He’s a trip,” she teases.
“Trip,” he mumbles in his sleep.
“He certainly is.”
Chapter 56: Roni
After Mick’s surgery, he went to stay with his parents. I meant what I said when I told him I needed space. I wanted time to get back to work and to mentally prepare for the baby. It’s worked out well for him because his mom has doted and spoiled him rotten. He complains that she’s smothering him, but I think he secretly loves it.
Sarah took him to a salon to see what they could do with his hair since a large section of the right side of his hair had been shaved off in the emergency room. He just wanted to have Emily shave it all off, but his mom wouldn’t have it. The result was, well, fantastic. The hairdresser cuts his hair in a men’s fade with the top of his hair in a longer faux hawk. It seems impossible that he could be better looking than before the accident or before the haircut, but he does. He’s even sexier.
The first few weeks Mick was wheel chair bound, but it wasn’t long before he was fitted with a super sci-fi looking boot. They didn’t want to encase the wound in a cast for fear of infection after surgery. Sam, his personal Uber driver, takes him everywhere. It’s kind of hilarious.
Thanks to Sam, Mick comes over almost every evening––he spends his days going to physical therapy, going to his follow-up doctor appointments, and going in to work for short spans of time. He’s not bartending yet, though, he’s only doing the managerial things there now until he’s out of the boot.
My mornings are spent working on the EnerSport account and my afternoons are filled with baby prep. We’ve had two appointments with the OB-GYN. I am, in fact, pregnant and the baby is doing well. We heard the heartbeat at our first ultrasound, and that made us both cry. He’s so happy––almost as happy as I am.
When we told our families about the pregnancy right before Christmas, everyone was thrilled. Mick and I celebrated the holidays with both of our families but Christmas Eve was just the two of us at my place. We ordered from my favorite Thai restaurant, watched some Christmas movies, the old ones, and exchanged gifts.
I bought Mick a few silly things like a Gryffindor scarf from Harry Potter. He loved it. I also bought him a great book on starting a small business, and the last thing I purchased for him were two baby onesies. The first said I Heart Boobies (Like my daddy), the second said, I have the Best Dad in the Whole World. The first one made him laugh, the second made him cry. I did well.
His gifts were thoughtful too. He bought me a gift certificate for a fancy spa to get ‘the works’. He also bought me some cute maternity clothes that I’d already pointed out to him. He added in some sexy pregnancy lingerie into the mix. Men.
The last thing I opened came in a small light blue box. Tiffany’s packages are very distinctive. At first I was worried it was an engagement ring, and when it wasn’t, I was a little disappointed. Not gonna lie. The truth is, I’m not ready for that, yet. What he did buy me was a rose gold Sprinkle Necklace. It’s stunning and tasteful. I haven’t taken it off since I opened it. Our first Christmas as a family was perfect. I hope they’re all like that.
We didn’t go out for New Years Eve, for obvious reasons but Sarah had a little celebration for us and for Sophie and Hank on New Years Day. They finally announced Sophie’s second pregnancy right before the holidays as well.
It was the first time my entire family met Mick’s entire family. Sarah and my mom got along perfectly. It was almost like they were long-lost sisters. Dad fit in perfectly with the Flynn men too. They have a lot in common what with them all being big and manly. I snort out a little laugh at that thought. My dad is sweet and kind but when provoked, he’s just as alpha as Mick and his brothers.
My sisters have been acting a little strange since I told them about Mick and me. At the party, they were polite but not super affectionate. Instead, they seemed to be fixated on newly single David Flynn. They spent most of the get-together chatting him up while their husbands watched the kids. I'm not sure how they pulled that off but I think their spouses were careful not to cause a scene. It was obvious, thanks to their scowls, they weren’t happy about the flirtations between Frankie, Gloria, and David Flynn.
The rest of the time Mick and I have spent relaxing and planning. When Mick isn’t at
work or at physical therapy; he works on his bottle drink idea, Mick’sology. I’ve done very little work on it myself. My role has been to show him how to research the industry, the markets, do a cost analysis, and work with a graphic designer to come up with a label and packaging design, and to speak to potential manufacturers.
After sifting his way through the government rules and regulations that relate to the sale and production of alcohol, he decided the best way to get started is to work with a company that already manufactures and bottles alcoholic beverages.
He’s made incredible headway in only a few months. The graphic designer has come up with a cool label design, and after presenting his findings and plans to his brothers, Hank and David, they’ve decided to invest in his product. He’s developed four drinks, the Speakeasy Sour made primarily with brandy and rum and a few secret ingredients, the Purple Urple made with grape vodka and lemonade and a few secret ingredients. Do you see a trend in the secret ingredients?
The third drink called Fire in the Hole has Fireball whiskey, apple juice, and a twist of lemon and, you guessed it, secret ingredients. I know. It sounds weird, but I’m told it’s delish. The last drink he wants in his initial batch is called Sweet Sensation. It’s fruity and sugary concoction that includes coconut milk, pineapple juice, and rum.
“You’re well on your way to becoming a drinks mogul, Mick,” I say to him one evening.
“You did all the work, babe.”
“No, you did the work. I just pointed you in the right direction.” He deserves all the credit. It’s amazing to watch him because he’s so passionate about his ideas. I wish I could say I’ve tasted his drinks but since I’m several months along now, it’s a no-no.
We’ve developed a bit of a routine since his accident. Like I mentioned, he comes over to my place nearly almost every evening. We eat dinner together. Sometimes he cooks, sometimes I cook, and the rest of the time we have food delivered. It’s amazing how well we sync up at home. He’ll eat just about anything, so it’s usually ladies choice.