The questions and self-praise continued and by the time we climbed into the SUV, I wondered if girls might be the easier option as a father. Less than a minute later, Teague banged on the window, waving like a lunatic, at a little girl in blonde pigtails, riding a bicycle, “That’s my girlfriend,” he said, huffing excitedly while waving frantically as he tried to catch her attention. My mind shifted again, Valerie was definitely having a boy.
One minute, Teague was talking the next he was curled into my side worn clean out by his big day. I ran my hand through his baby soft hair, and my heart ached for him growing up without his dad around. I knew what that felt like, and I kind of promised myself that I’d try to be what he needed for as long as he needed me, so long as it didn’t affect my children and the time I spent with them.
“Come on, buddy let’s get you inside to your mom,” I said maneuvering him sleepily from the back seat of the SUV onto my chest. His little arms went around my neck, and he nuzzled his face into it. No kid had ever done that before Teague, and I’ll admit another lump formed in my throat. I loved him. He was growing up in my home, how could I not?
Valerie was sprawled out in front of the fire watching Grey’s Anatomy—what the hell she saw in that show was beyond my comprehension. Turning her head when she heard me walk through into the den, she smiled affectionately when she saw Niamh’s little boy in my arms.
“Love watching you practice,” she said in a whisper and smiled.
“I don’t need to, babe. I’ve done this a lot with this little guy in the past.”
The recognition on Valerie’s face that she’d missed that part of my life made me feel sad.
“We weren’t ready for each other then, Valerie. I’m glad we never crossed the line.”
Nodding she leaned over and kissed me softly, and I heard Niamh’s voice call from the kitchen asking,
“Where’s my little champ?”
Hearing his mom’s voice, Teague sprang to life in my arms, which made me wonder if he’d been sleeping at all or just enjoying the moment. He jumped down and ran to his mom in the other room.
“Well, hell. Flynn, seems to me you’ve got a couple of arms to spare.” Valerie said as she slid herself between them, and snuck her warm hands up under my t-shirt onto my bare back. Grinning infectiously up at me, she dug her nails in gently and scored them down to the waistband of my jeans. A shiver ran from my scalp to my dick then right past and into my toes.
“Bed,” I said. Bending down I scooped her into my arms and led her through the hallway. “Leave our dinner in the oven, Niamh, we’re just going upstairs. I’ve remembered something important I have to do, and it can’t wait.” When I saw the wicked smirk on Valerie’s face I put my mouth to her ear, “I mean someone I have to do,” I whispered, and she shivered and dropped her face to my neck.
*****
Eating in bed had started to become a habit for Valerie and me, and there was more tenderness in our love making since her belly had grown. It wasn’t that she had complained, I was just being considerate of the precious cargo she had on board. We were exhausted a lot of the time with our full on schedule, and running back and forth between Iowa and Chicago.
Sunday was wasted traveling back to the studio in Iowa, and apart from tying up a few odds and ends, we did nothing. It was great to have dinner with Valerie’s parents, Kayden, and Amber, but around 8:30 pm once again, Valerie was beat. That concerned me because most gigs we were scheduled to perform didn’t start until 9:00 pm.
Amber had an early start the following morning—some guy needed his car back early and was dropping it where Amber worked an hour before the workshop opened. Kayden kissed her goodnight, and she got into her car and headed off home. He asked me if I could check something at the studio with him, so Valerie kissed and hugged her brother and went inside our cabin to go to bed.
As we walked over, he told me there wasn’t anything wrong he’d wanted to speak to me alone. Thinking I was going to be on the receiving end of a ‘big brother warning,’ I inhaled and asked what he wanted to talk to me about.
“I’m going to ask Amber to marry me at the end of next month.”
“About time, she’s a lovely girl.”
“So is Valerie.”
“Dude. Don’t go there.”
“Okay, I guess that’s for another conversation,” he stated flatly, but it irked me.
“Why next month?”
“I don’t want that anniversary to coincide with the anniversary…”
His voice trailed off, and I knew it would have been three years at Easter since that his brothers had died.
“Understandable. So end of April? Cool. Do you have any thoughts about how you’re going to do it?”
“Yep, no fanfare. Stars, champagne and a blanket. I’m going to set an old trailer up down by the creek, and have candles and some red rose petals scattered on a lily white blanket. I figured I’d take her there just before dusk.”
“Sounds perfect. I don’t think you have anything to worry about, she’s really into you, Kayd.”
“Thinking ahead, can I ask you something…” he hesitated then drew in a deep breath, “I’d like you to be best man.”
“Me? Why? I mean…I’m honored, but…”
“You’re the closest thing I have to a…” Kayden choked, and I immediately got it.
“I’d be delighted to do that for you,” I said, cutting over the difficulty of his explanation.
He nodded, and I pulled him into a man hug, “Martin would be so proud of you and Valerie. I didn’t know Adam very well, but he seemed like a great kid.”
Kayden struggled for a second then stepped back in the darkness, he drew his arm across his eyes, and I knew he’d have hated me to know he was upset.
“Alright, Kayden. And for the record, I want Valerie for life. Any way I can have her. If she’s meant to be my wife, she will be. I just have to bide my time.”
Kayden laughed, and it looked like he’d shoved his hands into his pockets, “Okay I better head to bed,” he said, walking backward then turned away from me. I stood watching his black silhouette get smaller until I saw the light over their kitchen door bathe his figure again. I heard Buster’s faint bark as he went inside, then turned and headed to bed.
Chapter 33 ~ Valerie
Catch a break
Feathery strokes from Flynn’s hand moved up and down my thigh and pulled me gently from my dream about RedA in concert. My eyes fluttered open, and Flynn’s head was perched on one hand as he leaned on his elbow.
“I love watching you sleep.”
“Well, I’m not sleeping now,” I murmured sleepily and smiled at his soft expression.
“I know. I’m not very good at watching and not touching,” he snickered.
“Are you nervous for today?” I asked.
A fleeting look of worry flashed through Flynn’s eyes before he shook his head, “Nah, I already know it’s going to be awesome. I just need to know everything is okay.”
“What did Kayden want to talk to you about last night?”
Flynn smirked knowingly and smiled so wide his dimples showed, “How did you know he wanted to talk to me?”
“He’s an open book. I’ve never had trouble knowing when he’s got something on his mind.”
Flynn contemplated what I’d said and stared at my face for a few seconds then dipped his head, placing a soft kiss on my closed lips.
“It was a guy thing,” he said trying to keep Kayden’s confidence. I loved him for that, but I was too nosey to let it go.
“Guy thing? Really? Come on, dish the dirt,” I demanded.
“He’s going to propose to Amber.”
I quickly sat up and turned to face Flynn again, “He is? I love it. I’m going to have a sister,” I beamed. It was the best news I’d had on a personal level for a while.
Flynn glanced back at me his face serious, “Do you…I mean don’t you think…are we going to get married?”
I reel
ed my head back on my neck and looked at him pointedly, “Umm, was there a proposal in there somewhere?”
“God, no. I’d never ask a naked woman to marry me. What do you take me for?” he teased covering up his inept question.
I stared at him again, and the air was thick with unspoken meaning in his last question.
“Nothing would give me more pleasure than for you to be my wife, Valerie.”
“I know,” I joked back.
“So…” he said awkwardly.
I had no clue what was going on but if Flynn was serious it was a half-hearted attempt at asking me to be his wife, and I wasn’t biting. There was no way I’d ever force someone to stay with me because of a child, and although he kept saying I was it for him, we were still so new together. I knew I’d gladly spend the rest of my life with him, but I wasn’t going to take a ring because our baby had come along. As far as I was concerned, people would believe I’d trapped him. Do I care what people think? “Are we secure, Flynn. Aren’t we fine as we are? I mean do we need a metal band on our fingers for people to know we’re together?”
“Guess not,” he’d said, and looked relieved. I wasn’t sure whether that was because he’d got out of the prospect of marriage or the conversation. I’d been the one asking if it was what we needed, but I still felt disappointed with his answer. Another seed of insecurity that hadn’t been there before my stupid question crept in. He hadn’t expanded, and I’d felt upset by his two-word response.
Rolling away from him I went to take a shower. Tears threatened to fall, even when I knew that in a roundabout way he had asked me to marry him, and in my roundabout way I had rejected him. He was right, we were more together than most married couples, and I thought my stupid hormones must have been responsible for my emotional state.
*****
As soon as we were ready, Lee drove us into town. Flynn’s hand squeezed mine as we entered the doctor’s office. The room was already set up for the sonogram, and I had drunk what felt like an entire water dispenser full of water before we’d gotten there. They must have been very experienced with women needing to pee because within two minutes of arrival I was on my back with blue napkin-like paper tucked into my panties and cold translucent gel all over my belly.
Flynn sat on my left and looked across at the screen while the sonographer typed in all my details.
“So are we ready to meet the baby today?” The sonographer had asked in a singsong voice.
Flynn cleared his throat, and I nodded.
“Just to let you know, before we start there are times when I’ll explain things and times when I am concentrating on taking measurements. I don’t want to scare you if I suddenly go quiet. It just means I am being accurate about the baby’s growth. If you have any questions as we go along, please ask. Now, do you want to know the sex of your baby?”
Flynn and I both looked at each other, and he waited for me to respond.
“Do you?” I asked.
“It’s your call, babe,” he said like it didn’t matter, but I knew he wanted to know.
“Okay. Yes,” I said, Flynn smiled and bit the inside of his cheek.
Within seconds, the screen was filled with the tiny life growing inside me, and I stared in wonder. Watching as small crosses were marked at different points of my baby’s head, she dragged her cursor between two points making lines and clicked to record measurements on the screen. My eyes were glued to the constant rhythm of its beating heart as soon as I saw it.
Love for my baby flowed through my veins and into my heart as I stared in disbelief at the beautiful life that had yet to begin. My eyes started to register the image, and I subconsciously noted all four limbs as she continued to take measurements.
“Nice strong, steady heartbeat,” she’d said, and my eyes went back to the flickering beat in the center of its chest, “Head circumference and size is within normal range, abdominal circumference in normal range, femur length within normal range, your baby has nice long legs. Crown-rump length within normal range.”
“Whoa. Crown-rump what does that mean?” Flynn asked, and sounded concerned.
“From your crown of your baby’s head to its tail bone, Mr. Docherty.”
After a minute, I turned to watch Flynn, and he was mesmerized. His eyes ticked from the sonographer to the screen and back to me. When our eyes connected once again, I saw he was choked, but he tightened his hand around mine and gave me a nervous half smile.
“So now we’ll find out what you’re having. Have you been placing any bets?”
“Flynn thinks it’s a boy,” I said and turned my head to look over at him.
“I don’t care what it is as long as it’s healthy, but I do think it’s a boy,” he replied.”
“And what does Mom think?”
“I haven’t really thought about it, I’ve imagined both.”
“Well, I can tell you there is definitely only one,” she chuckled as she got the wrong idea about what I meant.
“No, there have been times when I’ve thought it was a boy and others when I thought not.”
“Okay, I won’t keep you in suspense any longer. Flynn is right, it is a boy.”
Flynn flashed a toothy grin and chuckled, “See, what did I tell you?” he asked, looking pleased with himself as I lay and absorbed the news we were having a boy—a son.
Standing up, he leaned across the bed and softly placed his lips on the side of my mouth. “Thank you, babe, I’m going to love you both to the moon, around the stars and back down to the bottom of the ocean,” he said, smiling against my skin.
“Atlantic or Pacific?” I giggled.
“Which one is the deepest? Never mind, it’s fucking both, babe,” he grinned affectionately.
As she continued to collect her data, the sonographer went quiet drawing the ultrasound conductor back and forth just above my pubic bone. She seemed to be puzzled and stared intently at the screen. My intuition told me something was wrong.
“What’s wrong?”
Flynn’s grip tightened on my hand, instant tension steeling his whole arm. My eyes darted to his face and watched the color drain from it.
“Okayyyy…you haven’t had any bleeding so far, right?” she asked.
I swallowed and shook my head. I felt fear rise in my chest, anxious at her question.
“You have placenta previa,” she said, gently.
My heart sank with the weight of her words. I’d read enough to know the basics, but Flynn’s other hand balled into a fist as his grip relaxed and tightened again. “What the fuck does that mean?” I squeezed his hand to calm him.
“Once the ovum, or egg, is fertilized and embeds on the uterine wall, the placenta begins to form. This is the baby’s life support until it’s delivered. Most commonly, the placenta is in the upper part of the womb, and in a minority of women, the placenta attaches lower down. In Valerie’s case, it is low, and is in fact, a grade four placenta previa. In layman’s terms, the placenta is completely covering the entrance to the womb. I have to tell you, it does carry risk of bleeding, and a vaginal delivery won’t be possible.”
I stared at Flynn as he tried to assimilate the information. He looked shell shocked. I had been worried about giving birth. What girl wouldn’t have been? This fear wasn’t that kind or worry. I’d read placenta previa was very risky for both the mom and the baby.
“What do you mean? What do we have to do? Is there anything that can be done?” Flynn’s rapid-fire questions were asked with an alarmed tone.
“We definitely have to think about the third trimester of pregnancy. During fetal development there comes a time when the upper segment of the uterus becomes stretched by the unborn fetus. The third trimester is particularly tricky when the lower segment of the womb forms for delivery. We’ll have to watch Valerie carefully. I don’t want to cause alarm, but placental abruption would lead to an emergency C-section.”
“Wait, slow down. Placental what?”
“Abruption. It’s when
the placenta suddenly comes detached or partially detached from the wall of the womb before delivery. At some point, it may become necessary for you to be hospitalized for the later part of the pregnancy, Valerie, as an emergency delivery would be necessary in the event of vaginal bleeding.”
Flynn stared blankly at the screen, his face was pale, and our baby’s image was still visible. His little heart still flickered steadily on the screen, thankfully oblivious to our stressful news. When I looked back at his dad, he was staring helplessly at me. The weight of that stare was loaded with every fear I felt must have been running through his head. Personally, I had felt like a failure at the possibility that my life and his sons could be at risk from something as normal as having a baby.
“No exercise, strenuous exertion, no lifting, no standing for long periods and I’m sorry, but no sexual intercourse I’m afraid.”
Glancing at Flynn, my heart sank at the guilty look he gave me. We’d had very regular sex; almost daily, as my hormones fueled a need in me. Flynn was always horny, and while I had been pregnant, my sex drive had been high.
“I want to speak with the doctor,” Flynn demanded.
“Sure, as soon as I’ve printed off the measurements and put them in your notes, I’ll see if he’s free.”
Flynn helped me wipe the gel from my belly and pulled down my sky blue loose cotton smock top as he sat me upright. Swinging my legs to the floor, Flynn pulled me gently to stand and wrapped his arms tightly around me. I heard him swallow noisily before he took a long deep breath.
“I promise you, Valerie, everything’s going to be okay, babe,” he offered in reassurance.
I glanced at him and smiled because the last thing I wanted was for him to be frightened. It was bad enough we had another hurdle to go through, but I was determined that we weren’t about to face yet another traumatic event. Most people dealt with fewer life events in their entire lifetime than the one’s we’d dealt with since we met. With us, it seemed like it was one thing after another.
“You okay?” I asked when my eyes met his.
Ready For Flynn, Part 2 : A Rockstar Romance (The Ready For Flynn) Page 29