Invisible: An Alpha Company Military Romance

by Beth Abbott

  “Men always think they can pull the wool over our eyes, but they never do.” Sally grinned.

  “Ah, I have to give him credit for trying.” Ellen smiled. “He knew I wasn’t allowed to eat it, so he wouldn’t eat it in front of me.”

  Sally smiled. “He’s a good guy.”

  “He is! You should be so proud of him.” Ellen spoke from the heart. “Casey too!”

  Sally looked up and smiled sadly.

  “JT told me of your connection with Casey. I’m so sorry you were caught up in it all!”

  “I have to blame my father, to a degree.” Ellen said. “When he knew what he’d gotten mixed up with, he should have just gotten out.”

  Sally shook her head. “Sometimes, by the time you see the big picture, it’s too late for that. At least he did the next best thing by trying to help the police.”

  “Yeah, and that got Casey killed!” Ellen pointed out.

  “Sweetheart, you didn’t know Casey. He wasn’t like Luke. He could be reckless, especially with his own safety. He had a God complex! His father and I always feared he would get himself involved in something that he couldn’t get out of.” Sally hugged herself. “If he hadn’t died saving you, it would have been for another worthy cause.”

  Ellen nodded, finally understanding.

  “And Ellen? Make no mistake about it, Carl and I both feel that his sacrifice was absolutely worth it!”

  Ellen felt the tears on her cheeks as Sally scooped her up in a hug.

  “No smooching in the kitchen!” Luke’s voice pulled Ellen out of her sad thoughts. His hands on her shoulders pulled her out of his mother’s embrace and into his.

  “Unless it’s with me, of course, and then it’s totally cool!” He kissed her softly. “Ok?”

  He looked deeply into her eyes.

  “Absolutely Ok!” She hugged him back.

  A buzzer sounded in the hallway, and Luke backed off.

  “Looks like the food arrived!” He grinned.

  “Come on, we’ll get some plates warmed.” Sally bustled about the kitchen, while Ellen pulled mugs from the kitchen cupboards for coffees.

  As the elevator doors swished open, the volume level in the flat increased by five hundred per-cent.

  And that was just Suzy!

  “Ellen!” She yelled. “Get your lazy ass out here to greet us!”

  Ellen grinned at Sally’s look of shock.

  “So, that’s Suzy?” Sally asked, grinning.

  “Bog off!” Ellen shouted back. “I’m supposed to be taking it easy! You get your lazy ass into the kitchen!”

  Sally chuckled.

  Suzy’s stomping could be heard first, then her mumbling. “Yeah, but you’re not carrying heavy shit!”

  When she finally rounded the corner, she had little Charlie asleep in her arms. “Jeez, you could train for a marathon just jogging around this apartment!”

  Matt and Danny were hot on her heels.

  “We come bearing food!” Danny grinned at her. He marched over to the kitchen counter, kissing Ellen’s cheek as he passed. “Hey, gorgeous! Looking good!”

  “Yo Mama!” He grinned at Sally, giving her a hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek. “You are still one hot piece of ass!”

  “Put her down, Danny! I keep telling you, she’s taken!” Carl walked into the kitchen behind the boys. He also stopped to give Ellen’s cheek a kiss on the way past.

  “Hey, ya big lug!” Suzy yelled at Matt. “Get over here and take your son! I need to smooch my girl!”

  Matt grinned, but immediately took Charlie in his arms, soothing him to keep him asleep.

  “Come here, you!” Suzy grabbed Ellen and pulled her close. “It’s so bloody good to see you out of hospital. I didn’t want to tell you while you were still in there, but that hospital gown? Made your ass look enormous! I swear to God!”

  Ellen burst out laughing, but Suzy didn’t let go of her. Instead she whispered, for Ellen’s ears only.

  “Don’t you ever scare me like that again, bitch! It would have broken my heart in pieces if I’d lost you!”

  Ellen pulled back to see Suzy’s eyes brimming with tears. Tears she obviously didn’t want the guys to see.

  “Talking about fat asses?” She grinned at Suzy. “When are you gonna be getting rid of all that baby weight you put on?”

  Sally gasped, but Suzy just burst out laughing.

  “God, I bloody love you, y’know!” Suzy planted a huge kiss on Ellen’s cheek.

  “Oh, hey!” Suzy said, as if seeing Sally for the first time. “I’m Suzy, Matt’s wife and Ellen’s BFF.” She held out her hand. “Sorry about the language. Too many years being around these assholes!”

  Sally took Suzy’s hand in both of hers.

  “So, you’re the infamous Suzy!” She grinned. “I’m very happy to meet you. From what I’ve heard, it’s good that Matt has got himself a woman who can keep him in line. It’s about bloody time these guys got shown who should be boss!”

  JT and Luke came in the room then, and JT looked at the bags.

  “You realise that if you don’t unload the food and dish it out soon, Danny will have eaten everything?”

  Everyone turned to Danny, who was stuffing an egg and bacon croissant in his mouth.

  “You snooze, you lose!” He mumbled, his mouth still full of food.

  They emptied all the food across the counter and filled plates to take to the living room.

  “Is everything Ok?” Ellen asked Luke as he sat down on the sofa next to her.

  “Actually, JT has something he wants to ask you about.” Luke said quietly.

  “Oh?” Ellen said, taking a bite of her croissant.

  “Yeah,” JT finished off the mouthful of food he was chewing. He wiped his mouth on a napkin.

  “We have quite a few new jobs coming our way from our American friends. Some are UK based, but a lot are for work Europe-wide. We’ve even got some with Russian subsidiary companies.”

  Ellen nodded. “That’s good, right?”

  JT nodded. “It’s great.” He agreed. “Luke mentioned your area of expertise was languages?”

  Ellen nodded. “I speak around nine or ten to a pretty good standard.”

  JT nodded.

  “Our biggest problem when we’re doing business with these people, is having to do everything through translators, who invariably work for the other side. Correspondence is usually fine, as we just put everything into a translation programme. But meetings are especially difficult, because sometimes you learn more from listening to the background noise than the main players.”

  Ellen nodded.

  “So, we were wondering how you’d feel about working for the company, as a translator?”

  Ellen’s jaw dropped.

  “Really?” She asked.

  Luke took her hand. “I know you were keen to go and do your PhD, so if you still preferred to do that instead, that would be cool too. It’s just an option.”

  “It sounds like a fantastic opportunity.” Ellen grinned. “Would you want me to work part time or full time?”

  “Somewhere in between would be good. Maybe three or four days a week? Less some weeks, and more other weeks, depending on what work we’ve got on.” JT responded.

  “Less to start with.” Luke insisted. “Just until you’re properly back on your feet.”

  Ellen didn’t bother to argue with him that she was almost there. He was only looking out for her.

  “I’d love to!” Ellen responded excitedly.

  “That’s settled then.” JT nodded. “We’ll go through the fine print with you when you’re well enough to come down to the office to sign the paperwork. But in the meantime…” He stood up. “Welcome to the family!”

  Ellen stood up and gave JT a hug. The other guys also stood to hug her, but when she hugged Matt, Suzy’s voice startled her.

  “Hold the bloody phone!” Suzy jumped up. “What the hell is this?”

  She held up Ellen’s hand with th
e engagement ring on it for everyone to see.

  Luke jumped up.

  “About time one of you shit-heads noticed!” He grinned like an idiot, pulling Ellen into his arms.

  “May I introduce you all to my fiancée?”

  Backslaps of congratulations and hugs followed.

  “When did this happen?” JT asked.

  “This morning!” Ellen grinned.

  “Luke?” Sally scowled. “Didn’t we have a conversation about making proposals special?”

  “Oh, it was!” Ellen gushed. “Honestly, it was….”

  “Private!” Luke finished for her after covering her mouth with his hand.

  Ellen snorted behind his fingers, but nodded as if in agreement.

  When he removed his hand, Ellen looked towards Sally and Suzy and mouthed, “It was perfect!”

  Sally’s grin was one of pure satisfaction.

  Chapter 54 - Ellen

  By lunchtime, Ellen had just about run out of steam. Her energy levels were seriously depleted and the excitement of having everyone over and then finding out that she had a job, was all a bit too much.

  As the elevator doors closed whisking her friends away, she sagged in Luke’s arms, and he picked her up.

  As he climbed the stairs, he nuzzled her neck.

  “Nap time, gorgeous!”

  Ellen was too tired to protest.

  Instead of undressing her, he just lay her on the bed and pulled the comforter around her.

  Ellen was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  It felt like only a minute later, when Luke was gently nudging her awake.

  “Ellen, honey. The doctor is here to see you. Can you wake up?”

  Ellen shrugged off sleep.

  “What time is it?”

  “It’s five o’clock. She’s downstairs waiting. Do you want me to carry you?”

  “No!” Ellen snorted. “I’ve been walking since before I was one. I think I’ve got the hang of it!”

  “Ha-ha!” Luke grinned, pulling her up off the bed and giving her a sweet kiss. “Come on then.”

  Luke led her down a hallway to what she assumed was his office, where he introduced her to the middle-aged physician before leaving them in peace.

  “Please, call me Fiona.” The doctor said. “May I call you Ellen?”

  So, this was what it was like to be able to afford private healthcare! Ellen stifled a grin.

  “I’m going to take your medical history, and give you a quick examination, and then we’ll see if there’s anything else you need.” Fiona pulled out a tablet.

  Ellen answered the questions to the best of her ability, and succumbed to the physical examination, even though being prodded by a doctor was pretty low on the list of things she wanted to repeat any time soon.

  “And what do you do for contraception?” Fiona asked, causing Ellen to blush.

  “We use condoms.” She replied. “But I was going to ask you if I could start taking the pill.”

  She watched as Fiona noted that down.

  “And have you had unprotected sex within the last three months?” Fiona asked making Ellen blush even more.

  “There was one occasion when we forgot. But apart from that, no.”

  “Ok.” Fiona reached inside her bag and produced a small lidded container. “Could you provide a urine sample in there before we go any further. We’ll just do a quick test and then I can write you a prescription for the contraceptive pill.”

  Ellen took the cup and popped into the little half-bathroom next to the office. She was back with her sample before anyone could see her.

  “Thanks.” Fiona grinned, taking the cup. She dipped a stick in and swirled it around, before laying it down on a paper towel.

  “So, do you know much about the types of pill available?” Fiona asked.

  Ellen shook her head, so the doctor began to explain the various options.

  As she finished explaining which one she would recommend for Ellen and why, she reached down and picked the stick up.

  “Oh, my!” She murmured. “That renders the past conversation pretty pointless!”

  “Sorry?” Ellen murmured. “Is something wrong?”

  “Only you can tell me that!” Fiona smiled, turning the stick around to Ellen so she could read the writing.

  Pregnant + 3-4 weeks

  Ellen couldn’t breathe! Her mouth had suddenly become dry, and her heart was beating out of her chest.

  Fiona took her hand.

  “Ok, honey.” She said soothingly. “Breathe with me now. In…. and out! In….and out!”

  When this was not having the desired effect, Fiona pushed Ellen’s head down between her legs.

  “Do you want me to get Luke? Do you want him to know yet?” Fiona asked.

  “Yes, please.” Ellen whispered.

  “Ok, but let’s lie you on the couch before I go and get him. I don’t want to find you on the floor when I get back!”

  When Ellen was settled on the sofa, Fiona went into the hallway.

  “Luke?” She called. “Can you come in here?”

  “Coming!” Ellen heard Luke’s voice.

  It took only a few seconds until Luke bounced into the room. He took one look at Ellen and stopped dead.

  “Is everything Ok?” He asked frowning.

  “Ellen wants to show you something!” Fiona smiled.

  She did? Then Ellen felt the stick still clutched in her fist.

  Luke walked over and sank to his knees on the carpet. He cupped her face in his hands, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

  “What is it honey? Are you Ok?” His concern was evident.

  Ellen reached out and took his hand. She placed the stick in his palm and closed his fingers around it.

  Luke was staring into her face as if he thought she was losing the plot.

  When she released his hand, he looked down and opened his fingers. The display on the stick was right in front of his eyes, and for a second or two, he just looked at it.

  As he looked up at Ellen, he smiled at her so wide, she swore the sun was pale by comparison.

  “Really?” He whispered to Ellen. She nodded.

  He looked up at the Doctor. “For real?”

  She grinned and nodded. “For real. Congratulations to you both!”

  Luke looked back at Ellen with tears in his eyes. “Are you happy about this?” He asked nervously.

  Ellen nodded. “You?”

  “Oh, baby! I’m so freaking happy my heart might just burst out of my chest!” Luke grinned some more.

  “And my work here is done.” Fiona laughed. “Ellen, you come by the surgery next week some time and we’ll do a thorough work up. I’ll have someone drop by tomorrow with some Folic Acid and other vitamins as well as a few bits of literature you might like to read. Apart from that and especially with what you’ve been through recently, just take it easy! Luke’s got my number if you need me.”

  “Thank you!” Ellen whispered.

  “Thanks, doc.” Luke shook her hand. “I’ll just show you out.”

  Ellen took the whole two minutes he was away to come to terms with the news.

  She was going to be a mum!

  Luke was going to be a dad!

  Holy shit!

  When Luke got back to his office, she was sitting up, feeling a little more composed.

  “Hey you!” He smiled. “Are you sure you’re all right with this?”

  “Yeah!” Ellen sighed. “It’s just… Wow! Y’know?”

  “You can say that again!” Luke chuckled, shaking his head.

  “Can we tell my mum and dad yet?” He asked. “Or would you prefer to wait?”

  Ellen grinned. There was only one right answer for Luke, and she knew he’d struggle to keep it a secret, so what was the point?

  “Tell!” She smiled up at him.

  “God, I bloody love you!” He leaned in and planted a smacker of a kiss on her lips.

  “I bloody love you too!” She grinne
d when he let her up for air.

  Luke turned his head to the door.

  “Mum! Dad! Get your asses in here!” He bellowed.

  “Way to play it cool, Luke!” Ellen giggled.

  Carl arrived first, quickly followed by his wife.

  “Is everything Ok?” Sally asked worriedly, looking between Ellen and Luke.

  “Yup!” Luke smirked. “We just had a nice surprise is all!”

  “Yeah?” Carl asked. “The insurance money come through on your Jag?”

  “Way better!” Luke grinned walking over to his mum. “I just want it put on record that I asked Ellen to marry me this morning.”

  Sally looked confused. “Okay, duly noted, but I don’t understand why.”

  “Because we just got this.” Luke smirked back to Ellen, before taking his mum’s hand and dropping the stick in.

  Carl looked over Sally’s shoulder at the same time as she looked down. He looked straight up again at Luke, grinning.

  “Oh, my God!” Sally squealed. “That’s so wonderful!”

  She promptly burst into tears.

  Luke hugged her tight, while Ellen got up to join in. Carl’s arms seemed to span them all.

  “Now we just have to plan a wedding!” Luke announced. “Like next week!”

  Ellen gasped. “We don’t have to rush things, do we?”

  “Duh-yes!” Luke said, as though she were simple. “In a few weeks, we’ll be going for one of those scan things. I don’t want to get my first glimpse of our child without having married his mama first!”

  Ellen smiled. “Well it would be nice to be able to wear a wedding dress that didn’t look like a maternity smock.”

  “That’s settled then!” Luke announced. “No later than Valentine’s day!”

  Sally gasped, grabbing Ellen’s hand.

  “That’s three weeks away! Come on honey. We’d better get planning!”

  Chapter 55 -

  Epilogue – Three weeks later

  As Sally fussed with Ellen’s make-up, Suzy finished with the tiny hooks on the back of her dress.