Second Chance for Love

by April Zyon

  “You’re only saying that because you’re over the throwing up stage of the day.” With a kiss to her lips, he brushed his fingers over her cheek. “Grab your purse. We really need to get moving. Even with the allowance I gave for needing to throw up again, it’s still going to be tight.”

  “I just need my phone. It has a case that has my driver’s license and insurance card, as well as a credit card if I need it.” She laid her head back on his chest and sighed. “Heavens, I could become used to this,” she admitted, but did pull back. She frowned then and realized that Megan wasn’t home. “Do you think Megs is okay? I don’t think she came home last night.”

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” he said. “She likely heard us from the drive and left just as quickly. You were very loud, I have to say.” He was smiling at her, his chest puffed out and looking damn proud of himself.

  “And? If I recall, you had something to do with that loudness. Are you saying that you don’t like it?” Mercy shot back to him. “Because if you are, then you and I need to have a discussion here. I’ve never been loud before, so it’s obviously something you’re doing right to make me scream like you do.”

  “Didn’t say I wasn’t a part of that loudness, woman. But you were damn loud,” he teased. Pressing another kiss to her lips, he brushed a piece of her hair back. “Grab your stuff and let’s get moving. Quickly now.”

  “Admit you liked how loud I was,” she said when she stepped out of the house and walked toward the car. “Come on, Brant. I know that you want to say it. I can all but see the words falling from your lips. Come on, big guy, tell me how much you loved hearing me screaming your name.”

  “Only to have you claiming I want my ego stroked? Hardly, woman,” he muttered. He got them moving to the main road quickly. Once on the main stretch, she was pretty sure he floored it given the pinging coming from rocks off the undercarriage. One of the downsides to country living—the back roads made of gravel really weren’t meant to be taken at high speeds.

  Mercy just smiled and leaned back. She was happy. God help her, but she was over the moon in her happiness right now. “Remember, we have to get there in one piece, you know,” she teased when he jerked the wheel quickly to get them onto the paved roads.

  “Now you’re doubting my driving skills?” he asked. Snorting, he shot her a quick grin. “I’ve been driving these roads for years, woman. This isn’t anything new for me. At least your car handles relatively well. You should try driving an old farm truck with a sticky clutch, worn brakes, and manual steering with a tendency to pull to the left no matter what you do.”

  That had her grinning. “Daddy taught Megs and me to drive on an old clunker like that. You seem to forget that you are the one who left home. Me, I’ve been here my whole entire life. So if anyone hasn’t driven these roads in a bit, that’s you, mister man.”

  “Okay, I’ll give you that. I was off driving roads with potholes larger than our humvee, with people shooting at us and IEDs in unknown locations all over the country. Then I was off driving in D.C. traffic with a bunch of assholes with their phones attached to their ears, wrapped up in self-importance. In between, I got to go to war-torn countries where the guy with the biggest army and the biggest guns rule while I took away their drugs.” He smirked at her then. “Top that one, sugar.”

  “Right, I can’t,” Mercy said with a smirk. “And honestly, I’m good with that. My hat is off to you and any others that serve. I could never do that. The things that I’m sure you have had to do.” She shook her head and reached out to touch him. “But I’m grateful that you did it. I’m thankful that you and those like you have that calling.”

  He caught her hand, squeezing gently. “I’m just glad I came back home in one piece. Too many don’t, whether it’s something as unseen as PTSD or physical injuries. I came back, and was blessed enough to have you come into my life.”

  “You’re damn skippy.” Mercy knew that he was right. Sadly, war and violence cost people far too much more often than not. “But we came into each other’s lives. That’s what’s important. Now, no more thinking of bad things. Thinking of only good now.”

  “Yes, like seeing if we get a first glimpse of our little one. Doubtful, but you can always be ever hopeful, I suppose. If your stomach’s feeling better after the appointment, we should hit up Milly’s for a snack before we go over to the pharmacy. It’s probably best we do that and then clear out of town,” he said with a chuckle.

  “Sounds good, and I seriously doubt that they will be able to see our child. We are only about six-ish weeks along if we go from when we had sex.” She shrugged. “If I am recalling correctly from the mandatory classes I had to take to get my teaching license, it’s about the size of a BB pellet. However…” She looked to him and grinned. “If we are lucky, we will hear the heart beating.”

  “You’re likely better equipped to know that than me. Horses, it might be a toss-up, ditto with cattle. Babies, I shall yield the floor to your much greater knowledge in these matters.” He was starting to slow the car down, which was likely a good thing given the deputy occasionally liked to sit out behind a sign they were approaching to nab speeders. Right as anyone went by said sign, the speed dropped to a nice, sedate thirty miles per hour. Locals knew about it, but he’d gotten many an out-of-towner.

  “Well, I think that’s right. When we get to his office, we will make sure, but I think that I’m right.” She was about ninety-nine percent sure on this factoid. “I think it would be wonderful to hear the sound of our child’s heart though, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely.” He nodded with a smile, rubbing his thumb to her fingers. “It’ll definitely make this all seem so much more real. Not that it isn’t, but just talking about it and then having that undeniable reality right there…wow. You know what I mean, right?”

  “Yes, I know exactly what you mean. Believe me, if not for the four pregnancy tests that I took, it would be hard for me to accept at the moment. So, yeah.” She shrugged and squeezed his hand once more before letting it go so that she could put her hand to her belly. “Stomach is so not liking me right now.”

  Brant shot her a frown. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. If we are stuck waiting, I’ll run across to Milly’s and see if I can’t get you a packet of Saltines. We really should be carrying a box of those around with us,” he muttered.

  “Yeah, but I didn’t think about it,” she told him honestly. “As long as we will be able to get in and get out, that should be okay. It will all be good. Promise. And if all else fails, I will make you go and get me some crackers like you said.”

  “Before we go to the pharmacy, we’ll hit the store and grab a couple boxes. That way you can keep one in here and one in the house.” They were on the main street, not really a shock since the highway turned into Massey’s Main Street, then into a dirt road for miles before connecting back up to the highway system again. People were out, a few waved, others leaned toward the car to squint like they were trying to figure out just who was in there. Brant let out a snort. “You do realize this will hit the grapevine fast, right? Mama’s been waiting anxiously to tell someone, but she wanted us to have the appointment first. I honestly thought her head would explode when I told her she had to wait until I called her today to tell anyone.”

  “Sounds good to me.” She looked over at him and took in a deep breath. “Yeah. I know that the moment you and I both go in there together and then go and get crackers, the gossips will know. And when you add in going to Milly’s after and me getting light foods? Yep, I’m sure that everyone will know.” She laughed and shook her head. “You can tell her that she can talk after we know that we are healthy.”

  “She’s not going to like that,” he muttered. “You are right, though. I heard or read somewhere it was best to wait until after getting through the first trimester. Not even suggesting anything might go awry, just what I heard.”

  “Well, we both know she won’t be able to wait that long. After we’ve come out of the do
ctor’s and he’s given us the okay on our babe, then we will tell her that she can tell people. She would be happy to be able to at least tell someone first. Right?”

  “We’ll have to call her as soon as we get out of the exam room, or sooner depending on who’s in his office. We’ll make the call once we see who’s hanging around. If she doesn’t get to tell someone first, at least one time, our lives will be absolute hell. Not even kidding.”

  “Oh believe me, I know,” she said with a grin. “We will call her while the doctor is in there. We will ask him to say a word to those in the office because I’m sure that Monica Beverly is working today, and we know what a gossip she is.”

  “Good God,” he said on a groan. Making a face, he shook his head as he pulled into the doctor’s office parking lot. Parking, he toyed with the keys in hand. “All right, you ready for this?” he asked.

  “I’m as ready as I’m going to get,” Mercy said with a smile. “I’m also very excited. I’m very happy to know that we are okay and our child is okay, so whatever it takes, I’m happy with. Now then, let’s go and face the masses, shall we?” She was willing and able, or so she hoped.

  Chapter Nine

  They’d been ushered right into a patient exam room by none other than Nurse Monica. Brant hadn’t looked happy by that detail, but what could they do? After the door shut, Mercy got into the ever so lovely dressing gown. Brant appeared to like it, even snapped a picture of her, which she might have to kill him for later. Luckily for him, Doc Billings swept into the room not long after, so she didn’t get a chance to do anything about it.

  Mercy looked up at the doctor and grinned. “Hi there,” she said, and shot Brant another look. “How are you today?” She took a seat on the little patient bed, wincing with the crinkle of the paper under her. “I really, really hate that paper,” she grumbled, but held the gown closed in the front so she wasn’t flashing the doctor and Brant—damn his beautiful eyes for being so happy with the way the gown opened.

  He looked over his half glasses at her with a grin. “Why do you think we really put it on there? Oh, yeah, that whole hygienic thing is of course true, but we could use stuff that wasn’t so loud. Where the hell’s the fun in that?” he asked with a chuckle.

  Moving to his stool, he sat down and flipped open the chart. “Well, it’s been a while since you’ve been in here, Mercy. I understand we’re doing a whole pregnancy work up today, so we’ll have to send you off to the lab for blood tests, as I’m sure you’re aware. What I do need to know from you before we get started is what your average day is like healthwise. When you throw up, if you are, how long it generally lasts, anything you notice that sets you off, and so forth. Might give me some hints on further tests I may need to ask for. So, dish.”

  “I throw up all morning,” Mercy told him without holding back. “Then I’m exhausted and nap for the afternoon and when I wake, I eat like a crazy woman. I mean, I can out eat this guy.” She pointed to Brant. “And it’s the normal things that I eat like meats and veggies. So far, I haven’t really come across anything that I don’t like except for sweets and fat.”

  “At least you are eating healthy,” he said, scribbling on her chart. Looking at her over his glasses again, he pointed to the scale. “Get on it,” he told her, getting to his feet. “We’ll do your blood pressure too. I’m going to have them check your cholesterol, though I doubt that will be an issue, but who really knows these days? After I’ve given you the exam, we’ll see if we can’t find a bit of a heartbeat.”

  “That would be wonderful,” Mercy said with a grin. “If it helps you at all, I know exactly the night that we got pregnant. And you likely know all of our health histories, our families’ histories as well.” She got on the scale and frowned. “Well, that sucks. I’ve lost weight. I don’t like that.”

  “Happens from time to time,” Doc Billings said over the scratch of his pen on the chart. “Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll start putting on a few to even it all out. What matters most is ensuring you’re taking in enough nutrients for yourself and the baby, which means we’ll need to try and get your nausea under control. For now, I want you to have things like mint tea, especially peppermint, ginger ale, and Saltines. If those don’t help you inside a week, we’ll get you on a natural anti-nausea. I don’t want you on anything prescription if I can help it, but we’ll do whatever’s necessary so you’re keeping some of the food inside of you, young lady.”

  “Sounds good. I don’t want to take any meds either that I don’t have to. Whatever we have to do in order to ensure the best for our child, we will do it. I do have a question.” She didn’t want to ask this, but had to be sure. “If there had been a drug involved during the creation of the child, it wouldn’t hurt it, right?” She knew how bad that sounded and her cheeks were flaming red because of it, but she had to know.

  “Jump back up on the bed,” he told her. He was shaking his head as he wheeled to the desk, setting the file on the top with his pen. “No, it wouldn’t do much of anything. Were you a chronic drug user, we’d have more worries. One time with a clean lifestyle won’t do anything to the fetus, or you either in the long-term sense.”

  Brant shot her an “I told you so” look.

  Mercy rolled her eyes at Brant and looked back to the doctor. “Okay. I hated to ask that question, but I had to make sure. This child is the most important person to me right now.” She looked at Brant again and smiled. “Sorry, babe, but he or she will be the most important person in both our lives.”

  “Well, at least I come in second,” he muttered.

  Doc Billings snorted at that. “Son, I’d get used to it. You’ll have to put up with that for the next eighteen plus years. Even then you’ll always come in second place most of the time. Which seems fair given the fact she’s the one that will have to go through however many hours of labor to get the little sucker into the world.”

  Mercy snickered and then went still. “Now, hold up. No talking about that pain that I’m going to have to go through for a while, if you don’t mind. I mean, I know that it’s going to be there, but won’t be for many months left before us. So no talking about it unless you are ready to get me started on pain meds now. I do not do pain well at all.”

  “Really? I can’t imagine that at all,” Doc Billings muttered. “She was five, her mother brought her in, just kicking and screaming up a right fine stink. She had a flipping sliver in her finger. Took me and two nurses to hold her down to get the barely quarter-inch long piece of wood out of her finger. Three doses of lidocaine didn’t do shit. Had to end up bribing her with about two dozen suckers.” He looked to her again after that little reveal to Brant—who was trying hard not to laugh, she’d give him that much. “When you are going into your eighth month, we’ll talk about pain management options as well as all the other scary crap that can, but likely won’t, happen. Deal?”

  “Well, you know that not a lot works with me.” For some reason, pain medication didn’t work for her at all. Never had. And add to it that she had a low pain tolerance, she was in for a hell of a time. “We will talk about it and we will try to make sure that I’m not ready to kill Brant while I’m giving birth to our child.”

  “You won’t kill him.” The doc rolled his eyes at her. “Really, Mercy, have some faith in yourself, and the medical profession. We’ll figure something out that works. If not, we put Brant in full body armor and a cup, and you just get to deal. Personally, I think the second option would be the most entertaining for all of those in the room with you. Well, except you and Brant, of course.”

  “Oh, I think that it would be as well.” She was snickering and then winced. “Crap, doc, what in the world did you put that on my belly so cold?” she demanded of the cold jelly. “Bad man.”

  “It’s not that cold, just not as warm as you are. Now, let’s see if we can find this little sucker in here. After I get this bloody thing on.” He smacked the ultrasound machine and it beeped to life. “It’s alive!”


  “You are so bad,” she grumbled. She listened, and a tear trailed down her cheek as she heard the first swishes of the heart beating of their child. “Is that?” When the doctor nodded, she bit her lower lip. “Oh goodness.”

  Brant was next to her in a moment, his hand slipping into hers. “Wow,” he breathed out. He sounded just as awed as she felt. He leaned over her and pressed a kiss to her lips. “That’s our baby, Mercy,” he said softly.

  “I know.” She was crying. Damn, she was crying. “Record it. I know your mom will want to hear him or her, and when Megs calms down, I’m sure she will too. Please?” They both had cell phones that would record. She wanted that sound to keep forever.

  “Yeah, yeah,” he said. Scrambling for his phone, he got it out and then held it close to the speaker. They stayed silent for a good minute before he stopped the recording. Putting it to his ear, he smiled and nodded. “Got it.”

  “Good.” She smiled and then looked at Doc Billings. “Thank you,” she whispered to him. “It’s…goodness, it’s amazing to hear our child.” She looked back up at Brant and smiled. “I’m already so head over heels in love with it.”

  “Me too, sweetheart, me too.” Pressing a kiss to her lips, he smiled against her mouth. The doc stayed quiet, giving them their moment as he cleaned up her belly and turned off the machine.

  “All right, Mercy. Let’s sit you up and I’ll get the cuff on you so we can see where you’re sitting at for your blood pressure. After this, I want you to try and get some food into you. You can do your lab work any time this week. We’ll sit down once I get the results back in, and that will give you the chance to see if the oldies but goodies work for your nausea.”