by E. L. Todd
“Okay…”
He headed out of the bathroom. “I’ll meet you in the hall.”
***
Trinity was still asleep, so Slade drove me to the emergency room at the nearest hospital. I thought it was completely unnecessary but Slade wouldn’t budge. His argumentative and bossy side came out, and I knew I wouldn’t get my way if I tried.
After I checked in, I dressed into a gown then lay in the bed.
Slade sat at my bedside, wearing a t-shirt and jeans. His tattoos looked particularly bright under the florescent lights. If he was tired, he didn’t show it. All I could see was concern.
“You’re overreacting.”
Slade ignored my words and didn’t look at me.
When the doctor came inside, he did a routine exam then asked me a few questions. “What’s your diet been like?”
“Nothing unusual. Pretty much the same thing I’ve been eating all the time.”
“And stress?”
“I have a lot of stress…” I told him everything that happened.
He made a few notes on his clipboard. “That would weigh down anybody.”
Finally, I got someone to be somewhat sympathetic.
“I’m going to run a few tests to make sure there’s nothing else going on. Also, I’m giving you a pregnancy test.”
Pregnancy test? “I’m not pregnant.”
“You’re absolutely sure?”
“Well…I’ve been on birth control for a long time and my husband has been gone for over a month.”
He nodded. “Let’s do the test just to make sure.” He walked out of the room and shut the door.
My heart was racing in my chest and it wouldn’t slow down. The nausea in my stomach only increased. Was there any possibility I might be pregnant? I didn’t see how. I’d been taking the same birth control for a long time. It just wasn’t possible.
Or was it?
“It makes sense.”
I turned to Slade.
“Your appetite has changed, you’ve gained weight, and you have morning sickness…”
“It’s not morning sickness. It happens in the middle of the night.”
He shrugged. “Close enough.”
I turned away again and tried to swallow my fear. Could that really be the answer?
***
After I peed in the cup and set it on the counter, I returned to the bed and laid down.
Slade remained calm and rubbed his palms together. His body wasn’t rigid like it was earlier.
I stared at the wall and counted down the minutes until I got the results.
“What if you are pregnant?” he asked.
“What kind of question is that?”
“How will you feel about it?”
I hadn’t had a chance to think about it. “I don’t know…”
“You and Cayson have always wanted a family.”
“But not like this…” I turned the other way so Slade would stop asking me about it. I didn’t want to talk about something unless I knew it was true. What if it was negative and there was something else seriously wrong with me?
The doctor came into the room with his clipboard in hand. He immediately sat on the stool and glided across the floor slightly. “Mrs. Preston, you’re pregnant.”
I stared at him blankly, unable to absorb what he just said.
“She is?” Slade asked, happiness in his voice.
“Yep.” The doctor nodded. “There’s no room for interpretation.”
Oh my god.
The doctor looked at me as he waited for me to say something. “I canceled the blood work because you no longer need it. I’m writing you a prescription for nausea. It should get you through the night and won’t cause any harm to your baby.”
I nodded slightly, unable to speak.
“Congratulations.” He patted my shoulder before he walked out.
Once the door clicked I felt my eyes water.
Slade watched me. “I thought this was a good thing…”
I sniffed. “It is…it really is.”
“Then why are you crying?” He left his chair and sat at the edge of the bed.
I took a deep breath and tried to stop my quivering lip. “Because Cayson isn’t here…”
***
When we came home, we sat on the couch. My mind was flooded with a thousand thoughts echoing endlessly. There was a tiny person living inside me, and Cayson put them there. It must have happened on our honeymoon. I was on birth control, but all the sex seemed to override it.
Cayson and I wanted a family of our own, but we didn’t expect that to happen now. When I had a pregnancy scare a long time ago, I was afraid because I wasn’t ready. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood just how much I wanted it. When the pregnancy test came back negative, I was devastated. I’d fallen in love with something I never had.
But now I did have something.
Slade sat beside me, supporting me. “Cayson is going to be really happy.”
“I know he is. He wanted a family two years ago.” I chuckled lightly.
Slade smiled when he heard me laugh. “There we go…this is a happy time.”
My hand remained on my stomach. “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out. I’d been on birth control forever so I just didn’t see how it was possible.”
“Cayson is a stud—that’s why.” Slade winked at me.
My lips stretched into a smile.
“I’m going to be an uncle,” Slade said with a deep sigh. “So exciting.”
“An uncle?” I asked. “No…you’re a second cousin.”
He gave me a hateful glare. “Uncle. I’m Cayson’s best friend so I’m Uncle Slade.”
I knew it was stupid to argue with him. “Okay, Uncle Slade.”
His anger ebbed away. “When are you going to tell him?”
I moved my hand across my stomach. There was extra weight around the area but I thought it was just fat.
Footsteps sounded from the stairway, and Trinity came into the room wearing Slade’s t-shirt and boxers. Her hair was messy and her eyes were squinted like she just woke up. “Why are you guys away so early?”
Slade squirmed in his seat like he couldn’t sit still.
My smile stretched from ear-to-ear.
“What?” Trinity demanded. “Did you make chocolate pancakes or something?”
“Baby, come here.” Slade patted his thigh.
She moved across his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. “What?”
“Skye has some very exciting news.” He hugged her waist with the same grin on his face.
Trinity’s eyes moved to mine. “What’s going on, Skye?”
I took a deep breath before I spoke. “I’m having a baby.” Saying the words out loud sent ripples down my spine.
Trinity didn’t react at all. Then slowly, her lips pulled upward into a smile and her eyes lit up like a hot firework. “Oh my god!” She fanned her face then jumped to her feet. “Oh my god!” She turned to Slade like this should shock him too.
“Oh my god,” he said in a high-pitched voice.
Trinity didn’t seem to care that her husband just mocked her. “This is amazing, Skye!”
Her excitement made me even more excited. “I know.”
She wrapped her arms around me and held me tightly. “That’s so wonderful. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” I held my best friend in the world and felt warm.
She pulled away, the emotion still in her eyes. “I’m going to be an auntie.”
“Actually, a second cousin…” Did they both not realize that?
“Auntie,” Trinity said with a threatening look. Then it passed. “There’s going to be another little one around the family…so exciting. Cayson is going to be so thrilled. Does he know yet?”
“I haven’t told him.”
“He’s going to be so happy, Skye.” She clapped her hands together excitedly.
“I know he will.” A wife and kids
was something Cayson wanted with me since college.
“When are you going to tell him?” Trinity finally sat down on the couch beside me.
“I don’t know…” A flood of doubt moved through my body just at the thought.
“You don’t know?” Slade asked. “Tell him next time you talk to him. You know how happy he’ll be.”
Of course he would be happy. But there would be another problem. “Cayson left me here alone because he knows I can take care of myself and I’m surrounded by friends and family, but if he knew I was pregnant…it would be a different story.”
“What do you mean?” Trinity asked.
“It’s one thing to be a husband but another to be a father…Cayson would want to be there for everything. If I tell him, he’ll abandon his mission and come home. I know he will.”
The excitement left both of their faces.
“Of course I want him here to share this with me…but I don’t want him to stop what he’s doing.”
“But the baby isn’t even born yet,” Trinity argued. “It won’t be here for another seven and a half months.”
“Cayson won’t see it that way,” I said.
“She’s right,” Slade said with a defeated voice. “He’d be back here in a heartbeat, even if he had to swim across the Atlantic.” If Slade said it, then there was no doubt it was true.
Trinity didn’t seem as convinced. “But you can’t just not tell him…it’s his baby.”
“I don’t want to keep it from him,” I argued. “If this were any other situation I wouldn’t hide the truth from him.”
“And even if he did stay, he would hate himself the entire time,” Slade said. “He would loathe himself for not being with his family.”
“He would,” I agreed.
“By the time he gets back you’ll only be three months along,” Slade said. “So, he won’t miss much. We won’t set up the baby room or buy anything until he gets back. That way he can be a part of everything.”
“That’s fair,” Trinity said.
The idea of keeping this a secret made me feel guilty, but I would feel even worse if Cayson abandoned his mission just to be with me when I was sitting around eating ice cream all day.
“What about everyone else?” Trinity asked. “Are you going to tell them?”
“I’d rather tell Cayson first,” I said. “But that isn’t an option…”
“They’re going to figure it out anyway,” Slade said. “You’re just going to show more.”
“And glow,” Trinity said with a smile.
“Cayson will understand,” Slade said. “And he would want everyone to know so they could keep an eye on you.”
I nodded. “True.”
Trinity patted my arm. “Your parents are going to be so thrilled.”
“They will.” But then I remembered how weak my father was. “I’m going to wait until he’s a little better. I want him to enjoy this news when he isn’t in pain.”
“That makes sense.” Slade smiled. “Which means we’re the first to know. I’ll tell your kid this story when he gets older.”
“We’re so honored,” Trinity said. “I’m so excited that my stomach hurts.”
Slade rubbed her back. “We’ve got seven and a half months to go. Pace yourself.”
“Unless we make one of our own…” Trinity gave him a hopeful look.
Slade froze in dread. “Uh…”
I came to Slade’s rescue. “I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl.”
Trinity turned back to me, distracted. “It’s so going to be a girl.”
Slade breathed a sigh of relief when she wasn’t looking.
“Why do you say that?” I asked.
“I just know.” Trinity shrugged. “I have a gift for this sort of thing.”
I’d never heard her make a pregnancy prediction before but I let it go.
“So…how are you going to hide this from him?” Trinity asked.
“What do you mean?” I just wouldn’t tell him. Problem solved.
“Well…” She shifted her weight slightly. “When you guys do your cyber sex thing isn’t he going to notice your belly?”
My cheeks reddened slightly. “He usually just sees the upper part of my body…”
Trinity nodded and winked. “Gotcha.”
Chapter Fifteen
Slade
I was in a particularly good mood that day.
I was going to be an uncle—a real uncle. Cayson was my best friend in the world, and now he would have a little one running around. I would teach them to play ball and how to play video games. I would be the cool uncle that let him do whatever they wanted.
And I was really happy for my best friend.
He would be so thrilled when he heard the news. A family with Skye was what he wanted the moment they got together. At the time, I thought he was being a little girly, but now that I had a wife I understood it a little better. Plus, this solved his current dilemma.
Skye would be upset when she found out what happened, but there was absolutely no possibility she would leave him now that they were having a baby together. They would fight and things would be tense for a while, but since they had a bigger thing to focus on it would fade to the background. Cayson didn’t even do anything wrong. He was the victim of a crime. But now she would have even less reason to hold it against him.
Everything worked out perfectly.
It killed me that I couldn’t tell him the truth. But it wasn’t my story to share. He needed to hear the truth from Skye, and when he came home and saw her swollen belly in the airport, I knew his heart would shatter from joy.
Dad stopped by the shop, clearly just to visit. “You’re in an awfully good mood today.”
I wanted to tell him I was going to be an uncle but I knew I couldn’t say anything. My dad would tell everyone else in the family, and I couldn’t do that to Skye. She deserved to tell everyone when she was ready. “It’s a beautiful afternoon.”
“Did you get some good sex last night?”
“I always get good sex.”
He chuckled then patted my shoulder. “How are things?”
“Good. I’ve got band practice tonight.”
He sat in the chair behind the desk. “And what did your wife think about your new edition?”
I gave him a smug look. “She didn’t care—at all. She trusts me. Take that, dickhead.”
Dad smirked like he was trying not to laugh. “Dickhead?”
“My wife trusts me and you said she wouldn’t.”
“No…I said it might make her uncomfortable.”
“Which it didn’t,” I said triumphantly. “She trusts me and she has nothing to worry about, just like I said.”
“Well, that’s great,” he said. “I’m glad I was wrong.”
“You were way wrong.”
He chuckled. “Every man is wrong once in their life.”
I sat down and rested my hands behind my head. The same grin was on my face.
“Seriously, what are you so happy about?”
My smile didn’t drop. I kept thinking about a mini Cayson running around the shop when I babysat him. I would have a little guy to take under my wing, and our family would grow. “Like I said, it’s just a beautiful day.”
***
Scotty and Razor wouldn’t stop staring at Dee. They looked at her like she was the first woman with breasts they’d ever seen.
Dee did a good job pretending she didn’t notice their lustful stares. She ignored them and did her own thing. It was clear all she cared about was making music and nothing more.
Scotty watched her as he set down his bass on the stand. He wouldn’t pull his eyes away from her, so he ended up dropping the instrument on the hardwood floor. The strings made a loud noise like they were protesting the treatment. “Shit.” He picked it up quickly and made sure it wasn’t broken.
I tried not to roll my eyes. My band mates were making complete idiots out of themselves. Were they like this wit
h all women? If that was the case, I wasn’t sure how they got laid—ever.
“So, what are you doing after practice?” Razor approached her as he spun his drumsticks in his fingers.
“Going home.” Her tone was clipped. She tightened the strings on her guitar with her hair over one shoulder. The tattoo of the roaring bear was on her bicep. It was done in black ink and matched the color of her hair.
“We should get a bite to eat. You must be hungry after playing so hard.”
“I’m good.” She brushed him off coldly.
“Come on.” Razor gave her his best smile. “I’ll take you somewhere nice.”
“I don’t like nice places.”
Razor chuckled. “Then I’ll take you to a dump. How’s that?”
She turned away then bent over to set her guitar in the case.
Razor got a nice view of her ass then playfully smacked it. “Go out with me. I promise I’m charming.”
I cringed as soon as I saw what he did. Right off the bat, I could tell Dee wasn’t the kind of girl who would respond to such tactics. I’d pulled something similar in my past, but only when I already knew the girl was interested. Dee clearly wasn’t.
I was irritated Razor did something so stupid. Now that I was married and understood what it was like to be a woman my tolerance for harassment was low. I wanted Dee to feel comfortable here. She was a great musician and I couldn’t afford to lose her. I marched over there to give Razor a piece of my mind but I didn’t need to.
Dee quickly spun around then snatched his arm. She performed quick maneuvers and had Razor on his feet facing the opposite way. His arm was pinned tight against his back. “Don’t. Touch. Me.”
I stopped in my tracks when I saw what she had done.
Scotty’s eyes were wide.
Razor’s immediate irritation disappeared. “That was actually kind of hot…”
She twisted his arm. “I’m not joking, Razor. Touch me like that again and I’ll break your arm.”
“Okay, I’m sorry,” Razor said. “I was just trying to get your attention.”
“Well, you succeeded.” She released him then turned back to her guitar.
Even though Razor had been reprimanded, it didn’t seem like he really learned his lesson. He rubbed his arm while he smirked slightly. If anything, it seemed like his interest in her had only increased.
Razor wasn’t looking at me when I reached him. He was still on his knees.