by Mara McBain
She nodded, clasping shaky hands over her belly.
“Tell me this is going to be okay,” she begged.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said firmly. Determination was stamped over Crux’s scarred face. If sheer willpower could make this happen, her man had that in spades. “Text your doctor and tell her we’re on the way to the hospital.”
“My phone is on the charger there,” she said, gesturing to the night side table.
He circled the bed, grabbing the phone and handing her it with her pajama bottoms.
Struggling into the fleece pants, Kat sent a text to her doctor and Gin. It was no surprise when Ginny texted her back immediately.
I’ll meet you there. Do you need anything?
A little courage would be great.
I’ll be right there with you, little sister.
Kat bit her lip and smiled. She could always count on Gin. Crux’s boots pounded back up the stairs. He paused in the doorway, his perpetually mussed hair standing on end. She couldn’t help smiling and sending up a little prayer. If you’re listening God, give me a healthy baby boy that looks like his daddy.
“You’re smiling. You must have gotten a hold of Gin.”
“She said she’d meet us there.”
“Does that mean I can go wait it out at the bar?” he asked with a shit-eating grin.
“Not a chance. You put it there. You’re going to suffer right along with me,” she said, grinning back until another contraction took her breath away. The pain sobered her.
Squatting down in front of her, Crux took her hands and encouraged her to squeeze. “It’s going to be okay, baby.”
“Promise not to leave me. No matter what,” she whispered. “I mean it, Tommy. If things don’t go good, don’t let go of my hand.”
He knew she was serious when she used his first name. He nodded.
“I swear, baby. Heaven or hell couldn’t tear me away from you.”
She squeezed his hands, staring into his eyes. Finally she nodded. “Let’s go.”
Crux raked a hand through his hair as he watched the doctor examine his wife again. Tension thrummed through his body. His leg jiggled impatiently. If he hadn’t been holding Kat’s hand he would have been pacing. Patience wasn’t a virtue he possessed. Feeling a slight tug on his hand, he looked down at her, praying the smile he offered was comforting.
“Everything is looking good, Katrina.”
“Kat. Please.”
“I’m sorry, Kat,” the doctor said, giving her knee a pat. “You’re progressing normally. Everything is looking good right now.”
“You don’t think we’re going to have to do a C-section then?”
“The way you’re dilating, the cesarean isn’t necessary at this time. I’m going to continue to monitor your progress. If anything changes you will be the first to know. Just try and relax.”
“I was going to tell you that you should be enjoying your last hours of sanity, but then I remembered who I was talking to.” Ginny snickered.
“There’s no doubt that ship has already sailed,” Kat agreed with a grin. She reached out and snagged a piece of hard candy from her gift basket. “I can’t believe this basket you brought. I’m so spoiled.”
“All the girls wanted to be here, but someone has to run The Lantern. I promised to deliver the goodies, keep them updated, and Paparazzi the first pictures. Oh! Speaking of the restaurant, did I tell you that we tried Eva’s Alfredo lasagna as a special the other night and it went over really well?”
“That stuff is sinfully rich. I want to make that sometime for Crux. It’s a nice twist on a winter staple, like the white chili.”
Crux flashed the Lord’s queen a thankful look. She was doing a good job of keeping Kat distracted from her fears. He didn’t know what the hell to say to her at this point. Everything in him was screaming to take her back home, lock all the doors and curl her up safe in their bed. It was irrational, but the feeling was consuming.
He stroked his thumb across her knuckles. It worried the shit out of him that she was scared. Kat had good instincts. Women had freaky instincts. What if there was something wrong with the baby? It had seemed the past six months every time he’d picked up the paper or turned on the TV the headlines had screamed about atrocities committed against women and children. Crime shows had glorified their “Ripped from the Headlines” tales of everything from babies cut from the womb to horrific decisions of life and death. If it came down to Kat or the baby, there was no decision as far as he was concerned. From the day he’d made her his, he’d known he would protect Kat at all costs.
“What’re you thinking,” she asked softly.
Shaking the cobwebs clear, Crux forced a smile. “Thinking how much I love you.”
“You look fierce.”
“You keep wishing a kid just like me on us. I better be fierce to keep his ass in line,” he answered with a wink.
“What if the ultrasound technician was wrong and it’s a girl?”
“I’ll be over the moon to have a little girl as beautiful and sassy as her mama.”
“Don’t borrow trouble, Kat. That’s what Zeke always tells me. As long as mama and baby are healthy, that’s all that matters,” Ginny said. “A girl would just require more shopping.”
Crux rolled his eyes. “I’m sure that would be a horrible hardship for you women.”
“Did Kat mention to you that the doctor suggested a return trip to the spa around the six week mark?”
“Did she now?” Crux asked, giving Ginny a clearly unconvinced look. “You hear what the wily one is trying to blame on you now, Doc?”
“While I may not have officially prescribed a spa day, I can’t deny the benefits, particularly with the amount of stress Kat has been under for the past nine months.”
“I see how it is, Doc. You women just band together against us poor, defenseless males. We don’t stand a chance against beauty and cunning both. Did I just get billed for that advice as well?”
“All part of the services, Mr. Croston,” the doctor said with a small laugh.
Kat’s hand clamping around his jerked Crux back to the job at hand. Her beautiful features twisted in agony as she swayed in the bed in a useless attempt to ease the pain that gripped her. Sliding onto the bed behind her, he wrapped her in his arms giving something to brace against. All he could do was hold her. It didn’t seem like enough at this point.
“Try panting through it and scream if you need to,” Ginny offered, face twisting in a grimace of sympathy for her friend.
“I’m sure the screaming will come soon enough,” Kat hissed through clenched teeth before slumping back against Crux with a slow exhale.
Kissing the top of her head, Crux let out a breath of his own. He hated seeing her in pain. Palming her belly, he rubbed softly.
“Come on, kiddo. Don’t give your mama a hard time. You’re going to figure out real fast that that don’t fly in our house,” he growled.
“Hard ass,” Kat whispered with a little smile.
“If he comes out like me, he’s going to find out what kind of hard ass I can be.”
“You’re going to be a good daddy, just like you’re a great husband.”
“You might want to pull back on those drugs, Doc,” Crux said with a grin.
“I’m afraid you can’t blame pharmaceutics for Kat’s views. You’re going to have to accept the compliment, Mr. Croston.”
“You’re a great husband for me.”
“Damn good thing, woman, because I’m the only one you’re getting.”
“You make me feel safe and loved, beautiful and sexy, smart and funny,” she said, her voice breaking on the emotion.
“Maybe it’s because you’re beautiful, sexy, smart and funny,” he suggested, humor coloring his gravelly voice. “Don’t go getting all sappy on me. I’m going to need my tough old lady to get through this.”
“Exactly what’re you getting through? I’m the one getting ready to push out a waterme
lon,” Kat snapped, trying to look at him over her shoulder.
“That reminds me. Make sure you take a couple of extra stitches, Doc. I want her back in original condition.”
Kat plucked out a couple of his arm hairs in retribution for that off-color remark, and he smiled into the side of her neck. He straightened as she tensed. She pressed back against him, her back arching in pain.
“Breathe, little sister. It helps,” Ginny urged.
Kat let out a gasping pant. Her body shuddered. Nails scrabbling over Crux’s grease stained hand, she pried it from her stomach to cling to it with both of hers. A sob bubbled from her lips as she slumped.
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Of course you can. You’re one of the toughest bitches I know.”
The look Kat shot her best friend was filled with doubt despite Ginny’s encouragement. Stress lined her face, sweat dotting her forehead. She took Ginny’s offered hand in one of hers and held it tight.
The next hour was the longest of Crux’s life. How in the hell did men put their wives through this shit more than once? By the time the doctor urged Kat to push he was on the verge of promising God never to touch her again if he’d just end the pain. He held her, feeling the shudder and buck of her body. Her nails dug crescents into his skin. Her screams ripped at his heart and he ground his teeth, praying and cursing God in the same breath.
Their son’s first cry was the most welcome sound ever. He felt moisture trickle down his cheek as the doctor laid the squalling cherub on Kat’s stomach. Red, his face screwed up in a pissed off wail, the little one’s dark hair stuck up in wet spikes. He was beautiful. Kat let go of his hands to run hers over their son in a flutter of worry. Crux held his breath as she counted fingers and toes. He was perfect.
Kat looked over her shoulder at him and he dropped a quick kiss on her mouth.
“Oh my God, he’s so gorgeous,” she breathed.
He had to clear his throat before he could push the words out.
“He’s a keeper, baby.”
Kat still held one hand in her sleep; his other was dangling in the bassinet. Crux smiled in the dark as Cam’s tiny fingers wrapped around his forefinger. This dad stuff was going to take some getting used to. For the time being he was happy enough just to watch the joy on his wife’s face every time she looked at their child. The rest would come. He yawned. Despite calling off work to spend the day at the hospital, he’d never been so exhausted. It had been a roller coaster day.
Letting his head loll over the back of the chair, he closed his eyes. They were dry and gritty, like he’d spent the day in a weld booth. His tears had surprised him. It had been a long time since he’d given in to that weakness. His chest tightened. After all these years, he could still feel the sting of the fist in his hair hauling him out from behind the couch. He had kicked and screamed like a wild animal as the bastard lifted him clear of the floor. The air had whooshed from his lungs as he’d crashed through the glass coffee table. His mother’s initial concern had been for the furniture. The John had laughed. Their conversation was blurred in his memory now, but he remembered the handsome man leaning over him with a sneer, “I’ll give the little fucker something to cry about.” The light had glinted off the jagged piece of glass as it sliced across his face. Shock and time had dulled the pain, but for some reason he could still feel the rush of blood on his skin and the humiliating warmth when he’d wet his pajama bottoms.
Crux swallowed the knot in his throat. The words had stuck with him over the years and were an instant trigger. It wasn’t something someone ever wanted to say to his kid. He’d spent seven years in prison for using a crowbar to beat the shit out of a stranger who thought that sort of drivel was the way to get through to a child. It had been just been his luck that the fucker was an off duty police officer just like Mommy’s John. His lip curled in disgust, crooked bastards. Sighing, he pulled his hand from the bassinet to swipe over his face and rub at tired eyes. Finally, he draped his arm back over the baby bed and slouched in the chair. He needed to get some sleep.
Crux’s eyes snapped open a second before Kat’s scream shattered the night. Surging to his feet with a roar, he pushed the bassinet backwards, away from the menacing form that loomed over it. He hit the man square in the chest with his shoulder sending them both crashing to the floor. Light from the hall fell across the intruder’s face and rage roared through Crux with recognition. One fist closed around that impeccable Windsor knot at his father-in-law’s throat as he reared back with the other to drive it into the old bastard’s face. Hands caught his arm and he had to settle for twisting the tie tighter and ramming his knee into the older man’s groin. The agony on the fucker’s face was satisfying. Lights came on, the cacophony of voices drawing a wailing cry from Camden.
A security guard crashed through the door and used his considerable bulk to help drag the men apart. Staggering to his feet, Crux swung his gaze to the bed. It was empty. Terror helped him fling the burly security guard off. He spun, eyes wild as he searched the room. Kat shook in the corner, her body positioned desperately between her private bogeyman and her child. Crux turned back to the guard and staff with a feral snarl.
“Get him the fuck out of here!”
Kat’s father crawled slowly to his feet, his pale cerulean eyes glittering. Color suffused his sharp features and Crux didn’t miss the wince as the old man smoothed the front of his slacks and resisted the urge to cup his bruised balls. A muscle jumped in his jaw as he straightened the cuffs on his sharp suit with a snap.
Crux felt his lip curl in disgust as he stared at the sick fuck. He hadn’t changed much in fifteen years. The wealthy business man looked him in the eye, no extra flesh on his angular frame. Long blunt fingers adjusted his tie and Crux sneered at the soft hands and perfectly manicured nails. John Merrick hadn’t done a day’s work in his pampered life.
“Sir, it’s past visiting hours,” the security guard said.
“That man assaulted me. I want him arrested,” he wheezed.
The guard stepped hastily between them as Crux lunged at the older man. An orderly moved in to help.
“I’ll show you assault you arrogant prick.”
“Sir, visiting hours are—”
“I’m well aware of the hour. I just stopped in to check on the welfare of my daughter and new grandson when I was attacked. Perhaps you missed that part.”
It was everything the guard and the orderly could do to restrain Crux as John stepped around him dismissively, eyes locked on the little boy.
“Get him the fuck out of here!” Kat screeched, tears rolling down her pale face.
Crux completely lost his shit at the fear in his wife’s voice. His heavy boot heel crushed the orderly’s foot as the back of his head smashed into the guard’s face. Wrenching away from their loosened hold he moved between Kat and her father, fists clenched, chest heaving.
“Stop, Croston!” an officer ordered from the doorway. “What’s going on here?”
“I merely stopped in to see my grandson for the first time. You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this day,” John said, his eyes narrowing on his daughter before he offered a tight smile. “Finally a worthy heir, and just when I’d given up hope of Katrina ever doing something I could be proud of.”
Kat shook with rage as she glared at her father over Crux’s shoulder. “He’s not your anything! You won’t touch my baby.”
A nurse tried to step closer to the basinet and crying child, but Crux whirled on her making the poor woman fall on her ass in an effort to back away.
“Let me put this in a way you people can understand,” Crux snapped. “Get this abusive son-of-a-bitch out of my wife’s hospital room or I will sue your fucking asses for emotional trauma and anything else an over paid attorney can think of.”
Looking at the fear and strain on Kat’s face, the deputy stepped in front of John, a hand going to his chest.
“I think you need to leave, Mr.?”
“I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if you left now, Mr. Merrick. It’s the middle of the night. Your daughter is tired and upset. The little one needs her attention.”
“I want to press charges and I offer my very fine attorney’s services to these two gentlemen as well. As you can see, Croston is a very violent man.”
“Are you guys all right?” At their nods the deputy continued pointedly, “I think what we have here is an overprotective husband and father that was confronted in the middle of the night and acted to protect his own. You look no worse for the wear, and I’m not wasting the resources. I’m asking you to leave, and not come back unless you’re invited.”
“Do you have any idea who my family is?”
“I know who your daughter is and I know that your son-in-law is not a patient man. That is what we’re dealing with right now,” the officer said patiently, “Now, if you’re about to threaten me, I’d stop and think about where you want to spend tonight until the courts open, and reconsider.”
Looking past the officer in annoyance, John’s glare bore into Crux.
“I won’t let you take my grandson from me the way you did Katrina. You took something precious and despoiled it.”
“Let’s get a couple of things straight, old man. You and your perverted brother hurt Kat. I’ve never treated her with anything but love and respect. She’s my wife now and if you do anything to hurt her or my son, I will gut you.”
The menace in Crux’s voice made even the officer shift uncomfortably, his hand moving to rest on his side arm.
“I don’t know what my slut of a daughter sees in a lowlife, sideshow freak like you.”
Crux smiled and took a step closer to Merrick. “You don’t need to worry about Kat. You just remember what I said. You fuck with me and my pretty face will be the last damn thing you ever see.”
Four