“Oh, sweetheart.” I left my desk to hug her. “Let me guess, you skipped a couple?”
“Only two,” she sobbed. “I didn’t even start my period early, so I thought everything was okay.”
I pulled her chin up towards me. “You have to tell him the truth. Tonight. He will be happy once he gets over the shock, but men are chicken shit on their first one.”
“It’s eating me up. I’ll do it right now. He’s off today and working on a car with a buddy in our garage.”
She flew out so fast, I felt sorry for the guy. He didn’t have a clue that an unspotted tornado was headed his way.
* * *
I’d secretly found out I was having a girl. I told the technologist doing my last sonogram to blink like crazy if it was a girl. So, she did. Ian won’t have a clue that I know and he’ll still be surprised at the delivery. Knowing just made life a little easier. Plus, I got to dream about holding and naming my daughter. Would she be blonde like Ty and me or would she have dark hair like Ian and Oliver? Would she have our light freckles? Our crystal blue eyes or red hair like Ian’s grandmother?
I thumbed through the catalog, which gave me some great ideas. I could paint the walls a light gray, find a white-covered rocker and ottoman, add distressed gray furniture, and save the pink color for curtains. Or blue, if Ian asked. The catalog photograph had a wall display of various objects in vintage frames that had been painted white. With a chandelier, the room would be perfectly girlie. Operation Nursery, at least in my head, was almost done.
I left the boutique in Parker’s hands and headed to the hardware store to pick out paint. When my phone rang from an unknown number, I thought about not answering, but since the boys weren’t with me, I went ahead and took the call.
“Hello?”
“Don’t hang up, Chelsie.”
Fuck.
“What do you want?”
“I have to see you. I have something we need to discuss that can’t wait.” And then he was gone.
Dammit, were they going to let that sick jerk out?
“Whatever it is, just say it. We don’t need to be face to face.”
“These calls are recorded. Do you really really want to to talk about our private life over the phone for the world to hear? Besides, I have an offer you can’t refuse.”
Unable to shake his growly voice from my mind, my Home Depot plan was suddenly thwarted. I needed for whatever it was that Carson wanted to be over.
I never had wished anyone dead—until him.
So I took my paint to the car and gripped the steering wheel with my trembling hands. This chapter of my life had no fucking closure. What did it take to get peace?
Just one damn call from him could ruin a whole year of happiness. Would I ever be free of that monster?
Don’t give him that power. FIGHT!
I parked in the garage and waddled over to the jail in downtown Dallas. It was disgusting being there, but at least, the officers were kind to me and hurried my visitor admittance along. I was escorted to a holding room with glass windows all around and security cameras in the corners. An armed guard stood beside the door and watched ever move I made. When Carson was escorted in, his hands were cuffed. The guard helped him sit in the chair.
“Have a seat. We need to talk,” he was as smug and domineering as always.
The upper hand felt as though it suddenly belonged to me. “No thanks, I think I’ll stand. The trial starts in two weeks. What do you have to say that couldn’t wait?”
“You look hot. I always thought pregnancy looked good on you. Your tits are bigger and your pussy’s sweet, not that you’d let me taste you often.”
His warped mind no longer threatened me. “I don’t care what you think, Carson. What do you want?”
Seeing him in orange and handcuffed felt awesome.
“I want to make you the same offer as your boy toys when they came to visit. I’ll agree not to tell the world you hired a prostitute and ruin your pretty little reputation if you agree to drop the charges against me and don’t show up to testify.”
Ian and Jason never said a word to me about his offer. Liars. Figures.
I tried to remain calm and unaffected, both of which would give Carson the supreme personal pleasure. “Regardless of what you offered them or me, it won’t work. I’ve already been subpoenaed, and I can’t wait to see you get your day in court.”
I moved towards the door to leave.
“Did he tell you about your sex tapes on RedTube?” He yelled. The officer in the corner lunged closer to him, unsure of what was coming.
I turned back too quickly. He got the reaction he was searching for.
“No, I guess not. You might want to watch what the rest of the world has probably seen. Looks like I did manage to teach you how to fuck. You acted and sounded like a porn star tied up in black lace. Love the garter and that shaved pussy. Yum.” He smacked his lips. The sight of him had me ready to vomit.
I took a couple of steps forward very quickly and slapped him with everything I had. “You’re sick. What do you really want?”
The guard pulled me away from the table. “Mam, you’ll need to leave.”
I nodded my head, “Okay no problem,” I gritted out as he led me to the door.
“Drop the charges. I’ll sign over adoption papers for Ty,” Carson yelled from behind me.
Tears welled in my eyes. I stopped and turned to face him, the guard still holding my right arm. “Our son means so little to you?”
“Freedom means more.”
“Fine, you’ll get your papers. I’ll get our son and come out the winner.” I stalked out the door.
I made a quick escape to my car and cried. Too little too late for everyone. Ty had already digested so much pain. I’d suffered, too. And now I find out the world had watched my most intimate of scenes and there was no turning back. The damage was done, I’d give him what he wanted and get him out of Ty’s life.
I found the DA’s office and barged in. Yelling at the receptionist, I quickly got escorted to a back room.
“I’m Amy Klinger, Assistant DA. What’s your name?”
“Chelsie Peterson Briggs,” I uttered through my sobs.
“The Carson Peterson case?”
“Yes. He wanted to see me and I just left the jail.”
She opened a small fridge and handed me a bottle of water. I took a seat in a chair by the window. “He wants me to drop the charges in exchange for full custody of my son.”
She sat on the edge of the desk. “Hmm. I see. He pulled the same stunts on you as he did your friends?”
I shrugged. “I guess. Apparently, they didn’t tell me everything.”
“They were trying to protect you, Ms. Peterson, I mean, Mrs. Briggs. I forgot you’ve recently married. Look, even if you wanted to drop the charges, the state has enough reason and judicial concern to put him away and that’s what we’re going to do. But, let me reassure you this much. Your friends shut down the RedTube links and there’s no longer any viability to Carson’s threats. He can tell people, but who do you know who even talks to him any longer? I know it’s concerning, but in the grand scheme of things, you will win a custody case study, and you will get full rights to your son anyway, it might just take a little longer. Carson Peterson is going to prison for a long time.”
“He said he would sign papers allowing an adoption. I want that for my son.”
The abnormal pressure was beginning to mount inside me in my pelvis. The baby felt so heavy. I’m sure she was ready for this shit to be over as much as I was.
“Are you still in contact with your divorce attorney?”
“Yes, it’s Willa James.”
She touched my arm. “Look, I know Willa. We went to school together at UT. I’m going to give Willa a call, and you should call her, too. Here’s what’s going to happen.” She took the seat beside me and gripped both of my hands. “I’ll remove you from the witness list. His attorney will be notified. He’ll
think he got to you. Ask Willa to draw up standard forms releasing rights to your son. There will be nothing in them about agreeing to forego testifying. Take them to him sometime within the next week. He will sign them and once he does, you’re back on the stand to put that monster away. Honey, listen to me: You have all the power here, not him. Take it and run with it.” She hugged me and for the first time, I felt she was right.
Fucking Carson over would be a glorious day in court. Finally, a win-win for the good guys.
On the way to the boutique, I called Willa and left a detailed message of what I needed with her paralegal, and then told her that Amy would be calling. The pressure of the baby was getting more intense. Cramps were beginning to spasm in my back. Deep breathing didn’t work and I needed to pee so bad. I couldn’t even make it inside the boutique before I peed all over my dress. When I got to the bathroom, there was blood.
“No,” I cried. “This cannot be happening.”
Running into the store, I yelled for Parker, but he didn’t answer. I yelled again, still no answer. I called Ian and no response.
Where the hell is everyone?
With cramps hitting me hard and fast, I found Sabrina. “Go next door and find Ian. The baby’s coming.”
I was propped on my desk and about to call 911 when a sharp pain sent me to the floor on all fours. About that time, Ian ran in.
“Oh my God, tell me.”
“Pain, bleeding, pressure, like the baby’s head is coming or something. It hurts so bad and it’s not like labor with Ty.”
He started screaming at someone on his phone for an ambulance.
He looked up at Sabrina, who was standing over me. “Get me towels, scissors, string, a blanket and a pillow.” I heard her shoes on the hardwood floor as she ran to get what he asked for.
“Honey lay down on your back and let me see how far you're dilated.”
He helped me get over on my back on the floor and removed my panties.
“The baby’s crowning. We don’t have time for an ambulance. On the count of three, I want you to lean forward and push.”
I cried. “I can’t. It’s too soon. I have to keep her in.”
“She’s too far in the birth canal. PUSH.”
He used my arms to pull me forward as I pushed with everything I had.
He checked again. “Another push, one, two, three.”
“Argh,” I screamed. “She’s stuck. It hurts so bad.”
“Your doing excellent honey. One more time, push.”
I used all the strength I had to deliver her.
“That’s perfect. The baby’s out.”
Silence.
“I don’t hear her crying. Is she okay.”
I heard scuffling but no one was talking.
“Somebody please answer me. She’s not breathing, is she?” I cried, trembling with fear. I tried to get up.
“Don’t move, Chelsie,” Sabrina ordered.
Then I heard Ian doing CPR on the baby. Counting out compressions and breathing into her tiny nose and mouth. I tried to look, but I couldn’t see him, he was behind me.
“Ian, please?”
There was lots of scurrying activity and mumbled voices around me. I wasn’t sure who was in the room or what was happening, and what was probably seconds seemed to take hours. But the next thing I knew, I heard my daughter’s cries. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard, the sound of new, precious life. I’d never forget that moment as long as I lived.
The ambulance rushed us to the hospital, and Ian rode in the back with us. She was so tiny and seemed lifeless, but we held so much hope she would make it. As they swiftly rolled us into the hospital, she was taken to NICU and I was taken to delivery to check everything.
Not knowing what was going on with our baby was difficult for both of us. Ian was torn between wanting to be with me and trying to be with her. He ran back and forth until he looked exhausted.
It was some time before we were allowed to see her. All we kept being told was “The team is working to stabilize her and so far everything is good news.”
What fucking good news?
When they finally gave us the green light to see her, Ian pushed me in the wheelchair to the nursery. The room was small and I wasn’t prepared for what I saw. They’d put a tiny blindfold on her that the nurse said was to protect her eyes from the bright lights. She was still breathing on her own, but at three and a half pounds, she was so small. I looked at all the equipment and tubes going into the isolette. It was frightening and painful to absorb.
This was not how I dreamed it would be…
The pink baby announcement taped to the end of her bed read Baby Girl Briggs. “She needs a name. A real identity. If something happens, I want her to know her name.” I wept.
“You love the name Zoey. What about Zoey Grace?” Tears streamed down his face too as he stood on the other side of her bed and faced me.
I looked at him. It was a beautiful name. “It’s perfect.”
I grabbed Ian’s hand and put both of ours on top of the incubator. “Hi, Zoey. It’s your mommy and daddy. We’re pleased to meet you.”
We both cried as we watched her lifeless body fight to survive while her tiny heart beat inside her frail chest.
I love you so much, my precious girl.
She didn’t have much hair, but what she did have was dark. I couldn’t wait to see her eyes. Her fingers and toes were very tiny, but perfect all the same.
Another nurse joined us. “I’m Emily, the night nurse that’ll be taking care of her. This is all overwhelming, I know, but I’ll be here to help you get settled in and in the meantime, feel free to ask me anything.”
She continued, “After she’s stable for thirty-six hours, you’ll be able to reach in and touch her, just don’t pull on any cords or wires. We do hope you’ll consider breastfeeding; it’ll help her grow stronger, faster. Also, Kangaroo care is a method of bonding where we put her against your bare chests at a point down the road. She knows you already, so this is a healthy approach.”
Zoey began to stir. “I bet this little girl is hungry. Have you breastfed before? Emily asked.
“No.” I didn’t breastfeed Ty, so this was going to be a new experience.
“I’ll get you a pump. The baby can’t suck yet, so we’re going to feed her through this tube. Once we get your milk going, she will grow so fast and strong, you’ll be amazed.”
Emily was a doll and put me at ease. I noticed Ian just standing and watching, but he seemed to be in a trance.
Emily patted my arm. “She’s going to be just fine and she’s a very lucky little girl to have a doctor for a daddy. Another minute or two and we wouldn’t be having these conversations.”
“What?” I uttered.
“He didn’t tell you?”
I shook my head. “Your husband saved her life. She wasn’t breathing at birth because she’d begun to suffocate in the birth canal.” She patted Ian’s arm. “Great job, sir. Congratulations to you both. This little fighter is going to be fine, I just know it.”
She left, and I studied Ian’s face as he just watched Zoey breathe.
“Is that true?”
“Yes.”
“Don’t ever again think that you’re not a whole. You just saved a life…”
Captivated On 5th Avenue: Book 3 (5th Avenue Romance Series) Page 16