Knocked Up By The Other Brother: A Secret Baby Second Chance Romance

by Ashlee Price

  “Because I know it must have been hard being a soldier.”

  “It was,” he admits.

  I press no further.

  “I wonder why that guard was looking for me. You don’t think I committed a crime the last time I was here, do you?”

  Travis shrugs. “I believe he said you didn’t need to run. Maybe he was just going to ask you a few questions because you were gone for some time and you’re suddenly back.”

  I, too, shrug. “I guess we’ll never know.”

  “Hey.” He holds my hand. “Are you regretting having me remove the chip? Maybe you should have just let that guard catch you. Then maybe you would have found out a few things.”

  “If I wanted the authorities to tell me who I was, I would have just gone up to them and asked them,” I tell him. “I saw a few earlier, you know.”

  “Why didn’t you ask then?”

  “Because I’m afraid,” I confess. “What if they tell me something I don’t want to hear?”

  “I thought you wanted to hear the truth.”

  I give another shrug. “Maybe not. Maybe I don’t need to. I was just upset at first knowing someone else invented my life, but now, I don’t mind so much. Because I have you in it.”

  I squeeze his hand.

  Travis smiles.

  I lift my head to give him a kiss but stop as my own head suddenly spins. I place a hand on my forehead as I wobble. My stomach turns.

  “Grace.” Travis puts his arm around me.

  “I’m fine,” I tell him as the wave of nausea and dizziness passes. “Maybe I just lost a little too much blood.”

  “You should rest,” Travis says. “I’ll find a place for you to rest and you can wait for me while I get the parts from the Lab.”

  I look at him with wide eyes. “You’re what?”

  “I’m going into the Lab,” he answers in a whisper after cautiously looking around. “I’ve met someone who can sneak me in.”

  “I’m going with you,” I tell him.

  Travis shakes his head. “No.”

  “Why not? I want to help you. What will you do if they catch you?”

  “What will you do?” he asks me.

  I shrug. “I’ll find a way out of it.”

  “So will I.” He touches my cheek. “You have to trust me.”

  “I want to go with you, Travis.” I look into his eyes. “So far, I haven’t run into anyone who knows me, even though I’m supposed to have lived here. What if I worked at the Lab?”

  He gives me a confused look. “I thought you don’t care about remembering who you were.”

  “I don’t. All I want to know is whether my parents and Katie are alive or dead. What if they’re in the Lab? My father was good in math.”

  “And if you find them?”

  “I’ll let them know I’m safe and happy and kiss them goodbye.”

  “It’s not that simple, Grace.”

  I touch his cheek. “Trust me. All I want is to see them one more time and let them see me so they won’t be worrying. If they are worrying. I mean, what if they’re the ones who sent that guard to look for me?”

  “And if you… don’t find them?”

  I look down at my feet. “I’ll be able to accept it. I have no choice. I’ll move on. I just want to know for sure that I am moving on and not just leaving anyone behind by accident.”

  Travis nods. “Alright. But we can’t be at the Lab long. Once I get the parts, we’ll go—regardless of whether you’ve found something or someone or not.”

  I nod. “I understand. At least I’ll know I tried. Thank you.”

  “Are you sure you’re feeling up to it, though?” he asks in concern. “You look a little pale.”

  “Like I said, I just lost a bit too much blood,” I tell him. “I’ll be fine after it’s been replenished. What time do we have to go to the Lab?”

  Travis glances at his watch. “We have to be at Dr. Scott’s house in three hours.”

  “That’s plenty of time,” I say. “I’ll be ready by then.”

  And I’ll be ready for whatever happens. And when it’s all over, I’m going home with Travis, and maybe I’ll never leave Hope Creek again.

  The thought makes me smile.

  “What?” Travis asks me.

  “Nothing,” I answer as I squeeze his hand. “Let’s do this.”

  ~

  “You want me to do what?” I look at Dr. Scott with eyes wide.

  We came to his apartment at five just as he asked and now we’re in the middle of planning how to sneak into the Lab, which apparently is more complicated with me in the picture.

  “Pretend to be my girlfriend,” Dr. Scott repeats. “That way, I can get you inside the Lab. There’s only room for one person in that crate, after all.”

  I glance at the wooden crate. Dr. Scott is planning to smuggle Travis into the Lab inside it, saying that it’s a new machine he’s working on.

  “You could just opt to stay here,” Travis tells me.

  I can tell he doesn’t like this plan, either. Even so…

  “Fine, I’ll do it,” I say after taking a deep breath. “If you’re sure they’ll let me in.”

  “They will.”

  Okay. He sounds like he’s done this before.

  “Even if I don’t have a chip anymore?” I show him my arm.

  “Just cover that wound up and I’ll take care of the rest,” Dr. Scott says.

  I glance at Travis, who shrugs.

  I turn back to Dr. Scott. “And Travis will be in the crate, which you’ll ask someone to take to your office, and once he’s there, he can break out?”

  He nods.

  “What if they don’t bring it to your office?” I ask.

  “Worst case scenario, they’ll put the crate in the storage room.” Dr. Scott looks at Travis. “Or maybe the best case. That’s where you want to be, right?”

  “Yes,” Travis answers.

  He shows me the map of the Lab that Dr. Scott gave him and points at the room marked with an X.

  “This is the storage room where the parts are,” he tells me. “Meet me outside it no sooner than 7:15. Got it?”

  I look at the map. “Got it.”

  “Should I draw another map of the Lab?” Dr. Scott asks.

  “Good idea,” Travis says.

  “Just don’t forget to give me Dr. Baker’s invention,” the scientist reminds him.

  I throw Travis a puzzled look. “What invention?”

  “I’ll give it to you later,” he whispers to me.

  My eyebrows shoot up. “You’re giving him one of Phil’s inventions?”

  “It’s not too important.”

  Okay.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks me in a normal voice.

  “Yup,” I answer. “Don’t worry about me. Like the genius here says, he’ll get me in.”

  “By pretending you’re his girlfriend.”

  “Hey. I pretended to be your wife. Pretending to be his girlfriend shouldn’t be so hard.”

  Travis frowns.

  “I’ll be fine,” I assure him with a pat on his shoulder. “Everything is going to be fine.”

  ~

  “It’s fine now.” Dr. Scott lets go of my arm as soon as we’re in an empty corridor. “You’re through.”

  I let out a breath of relief.

  My heart was seriously pounding back there. For a moment, I thought they wouldn’t let me in and the whole plan would get screwed. But they did.

  I’m in.

  “Thank you,” I tell the scientist. “Even though you practically told them I’m some kind of prostitute.”

  “It was the only way to get you in,” he explains. “But just so we’re clear, I’m not into that kind of women.”

  I nod. “Got it.”

  He shows me his open palm. “The invention?”

  “Right.” I take the pair of lenses out of my pocket. “I’m sorry I can’t tell you about them, but I don’t really know
what they are. Phil and Travis never told me, and I’m not a scientific sort of person, so…”

  “So it’s a mystery.” Dr. Scott grins. “I love mysteries.”

  I pat his arm. “Have fun with it. And thanks again.”

  He nods. “Good luck.”

  He goes back toward the entrance of the corridor, turning the lenses over in his hands as he walks. I check my map and continue on.

  The storage room is in the basement, so I have to find a flight of stairs or an elevator. According to this map, there’s an elevator not far ahead.

  I continue walking at a steady pace. Not too fast and not too slow.

  Someone walks past me and I look away.

  I walk on, passing by a door with a large button next to it.

  I stop.

  A button?

  The image of someone pressing it flickers in my mind like the flash of a camera. My head throbs.

  I lean against the wall and clasp my forehead.

  What was that image? A memory? Was I here before?

  Suddenly, I hear a clatter and turn my head to see a tall woman with a white coat and auburn hair clasping both hands to her mouth. The clipboard that she must have been holding lies at her feet.

  She looks at me with wide bluish green eyes as she steps forward. “Grace?”

  My eyebrows furrow at the sound of my name.

  She knows me?

  “My God, it is you.” She places her hands on my arms. “I can’t believe it. You’re alive and you’re here. Oh, I should tell Michael.”

  She lifts her wrist and presses a button on her watch.

  Michael? Who’s Michael?

  “Sorry, but I don’t know you,” I tell her.

  “Right.” She drops her hand. “You don’t remember me because… well, you probably don’t remember much.”

  I blink. This woman knows that, too? Who is she?

  “I’m Courtney McCain,” she introduces herself as she grabs and shakes my hand. “I’m a friend of Michael’s.”

  Michael again.

  “I really should tell him you’re here. Why, he’ll be so thrilled. He’ll never let you go ever again.”

  She lifts her arm again and presses buttons on her watch.

  I step back.

  Never let me go? What am I, his prisoner? His property?

  No. I have to go. I have to go find Travis. I have to go back to Hope Creek.

  I run.

  “Grace, wait!” Courtney calls after me, but I ignore her.

  I keep running until I see the flight of stairs then lead down.

  I have to go to Travis.

  Chapter 23

  Travis

  Got it.

  I grab the last part I need from the pile and toss it into the satchel with the rest. Then I pull out the pen I’ve tucked behind my ear and cross out the last item on my list.

  As I fold Phil’s note, I glance at the satchel packed with everything I need. I smile.

  With everything I’ve… well, stolen, the dome should last five to ten more years in mint condition, which just about guarantees the survival of Hope Creek—both the place and its wonderful people. And when that time is over, who knows? Maybe just as Grace said, there won’t be a need for a dome any longer. Maybe the world will have recovered by then.

  As I stuff the satchel inside my backpack, I think of all the other things inside the room. So many parts, and yet no one knows what to do with them. In Phil’s hands, they could do wonders. They could make Hope Creek an even better place than it is. Maybe someday they can even make the world a better place than it is.

  Grace’s other words come back to me.

  Could Hope Creek really help save what’s left of humanity, of the world? It’s such a small town, though, with so few people, not even an eighth of the crowd I’ve seen here in City Q. Not to mention that City Q has so many brilliant minds like Dr. Scott’s while we only have Phil’s and Martin’s papers. If a city built by the Pioneers can’t save the world, how can Hope Creek?

  My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps.

  Shit.

  I put my backpack on, pick up a metal rod to use as a weapon and stand against the wall near the door. Suddenly, though, a thought occurs to me.

  What if it’s Grace?

  Then I hear a man’s voice.

  Definitely not Grace.

  The voice becomes louder.

  “Are you sure it’s her?”

  I pause. The voice sounds familiar to me.

  Yes. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it before.

  “I’m outside the storage room, but I’m going there.”

  My heart stops as I recognize the voice, one I never thought I’d hear again.

  No way.

  “What? You lost her?”

  The metal rod slips from my fingers.

  “Who’s there?” the voice asks.

  My heart begins to pound.

  “Find her,” the voice orders. Then I hear a click.

  Moments later, the door opens and a man enters the room—a man with the same dark brown hair as mine but brown eyes instead of black. As those eyes meet mine, they grow wide.

  “Travis?”

  I swallow the quivering lump in my throat so I can say his name.

  “Michael.”

  My younger brother, who I thought dead. He tried to come after me, to get me to board the Vessel. Still, I refused. I thought he didn’t make it back to the ship in time, but I guess he did.

  “You’re alive,” I tell him as I step forward.

  Michael chuckles. “I could say the same thing about you.”

  I pull him into my arms and he squeezes me tight.

  “Man, where have you been all this time?” he asks. “What have you been doing?”

  “Staying alive.”

  He pulls away. “You should have come here a long time ago. Mom would have been thrilled.”

  “Yeah, Mom would have been,” I agree. “Dad not so much.”

  “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you,” Michael says. “In case you haven’t noticed, a lot has changed. There’s no point in holding grudges over things that happened before the Icebreaker.”

  “Listen to you talk.” I squeeze his shoulder. “You sound older than me.”

  He grins.

  “Wait.” I touch my chin. “You always did.”

  Michael laughs and hugs me again. “It’s so good to see you again.”

  “Same here.” I pat his back. “How’re Mom and Dad?”

  “Same,” he answers as he steps back. “Well, Mom and I are having a bit of a fight at the moment.”

  “You fighting Mom?” I give him a look of surprise. “That’s a first.”

  “You’re the one who taught me to,” Michael tells me. “You’re the one who told me a long time ago to stand up for what’s right and fight for what I believe in. I just never had a good chance to apply it until recently.”

  I narrow my eyes at him. “I told you that?”

  He snorts. “You were a pretty cool brother, you know.”

  “Yeah.” I nod. “I was the cool one. You were the smart, obedient one.”

  Michael shakes his head and puts his hands on his hips. “Damn, I missed you.”

  I smile. “I missed…”

  The rest of my sentence vanishes as Grace steps into the room with a distraught expression.

  “Grace?” I say her name at the same time Michael does.

  I glance at him. He knows her?

  It seems so, judging by how his eyes open even wider now than when he saw me, and how tears are forming at the corners.

  Grace turns to him. “Who are you?”

  “Grace, it’s me, Michael.” Michael reaches for her hands. “Don’t you remember me?”

  “Michael?” Grace’s eyebrows furrow.

  Mine do the same.

  Grace knows my brother?

  “Yes, it’s me, Grace.” Michael grips her hands in his.

  Grac
e shakes her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know you.”

  She walks over to me and throws herself in my arms, and I see the devastation written all over Michael’s face.

  “Michael,” I ask him, “how do you know Grace?”

  “The question is, how do you?” He turns to me.

  Grace looks at me. “You know each other?”

  “He’s my brother,” I tell her.

  Her jaw drops.

  “Why does she know you?” Michael asks. “Where did you meet her?”

  “We met after she lost her memories…”

  “Yes, including her memories of me,” Michael says.

  I hold my breath.

  “Travis, Grace and I were going to get married.”

  My eyes pop out as I hear Grace gasp.

  “We were?” she asks in shock.

  My hands fall from her shoulders. “Grace was your fiancée?”

  Michael nods. “Mom and Dad didn’t like her, but I was going to marry her anyway because I loved her.”

  His eyes glisten with tears and a fresh lump forms in my throat.

  My brother and Grace were together. They were engaged.

  I remember the impression of the ring on Grace’s finger the day I met her.

  “You gave her a ring?” I ask Michael.

  He nods. “Dad’s ring, but it was too big for her.”

  “So you put it on her middle finger,” I mumble.

  “But they took it off when she had the procedure,” Michael says.

  “What procedure?” Grace asks.

  “You wanted to have your scar removed. You had one across your face that you got from an earthquake just before the flood.” Michael traces a line across his face. “That was supposed to be all, but my mom did something and you ended up with a whole new face and some memories removed.”

  Grace touches her face. “This… isn’t my face?”

  “It is now.” Michael walks toward her and I slowly step away from them. “And you’re beautiful. Then again, you were beautiful even before, scar and all.”

  Grace looks at him and shakes her head. “You’re lying.”

  “Why would I lie?”

  She glances at me, then turns back to Michael. “I’m not your fiancée. I’m Travis’s.”

  The sound of Michael’s gasp and the pain in his eyes as he looks at me makes my chest tighten.

  I draw a deep breath. “No, you’re not.”

  Grace’s eyebrows furrow. “What?”

  “I never said we were getting married.”