My day was perfect after my little break room affair with Carmen. Blue hair didn't even affect me after that. I smile as I open the door to our apartment. "Carmen." I call out, but don't get a response. She's probably taking a nap. I kick my boots off and decide to start dinner for a change. I'm no chef, but I make a kick ass omelet. I throw some eggs, left over steak, onions, and mushrooms into a pan on low and go to check on her. I only work until seven for now. I don't like her home alone so much being pregnant. The bedroom door is open. I walk in expecting to see her laying on our bed. She's not there. Her car is out front. She has to be here. But where the hell is she? I pull my phone from my pocket and dial her number. It rings. I can hear it in the kitchen. Where the hell is she? I hang up and call out, "Carmen." I listen and swear I hear her voice. What the fuck? Then it hits me. I jog through the kitchen to the basement door and open it. "CARMEN." I know she's down her I can feel it. "Dalton." She says with relief. She sounds fine, but as soon as I step off the last step and see her laying there, I feel like a mad man. "What the fuck?" I rush over and pick her up. Her foot is broke. It doesn't take a doctor to tell me that. "I slipped." She tells me. I see the puddle of water in front of the washer and dryer. "Why are you doing laundry?" I hurry her up the stairs. I sit her on the kitchen counter and look closer at her foot. "Fuck babe. Does anything else hurt?" She shakes her head no as tears form in her eyes. "How long did you sit down there?" She shrugs then bursts into tears. "OK, lets get you to the hospital." I pick her up and rush out to the car. Once I get her in and as comfortable as possible, I look down and realize I have no shoes on, or keys for the car. I run back into the apartment and get my boots and the keys. All I can think is, I failed Carmen. I failed our baby. She should have never been doing laundry in her condition. Any other man wouldn't have allowed it. I get in the car and back from the driveway. I need to stay as calm as I can, and get us there safely, but the failure I feel is making me drive fast. I need to know our baby is ok. She reaches out touching my thigh, "Dalton, I'm not in labor. Please slow down." I ease off the accelerator, as I take her hand into mine. "I'm sorry, babe. I'm so sorry." I tell her then kiss the back of her hand.
"Well other than the injury to her foot, and being a bit dehydrated, everything looks fine." What does that mean? Does everything include the baby? "Our baby is fine?" The nurse nods. "Yes the doctor said the heartbeat is strong, but he did order an ultrasound just to be sure since the pregnancy is high risk." I slam my hands into my hair and close my eyes as relief floods me. There's still a heart beat thank fuck. Carmen thanks the nurse as she leaves. I sit on the edge of the bed next to her, taking her hand into mine. "How's the pain?" She shrugs. "Not too bad." I can tell she is pretty uncomfortable. She refused any pain medication. I look to her foot all wrapped up. Turns out she didn't break it, but she sprained it bad. She sat in our basement for three hours before I came home and found her. I feel responsible for this. Last week I told her I'd help with the house work, and she told me she was fine to do it. Those basement steps alone are a bad idea. They're steep and old. "No more laundry." She smiles and salutes as she tells me, "Yes sir." I chuckle then press my free hand to her stomach, running it back and forth. I feel something move. "Whoa." She gets a huge smile on her face. "You felt that?" I nod, then move so that I can press both hands to her stomach asking, "Was that...?" She nods. "Yeah I've been feeling movement for a bit now. I read though that it's harder to feel for you until well about now apparently." She giggles a bit, then moves my hands so that they are on the outsides of her stomach, but leaves hers on top of mine. So that was my baby I felt? I widen my eyes as I flex my fingers. "Come on baby. Move again for daddy." The emotion in my voice catches me off guard. I've yet to refer to myself as daddy, but right now...... This little baby is here. I am his or her dad. I feel a little push against my right palm and whisper, "Wow." She takes her hand from mine, sliding it into my hair. I look to her. She's crying. "Baby what's wrong?" She shakes her head back and forth. "Not a damn thing, Dalton. I'm just so happy." I look back to her belly as I whisper, "So am I."
They do an ultrasound and everything looks great. Carmen has to drink a lot of water and stay off her foot for a few weeks. That's fine by me. She can stay off both feet the rest of the pregnancy as far as I am concerned. This shit was scary. The girl who did this ultrasound couldn't tell us the sex either. I guess she just knows how to do ultrasounds, but she doesn't know what she's looking at. I was really hoping we could finally find out. I guess this baby wants to surprise us. Baby 2-Us 1. I carry Carmen to the car even though they gave us crutches. She won't be needing those. I'm gonna be talking to Steve about taking some time off to take care of her. "Thank you." She tells me with a giggle as I slide her into the passenger seat. I kiss her cheek, then bend down and kiss her stomach. She starts to cry again. I chuckle as I close the car door. Truth is I feel like I could cry too. I never thought I would have a life like this. I have the most amazing woman on the planet, and a baby on the way. I'm still not sure I deserve all this, but I'm gonna appreciate it while it lasts. I put the crutches into the trunk, then get in next to her. "You hungry?" She nods. "I'm starved." She had a sandwich and like three bottles of water at the hospital, but if she wants more, she's getting more. "Where do you wanna eat?" As soon as I say the words I remember that I had an omelet on the stove before I found her. I left the burner on. "FUCK." She jumps next to me, pressing her hand to her chest. "Shit babe you scared me." I start the car. "I left the stove on." She widens her eyes. "Oh my god, Dalton." I pull from the parking lot as a sinking feeling spreads through me. That was over two hours ago. I hurry as much as I can, but force myself to drive safely. I will kill myself if I wreck this car harming Carmen or my baby. After what feels like the longest car ride of my life, I turn the corner onto our street. My fears are confirmed. There are police cars and fire trucks lining the street. "Oh my god." Carmen gasps clasping her hands to her mouth. I burnt our fucking home down. I fuck everything up. I get us as close as I can and park. "You stay." I half warn. She nods a couple times as tears stream down her cheeks. I jump from the car, and jog up the street. A fireman sees me coming. "Hey man you can't get through here." I point to our apartment. "That's my house." The man nods then motions for me to follow him while asking, "Was there anyone that could have been home?" I watch the flames kiss the roof as I tell him, "NO." He hurries me to another firefighter with a white helmet. "This is his house." He tells him. He looks to me. "Do you know how this started?" I nod feeling like a total failure. "Yeah I left the stove on. My pregnant girlfriend fell in the basement, and I hurried her to the hospital. I forgot I had dinner on." He nods then hurries off yelling about it having started in the kitchen. I drop my head into my hands. I feel a pat on my shoulder. It's the first fireman. "Hey man at least no one got hurt." He's right about that. Thank god we decided to rent a small house and not something in an apartment building. I nod then look down the street. Carmen is walking toward me. I jog to her. "Hey babe you need to stay back." She shakes her head no as she looks to the flames consuming everything we have. "What now?" She asks barely loud enough for me to hear. I just pull her close, because I don't know yet.
"Hey man I need time to deal with all this shit." Steve flips through my book. He shakes his head. "I can't let you reschedule all these appointments, Dalton. You already got behind once." What a fuck. "You mean when I was stabbed?" He clears his throat. "Look man. I am sorry about that. I'm sorry about your apartment, but I can't let you take a bunch of time off." I shake my head. "Ok man. You wanna play it that way? I quit." I walk over to my station and start to pack my things. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I don't want you quitting, Dalton. OK. Let me see what I can do." I spin to face him. "Too late man. Have fun calling all my appointments. Oh and good luck keeping them here." I grab my tattoo machines and put them in their cases. They're all that's mine here anyway. I start for the door. "I quit too." I smile as Sunny comes from behind the counter and meets me at the door. I don't know why she's doing t
his, but it's her choice. "Fuck you both then." Steve calls out to us. She flips him off then pushes the door open. I follow her out. "What are you doing, Sunny? I can't offer you a job or anything." She shrugs. "I know, but I mean come on, you know you'll need a shop keep in your new place. Carmen won't be able to do it with the baby." I chuckle. "Sunny, I may never have my own shop." She gets a funny look on her face. "You know something I don't?" I search her face as she fidgets, stepping from foot to foot. "SUNNY." She jumps from my harsh tone. "Carmen made me promise, and I just got so caught up in the moment...." I'm about to punch her. She looks to me, seeing my anger. "Ok. Carmen and your dad already bought a building. She was gonna surprise you after the baby is born." I shake my head. That woman. "Well in that case, maybe you will have a job soon." I tell her with a wink, then turn and walk toward the hotel we're staying at. Not the Majestic. I would never make Carmen stay there. We're in a suit in a much better place. Carmen was smart enough to get renters insurance, so her things that were lost will be replaced. I didn't have any, but I didn't have much either. I don't know exactly how to bring up to Carmen that I know her little secret. I don't wanna upset her, but I need to tell her I may need to get the shop opened sooner than expected. I also need to find out where it's gonna be.
I close the door. She looks surprised to see me. "Hey babe. What are you..." I cut her off telling her, "I quit." She widens her eyes. "You what?" I sit my machines down. "I told Steve to fuck off. He didn't wanna give me time off to deal with everything." She swallows hard then sits in the little love seat that is in the living room area. "Holy shit, Dalton." I sit next to her and rub her back. "It's gonna be ok, babe. Especially once I get the shop opened. I mean it should only take a few months now that we have the building. Until then we can live off some of my inheritance money." She looks to me with wide eyes. "You should never tell Sunny anything. She can't keep a secret." She starts to smile a bit, then gets serious. "Are you mad?" I shake my head no. "We will be talking about where the money came from to buy the building, but I'm good with this. If you're good with this?" She nods a couple times. "Ok so where is Black Ink?" She gets a huge smile on her face. "Want me to show you?" I nod and stand, holding my hand out to her. She takes my hand with a huge smile on her face. Her excitement is adorable.
We pull up in front of a large brick building with huge front windows. It's a cool looking place. There's for sure two levels to it. As soon as she gets the car in park, she gets out and is almost bouncing as she goes to the door. I get out with a smile as my beautiful girl opens the door of my shop. I can't seem to make myself walk over with her. She pushes the door open then looks to me. "Come on babe." I hesitate a few more seconds, then walk over to her. I'm nervous as hell. What if I hate it? What if it's not what I've always pictured my shop to be? I take a deep breath as I step next to her. She bites her lip then motions me inside. I bend down biting her lip, then kiss her gently. She let's out a little moan. I chuckle then walk through the door. At first I don't know what to think. It's not at all what I expected. She steps in behind me. "What do you think?" I glance at her, then back around the large space in front of me. It has exposed piping, a huge amount of space to set up stations, a seating area, and desk area. The walls are all brick. Totally the kind of place I picture having a shop in. "It's perfect." She bounces a bit next to me. "I know right? And there's an upstairs that's perfect for us to live in." I shake my head as I start to smile. She's fucking amazing. I look to her. "Show me." She hurries over to a door in the back right corner telling me, "The guy that had this before used it as an art gallery. Porsha helped me find this place. But anyway he lived upstairs. I mean, I didn't know the fire was gonna happen, but I mean this is perfect right? You won't be far from me and the baby." She seems nervous. I step up behind her as she opens the door. "It's great babe." She lets out a relieved breath then starts up the steps. I follow her up, checking out her ass. God I miss fucking her. We get to the door at the top of the steps. She opens it, then closes it again. "Ok so I maybe already started decorating." I bust up laughing. "Damn Car, you have us moved in already don't you?" She looks adorable as her cheeks redden. "Well not exactly, but I have had some furniture brought here and maybe even painted some." I raise my eye brow. "You painted?" She shakes her head no. "I mean Helen helped me. I sat. I swear." I start to smile then motion to the door. She opens it and steps in. It looks bad ass. We're in the living room. She has two black leather couches facing each other in the middle of the room. There's a dark purple rug between them. The walls are a light grey except for the one directly in front of us. It's black with a huge tv mounted to it. To the right is the kitchen. It looks a bit dated, but functional. I'm good with it. To the left is a hallway. I motion for her to go first as I tell her, "Show me the rest." The first room to the right is a bathroom. It's decent sized and more updated than the kitchen. "I love the double sinks." She tells me then moves on to the next door. This one is on the right too. She motions in. "I figure this will be our room." I look in. It's a huge room. There's nothing in it. The floor in here is a dark hardwood and the walls are brick like the shop. She reaches back taking my hand, then leads me to the final door. This one is on the left. She stops just before I can see into the room and looks to me. "OK, so don't be mad. I uh kinda ...um.... well fuck just look then you can yell at me if you want." I have no clue what this crazy woman is trying to say, so I step around her and look into the room. There are three walls painted light purple and the wall with windows is brick. I'm still not sure what I'm missing. I look to her and shrug. "Why would I be mad? Cuz it's purple? We can paint it blue if it's a boy." She swallows hard. "We painted it purple." It takes me a second to get what she means, then I can't help but smile. "When did you find out?" She hurries to me. "Well the baby doctor called after I had been in the hospital just to tell me he looked at the ultrasound they did and everything was great. He asked if I wanted to know the sex. I just found out like two days ago. I was planning on showing you this place this weekend and was gonna tell you then when...." She clears her throat shaking her head no. "When what?" She shakes her head again. "Nothing." I step to her resting my hands on her hips. "Carmen LeSage I know when you're holding back." She gets a funny look on her face. "I was gonna ask you to uh.... marry me." My heart drops to my toes. I never really thought about marriage. I mean not since dad brought it up that time. I don't know what to fucking say now. I guess we're having a kid, and it would be normal for us to get married, but fuck me this is a lot. And now she wants to get married. I step back and run my hands through my hair. Why would she ask me? The guys does that shit. Fuck. These walls are closing in on me fast. I rush past her and out to the living room. I have to say something to her, but I don't know what that is. I really don't wanna get married, if I'm being honest. She comes out a few minutes later. "I'm glad I didn't ask. I can tell you don't want that." I swallow hard. I don't want anyone, but her. Marriage just sounds so.... trapped. I look to her. "Babe I love you. I don't ever see me not with you. I just..... marriage is big." She nods then walks over and leans against the arm of one of the couches. "I knew it was a risk. I just thought..." She touches her stomach. I drop my head into my hands. I'm a loser. Men don't knock a woman up and not ask her to marry them unless they don't plan on being a dad. I clear my throat a couple times, then look to her. "I'm not saying never. I just can't right now." She actually looks pretty pleased with that. She comes to me wrapping her arms around my neck. "I'm ok with that." She moves to her tip toes pressing her lips to mine.
Black Ink (Hart Book 2) Page 4