Bella pulled back to look up at me, and I took a thumb and wiped away a tear.
“What?”
“Promise me that we keep being open and honest with each other. I can live without lacrosse, without my parents, without money, without being a pro athlete. I can’t live without you.”
We stood there for a long time, staring at each other, and I could feel Bella’s heartbeat against my chest. Each moment that ticked by seemed like an eternity.
When Bella finally answered, her voice had newfound strength within it.
“I promise.”
Chapter 38
Bella - Five months later . . .
“The baby looks perfectly healthy,” said the sonographer as I lay on the examination table.
I stared at the image on the screen, hardly able to believe what I was seeing, overcome by an array of emotions.
“Look, Stefan,” I said, pointing a trembling finger at the image, my eyes filled with tears. “Our baby.”
Stefan, who had let his hair grow out past his ears and sported scruffy stubble when he was too busy to shave in the morning, peered at the image, a proud look on his face. “It is.”
I placed my hands on either side of my stomach and peered down. I couldn't believe how big I’d gotten. It looked like I had a huge bowling ball stuffed inside my belly.
Despite the difficulties, Stefan was still here, just as he promised.
The most uncomfortable thing about it all was learning how to walk with such a burden. Stefan now jokingly called me “the waddle woman” whenever I had to move. Before, such a joke would have made me question Stefan’s love for me, but now, I realized that Stefan truly loved me.
Since that final, dreadful day that I’d accused him of being ready to leave me, our relationship had improved by quite a bit. Through working together and communicating, I’d learned to trust Stefan at his word, and I stopped looking for shadows where there were none. Part of it, I’m sure, was my hormones coming back into balance, but also the two of us learning how to be mature adults. Or at least more mature than we’d been.
On the downside, our parents hadn’t talked to us in months. Besides a few ‘how are you doing’ texts from my mom, I hadn’t heard her voice in what seemed like ages. I did worry about her, but there was nothing I could do to make her talk to me.
Grandma Emma had started to call to check on us often, though. When I asked her about my mother, she would reply that our parents were too stubborn to see the truth yet and were still being stiff-necked about our decision to continue on with our relationship and the baby.
When I asked about their marital status, Grandma Emma would say, “Honey, you know about as much as I do about that.”
It led me to believe that our parents were still in limbo. I supposed Terry was really fighting to keep my mother’s hand. I’d learned to let go of the anger at both of them and wish for the best. For their sake, I hoped they stayed together.
Meanwhile, Stefan had gotten a decent job. It wasn’t anything great, working security at a industrial site, but it would be enough for us to get by until I could get a job myself, even if it was part-time.
We’d called Coach Carter at SSU together, Stefan putting him on speaker to deliver the bad news. Carter had taken it well and told Stefan that while he couldn’t guarantee him a scholarship, if Stefan did decide to come back to school, he’d get a fair shot as a walk-on, and then a semester after that, there could be a scholarship waiting for him. Past that, there had been no more talk about his sports career. For a while, I was bothered by that. Being a professional athlete had been a life-long dream for Stefan. But Stefan insisted he was happy, and he had even said it was more important that after our baby was born, I go back to school. “You’re the one with the real brains, after all,” he’d told me. “And I’m cool with that.”
So while I wouldn’t say we were on Easy Street, life was good. We were looking forward to having our little one, even if no one else was.
“So?” asked the sonographer, who had no idea we were stepbrother and stepsister, looking between us both, “When are you two getting married?”
Marriage.
The very idea filled me with bliss. I could almost picture it—a beautiful wedding out on a lush green lawn with wine, food, and celebration. I could see myself in a beautiful white gown and Stefan looking GQ in his tux. In the background, our parents smiled happily as we swore our vows and our undying devotion to one another.
Who am I kidding? I thought sourly, interrupting the fluffy thoughts. No one would come to our wedding.
The fact of the matter was that no one would ever respect our relationship just because of the taboo aspect.
“Can you stop and get me a plate from that seafood place on James Street before we go home?” I asked Stefan as we pulled out of the hospital parking lot. “I’m craving shrimp, scallops, and oysters like crazy. Hell, I’m hungry enough to even take on an octopus.”
Stefan let out a laugh and then grinned at me. “Sure, if it’s tentacles that you want instead of me, I won’t stop you. Just let me watch.”
I gaped at him and then slapped him on the arm. “Stefan!” I gasped, scandalized. I guess it was another sign of how much he loved me. Even as pregnant as I was, he was still horny for me almost all the time. And any time I did need a little of his ‘special juice,’ he was always willing. And he’d still reciprocate. “You know I didn’t mean it that way, you pervert!”
Stefan laughed again. “You know I’m just joking, babe. I’ll get it for you, no problem. Don’t want that baby to go hungry.” Stefan, who had already treated me well before, had started treating me even more like a princess since that climactic day. Anything I asked, he got it for me, no matter how irritated it made him or even if he didn’t feel like it.
I smiled back at him. “We sure don’t.”
For the rest of the ride to the seafood place, I was filled with thoughts of a happy future with Stefan. A big house, a white picket-fence, and two kids, one boy and one girl. Maybe I was just fantasizing, but fantasies were free, after all. I tried not to think about our parents, who would probably miss out on their grandchildren’s lives.
At least they would have Grandma Em, I thought.
I was filled with so much happiness from knowing my baby was healthy and that everything seemed to be going so well that I couldn’t contain myself.
“I love you,” I blurted suddenly to Stefan, placing my hand on his arm as we approached an intersection.
Stefan looked over at me, and my heart jumped in my chest at the love reflected in his eyes. “And I love you too—”
“Stefan, watch out!” I screamed, my heart going off like a battering ram.
As we entered the intersection, a car came from the side street, running a red light, heading straight toward the driver’s side of the car.
“Shit!” Stefan yelled, his veins standing on his neck and biceps as he jerked the steering wheel about violently, with only seconds to react.
Our car went into a violent spin and I became dizzy, but not dizzy enough not to see the car still hurtling toward us.
I let out a blood-curdling scream a moment before impact.
The next thing I heard, as my body was jerked violently against the seatbelt, was screeching metal, shattering glass, and a crunching sound.
And then nothing.
Chapter 39
Bella
My eyes fluttered open. I let out a groan. My body felt sore all over, especially my lower body and my belly. Every second that I was awake, the pain seemed to magnify until I could hardly stand it.
“I’m glad you’re finally coming to,” said a voice in the background. “You’ve been out for a while.”
I tried to look at whoever spoke, but I was still groggy and the room was just a blur. After several moments of rapid blinking, I could make out a few shapes. A chair there. A white-coated figure there, standing over me.
Where was I? What had happened to me? Why was I
in what seemed to be a hospital room?
“We are so lucky to have you with us.”
I looked up into a white-haired man’s face and then down at the name tag on his white coat. Even with blurred vision, I could make out the words Dr. Warner.
A doctor.
Suddenly, everything came back to me and I remembered everything right before the accident.
“My baby,” I cried, not caring about what was going to happen to me. I clutched my stomach, feeling all over it, but I immediately pulled my hands back at the sharp pain that greeted me. For the first time since waking up, I felt something beyond the pain. Emptiness. I somehow felt empty inside.
Oh, no.
I was suddenly filled with overpowering dread that made me want to vomit at the doctor’s feet.
And what about Stefan?
I didn’t want to think about it. We’d been through so much, only to have everything ripped from us by a cruel, tragic twist of fate.
The doctor looked at me gravely, and I swear that I felt like I would die in the hospital bed at that exact moment.
“I am very sorry, Bella,” the doctor sad sadly. “But we had to perform emergency surgery. The accident caused you to go into premature labor.”
Unable to control myself any longer, I burst into tears.
Stefan
I came awake with a gasp. I felt like shit. My body was sore all over, but as a trained athlete, I was used to aches and pains. I shook off the effects of whatever drug I was under and sat up.
I was in a hospital bed, hooked up to a machine. I was naked, garbed in one of those shitty hospital gowns. There were several wires attached to my bare chest and an IV feed going through my arm.
At the foot of my bed, there was a nurse who had a guilty look on her face, and I realized that I’d been lying with my legs spread and I’d somehow kicked my sheet down. I can guess what she’d been looking at, and while I’d normally be flattered, I didn’t have time to worry about that.
“Where am I?” I asked her, shaking my head to try and get the rest of whatever they’d injected me with out of my damn head.
She blushed deeply and quickly said, “St George’s Hospital.”
“Where is Bella?”
The nurse lowered her eyes. “The woman you were in an accident with is fine, but . . .”
“But?” I demanded, feeling more agitated by the second, my abs clenching from anxiety.
“We had to do surgery.”
That was all I needed to hear.
“Sir, what are you doing?” the nursed demanded as I began ripping the wires from my body. The IV hurt like hell coming out, but I didn’t give a shit. “You’ve been in a horrible accident and need rest. I need you to lie back down—”
I shoved the nurse’s hands away and hopped out of the bed. I stumbled when I landed, off-balance, pain shooting up my side and dizziness threatening to overtake me.
With great effort, I shrugged it all off. Then, ignoring the nurse’s protests, I stumbled out of the room. I half-ran, half-stumbled down the hallway. I had no idea where I was going, but I was determined.
I had to find Bella.
I tried to round a corner and lost my balance, crashing into a food cart and groaning as my side was pierced with pain again, so blinding that I sagged to the tile floor, staring at the linoleum and trying to just breathe.
Someone knelt beside me, and I heard a calming, gentle voice. “Stefan, I’m Dr. Jackson. I’m your attending. Listen, you’ve got two cracked ribs. Running into food carts isn’t going to help you.”
“Don’t fucking care,” I whispered, the loudest sound I could make. “Where’s Bella?”
“You really should go back to bed,” Dr. Jackson started, but I pushed his hands away and tried to get to my feet.
“Fuck you, Doc. The woman I love, the mother of my child, just had surgery, and you’re telling me to go to bed? Fuck you.”
I staggered to my feet, but Dr. Jackson was with me, gesturing with a free hand to someone. “Fine, be that way. I’ll help you to her, just . . . sit down in the wheelchair, okay?”
I did, slumping into the chair that was being held by a nurse as Dr. Jackson talked with someone on a intercom phone, then whispered in the nurse’s ear. She pushed me to the elevator, taking us up to the ninth floor, which I noticed was listed as OB/GYN-NICU. I’d seen enough medical shows to know what NICU was. “What’s wrong with Bella?”
“I don’t know,” the nurse said soothingly. “I just got a room number. Don’t worry, it’s in the regular OB area. I’ll get you to her.”
I sagged against the chair, trying not to cry. I was so worried as the elevator seemed to take forever and a day to get us there. When the door opened, we turned right, the nurse pointing out the room to me. “Stop,” I said, holding up my hand. “I can walk into the room. I insist.”
The nurse looked like she was about to argue, but she stopped the wheelchair, helping me to my feet. “I’ll wait right here if you need assistance.”
I nodded gratefully and opened the door. The first sound I heard was sobbing, and my heart stopped in my chest as I saw Bella bent over something, a nightmare flashing through my head in an instant. “Bella? Oh no, baby, what happened?”
Bella looked up, tears streaming down her face, but instead of looking sad, she looked . . . joyous.
It was then that I noticed the doctor and two nurses in there with Bella, and all of them were smiling too.
“Look, Stefan,” she cooed, holding out the bundle of joy that she held in her arms. “Isn’t he beautiful?”
I stopped, all my pain forgotten as I saw a squirm and then a sleeping little face surrounded by swaddling clothes in her hands. I stepped forward, taking him in my arms and looking into his face. “You mean . . .?”
Bella nodded, sobbing and laughing for joy. “Say hello to your son, Daddy.”
Chapter 40
Bella
“He’s gorgeous,” my mom murmured, peering down into my arms.
“Little Rylan Livingston,” I said proudly from my hospital bed, beaming so hard that it felt like my face would crack.
Just before Stefan had shown up in my hospital room, the nurses had arrived with my baby wrapped up in blankets, and I was shocked to find out that he’d survived the crash. Apparently, the impact had induced labor, but other than that, he was fine. He was a fighter, just like his dad.
The doctors had been forced to perform an emergency C-section on me. I wasn’t pleased with the large scar it had left. In fact, my stomach and waist area felt like hell, but they’d given me a shot of something that was taking care of the worst of it. The doctors told me if I was attentive to the area when I left the hospital and put a lot of oils and Vitamin-E on it, it would most likely heal and leave very little scar tissue because of my young age.
My first thought was that I hoped she was right, but then the newer voice, the voice that had been growing inside me since Stefan held me and told me that he loved me no matter what, said that I could live with the scar. After all, it was where the precious bundle in my arms had come from.
Then, shortly after Stefan had shown up, my parents rushed into the room frantically, worried about our well-being. They received the shock of their life when they saw me, Stefan, and the baby, though.
Not all of it was me and Rylan, although we were getting most of the attention. The car had hit us on Stefan’s side, which probably saved our baby’s life, as all I got were the effects of a seatbelt being jerked into my body. Still, all the athletic ability in the world couldn’t save Stefan from looking like he’d taken a beating. The list was pretty impressive—a broken cheekbone, a broken nose, a dislocated left shoulder with a torn muscle that I didn’t know how to pronounce, and two cracked ribs. Guess airbags aren’t perfect after all.
My mother tore her eyes from the baby and nodded approvingly. “That’s a good name,” she complimented. There was the sound of bitter sweetness in her voice. In a way, I knew she was happy th
at she had a grandbaby, but in another way, she wasn’t happy about how he came to be. Also, it sounded like there was a note of regret in her voice. I hoped it was regret for the way she’d been acting. We couldn’t rewind the past to let her be a part of my pregnancy, but I hoped she could be part of Rylan’s life.
The best thing about it was that I understood where she was coming from. I’d missed her too. And even though I felt like she’d deserted me when I really needed her, I was happy that she’d cared enough to be here with me now.
She brought her eyes back to the bundle. “He looks just like Stefan.”
I nodded, smiling, unable to hide my joy, even from my slightly disapproving mother. I think Mom was hoping Rylan had a few more of my features, but they were there. They were just a little deeper. “He does.”
“And he’ll be an All-Star athlete,” Stefan chimed in. “Like me. And he’s going to be smart like his mother, just you wait and see.”
“I don’t doubt it,” Terry muttered, eyeing the baby with a stoic expression.
Dressed in an expensive business suit, Terry stood by Stefan, off to the side and just behind Evelyn’s shoulder. He’d opted not to hold the baby, and instead chose to view him from afar.
Terry, I thought, was having a harder time accepting it than my mother was, but at least he was here. It showed that he at least cared in some fashion.
After a moment of cooing, my mother looked back to me. “I’m so glad you two are all right.” She shook her head, tears showing in her eyes. “My heart nearly stopped when the highway patrolmen showed up at my door.”
“I thought we were dead meat,” I said, explaining to them exactly what happened.
“Thank God,” my mother said when I was done. Tears came to her eyes, and emotion choked her voice as she put a comforting hand on my arm. “I’ll never desert you again, no matter what happens or what you do.”
Alpha's Baby: A Secret Baby Romance Page 23