The Complete Retrieval Duet

by Martinez, Aly

But Heath was gone.

  I’d barely made it to the door when he reappeared, his arm around the bicep of the same frightened doctor.

  “Tell me if my baby’s okay,” he ordered at the doctor as if he had ultrasonic vision.

  “You’re pregnant?” the doctor asked, snatching his pencil-thin arm from Heath’s grasp.

  “I’m so sorry,” I apologized to him before turning to scowl at Heath. “You have to calm down. My nerves cannot take this.”

  “You can forget about calm. You’re carrying my baby. That ship has officially sailed,” he smarted back.

  “You get back in bed while I grab an ultrasound cart.” That order had come from the doctor.

  I apparently didn’t obey fast enough, because Heath started herding me to the bed.

  Grabbing a chair from the corner and dragging it over, he ordered, “Pull your dress up.”

  “It’s not a dress. It’s a hospital gown, Heath,” I snapped because, really, my nerves were shot.

  I was beyond frustrated. However, it all melted away as I felt his hand land on my stomach. His touch was gentle but his finger flexed, biting into my flesh.

  “Oh, Jesus,” he whispered.

  Only then did I notice the tiniest tremble of his hand.

  “Talk to me,” I urged, covering his hand with mine.

  He cleared his throat. “If anything happened because of him…” He shook his head as he trailed off.

  I intertwined our fingers. “Then we’ll deal.”

  “Fuck. I don’t want to deal,” he growled. “Not about my child. I want everything to be okay.”

  And God, I wanted that too, but life didn’t always work like that.

  But, then again, as I stared down at the nervous man I didn’t deserve but was selfishly going to keep for the rest of my life, I realized that, sometimes, it did.

  We sat in silence until the doctor came back in with an ultrasound machine and a nurse.

  I giggled at Heath’s appalled face as the doctor prepared the internal ultrasound wand.

  And then, minutes later, we both gasped as a whooshing sound flooded the room. Tears pricked my lids as I witnessed my rock, big, tough Heath Light’s eyes become watery too.

  “Is it okay?” he asked urgently.

  The doctor kept his eyes on the screen but smiled. “It’s got a strong heartbeat.”

  I laughed, and the tears finally escaped.

  Heath rocked in his chair, muttering, “Oh Jesus.”

  I laughed even louder and squeezed his hand.

  The doctor finished up and then turned to face us both. “I’m going to send you over to ultrasound for a full workup, but as far as I can tell, everything looks good. I’d put you at around nine weeks, but they can give you a better estimate on your due date over there.”

  “Nine weeks?” Heath exclaimed then raked a hand through his hair. “Oh Jesus.”

  I laughed again.

  “I’ll give you two a minute alone. I’ll be back shortly to finish my exam on the rest of your injuries.”

  “That’d be great. Thanks,” I said, sitting up and pulling the blanket over my lower half.

  Heath remained frozen at my side. His face filled with so many emotions that it was almost unreadable.

  “You have to talk to me, honey.”

  “How the hell am I going to ever relax with you pregnant? And, if it’s another girl… Oh Jesus.”

  “Should I chase down the doctor and see if he’ll give you that shot of sedative?” I teased weakly.

  He grunted something that sounded like a laugh, but he went back to staring off into space.

  I decided to take a move from his playbook. It had always worked so well for me.

  “What do you need, Heath?”

  His gaze bounced to me, and a familiar grin pulled at the side of his mouth as he replied, “You.”

  “Then get over here and take it.” I smiled, lifting the sheet in invitation.

  It was an offer he did not refuse. His large frame barely fit in the small bed, but he wound his arms around me and held me to his chest.

  “You’re having my baby,” he murmured reverently against my temple.

  I was.

  It was the most perfect moment of my entire life.

  Well…almost.

  There was a short knock at the door before it swung open and our girl came running in.

  “Mama!”

  “Hey, sweetie,” I choked.

  Heath sat up and scooped her up off the floor, placing her in my arms before dragging us both back down to the cramped bed.

  My body was aching. I had a little girl’s knee in my ribs and my head resting awkwardly on Heath’s elbow.

  But, on the flipside, I was alive. Free. My little girl was safe in my arms, a baby safe in my stomach, and the man who had made it all possible holding me safe in his arms.

  That was the most perfect moment of my entire life.

  Well…almost.

  “Heaf, move! You too big!” Tessa complained, squirming between us.

  “Son of a…” Heath grunted as her foot caught him in the balls.

  I stifled a laugh as I lifted my head to see over Tessa. “You okay, honey?”

  He shook his head and coughed out, “Never been better.”

  And, even as he writhed in pain, I knew he was telling the truth.

  “Wake up, baby,” I murmured, sweeping her long, blond hair off her face.

  We were still up at the hospital, and even though a night had passed since I’d seen her running out of Noir’s house, my pulse had yet to return to normal. I wasn’t sure it ever would.

  I hadn’t thought that anything could ever be more terrifying than finding Elisabeth on the bathroom floor after Noir had put a bullet in her Rubicon vest.

  But, when I’d found out she was missing and once again in the hands of a lunatic, a terror rooted so deep inside me that I knew I’d been permanently changed.

  There was no recovering from something like that.

  But all I could do was make sure she did.

  When we’d gotten to the hospital, Elisabeth had been a wreck—understandably so. After two hours of me trying to comfort her, Clare, Heath, and Tessa had stopped by. They’d hugged and cried as it seemed Elisabeth and Clare did all too often when they were together. But, within minutes, as Tessa sat in her lap, pressing buttons on the hospital bed, while Clare sat close beside them, I saw Elisabeth smile.

  And, finally, the pressure in my chest started to ease.

  I’d died a thousand deaths over the last few months.

  But, with Walter Noir in a body bag, it felt like we could finally take the first step on the road to recovery.

  And, for me, that first step was finishing what I’d started years earlier.

  I pressed my lips to her forehead then sat on the edge of the bed and repeated, “Wake up, baby.”

  She moaned sleepily, stretching her body before curling around me. “Mmm,” she purred.

  “I’ve got a surprise for you, but I need you to wake up.”

  “If it’s hospital food, I’d rather sleep. The nurses were in and out all night.”

  She was not wrong. Thanks to Clare, Elisabeth hadn’t sustained any substantial injuries during her ordeal. The doctor had only kept her overnight for observation as a precautionary measure. Thankfully, the nursing staff seemed to have missed that memo. It was usually my job to be overprotective when it came to Elisabeth. It was nice to finally have a team at my back. She argued with me about damn near everything, but she was too polite to argue with them. So I’d gotten to sit back and watch them do my dirty work.

  “The doctor will be around in a little while to sign your release papers, but first, we have to take care of something.”

  She pried one eye open. “What kind of something?”

  I smiled and ran my finger through her hair. “Making you Elisabeth Leblanc—with an S and a lowercase B—again.”

  Her forehead wrinkled. “What?”

&n
bsp; “Reverend,” I called over my shoulder.

  “What?” she repeated louder, sitting up.

  “Ms. Keller,” the hospital chaplain greeted from the doorway, a Bible tucked in his hands in front of him.

  “I’m sorry. Who are you?” Elisabeth said in a sugary-sweet tone before turning an angry scowl on me.

  “I’m Reverend Potter. I understand you’d like to get married today?”

  She blinked once.

  Twice.

  Thrice.

  And then she opened her mouth to speak only to close it and blink again.

  Closing her eyes, she shook her head and said, “Can you give us a minute, Reverend Potter?”

  “Of course,” he replied, backing out of the room.

  I remained impassive, sitting on the side of the bed. I knew what was to come. I also knew how’d it end. And that was the only part I cared about.

  “Roman,” she started in the faux calm she used so often right before she lost it.

  “Lissy,” I purred back in a real calm I used so often when I knew she was gearing up for an explosion.

  “Why is there a reverend in my hospital room at six thirty in the morning?” More of her faux calm.

  “Well, I didn’t expect him to be here at six thirty, but I guess you get VIP treatment when you donate two hundred thousand dollars to the hospital chapel.” More of my real calm.

  Tick.

  Tick.

  Boom!

  “Two hundred thousand dollars?” she accused. “What the hell, Roman!”

  “Calm down. It’s not a big deal. I needed a last-minute chaplain. Besides, I can write it off on my taxes.”

  “Your taxes?” she scoffed. “You think I’m concerned about your tax shelters right now?”

  So fast that she didn’t have time to react, I thrust a hand into the back of her hair and then I hauled her toward me until our mouths were less than an inch apart. Her breathing sped, and her eyes flashed wide. I rued the day she’d lose that heated surprise every time I got close. The way her mind fought the attraction but her body melted at the first touch.

  I nipped at her bottom lip. “I figured it had to be the money because I know you couldn’t be upset about becoming my wife again.”

  “This isn’t the right time,” she whispered, her attitude already fading.

  “No. It’s the perfect time,” I replied. “I could have lost you yesterday, Lis. I never would have recovered knowing all of the memories I missed out on with you. I wasted two years I could have been waking up with you. Holding you. Living at your side. Two fucking years I can never get back. Two years I will regret for the rest of my life. Two years I will spend a lifetime trying to make up for. And the first step in that is not wasting another second without you being my wife. This is a new day. And we’re starting a new life. When we walk out of this hospital, we’re doing it together—the way we were made to be. Marry me, Lissy. Right here. Right now.”

  Her green eyes sparkled as she lifted her hand to my cheek. “Why do you always have to piss me off? Why can’t you just start with the romantic speech?” She hooked her arm around my neck and pressed her lips to mine.

  “Because then I’d miss your attitude,” I murmured, pushing her back onto the bed and following her down.

  She giggled against my mouth.

  “Is that a yes?” I asked.

  She stared up at me like the innocent angel I’d met all those years earlier.

  And then she gave me back my life. “It’s always a yes, Roman.”

  Five years later…

  “Don’t forget to pack the bottles!” I yelled down the stairs to Roman.

  “I said I’ve got them already!” he yelled back.

  “You don’t have to be so rude, you know?”

  “You don’t have to micromanage everything I do, either.”

  I rolled my eyes. I was not a micromanager. Far from it.

  Well, kind of.

  “Did you actually put the formula in them?” I shouted.

  A very unhappy Roman suddenly appeared at the base of the stairwell with a pink, floral diaper bag draped over his shoulder. “I swear to Christ, Lis. I said I’d pack the baby’s bag so you could get dressed while she takes her morning nap. But, if you are just going to scream down all the crap I’ve already packed, then I’ll gladly unpack it so you can do it your damn self.”

  “You did not just say that,” I spat.

  He planted a hand on his hip and glared at me. “Oh, I said it. And, if you don’t knock it off with the attitude, I’m gonna do it too.”

  Being a parent was hard.

  Like really freaking hard.

  But throw in a bossy, overprotective father, a baby with colic, and a grand total of ten hours of sleep in two weeks and it became exponentially harder.

  I loved Roman more than anything, and I believed with my whole heart that he was my soul mate. But damn, parenting with someone was enough to make you question the universe’s matchmaking skills.

  “I dare you,” I whispered ominously.

  His silver eyes narrowed on me as he reached into the bag and very slowly pulled a purple swaddling blanket out before sending it fluttering to the floor.

  I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth, praying for patience that would never be found.

  After a few years of healing both physically and mentally, Roman and I had decided to try to start a family—again. However, this time, we had gone into it with a different mind-set and took a different path.

  Neither of us had had any desire to attempt IVF again. As far as we were concerned, that was a bridge better left burned. I’d never regret the family we got out of our first attempt—Tripp, Tessa, Clare, and Heath. But that was the end of it for us.

  Adoption became the obvious avenue. It was an expensive and time-consuming process, but the good news was money was no longer a factor for us and I got to spend that time waiting with Roman. Even if it was arguing.

  “Pick it up,” I ordered.

  He cocked his head to the side. “Drop the attitude.”

  “What’s wrong? I thought you loved my attitude,” I smarted

  A sinister smirk curled his lips as he dropped the bag to the floor. “Oh, I do. Mainly because I enjoy fucking it out of you.” He took a step up.

  Oh shit.

  I knew that glint in his eye all too well.

  “Roman, no! I have to get dressed.”

  He took another step up, his smile growing.

  “Mom!” Parker yelled from the playroom.

  Roman froze, but his heated eyes remained locked on me as he replied, “Yeah, buddy?”

  Parker Tripp Leblanc had come into our lives three years earlier via international adoption when he had been eighteen months old. I would never, for as long as I lived, forget the day we’d brought him home. Wounds I hadn’t known were still inside me had suddenly healed. I’d told myself I could have lived a lifetime with only Roman, and it was the absolute truth. But that was before we’d experienced life with Parker.

  Watching Roman as a father was one of the most fulfilling experiences of my life. He was amazing with Parker. Patient, loving, and gentle as he helped our little boy adjust to a new life and culture. It only cemented the fact that I wanted more children with him.

  And, only six weeks earlier, after a year of waiting, a three-a.m. call had come, matching us with a newborn baby girl via domestic adoption. By four a.m., we’d dropped Parker off with Kristen and her husband, Seth (yes, that Seth), and we were on our way to Savannah, Georgia, to meet our daughter. With her dark-brown hair and even darker eyes, Alissa Cathleen was perfect. How a person could instantly fall in love with a tiny, wrinkly thing that did nothing but scream in their face for hours on end was beyond me. But, oh my God, how we loved that little girl.

  And we started our life as a new family of four.

  After years of being a workaholic, Roman had finally hired a CEO and turned the reins of Leblanc Industries over. He still
worked a lot, but he’d become strict about keeping a nine-to-five schedule. I even went back to work, too. I gave up real estate and started working part time as an interior designer. It was my true passion, even if my clients did drive me crazy with their outlandish requests sometimes. (I’m sorry, but cowboy chic was not a real thing—or, at least, it shouldn’t be.)

  “Can I watch a movie?” Parker asked.

  “No!” I replied.

  At the same time Roman yelled, “Yes!”

  “Yay!” he squealed, apparently only having heard his father.

  I frowned and crossed my arms over my chest. “We have to leave in thirty minutes. We don’t have time for him to watch a movie. We have to drive the kids all the way to your parents’ house, and Clare is going to lose her mind if we’re late!”

  Roman took another step up. “A movie could buy us fifteen minutes alone before we have to leave.” He smirked. “The baby’s asleep. Li’l man is watching Lego people save the world. We could shut the door and discuss your attitude the proper way.”

  “The proper way?” I asked, tilting my head to the side.

  “Mmmm,” he groaned, taking the last four steps two at a time.

  I backed away, but I did it wanting to be caught.

  And Roman was never one to disappoint. He shoved his hand into the back of my hair just as my back hit the wall. His lips went straight to my ear, where he explained, “Naked. With you apologizing by coming on my cock.”

  A shiver traveled down my spine.

  He traced a hand up my thigh and under my skirt. My breath hitched as his finger brushed over my core, igniting me.

  “What do you say, Lis?” His teeth raked over the base of my neck. “You got fifteen minutes to spare for your man?”

  I was sleep deprived, cranky, and in a rush.

  But it was Roman.

  “Yes,” I breathed.

  “Get out!” I barked at all four of my sisters as I herded them to the door.

  “That is not fair. Clare loves us,” Melanie defended, flashing a smile at Clare.

  Clare did love them. But she also loved to join them in their ruthless attempts to harass me. It was never a good day for me when the five of them got together. Or so I pretended as I smiled, secretly listening to them laugh like a bunch of old hens.