Navy SEAL Series Boxed Set

by Odette Stone

  “Do you understand?”

  “My husband is alive?”

  “Yes.”

  I fought to grasp what they were telling me. “Is he injured?”

  “I don’t know any more details than what I have told you.”

  I grabbed Beth’s hand and squeezed it hard. “When will he be arriving?”

  “We estimate that he will arrive at the base in about 9 hours.”

  I started to laugh and cry at the same time. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I hung up the phone and then Beth and I hugged and wept.

  Eight hours later, I stood in the waiting room of the hospital with Beth next to me. Jackson hadn’t arrived yet. No, they had no news. No, they couldn’t tell me anything. I needed to take a seat, and they would come and get me when he arrived.

  Fifteen minutes later, Forbes walked into the waiting room. He hugged me hard.

  I was vibrating.

  “Where is he? Is he okay?”

  “They’re admitting him. The doctors are looking him over.”

  “What happened? Is Guinness okay?”

  He guided me to sit down. “Jackson’s bird went down. Both of the pilots were killed on impact. MacDog survived unscathed. Guinness was banged up pretty good. His leg was broken.”

  I wordlessly shook my head.

  “Before they could escape, they came under fire from multiple insurgents. MacDog took one clean shot that went through his shoulder.”

  My lips parted in shock.

  “They took on a group of 20 or more men and managed to fight their way out of there.”

  Horrified, I shook my head.

  “It took them three weeks of moving through extremely violent and rough terrain before they found their way out. Guinness’ leg was busted so bad, MacDog carried him. We estimate they traveled over 80 miles through the jungle and over a fucking mountain before finding their way to one of our outposts. Jackson carried Guinness despite having a bullet wound in his shoulder. We have no fucking clue how they survived. When they arrived Guinness was unconscious, and MacDog was delirious.”

  “What about Guinness?”

  “He’s suffering from severe dehydration. He was left in the field operating table overseas. They're trying to save his leg.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “He’s going to live.”

  We sat there for a few minutes.

  It dawned on me that the last time Jackson saw me he had asked me to leave. He had told me that our relationship was over.

  Forbes looked at my face. “What’s going on?”

  Tears blinded my eyes. “He’s safe, and I don’t even know if he wants to see me.”

  He stood up and walked over to his bag. He pulled something out. “The field doctor gave this to me. They found this on MacDog when he came in.”

  “What is it?” Tears, relentless tears, streamed down my face.

  He walked over and handed it to me. “MacDog has been carrying that around since the day you sent it to him in the mail.”

  I opened the bent and cracked photo covered with streaks of dry blood. It was Alien’s ultrasound. “What?”

  “Your husband has been excited about that kid since the day you got pregnant. We used to harass him. He was always looking at that picture. On the plane, lying in bed, drinking at the bar. He was constantly pulling that out and studying it. So, yeah, I call bullshit when you tell me that he is now turning his back on you and that kid. There’s no way.”

  Tears, stupid tears streamed down my face.

  Forbes shook his head. “I talked to Guinness. He told me how injured they both were and how MacDog helped carry him, mile after mile, day after day. He never gave up. He said your husband chanted two words over and over again. Every step he took, he said two words. Want to know what they were?”

  I swallowed.

  “Every fucking step he took, MacDog repeated ‘Emily Alien Emily Alien’. Over and over. Step by step.”

  My heart nearly split into two. Hope, pain, fear smashed into me.

  The doctor appeared in the doorway of the waiting room. “It appears that Jackson is waking up.”

  “Can I see him?”

  He motioned with his hand. “Come on back.”

  I followed the doctor through the hallways towards Jackson’s room. The doctor paused before we entered the room. “Jackson refuses to listen to us and has ripped out his IV twice and has already fallen while trying to get out of bed. He won’t lie still. He keeps removing all of his tubes, and he is determined to leave. We have had to restrain him physically.”

  “What?” I asked in disbelief.

  “We are considering sedating him, but we don’t want to do that considering what he has just endured. If he becomes agitated while you are in the room, I’m going to ask you to leave immediately.”

  “Please,” I begged. “I need to see him.”

  I stepped into the room and rushed to the bed. Jackson looked like a pissed off bear fighting for his life. He jerked his arms against the restraints, and sweat was breaking on his brow for his effort.

  “Sweetheart,” I said in a small voice. “Where are you going?”

  Green eyes narrowed on my face, and then he stopped moving. “I was coming to find you.”

  Tears spurted out of my eyes. “Well, I’m here.”

  He lay back on his pillow, out of breath. “You’re here.”

  I nodded and reached out and grabbed his big warm hand. “I’m here.”

  He shut his eyes. “I don’t deserve you.”

  I looked at the doctor. “Take his restraints off.”

  The doctor stood there for a long moment.

  “Take them off. He won’t be going anywhere.”

  The doctor nodded at the male nurse who undid the ties.

  I was crying.

  “Come up here,” Jackson said, his eyes closed.

  I sniffed, wiping my nose with my hand before climbing up on the bed next to him. He shifted over, making room for me. I felt his big arm come around me. I lay snuggled up against his warmth and thought for a moment that I had died and gone to heaven. We lay there for a long moment, just absorbing each other’s warmth.

  “How’s Alien?” his voice was rough.

  I lifted my head to look at his beautiful face. “Well, Alien is the size of a butternut squash and weighs in at about two and a half pounds.”

  His eyes were closed, but his lips curled into a smile. “What the hell is butternut squash?”

  “It’s like a pumpkin. People make soup from it.”

  “That sounds awful.”

  I started to cry even harder. “Well, as far as vegetables go, this isn’t Alien’s best week.”

  He laughed.

  I lay my head back on his good shoulder. “I’m so sorry. Please. You have to forgive me. I can’t live without you.”

  “Shhh,” his hand pulled me closer to him. “I wasn’t going to let you go anyways.”

  Chapter 45

  Jackson sat on the edge of the hospital bed. Despite the last traumatic few weeks, he was ready to be released. His arm was in a sling. I stood at the door and looked at him.

  “You just going to stand there?” he turned to look at me.

  I slowly walked into the room. We hadn’t discussed everything that had happened. How he had ended it with me. How he had told me that our marriage was over. Did he still want me? Did he still want Alien?

  Green eyes studied me.

  I took a steadying breath. “Hi.”

  “Hey.”

  I walked across the room so that I stood in front of my husband. He looked at me. “When you were missing, my life completely stopped. My heart stopped beating. I knew that if they didn’t find you, if you didn’t make it out alive, my life would be over.”

  He didn’t move.

  My voice wobbled. “I’m so sorry I broke your trust. I was stupid and impatient, and I never meant to hurt you. I just wanted to know who y
ou were. But looking back on that, it was wrong. So wrong and I’m so sorry.”

  “Emily,” his expression was one of regret. Oh god. He was going to end it. He couldn’t forgive me. If he did end our marriage, I would not survive. I couldn’t take it.

  “Yeah?”

  “I overreacted.”

  A sharp breath filled my lungs.

  “I thought if you knew where I had come from, you would see what Irene saw.”

  My heart pounded. “She’s a real bitch, and she had no idea what she's talking about. Especially when it comes to you.”

  A laugh choked out of him. “Oh, she’s alright. She tries.”

  “Why are you so forgiving towards her?”

  “She’s family.”

  My voice was slow, “And Matt is your half-brother.”

  “Yup.”

  “I’m so sorry about Ted and Harry.”

  He looked bemused. “Why are you sorry?”

  “Because no one deserved to go through what you went through.”

  He winced. “No, you didn’t deserve what I put you through.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “I brought you here. Pregnant and not knowing a soul. Half the time I was gone. And the rest of the time, when I was home, I was a mess. I wanted you to believe that I was just fulfilling my obligation because I knocked you up. The truth of the matter is, I have been crazy about you since the day you almost beaned me with that golf club.”

  Air sucked into my lungs.

  He continued. “You once asked me what scared me. It’s not guns or fighting or even dying. It’s you. You and your love scare the shit out of me. I didn’t know how to do this. And I’m so bad at it. I want your love so bad. I want you in my life more than I have ever wanted anything.”

  Green eyes looked up at me.

  “But I do love you,” I whispered. “So much.”

  He grimaced. “I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t trust that. You were so brave, and you tried so hard when you came here. You were patient with me, and you just accepted me for who I was.”

  I could feel the blood rushing to my head.

  “Emily, when I was in the jungle with Guinness, and we weren’t sure if we were going to make it, my biggest regret was not telling you how I felt about you.”

  I thought my heart was going to stop. “How do you feel?”

  He swallowed a few times. “All I know is that I would die for you. I would kill for you. I would do everything in my power to protect you. Your happiness, your safety, your joy is all I care about. I don’t understand all of this, but you have somehow become the one thing I live for. You and Alien. I never used to feel anything, and now, all I do is fucking feel things. I lose control. I get upset. Anything to do with you, I can’t seem to control my emotions.”

  My heart pounded with so much hope and love that I could barely breathe.

  He gave me a regretful look. “So now you know it all. I’m not who you thought I was. And I’m probably way more fucked up than you imagined.”

  “Jackson,” I could barely speak. “You’re not fucked up, and I love you with all my heart.”

  His arm reached out and yanked me against him. “Say it again.”

  “I love you.” I put my arms around his neck.

  His green eyes looked back into mine. I could see in his eyes, all his emotion. “Do you know how I feel about you?”

  I nodded, fighting tears. I didn’t need to hear those words. I could see the love, right there in his eyes. “I do.”

  His kiss was so wonderful, so full of promise and tenderness, and I thought my heart would explode. No more doubt or fear. I groaned as I wrapped my arms around his big neck. I loved his hair in my hands. The sensations of his hands on my back.

  He pulled his head back, “So, you’re not going to leave?”

  “You’re stuck with us.”

  “Maybe I like being stuck with you.”

  “So you’ve said,” I smiled through my tears.

  He brushed my hair off my face. “Are you okay?”

  “I am. Now that you’re home.”

  He looked down at me. “After everything I told you, you still want to be with me?”

  I lifted my hand and stroked his big face. “Yes.”

  “Jesus Emily,” he murmured against my lips. “Maybe there is something to be said for talking about our feelings.”

  My head fell back as I laughed. “You know I’m never going to let you live those words down. Those words will haunt you for the rest of your life.”

  He dropped a kiss on my lips. “I like the sounds of you and the rest of my life.”

  (Ten weeks later)

  “Jackson,” I wailed, panting. The contraction seized my body so hard that I couldn’t breathe.

  Green eyes were fuzzy and then my vision cleared, and there he was. My husband. Letting me hold his hand in a death grip. He looked me in the eye. “Em, tell me what you need.”

  “I can’t do this without you,” I said, knowing that I wasn’t making any sense. “Please, you have to do this with me.”

  “I’m right here.”

  “No, with me!” I wailed.

  “Okay, sweetheart. I’m with you.”

  He climbed into the bed and easily lifted me so that I was cradled in his lap. I lay back against his strong chest, sighing as his arms wrapped around me, his big knees on either side of my body. I felt his face against mine. “Better?”

  “Yes,” I whimpered.

  “Want to do some patterned breathing?” he put his hands on my belly.

  “What?”

  “Pant-pant-blow, come on, let’s do this together.”

  “That’s Lamaze breathing,” I said, shocked since Jackson had been deployed and I had attended our Lamaze classes alone.

  “Youtube, sweetheart. I’ve watched every single Lamaze video out there.”

  Another contraction hit me. I panted and blew with Jackson.

  “That’s it,” Jackson soothed. “Breathe through it.”

  I focused on surviving the next contraction and then fell back against his chest.

  “You watched Lamaze videos?” I gasped. “What else did you watch?”

  “How to change a diaper, how to give a baby a bath, how to take a baby’s temperature. How to burp a baby. How to use a breast milk pump. And about a hundred other videos.”

  The nurses exchanged impressed looks.

  “You did not.”

  “I did.”

  “Jackson.”

  “Yeah?”

  “I didn’t even think of that. I didn’t watch a single video. I don’t even know how to change a diaper,” I wailed in a panic.

  “That’s why we’re a team. You do the hard part today, and I'll change the diapers.”

  I gasped as another contraction hit me.

  Jackson’s face nuzzled me. “Alien’s almost here. You can do this, Emily. I’m right here with you.”

  Another contraction took my breath away, arching my body off his. When I could catch my breath, I spit out. “We are never having sex again. I don’t care how sexy you are lying in bed with your big sexy muscles and your swoon-worthy kisses. You need to understand that going forward, and I’m never having sex again.”

  I heard the doctor and the nurses laugh. “Don’t worry, Jackson. We’ve heard that one before.”

  I raised my head and looked at one of the nurses. “Are you dating anyone?”

  She smiled. “Between men.”

  “Pick the shortest guy you can find,” I hissed. “They may not be as fun in bed but trust me. A tiny guy means a tiny baby.”

  “Emily, one last push,” the doctor said. “The next contraction, relax your belly and then give it your all.”

  I was exhausted. I lay with my back against Jackson. “I don’t want to do this anymore. I want to go home.”

  I heard everyone laugh.

  “Jackson.”

  He held me so close. “Yes.”

  “I can’t do
this. I think you should take over. You’re the strong one.”

  “Emily, no way. You’re way stronger than me. And you’re amazing. So unbelievable.”

  “Tell me some good news.”

  “Alien is almost here. It’s almost over.”

  The doctor looked up at me. “Okay Emily, one last push, you just relax your stomach and push, okay? Alright, here we go. Push, push, push, push.”

  Everything kind of went fuzzy for a moment. It was like the whole world went into slow motion. I could hear things, but not hear clearly. I could see but not really. I could hear my own heartbeat. I could feel Jackson behind me. Feel his breath. And then the most intense relief of my life.

  The world came back in focus. And then they put a baby on my belly. Alien was wet and wrinkly and covered in blood. My baby was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen in my life. I felt Jackson squeeze his arms tighter around me. His face snuggled against mine. “You did it.”

  “What is our baby?” I asked.

  “You two are the proud parents of a beautiful baby boy.”

  “Alien is a boy,” I said in wonder, touching the tiny wet head.

  Jackson’s big hand reached out and touched a minuscule foot. “He’s perfect. Just like his mom.”

  I started to cry. “Hey. I’m your mom, and this is your dad.”

  Alien turned his head towards my voice. My heart overflowed with love. I had everything I needed. A husband and a baby. My family was complete.

  Jackson’s chin rested on my shoulder. “I love you, Emily Hunter.”

  And with that, I thought my heart would burst.

  Epilogue

  I came up the stairs, wondering why Theo hadn’t started crying yet. He was due to be fed. I heard a voice coming from his room.

  I stood at the door and peeked in. Jackson sat in the rocking chair. He held Theo in his arms. Our tiny six-week-old infant looked miniature in my husband’s big arms.

  Jackson talked to him.

  “So, this is a really important book that I’m going to read to you. My mom read it to me when I was little, and now I’m going to read it to you. It’s about a family of bears. Little bear, he lives in a home with his mom and dad, just like you. And he gets up to lots of adventures. Just like you will too.”