Talon & Claree

by Liberty Parker

  I’m still kinda stunned that I’m pregnant and he wants me to think of things like this! My mind’s whirling a mile a minute. “Wait, my laptop too! I started some of the online courses so I could get ahead.”

  “I’ll call the school and get anything you need for the next few days.” Mom tells me.

  “It shouldn’t be much. I was able to exempt from a lot of my finals because my overall grades were so good,” I proudly state. Talon squeezes my hand showing his own pride in how well I’m doing. I graduate high school next week and am already ahead on my future goals. Now, this baby is starting to grow on me and I need to figure out a way to adjust everything, especially since time flies by and the baby will be here before we’ve realized how much time has passed. I can’t wait until I’m far enough along for us to find out if we’re having a son or a daughter. I don’t have a preference, but the curiosity is killing me.

  4

  Talon

  Once I get everyone out of the room, I help Claree get cleaned up and redressed. I’m looking at her belly in complete awe that we created a life. “I promise you I’ll be the best dad I can,” I whisper before kissing her stomach. She giggles, and I look up at her and grin. “I’m happy, baby. Things will work out okay.”

  “We’re a team, Talon, of course they will,” she replies.

  “C’mon, let me get you to the hospital.” I pick her up, cradling her against me. She feels so fragile right now. I mean, she’s not big to begin with, but now, I can feel bones, where before there were soft curves. I chastise myself for missing it, but with her being so sick, we haven’t made love in over a week. All I’ve done is hold her and that was loosely because she was waking up in the middle of the night to throw up.

  When I reach the receptionist’s desk, she says, “We’ve set up her follow-up appointment and will send her an email with the details. You just head on to the hospital.”

  “Thank you,” I reply to the woman behind the desk, as I continue to carry my girl out the door.

  I make it to the car and am grateful that my dad has stayed back. “Here, you get in with her, I’ll drive.”

  Gulping back the emotions behind his words, I carefully get into the backseat, not letting go of her.

  I’ll never let go.

  She’s dozing again and if I hadn’t heard the doctor say that it’s normal because she’s so dehydrated, I’d have my dad driving faster. Instead, I hold my girl, whispering nonsensical things in her ear.

  Once we reach the hospital, shit happens fast. They put Claree in a wheelchair and take her up to her room. Glancing around, I see there’s a cot which is a good thing because I’m not leaving her alone for a second.

  *

  Claree

  *

  Once I’m settled into a room, and an IV has been inserted, they give me some meds to help me get some sleep. I crash hard, and it’s a good rest because I never, not one time, wake up to expel the contents of my stomach. It’s the best sleep I’ve had in weeks and something my body was in desperate need of. When I wake up I can tell my room is packed because I hear several voices whispering and it makes me smile.

  “You guys don’t have to be quiet anymore, I’m awake,” I say to them, opening my eyes. I glance around and see that Talon is right next to me in a chair, his head is laid back and soft snores are leaving him. It’s cute, and I wish I had my phone to snap a picture and capture this moment to add to our ever-growing memory book.

  “Good, because keeping DJ quiet any longer was gonna require a gag,” Cara states. I giggle at that, because she’s correct, keeping DJ corralled and quiet is a task in itself.

  “Y’all still need to keep it down. He’s sleeping,” I reply, pointing to Talon.

  “Not sleeping, baby, just checking my eyelids for holes,” he murmurs, never opening said eyes in question. I can’t help it, my earlier giggles come back in full force.

  “Liar,” I whisper out, “you were full blown snoring!” I say louder.

  “Clearing my throat is the appropriate phrase,” he replies, winking at me. “Let me go get you some breakfast. The food here is shitty.”

  “More like revving your lawnmower,” Dad says to him. Talon flips him off and Dad smiles. Holy hell, he actually smiled at him! Progress, this baby will be a miracle worker in bringing my family back together. And if I’m in an alternate universe somehow, so be it. I want to pinch myself to make sure I’m not stuck in a dream, but then I feel Talon grab my hand and squeeze it and know that I’m not still stuck in dreamland.

  “Fine, no food for you,” he tells my dad.

  “We can have a prospect deliver it so you don’t have to leave,” Hatch says. “In fact, that’s what they’re there for anyhow.”

  “Uh, just saying, Dad, but I’m a prospect,” Talon replies.

  “Whose future old lady is in the hospital.” Ah, hell, Hatch is using what can only be described as his enforcer voice because Talon sits back down. “Never mind, Braxton has already texted and is on his way. He says he’ll grab a bunch of burgers and fries, but we’re on our own for drinks, so I’ll send Luca and Jasper down to the vending machines down the hall.”

  “I have the best old man,” Cara sighs. “He’s always taking care of us,” she dreamily states. Someone gag me with a spoon. Aren’t they too old to be swooning over each other? I mean they are old!

  *

  Three months later

  *

  God, my ankles are so swollen! I’ve started working mornings at the local bakery trying to get my feet wet in the industry. The woman I’m currently working for happens to be one of the instructors at my school. She took me on because we clicked, and she noticed that I put everything I have into learning and ask questions that no one else thinks about. I’m enjoying learning the little tips and tricks to make the finished item look fantastic.

  “Sweetie, why don’t you ice the cookies?” Mrs. Allen asks, coming into the kitchen. “You need to get off your feet.” When she says this, I rub my slightly swollen belly, getting off of my poor blown up feet and giving my ankles a rest sounds like the best idea I’ve heard all day.

  “Thank you. Are we doing anything special?” I question. They’re round sugar cookies and I’m hoping we can dress them up a little.

  “Actually, yes. These are for a client who is doing a beach-themed party. You’ll be making beach balls and seashells!” she replies, laughing a bit. “I’ve made the white frosting up, but you’ll need to create bowls with the three different colors they’re using. Which happen to be red, turquoise and yellow. Can’t wait to see what you do with the seashells.”

  God, she puts so much trust in me! I find the frosting and quickly make up three bowls. Seeing the sugar glitter, I grin. I can do a little more mixing and add that, so the seashells are sparkly. I’ll do one first, so Mrs. Allen can see and approve, before I do the whole batch, though. That’s a lesson I learned the hard way last week!

  I spend a good amount of time perfecting my design before showing the samples to her. “I love them! Great job, Claree. Now, you just have to make ten dozen of each.” I nearly melt at those words because that’s a lot of damn cookies! Pulling out my phone, I send a quick text to Talon.

  *

  Me: Hey, I’ll be here late tonight. Have 240 cookies to frost for a big party order that has to be completed by tomorrow morning.

  Talon: Holy fucking shit! Okay, I’ll grab some Mexican and bring it to you if that’s okay?

  Me: Better than okay. Maybe around five? She told me we’d be here late. I’m sorry. I know we wanted to go see a movie tonight.

  Talon: Babe, no worries. See you then. Love you.

  Me: Love you too.

  *

  I put my phone away with a smile on my face. My man loves me so much, I look over to the shelf above my work station and decide that some music would help the time flow by. I have my iPod hooked up and set it to play a mix of my favorites. Once I have it hooked into the Bluetooth speakers, I get busy and before
I know it the day has ended, and I’m home curled up next to Talon. All my appetites have been sated, and I only have the energy to curl up next to him.

  “Talon?” I ask.

  “Yeah, baby?” His voice is that raspy one he gets after we’ve made love and it makes me shiver a bit.

  “Will it always be like this with us?”

  “Yeah, for now and eternity.”

  I smile at his words and before I know it, I’ve drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

  *

  Three and a half months later

  *

  With work, school and Talon, the months have flown by, and I woke up at three a.m. soaking wet. “Talon? Talon, wake up,” I shake his shoulders. He mumbles something under his breath before he fully wakes.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

  “It’s time,” I say, knowing damn good and well I didn’t piss myself. It has to be my water because there’s not another explanation for soaking not only myself, but our bed as well.

  “Time for what?” he questions groggily.

  “The baby!” We opted not to find out what we were having, which drove our moms crazy because they’ve had to do all their shopping in neutral colors. Looks like we’re gonna find out and they can hit the stores again. “My water broke,” I inform him.

  “The baby! Holy fuck, okay, okay, we’ve gotta get to the hospital!” I start laughing because he jumps out of bed, naked I might add, and flies out the bedroom door, my packed bag grabbed and thrown over his shoulder as he goes.

  “Umm…” I say to an empty room. Shit, I need to shower and change, because there’s no way I’m traveling all the way to the hospital with this fluid on my clothes, or skin. I figure I better text my mom before showering so I grab my phone off the nightstand and send a quick text to her before heading into the bathroom.

  *

  Me: Mom, my water just broke. I’m getting into the shower now, but I think Talon just left without me.

  Mom: We’ll be at your house shortly. He’ll be back once he realizes you’re not with him. I promise, your dad did the same thing when I had Cora.

  *

  Instead of responding, I grab a pair of leggings and a loose top. I pull my hair up in a sloppy bun and step into the shower. As I’m washing my body I get hit with a tightness banding around my belly and it takes my breath away with the shock of the sudden pain. Remembering the breathing exercises they had us do at the Lamaze class we took, I start panting. Once the pain subsides, I quickly finish in the shower and get out, so I can dry off and get dressed.

  I’m in the middle of trying to get my leggings on, and up my legs, when I hear a knock at my bedroom door. “Come in!” I holler out.

  “Um, your dad caught Talon as he was getting into the SUV,” Mom says, a grin on her face. I can see the blush on her face and it takes a minute for me to figure out why that would be.

  I start laughing because the thought of my man being buck-ass naked in front of my dad? Yeah, laughter inducing. “So, is he coming back or what?”

  “Your dad grabbed the blanket in the back, then smacked him on the back of the head. Thinking he’s on his way back in now. Your dad wanted to make sure he had his head straight before coming back up to you. I just came up to see if you needed help.”

  Ah, bless my mom! “I do, as a matter of fact. I can’t get my leggings up!”

  She bends down and is working them up my poor, swollen legs when the bedroom door bursts open and bangs against the wall. I see Talon speed walking in, a guilty look on his face. The picture he displays is fucking hysterical, with the Wonder Woman fleece blanket wrapped around his body, but at least he’s not showing what’s mine to the world anymore. I can’t believe my parents saw his dick! How on earth did he not notice he was still in his birthday suit when he fled the bedroom?

  “Sorry, baby, guess I got ahead of myself,” he mutters as he goes and grabs some clothes and heads to the bathroom.

  “You’d have figured it out eventually,” I call out as Mom holds the shirt for me to get over my head. It seems like everything is swollen — my feet, my belly, my ass, my tits. I feel like a walking, talking buoy at this point!

  He doesn’t take long getting dressed and before I know it, he’s got me in the SUV and my dad is driving us like a bat out of hell. Guess that’s a perk of being the chief of police’s daughter, right?

  “Wait, where are Cora and Shelby?” I ask Mom and Dad. I don’t expect them to be in the birthing room with us, but they’re excited about being aunts and I know they wouldn’t want to miss this.

  “They were spending the night with DJ and Hatch. They’ll all meet us at the hospital later,” Mom replies.

  “Oh, good, I didn’t think to text her and I’m positive that Talon didn’t,” I state, a giggle escaping.

  “Never gonna live that down, am I?” he grumbles, but there’s a grin on his face so I know he’s not upset.

  “Uh, probably when I do,” Dad says. “Did the same fucking thing when Cora was born but went a bit further. I was in the car and halfway down the driveway before I noticed Trinity wasn’t next to me.”

  His admission breaks the slight bit of tension I’m feeling, and I laugh, remembering how indignant Mom was that he forgot her.

  “How are the contractions, sweetie?” Mom asks.

  “They’ve not been too bad so far,” I reply. “I’m using the breathing they taught us, and it seems to help.”

  “When was the last one?”

  I think and realize it’s been since the shower. “Not since I was taking my shower.”

  Mom looks down at her watch and then at me before saying, “Turk? Drive faster, honey.” She reaches back and places a hand on my swollen belly. “When did you last feel the baby move?”

  Again, I wrack my brains before whispering, “Not since the shower. Mom? What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,” she replies. I narrow my eyes at her because she’s using what I term her professional voice where she tries to maintain calm and peace.

  I’m about to say something when my world goes dark.

  *

  Talon

  *

  My panic escalates when she passes out in my arms. “Chief! Drive faster, something’s wrong!”

  I’m so focused on making sure she’s still breathing that I’m unaware that we’ve pulled into the hospital emergency room area and there are people hurrying out to meet us. Claree is stripped from my arms and loaded on a gurney and they run into the emergency room, leaving me there, wondering what the fuck is going on.

  5

  Talon

  I’m not allowed back in the room with Claree once we arrive. I tried, God did I try, until they threatened to call security and have me removed from the building. My dad and Chief took me to the side and helped calm me down. My worry for Claree and our baby is too much for me to wrap my mind around. Never, not one time did I consider the possibility that something could go wrong with the birth of our baby.

  “I’m looking for the family of Claree Dennison,” the doctor announces.

  I jump up out of my seat and rush over to her, “I’m her boyfriend, the father,” I state.

  Her parents come up behind me, Chief places his hand on my shoulder as Trinity grabs my hand. “We’re her parents,” Trinity says.

  “Okay, we need to get her prepped and ready for a cesarean, she’s suffering from preeclampsia.” I stagger back some when she says this, I have no clue what it means, but it doesn’t sound like a good thing.

  “So, what does that mean, what do we do?” I ask, the questions bursting forth before I can stop them.

  “Basically, we need to go in and surgically remove the baby before we possibly lose one if not both of them,” she sympathetically informs me. I squeeze my eyes shut and try not to think about that possibility.

  “Can I be there?” I mean, I don’t remember that part of the birthing class. Wait…did she say
lose them? I feel the ground beneath my feet shift before my dad wraps his arms around me and pulls me close.

  “She’s gonna be okay, Talon,” my dad whispers in my ear, once he moves Chief and takes his place. “Can he be in there with her?” he asks the doctor.

  “No, she’s not regained consciousness. Time is of the essence here, can you sign the paperwork?” she asks, looking in Chief and Trinity’s direction.

  Trinity reaches out and takes the clipboard and quickly signs her name, giving them permission to cut on my girl.

  “How…how long?” I whisper. My voice is no longer my own. I don’t recognize it at all, but somehow the doctor understands.

  “We can have the baby out in minutes,” she states. “Now, the waiting room is on the third floor, where we’ll move her after the surgery. Someone will be out as soon as possible.” I’m practically shoved and pulled into the elevator where we head up to the third floor. I pace the waiting room and halls for what seems like hours but is technically only minutes. When a nurse comes and asks for her family, I basically maul her, grabbing her by her shoulders and slightly shaking her.

  “Is she okay? What about the baby?” I fire the questions out in a rushed breath.

  “Sir, please remove your hands from me,” she says, trying to break the hold I have on her.

  “Sorry, shit, I’m so sorry,” I say, removing my hands from their position on her. “I didn’t realize I’d done that, I apologize.” I’m trying to remind myself that I can’t put my hands on someone in the heat of the moment.

  “Ms. Dennison is out of surgery, everything went really well. The doctor is settling her in her room, she can have one visitor now,” she informs me.

  “What about the baby?” my mom and Trinity come up behind me, they’re holding hands supporting each other.

  “He’s doing perfect, he was healthy and screaming as he came into the world,” she says in glee.

  “He?” I question, “we have a boy?” I fall back into my dad, who once again, as he always has, catches me.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, did you not know?” she panics.

  “No,” I whisper. I notice my dad and Chief light up with excitement.

  “Did you assholes hear that? I have a grandson!” Chief hollers out, he’s always complaining about how all the women in his life love to gang up on him and how he shoulda had a boy to help even out the playing field.