SECRET BABY AT THE ALTAR

by Claire St. Rose

  “The baby’s coming,” Jeremy said. When she stayed silent, his fingers ground into her cheeks, and his stare was harsh as he repeated his statement.

  “Yes!” Angeline said. “I don’t… please don’t… I’m sorry!”

  Jeremy didn’t speak as eased her back to the floor. Stroking her face for all of a second, his hands returned to her thighs, and even as his voice seemed a million miles away, Angeline leaned into it.

  “Push, Angeline.”

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this—not with his brother. She would wait for Kane to see the text message and hope for the sound of his bike, the sight of him in the doorway. Looking for him now, Angeline thought that she saw him, but as her lips lifted into a grateful smile, Kane vanished. She tried to will him back, but then the rush of the baby desperate to see the room was all that she could think of.

  “Come on,” Jeremy urged. “You can do this.”

  Instead, Angeline only thought, “Not without Kane. I need him here.”

  “Angeline!”

  Angeline trembled under his touch, still uncertain of his intentions. Jeremy’s cold glare morphed into something resembling concern, and as Angeline felt her father’s hand in hers, she peered into Jeremy’s eyes.

  “I don’t want… I don’t want anything bad to happen.”

  Jeremy’s touch was kind, his voice soothing, as he leaned closer to her face. “Then, work with me, Angeline. Let this be a nice surprise when he comes home.”

  And he would come back to her. She knew that.

  Believing in Jeremy for the first time, she gripped her father’s hand until she thought the bones of his fingers might break and strained to bring the baby into the room. It would be okay. The ambulance had to show at any second, and they would make their way to the hospital. Kane would be more than a mirage, and…

  “No…”

  Her pain stopped, but the room went silent. There should be crying; Jeremy should be announcing what it was; Brent should be calling for a blanket. However, she heard nothing but the sound of flesh smacking flesh as ragged breaths tunneled into an unseen abyss.

  “My baby…”

  “Angie, don’t.”

  She fought past her father’s arms and stretched forward. Jeremy was trying to breathe life into the body of her limp baby. Touching her suddenly bare belly, Angeline’s eyes went wild. This was supposed to be a safe place for their child, a perfect place.

  Not a tomb.

  “No!” she screamed. “Please, Jeremy! Please.”

  There was still no sound as Kane’s brother worked on his hands and his lips on the limp little body in his trembling arms.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  Kane went home. He burst through the door and found the house abandoned. Looking for Angeline in the nursery, he found the room awash in blood, and the rocking chair was turned over.

  Where was she? Had Noel beaten him to the punch and hurt her to keep him in line? It was impossible, but then where was she?

  “Angel!”

  He moved like a madman to their bedroom and still she was nowhere to be seen. Calling out for Brent, Kane’s cries went unanswered. As he ran back to his bike, he was stopped by a neighbor walking some mutt. “Hey!” the girl cried, as she waved her slender hand in the air.

  Kane ignored her and kept moving. He had to find Angeline. He decided he would go back to Noel, as he muttered, “I swear to God… if he touched her again.”

  “Mister! I think it’s the baby. They’re at the hospital.”

  As the neighbor’s words sunk in, Kane was drowned in self-loathing. He never should have left her alone—not when she needed him, when they needed him. He did not wait for clarification, as he hurried into the night.

  As the streets whizzed by, Kane saw his Angel crying out in anguish. She had wanted him. Only him. She had tried to call him, but he had been focused on Noel and revenge. When she needed him most, when Kane could have been at her side, he was trapped in the past. Sure, Noel had forced her. It was unforgivable, but it was done. He should have stayed with Angeline, and now, something had gone wrong. During the ride to the hospital, he repeated, “Please be alright. Angel, please let it be alright.”

  Kicking his bike aside, Kane plowed into the ER. He saw harmless accidents and possible heart attacks all around him. He didn’t care. Pounding his fist into the reception desk, he asked for Angeline Wilkins. His plea was barely answered by a bored nurse with tired eyes.

  “Take a seat, sir,” she said. “I’ll look into it.”

  Look into it? Look into it? Angeline was not something to be pushed to the bottom of a list until this blonde with wild nails that made no sense for a nurse got around to acknowledging his presence. If Angeline was here, if the baby was in trouble, he had to have all of the facts—now.

  “Listen to me!” Kane seized her collar and sputtered a barrage of crude obscenities, as he demanded to know where she was and how she was. The nurse’s brown eyes rolled in her head, as she signaled for a security guard who seemed far too happy for some action on the midnight shift. The man wrenched Kane away from the desk. As he threatened him with his baton or worse if Kane didn’t just calm the fuck down, Kane remembered his near assault in the prison showers. He had been spared the gang rape by a stroke of luck, but if the other cons’ cocks had forced their way into his ass, Kane would have found his fists and smashed their skulls into the slick walls. No one messed with him. Not those dicks or Noel or…

  “Let him go.”

  He turned to the sound of his brother’s voice. Jeremy’s face was slick, his shirt sleeves were dotted with blood. Kane immediately wondered whether it was Angel’s.

  “Your boy’s making problems,” the guard said.

  “He’ll stop,” Jeremy said.

  What did Jem know? Kane would tear this hospital apart to get his answers. His little brother had no real power, and—

  “I promise,” Jeremy said, as he slipped a fifty into the guard’s pocket. The guy raised his eyebrows at the sight of the amount, and he released Kane. Falling into Jeremy, Kane was grateful for the use of his arms.

  Before he could stop, Kane brought his hands to Jeremy’s throat. “Did you do something to her?” he asked. “If she’s hurt, I swear to God—”

  Kane was stilled by the force of Jeremy’s surprise punch. As he fell to the ground, Kane looked at his little brother becoming a man. Jeremy seemed to grow a foot, and his eyes were cold as Kane lingered under his feet. Jeremy knew. He knew more than he was telling. Brother or not, he was ready to slam Jeremy into the wall when his brother’s hands came to rest around his arms. His hold was tight as he spoke.

  “You gonna hit me? Or do you want to see your kid?”

  Kane’s hands loosened at the sound of Jeremy’s words. His kid? He was supposed to be there when it happened; he had sworn that he would hold her through the birth. So how… why was Jeremy…?

  “I came around to talk things out,” Jeremy said. “You weren’t there.”

  Jeremy seemed nearly back to hating him for running away, and Kane started to explain that he didn’t have a choice, that their father would have killed him if he hadn’t taken off. Kane tried to wrap Jeremy into a bear hug when his brother held him back, and his face burst into a soft smile.

  “Come on, Kane,” Jeremy said. “She wants you. Only you.”

  They entered a white room. As soon as Kane saw Angeline’s eyes, his heart stopped pounding in his chest, and when she smiled up at him, her eyes bright and sure, Kane fell to her side.

  “Angel?”

  She kissed him lightly, then turned her attention to the cries caught in her arms.

  “It’s a boy,” she whispered.

  Kane looked at the little guy squirming and reaching for Angeline’s nose. He had sworn to protect them, but now it was real. The empty room that had sent pangs of terror all around his heart morphed back into a space where they might be happy.

  “A boy?” Kane asked.

  Angel
ine nodded, and her father slowly left her side. Kane barely saw him leave, and he tentatively touched the newborn’s cheek. The baby sighed under his finger, and Kane fell in love. Maybe he had missed the first moment, and it was something that he would always regret, but he’d be there for the long haul. This boy would never want to run. He would be a father—a real father. And he would hold him… he would hold them close—forever.

  “Oh, Angel.”

  Folding her into his arms, Kane kissed her weary face and patted the baby’s soft head. He thanked whatever god there was for Jeremy’s change of heart, and he nodded at his brother. Jeremy held Brent’s arms to keep him steady and returned the smile.

  So did Brent.

  He brushed the damp curls from her cheeks and smiled into her eyes. Turning his gaze back to the little boy—about to have everything—Kane shifted her deeper into his arms and whispered into her ear, “I’m here. For good. I—”

  Angeline stilled his words with a quick kiss, and when their lips melded together, Kane cradled her face with one hand as his free fingers caressed the baby. The newborn looked like Angeline; there was no sign of Noel. He even saw some of himself in the small face.

  “Do you want to hold your son?” she asked.

  Following Angeline’s lead, Kane took the baby into his arms. He wondered how the horrible scene from the house could have led to this prefect moment.

  Angeline filled in the blanks.

  “He wasn’t breathing,” Angeline said.

  Kane held the baby closer to his chest, and he looked back to his brother. Jeremy shuffled his feet and pressed his hands into his pockets. He bowed his head, and when Kane started to ask him how he managed to save his son’s life, Jeremy responded, “CPR. I took a course. Ellen said that we should be ready for anything.”

  However, he didn’t have a son of his own. He deserved better, and so did Ellen.

  “I… Jesus, Jem,” Kane sputtered. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Unable to face his brother, Kane turned his attention back to the little guy in his hands. The baby’s eyes were closed, but he was sighing in his sleep. No signs of any distress. As Angeline rested her fingers on his thigh, Kane stared at her hard. It was strange. Her face, her entire body seemed to sag with exhaustion, but her eyes told a different story. She looked hopeful, at peace.

  It was as if she was more alive than he had ever seen her. For a second, without wanting to, Kane’s mind flashed to Noel. Thinking of how she must have looked when he held her down with a lie, he pictured Angeline’s eyes soulless. Dead. But they weren’t now. Never again.

  “Don’t mention it,” Jeremy muttered as he awkwardly slapped his brother’s back. “Just happy to help is all.”

  But what if he hadn’t been there? What if help hadn’t come in time? Thinking on that sent Kane’s pounding heart into his throat, but Jeremy just eased him to the bed, to Angeline’s side, and he smiled.

  “Jem, I—”

  “Just enjoy it, Kane,” Jeremy prompted. “You’ll never get this moment back.”

  Obeying his little brother, Kane cradled the baby and felt Angeline’s feathery arm drape around his shoulders. They did not look at each other. Only the baby. His tiny face twisted, and the small lips expanded to release a soft yawn. As his eyelids fluttered open, Kane was struck by how bright and blue they were.

  “That’s something,” Kane said. “Thought they’d be green. Like yours.”

  Angeline laughed lightly and laid her head on his shoulder.

  “They might change,” she murmured. “A lot of babies have blue eyes.”

  Gazing into her green pools, he returned her smile.

  “That a fact?” he asked.

  Nodding, Angeline traced the baby’s face with a single finger and kissed his neck. Blue. Green. Hell red. It didn’t matter. The kid was perfect.

  “I still should have been there,” he admitted sadly, but Angeline swiftly shook her head and ran her fingers through his hair.

  “You’re here now,” she said. “That’s all that matters.”

  Kane leaned close to kiss her, but as their lips were only a breath apart, the sound of a familiar voice wafting from the reception desk caused his blood to run cold. One glance at Angeline, and he knew that she felt it, too.

  Noel.

  “Hold up,” Kane ordered.

  He ordered Brent and Jeremy to stay with her. Brent didn’t need to be told twice, and he held his daughter close and his cane closer.

  However, Jeremy didn’t listen.

  “Jem—”

  “I got your back,” Jeremy insisted. “I’m coming with you.”

  Leaving the room, they saw Noel arguing with an orderly. He had no back up—at least none that Kane could see. What the hell did he want now? Clenching his fists, Kane moved forward and gritted his teeth. There was no way he was going to get his hands on that innocent life. If Kane had to kill him right here, right now, he would do harder time in the joint than he had already known; but, that thought slipped to the back of his mind. To keep them safe, Kane would risk never seeing the light of day again.

  “I’m just trying to… oh there’s the proud papa!”

  Noel rushed away from the man in white and tried to grab Kane’s arm. Flinching at the first feel of his touch, Kane fell back into Jeremy’s arms. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that his brother would go down for the count with him. There was no way Kane was letting that happen.

  “What?” Noel asked. “No hug? I’m just here to wish you well and all that shit.” Noel stood toe-to-toe with his one-time protégé and flashed a wicked grin. “Unless you ain’t happy about it,” Noel said, seemingly teasing.

  Aware of all eyes in the waiting room on him, Kane felt that he had to tread lightly. Giving Noel any indication that Angeline and the baby were suddenly not the most important things in his life might open a door for Noel. Kane was determined to keep it closed and locked for good.

  “I’ll be happy when you leave,” Kane hissed.

  Noel’s face went blank, and Kane watched without blinking. He could feel Jeremy behind him, ready to spring into action if this went the wrong way. Kane narrowed his eyes at his brother and shook his head slightly. This wasn’t Jeremy’s fight, and Kane would protect him if he did anything stupid.

  Again.

  “When did you become such a surly little shit?” Noel asked.

  Laughing without joy as he licked his lips, Kane unfurled his hand on Noel’s shoulder and brought his lips close to his ear. “Around the time you raped my girl,” Kane whispered. “And if you think that you’re getting your fucking hands on that baby, you—”

  “Whoa! Wait!”

  Backing away, Noel waved his hands in the air in a motion of surrender, but Kane kept his eyes wide, still not trusting anything that Noel might do or say.

  “You think? Kid, be real.”

  Noel smiled at a slim nurse with wavy blonde hair passing by. As he watched her leave, Kane grabbed Noel by his shoulder and forced his face back to his.

  “Then why are you here?” Kane demanded. “What the fuck do you want, man?”

  Noel stuffed his hands into his pockets and shuffled his feet.

  “I guess I’m kind of here to thank you, kid.”

  “For what?” Kane asked.

  “Look,” locking his fingers behind his head, Noel took a deep, contented breath and said, “the last thing I need is your little lady trying to tie me down. I ain’t got the time to be trapped by some faithless bitch.”

  The desire to kill him grew strong, but before Kane could make a move Jeremy’s charged forward, ready to attack. It took Kane all of a second to hold his brother back, and Noel laughed at the pair of them.

  “I’m just saying that you done me a solid, kid,” Noel said. “Let the little shit be your problem.”

  Noel started to turn way, and as Kane held Jeremy’s heaving body under his hands, he wondered if it could just be that easy. Noel would head out and leave them
in peace. For the first time in as long as he could remember, Kane dreamed that he could just leave the club and live with her. However, as the glass doors were closing, he looked back, smirked, and said, “Just don’t let it get in the way of the bottom line, Kane. We still got work to do.”

  As Noel lumbered away, Jeremy broke free from Kane’s grasp. He started to charge after Noel, but Kane wrestled him back and kept him from any dumb moves.

  “Leave it alone, Jem,” Kane said. “I’ll—”

  “You’ll what, Kane?” Jeremy asked. “Just go back?” Jeremy’s head fell to his chest, and he sighed before he spoke. “Kane, you have a son now.”