“Is that?”
“Our baby,” Hunter responds as he squeezes my hand before pressing a kiss to the knuckles.
“I measure that you’re about ten to twelve weeks along. I suggest scheduling an appointment with your OB/GYN to get a due date.”
“A baby? I’m sick with a baby?”
Hunter and the doctor chuckle in unison, but I don’t have it in me to turn my attention away from the screen. Becoming a guardian of my niece was something I could handle, but this. . .this is a whole other ball game.
Then something the doctor said registers in my mind. “You knew?” I question as I turn my gaze toward the man standing joyfully beside the bed.
Hunter blushes slightly, his tanned skin appearing a shade darker on his cheeks.
“Only that you were pregnant. They told me right before you woke up. It’s the first time I’ve seen an image, sweetheart.”
I hate how much that stupid nickname causes me to melt at his feet.
“So, we’re having a baby?”
A cocky grin grows on Hunter’s face. The corner of his mouth tilting just a smidge higher than the other. “We’re getting married and having a baby.”
Stifling my groan, I look back at the doctor then the small heartbeat flickering on the screen draws my eye. I can’t look away even if I try.
“I’ll print out a few pictures for you. The OB/GYN can do a video or 4D if you request it.”
“I’m going to be a mom,” I whisper to myself.
Of course, Hunter chooses that second to turn my heart into a puddle from its already melting state. “You already are, Taylor. You already are a mom to an amazing little girl very excited to see you.”
“Well, I’ll leave you two to share in your excitement. Once you’re done with the fluids, Ms. Hughes, we can discharge you. Sound good?”
I nod, my eyes still pinned to the small screen and when the technician turns off the monitor, I snarl in her direction. Luckily for her, I’m strapped to the bed, held down by a few tubes. But when she hands me the ten black and white glossy photos, I snatch them from her grasp with a smile.
“Calm down, sweetheart,” Hunter says, gently placing his hand on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry.” Tears well in my eyes and I curse the pregnancy hormones that have been plaguing me for weeks. It definitely explains why I have been irritable, tired, and crying at every commercial on the television.
“I can’t believe I didn’t realize that I am pregnant.”
“Well, you haven’t been sick, but with the stress of your sister’s death and guardianship of Tabitha you’ve had a lot going on.”
“But what if I did something to hurt the baby?”
“You haven’t. While you were still out of it, the doctor said everything sounded good. The baby’s heartbeat is strong.”
“Is that why you. . .” I imply about his proposal, now seeming so silly that I actually said yes.
Hunter grabs my hand in his and takes a seat on the edge of the bed. “I guess maybe that is part of it, but only making me do it sooner rather than later. I want Tabitha, and now this little one, to have a family. She called me Daddy today. I don’t ever want that to change.”
“But that’s a silly reason to get married, Hunter. We can be a family without a piece of paper or a set of rings. Couples do it every day.”
“I don’t disagree with you, but that’s not how I was brought up. If you love someone and want to be with them, you marry them. It’s pretty straight and narrow.”
“Do you love me, Hunter?” I question in a low voice. Hope fills my chest at the notion.
“I’m not sure, to be honest. But I know that you’re special and I was terrified when I found you unconscious today.”
My teeth instantly pull my lower lip into my mouth to keep myself from crying out. The hope explodes in my chest, shattering my heart into a million fragments. I’ve never been told I was loved, not even as a child. My parents and sister only ever said that they cared for me, but never loved me. Of course, my sister never knew any different. She may have in her own unique way. I’m sure her daughter loves me in only a way that a child can – unconditionally.
“You know you already agreed. No take backsies.”
“Hunter, I-” I begin to explain, but he silences me with a soft kiss to my lips, drawing away every counter argument I possess. Bastard with the amazing kisses that render me speechless.
“There are some people here excited to see you. We can meet them in the waiting room once you’re discharged, or I can have them meet us at our house. Whichever you prefer. Elle had invited us to dinner, but I’m pretty sure that it’s now out of the question.”
“Oh, um. . .” Before I can reply, a nurse pops into the room with a packet of papers for me to sign and a prescription for vitamins. She unhooks all of the tubes and ushers me into a wheelchair, which I’m told is protocol at this facility, even if I deny it.
I begrudgingly lower myself into the seat, mumbling expletives the entire time.
“This is silly. I’m capable of walking.” They ignore me completely until I reach the double doors of the lobby.
“I’m going to get Cooper to trade our vehicles. Can you behave for like five minutes?”
Waving my hand in the air, I swat him away as the nurse leaves me sitting in a locked wheelchair on the sidewalk.
“Oh,” Hunter adds just as he begins to pass through the doors. “Since you’re already pissed off I figured I can’t do much worse. But I called your grandmother. I’m sorry,” the man says in one quick sentence, barely catching his breath between words.
He scurries away before I can ask for more information.
He contacted my grandmother? Then I remember how I had plugged her number into his phone so that I wouldn’t be tempted to reach out and say something that I may regret. Like how she could let me stay at a place like that for so long knowing what her son was capable of.
“There she is,” a soft voice declares from behind me and I turn in my seat just as Tabitha and Sara come into view.
“Mommy!” Tabitha cries out with her arms reaching toward me. My heart stops. Those tiny little shattered fragments from early slowly begin to piece themselves back together. It’s not complete, but it’s enough that I can feel every ounce of her love for me.
“Hi, princess. Did you miss me?”
Tabitha doesn’t answer, as she wiggles free from Sara’s hold she ambles over to me and plops herself in my lap. I take a gracious sniff of her hair as I breathe in her scent. A mixture of her strawberry shampoo and little girl. Her arms wrap around my neck and hold on tightly, unable to do anything but return her embrace.
“So, is everything okay?” Sara asks as she comes to stand beside me, Elle, Jackson, and Cooper joining her. I think about the pictures I just received and I’m grateful that they’re tucked under my leg. I haven’t fully embraced the fact that I’m pregnant yet. It may take a little bit of time to sink in.
I spy a top of the line pick-up truck pull into the entry for discharged patients and park right in front of me. Hunter jumps out of the cab of the vehicle and saunters over to me. My pulse quickens at the look he is sending my way and my traitorous heart starts beating in overtime. Why does he have to look so damn good all of the time? I’m sure right now I look like something the cat dragged in.
“Ready to go?” he asks as he lifts Tabitha from my lap. She cuddles into his neck and damn him for sending a different electric current running through me. Seeing a sexy man with a baby has a particular effect on women.
“Yeah, I guess.” Pushing myself up using the armrests, I wobble a bit as I stand in front of the wheelchair.
“We can bring Tabitha with us since we already have a car seat for her.”
“That would be great. Thanks, guys. I can make some burgers at our house if you all want to join us tonight.” Hunter has the forethought to glance at me and see my pinched lips. “That is, of course, if Taylor is up for some company.”
I realize that he is giving me an out, extending an olive branch to help me feel in control of the situation. I also know he’s probably dying to tell them that we’re having a baby. In the weeks I’ve lived with him, I’ve learned that Hunter is truly a family man. Which completely contradicts the bachelor lifestyle he led; I wonder if there is a story there.
Nodding my head and inviting the group over I watch as his smile widens and he tells Tabitha that we’re going to have a party. She claps gleefully, causing everyone in our group to laugh.
Elle and Jackson tell us that his mother is going to bring their kids by the house, Elle is not able to be away from their infant for too long. At least there is someone I can speak with about all of this stuff. I’ve never known anyone pregnant before. Hell, I’ve never even had people I considered friends before except for Kerry.
Hunter helps me get into the truck as Sara and Cooper pile into the backseat, grateful that his truck has an extended cab. It’s bigger than my small sedan interior. And thinking about my car has me realizing that I probably need to splurge on a larger vehicle. It was good for just carting around Tabitha, but with an infant, I’m going to need more space for a carrier. And not to mention another room in the house.
Just thinking about all of the things that I’m not prepared for sends me over the edge. My breathing becomes erratic and the sunshine from the afternoon sky closes in, darkening the space around me.
“Taylor, are you okay?” I faintly hear someone ask, but I can’t distinguish the voice. Everything sounds muffled and subdued. My breathing catches in my chest as I can’t take any air in to fill my lungs.
“Hey,” a soothing noise calls out, and that’s when I feel it. The strongest of touches on my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine, seeping in my panic to his own body. Hunter’s contact soothes me and brings me down from the ledge I precariously dangled from. “It’ll be okay, sweetheart. We’ll work everything out.”
I notice for the remainder of the ride that Sara and Cooper sit quietly in the back seat, neither of them mentioning the panic attack Hunter just pulled me out of. But through it all, Hunter’s hand never leaves mine. A solace that I hang onto for the trip.
We pull into Hunter’s driveway and I immediately make a move to open the door, but Hunter squeezes my hand, halting my movement. “I’ll get it. You just sit tight.”
At first, I want to argue with him that I’m capable of opening my own door. An argument we’ve had many times before, but from the side mirror, I watch as Cooper moves around the truck and opens the door for Sara in the backseat. Then I realize that it isn’t just Hunter being a chivalrous alpha, it’s simply something he was taught to do – his whole family was taught to do. I probably need to stop giving him such a hard time about it, I consider. But sometimes the fights lead to some amazing make up sex. Not too sure I’m ready for that to die down anytime soon.
A set of keys fly through the air as I hear Hunter tell them that we’ll meet them inside and he stalks over to my door. Instead of allowing me to exit, he cages me in, and at this height, his head is right in line with my chest. He must notice at the same time because that sexy smirk I love so much develops on his lips.
“Stop staring at my boobs.”
“But they’re such nice boobs. I don’t pay enough attention to them.”
“Oh, you pay plenty.”
“Nah, maybe we can remedy that later?”
“We’ll see,” I joke, but the thought of sex with Hunter later tonight has the sex between my legs pooling with moisture.
He pauses, just gazing up at me with that damn smirk until it slowly begins to recede.
“I’m going to leave it up to you if you want to tell them tonight. I’ll follow your lead. But you should know that they’re going to ask questions, and I’m sure Sara and Elle will probably figure it out soon on their own.”
I consider what he’s telling me, and as much as I want to keep this a secret as long as possible until I can figure out how I feel about the entire situation, I know that he’s right. And I can probably speak with Elle and Sara about my fears.
“We can tell them tonight. But can we tell Tabitha first, maybe when she gets here?”
“I think that sounds awesome. She’s going to be a great big sister. Now come on, I’m sure your starving.”
“A burger does sound good right now.”
He places his hands on the sides of my hips and launches me into the air before sliding me down his body until my feet hit the ground. Innocently I smile up at him and as his hand slides into my hair, I notice that he’s looking at me with a new expression. One that I’ve never witnessed before. It’s strong, capable, and. . .determined. Before I can try to dissect what has him feeling out of sorts, he seals his lips against mine, and all of my worries fall away. This kiss is different. It’s not just a kiss used as a precursor of what is going to come. It’s a kiss that stands on its own at this moment. It’s just the two of us in this upturned world chasing an existence that makes us whole.
“Come on, love birds. We’re hungry.” I pull away instantly, looking up at Hunter who wears a full-watt smile as he turns toward Jackson and Elle who have just pulled up.
I help Elle gather Tabitha from the car and I carry her inside the house and straight to her bedroom, Hunter trailing behind us.
“Tabitha,” I tell her as she scrambles over for her favorite stuffed animal. One we keep a copy of at the shop. “What do you think about being a big sister?”
“I big girl.”
“Yes, sweetie. But I’m going to have a baby and I could really use your big girl help. What do you think?”
She looks at me for a moment, and I begin to wonder if she has any idea what I’m even talking about, but of course, she surprises me.
“I be a good big sister. I feed it, and wock it, and gives it kisses,” she tells us cheerfully as she grabs her baby doll from the pile of toys and rocks it in her arms.
“Well, that went better than expected.”
Standing up from where I had been crouched on the floor at Tabitha’s level, I turn to Hunter and ask, “Well, what kind of reaction did you expect?”
“When we told Noah and Kennedy that they were having a baby brother or sister, it didn’t go so well. Noah locked himself in his room and Kennedy screamed that she was the baby. Took two days for them to calm down.”
“Really?”
“Yep, but it’s all good now, obviously.”
“Guess it’s safe to spill the beans to the group. But can we eat first?”
“Sure.”
In the kitchen, Hunter and I start preparing the items for burgers as Jackson and Cooper head out to the porch to start the grill. Elle and Sara take a few beers out to the deck and I decline a drink, telling them that the doctor gave me some medicine in the hospital.
They look at me unconvinced but then go back inside as Elle’s children arrive at our house. Jackson’s mother doesn’t linger long, just enough to give her boys a hug before she heads out to dinner with her husband Stan, declining our offer to feed them both.
The burger is just what I need and I scarf down two before I even take a sip of water. Even Tabitha eats an entire hamburger, which is not something she’s done in the past. Normally we are happy if she eats a quarter of the food we put on her plate.
Silence hangs in the air as we all finish eating on the outside deck table. Hunter reaches out under the table and rests his hand on my thigh, his touch soothing me the same way it did in the truck.
Taking a deep breath, I fill the void. “So, I’m sure you all are wondering what happened today.”
“You don’t have to tell us,” Sara says at the same time Elle asks, “Is it life-threatening?” Which earns her a glare from her best friend.
“No, well, I guess it could be, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
“I’m confused,” Elle states as she slouches in her chair.
“Well, we’re having a baby. I’m pregnant.”
IT’S TAKEN A FEW days to settle on a design, but I finally narrowed down how I want the swing set to look, and with the baby coming, I needed to make some modifications.
But today, I have all of the lumber arriving at the house and I’m ready to get started. Jackson and Cooper offered to help, as did Aiden, but we took on another client, so I sent him on that task instead.
I start by noting each piece of wood designated by my design and marking my measurements. I’m halfway through cutting the wood when a groggy Taylor comes outside with a screaming Tabitha.
The screeching table saw silences as I shut off the power.
“Don’t you think it’s a little early to be running power tools?” Taylor snaps.
“What? It’s seven in the morning.”
“Yeah, and most people like to sleep in on Saturdays. Especially your pregnant fake fiancée.”
“Stop saying that you’re my fake fiancée. You said yes.”
“Yeah, before I knew why you were asking.”
“Taylor,” I growl as she returns with her own snarl. “Hunter.”
“Look, can you just wait another hour or so? Some of us were sleeping, and I can’t take Tabitha to the aquarium until nine.”
“Fine. I’ll keep it down for now.”
“Thanks, I appreciate it.”
Her hips sway with each step as she carries a now calm Tabitha back into the house and I can’t help but stare in a hypnotic state.
The saying, “You hate to watch them go, but love to watch them leave,” rings true right at this moment.
With the inability to use my saw for the next hour, I take the pieces I’ve already cut and start assembling the main structure of the swing set. I hear a diesel engine pull up to the house and I walk around the side to greet my cousins.
“Doesn’t look like you’ve gotten very far,” Jackson points out as he reaches the pile of uncut wood.
“Yeah, well, I was told to stop for another hour by an angry pregnant lady. I know better than to not do what I’m told.”
“Wise choice. I see you set up the main structure, we can help you lift it into place. Then move onto the clubhouse.”
Stolen Hearts (The Stolen Series Book 3) Page 10
