by Angel Steel
“I had no idea what to do for her or our baby. The only thing I thought of was that we were both going to lose our child.” As Nate finished, he looked up at him. There were tears streaming down his face. He had never gone this far with anyone to understand what he was going through, but the thought of him and Skylar losing their child was gut wrenching. He wrapped his arm around him. “Everything is going to be fine, Nate. Skylar and the baby are safe; just let the doctors do their work.” Then he watched his best mate cry, sitting right there beside him, and even felt a tear slip from the corner of his own eye.
He really hoped that everything was going to be okay with her and the baby. He did not know exactly what would happen if something was wrong with either one of them. Nate’s world would end if he lost both of them. Fuck! His would too, if he was in the same boat.
******
As Chantal entered the room, she called out softly, “Skylar?”
“Chantal?”
Moving the curtain aside, she found Skylar lying down, attached to several machines. Why was she attached to so many? Her eyes welled up, but she was going to be strong for her friend—no, she needed to be strong for her, and herself. Taking a deep breath, she moved closer to the bed.
“What’s going on?”
Sitting up as best she could, Skylar began, “I was having a shower this morning and noticed blood. Then, I got this sharp pain in my side ... ” Skylar sobbed around her words.
Chantal tried to keep it together; she could not break down in front of Sky.
“Chantal, I’m losing the baby. I can feel it.” Skylar placed a hand over her belly. “I can’t lose this baby, Chan. Out of everything that I have ever wanted in life, this is the most important thing, right here.”
Leaning over she placed her hand over Skylar’s and squeezed. She had to be strong for her; she could not cry, even though she wanted to so bad, she couldn’t.
“The baby will be fine,” she whispered.
“No, it won’t Chantal. I can feel my heart breaking in two. There’s no movement. I haven’t felt any since yesterday and that is not normal. The doctors haven’t told me anything, all they do is more tests and that’s not helping. I need to know what is going on with my baby.”
And there go the tears.
Lying down beside her, she draped her arm over her belly, propping herself up with her other hand. How do you tell someone, that everything will be ok, not knowing if it was or not.
“Nate really wants this baby. If I lose it, he won’t want me anymore. This is my only chance to have him close. I know I don’t show it and push him away all the time, but I really want to be with him. I love him, Chan. I know what he has done in the past wasn’t great, but I’m trying to get over that and trust him again.”
Lifting the blanket up to her eyes, she wiped them. “Sky, he loves you. No matter what happens today, he wants to be with you, and only you.”
“He is only with me for the baby, Chantal, that’s it. He’s been acting differently ever since I told him the news about the baby.”
She wasn’t going to sit here and listen to her say that about him. Pulling out her phone, she sent a quick text to Nate.
“Why are you hooked up to all these machines?”
Pointing to the left, she rattled off, ” This one is monitoring the baby’s heart rate, and movement. That one,” she continued, pointing to the right, “Is for my heart rate, and the one at the end of the bed is the new ultrasound equipment.”
What is that long thing attached to the cord? It looks like a vibrator!
The door to the room banged against the wall as both Nate and Dom walked in. Glancing between them, she slowly sat up as Nate moved to Sky’s other side. Dom stood at the end of the bed, and as she turned to look at Nate, something caught her eye near the door. Looking back, she noticed Joey standing there, staring at her.
Sliding off the bed, she walked over and threw her arms around his waist, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him.
“Are you alright?”
Nodding she turned towards the bed, as Nate spoke, “How are you feeling, Sky.”
“I can’t feel the baby, Nate. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing. No one will tell me what is going on,” Skylar sobbed.
Nate wrapped his hand around hers, covering her belly.
“Our baby is fine, Sky. I know it.” He leaned down and whispered against her stomach.
“How can you know that, Nate? Are you a doctor? Do you know what is going on? No. You don’t. You need to leave, Nate. There is no reason for you to be here anymore, I’ve already lost the baby. We both know that is the only reason you are here, the child that I was carrying, and that I lost.”
Skylar yanked her hand from his and rolled over.
Nate moved around the other side of her, and knelt down beside the bed, lifting her face to his. “Skylar, I know to the bottom of my soul that our child is going to be fine.” She shook her head, and he went on. “Yes, it will be. But, I’m not here just for our child. I’m here for you. I have been in love with you from the first minute I saw you, when you ran into me at your door.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small black box. Chantal gasped, as well as Skylar.
He opened the box, and held it up for her to see. “I gave this to Craig to hold for me, after we broke-up. I was going to ask you on Christmas morning.” He took a breath. “Skylar Montague, you are my whole world. You have my heart, body, and soul. I will give you everything that you want, and more. I will love you till the last breathe that I take, and then beyond this world. Will you give me the honor of becoming my wife?”
“You want to marry me? Even if I lost the baby?”
“If we did, we can try again, Sky, but we won’t lose this baby. Why would you doubt me that I want to marry you? There is nothing more on this earth I want more than I want you, Skylar.”
Nodding and holding her hand over her mouth, she cried harder.
“Is that a yes?” Nate whispered.
“Yes! Yes, of course I’ll marry you, Nate.”
He leaned over the bed, and crashed his mouth to hers. His hands roamed over her body, as she moved as close to him as she could.
“Hmm, that is pretty hot guys,” Dom said as he laughed.
Of course, he had to go and say something like that. Walking over towards the bed, Chantal gave Nate a hug. “Congrats, guys.”
“Thanks, Chantal,” Nate said as he let go of her and moved across the room. Sitting down on the bed, she bent over and hugged Skylar. “See, I told you he loved you,” she whispered against her head. “Now, let me check this ring out.” She grabbed Skylar’s left hand and lifted it for inspection. “Holy shit, Nate. That is one big rock.” They both giggled at her words.
“Only the best for my girl.” Nate winked towards Skylar.
The diamond was huge, square cut, and had small diamonds around the solitaire and halfway down each side of the band. It was every girls dream to receive a ring like that. It was absolutely gorgeous.
“Skylar Montague.”
Everyone turned as the doctor said Skylar’s name.
Chantal stood beside the bed, holding her hand, and Nate moved back to the other side and sat down.
“I’m Dr. Davis,” he announced, flicking through her chart. “We have gone over all the results from the tests that we have performed, and figured out what the problem is.”
“Is the baby going to be ok?” Skylar whispered.
The whole room went quiet waiting to find out the outcome, wishing it wasn’t going to be bad. They both needed this to be good news, to go along with the marriage proposal.
Standing at the end of the bed, he informed, “You have partial placenta praevia, and placenta abrupto.”
She sat up slightly, but before she had a chance to ask, Nate jumped in. “What the hell is that?”
“You are?”
“I’m her husband,” Nate growled.
Reaching for his hand, she pulled him cl
oser to her. “Fiancée. What does that mean?” she asked.
“Placenta praevia is where the placenta is lying low in your uterus. Complete means covering your cervix, Marginal means really close to your cervix, within 1 to 2 centimeters, and partial means partially covering your cervix. This is the one you have. Placenta abrupto is where the placenta tears away from the uterine wall. Both of these cause bleeding. Your Placenta has only torn away a small amount, not all of it.”
“So the baby is fine?” Nate asked.
“Will the bleeding stop?” Skylar asked.
Dr. Davis smiled towards both of them. “Your baby is completely fine, and the bleeding will stop, eventually. You will have to take it easy for the next several weeks. You need to have someone be there with you to help.”
“I’ll move to her help,” Nate answered.
Sky frowned. “Nate, you live next door. You don’t have to move in.”
“I’m moving in, end of story, Skylar,” he replied firmly.
“Due to the fact that you have had labor-like pains, we will keep you overnight for observation. If the bleeding stops you will be discharged. If not, you might have to stay until the baby is born. We will monitor the position of the placenta, and both the baby and Ms. Montague’s heart rate overnight. You will need to refrain from lifting anything heavy, get plenty of rest, and are advised against sexual intercourse, for the time being.”
“What?”
“Only for the next couple of weeks. If everything is good, then you can go ahead. If not, no intercourse for the rest of the pregnancy,” Dr. Davis replied with a smile.
Nate stood there mumbling under his breath. Both Skylar and Chantal giggled. Joey laughed as well as Dom.
“Feel sorry for ya, bro.” Dom tried not to laugh too hard, but didn’t succeed, and ended up bent over holding his gut. The room echoed with his laughter.
Holding his hand up, he apologized, “Sorry. Sorry.”
“Come back at thirty-two weeks and we will do an ultrasound, to see if the placenta has moved. If it is still in the same area, a planned caesarean for around thirty-eight to thirty-nine weeks will be performed.”
Sky could only nod, as she asked, “Is there anything else that I need to do.”
“Eat plenty of nutritious foods, particularly those rich in iron. This will reduce your chances of becoming anemic. Keep your circulation going to prevent blot clots; try to move around and drink plenty of water.”
“I’ll make sure she does that,” Nate answered.
“Well, that is about it. We will do another round of blood and urine work tonight. If everything is fine in the morning, you will be discharged.”
“Thank you, Dr. Davis.”
“Take care, Skylar. I will see you in the morning.” Placing her chart in the slot at the end of the bed, he turned and exited the room.
Everyone was quiet after the doctor left. Moving out of Joey’s arms, Chantal addressed them, “Well, since we know that Skylar and the baby are going to be ok, I’m heading to your place to clean up and cook some meals for you, so you don’t have to lift a finger. I’ll come back and pick you up when you’re ready to go home.”
“You don’t have to do that, Chantal. I’m sure Nate can do all that, since he can’t do what he wants to.” Skylar could not help but stir the pot with him.
“I told you that I would do anything for you, Sky,” he groaned.
“I know, Nate,” she purred.
“These next two weeks are going to kill me,” he growled.
“There are always other things to do, Nate,” she whispered.
“And that is my cue. I love you, Sky, and I will see you tomorrow when you get home.” Leaning over, she gave her a tight hug. “I’m glad everything is alright, now,” she whispered in her ear.
“So am I.” Skylar said.
Slapping Nate on the back, Dom told him, “I’m heading out. I have some things that I need to do.”
“Thanks for being here.”
“No need to thank me, Nate. You’re family, and that is the only thing that matters. Now, look after your beautiful fiancée.” He lightly placed a kiss on Skylar’s head. “Take care.”
Dom walked past Joey and slapped him on the shoulder, but never once glanced at Chantal as he left the room.
Staring after him, she wondered, what have I done to him? “Are you ready to go? You need to rest after the day you’ve had.”
She smiled up at Joey. “Sure, let’s go.”
She waved her hand to Skylar and Nate as they walked out and waited at the lift. Why was he in such a hurry to leave? She knew that Nate would have closed up shop, for the rest of the day. Maybe he was seeing someone. She shook her head. No, Dom didn’t see anyone. He only slept with them. He never dated or had a serious relationship, that she knew of. She couldn’t keep doing this to herself. Dom didn’t want anything to do with her, and she didn’t with him. Keep thinking that.
She wrapped her arm around Joey’s waist, and he pulled her tightly into him. “Do you want to grab something to eat on the way to your place?”
“We can order pizza once we get in.”
Why was she thinking of Dom when Joey was taking her home? She had feelings for him, but not as strong as she had for Dom. She had to decide soon. She couldn’t keep doing this to Joey if she wanted Dom. She could not allow Dom to keep playing with her emotions if he wasn’t interested, which is how it seemed. They needed to move on.
Chapter 17
Dom strolled into Elite Inc., for the monthly meeting, where they would discuss and assign any new clients, draw up new contracts, and anything else the team had to add.
Walking straight into the conference room, he sat at the head of the table. Everyone was present that needed to be. Lee Anne sat to his right. Marcus sat to the left with their new colleague, Maria. Bradley, Jonathan, Christian, and Stephen all sat at the end.
Lee Anne stood. “Ok, guys. These are the new clients; their profiles are in the file. Contracts will have to be done up once you have picked which ones you want to take on,” she said as she passed each of them a manila folder.
“Dominic, you need to set a time and place for client...” She paused, shifting her paperwork around. “Cassandra Williams. Are you doing the contract alone, or with someone?”
“Marcus will be doing it with me.”
“Good. Have you all picked which clients you want?” she said as she looked around the table.
“I’ll take clients 13, 22 and 17. I’ll let you know the dates.” Bradley said.
“What about you two?” She pointed to Jonathan and Christian, “Rebecca Gibbs and Leona Mathews.” Christian replied.
Dom grinned to himself; they were in for one hell of a ride with those two women.
“I’ll take what is left, Lee Anne.” Marcus grinned.
“Great, since that’s all done...Maria you will work with Dominic over the next couple of weeks so you get the feel of how we do things around here.” She stood, placing all of her documents in her folder.
“No offence, but I’ can’t have someone follow me around to do that. I have a day job, a life out of this job,” Dom growled.
Resting her hands on the table, she faced him. “Dominic, Maria won’t be following you. Just show her around town so she knows where everything is. Is that too hard to do?”
“No, It’s not.” Dom stood up, and growled out, “Remember the conversation we had in your office not long ago?”
Lee Anne paled and nodded.
“Remember that for next time, then. I was bloody serious, Lee Anne.”
He glanced over at Maria. “Ready. We’ll go over some of the places that I can show you.”
“Thank you, Dominic. I really appreciate it,” she purred.
He wasn’t reading anything into it. It was her job to sweet talk all the clients, and he wasn’t even going to look as she sauntered out of the room, either. But he was a hot-blooded male and any male would be stupid not to. As soon as his eyes landed
on her walking through the door, he groaned. From the way her hips swayed from side to side and the sound of her high heels clicking along on the wood floors, to her endless legs in that skirt she was wearing and the way it hugged her ass—he knew looking had been a mistake.
He and Lee Anne had agreed on having a woman join the firm, to see how it would work out. He hadn’t been there when Lee Anne had done the interviews, and after one look at Maria, he knew he should have been. Although she did not come across as someone to cause trouble, she sure was going to with the guys, even if unintentionally.
Her layered red hair flowed to stop about halfway down her spine. Her figure represented a swimsuit model; tanned skin, brown eyes, long legs that begged to be wrapped around his waist, and breasts the size of rock melons. So much fun there to be had.
“Are you coming, Dominic?” Maria called out from the front door.
Just the thought of that action made his dick hard against his jeans. He shook his head to free the thoughts of Maria under him...Thoughts that could never happen.
“Yeah.” Dom stalked out of the entrance and towards his bike before climbing on and finally looking over at Maria.
“We’ll head over to Joey’s, a popular bar around here, and talk about how we do things here.”
“Ok, I’ll follow you.” He watched as she climbed into a black, sporty BMW roadster and reversed out, waiting for his lead.
Well, she had good taste in vehicles, which didn’t surprise him. He didn’t know what she did before she came to work for Elite, and really it was none of his business. As long as she followed the protocols, she would be all right. Everyone that joined their firm went through an extensive background check, the whole nine yards. With the clientele that they dealt with, they needed to be careful on whom they chose for the job.
As he took off up the road, she kept up with him, zooming through traffic. When he moved past a school bus and pulled up short behind a b-double truck, he glanced in his mirror and saw her coming up fast; overtaking the bus, him and the truck. Grinning, he pulled out and drove after her car. He had never had this much fun, besides in the bedroom. Flying past her, he took the lead as they turned off the highway and down the esplanade.
