by J. M. Madden
“Thank you,” he murmured into her ear. “This is precious to me.”
Alex felt her own throat close up at the rough sound of his voice. It had actually meant something to him. He acted as if he got very few presents.
“Why aren’t you in a relationship?” she asked.
Duncan glanced at her and shrugged. “I was engaged years ago, but my fiancé at the time apparently got lonely while I was deployed. When I came back from Iraq she was pregnant with another man’s child. She was going to break up with me anyway. When I came home broken it just made it easier for her to leave.”
Alex knew her mouth was hanging open. “She left you in the hospital? Injured?”
He shrugged, moving to set the book on the table. He avoided her eyes. “She had already chosen someone else over me. Honestly, it happens to deployed military all the time.”
Alex shook her head, amazed at the audacity of some people. At that moment she had little respect for her own sex, because it was usually the female half of the relationship left behind. “That is so wrong. What a bitch.”
Duncan looked up at her, as if deciding whether or not her words were true. “We wouldn’t have been a good match anyway. Yes, it hurt at the time but we’re both better off for not being together. What about you? Why no ring?”
Alex blinked. “Well, seems like there are more frogs in my life than princes. I’ve been in a couple of relationships but nothing epic. It just never happened.”
She moved to straighten up the table, taking his wrapping paper to throw away. She couldn’t hide a wince when she turned toward the trashcan, her hip hurt like hell.
Duncan must have noticed. “Let’s leave this for later. Go get into whatever you’re soaking in and I’ll get the tub ready.”
Without a word, she disappeared down the hallway. By the time Duncan had changed his own clothes, she was just getting ready to get in the tub, until he took her arm in his. “Look at these bruises,” he hissed.
Alex cringed. “Nothing is broken, I swear. It just looks bad.”
He glanced down her body to the purpling bruise on her hip. “Damn, woman.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “Oh, the curse of having milk-white skin, every little bump and ding leaves a mark visible from space.”
The skin wasn’t broken, just bruised, but he hated to see it. “Climb in,” he growled.
Alex didn’t dare let on how much she hurt, but she thought Duncan could see she was aching. It was her own fault, though. That’s what he was too nice to say. If she hadn’t taken off after the guy who looked like Aiden she wouldn’t be in this predicament. Because right now she didn’t want to do anything but lay down. Her elbow and hips hurt, but also her neck and head. Her entire right side hurt, if she was honest with herself.
Duncan was being super patient with her though. He didn’t call her crazy for going off half-cocked, though he could have.
Alex could have sworn it had been Aiden, though. The shape of the face had caught her attention as he’d brushed between she and Duncan. He’d been about the right height, she thought, but she’d only actually seen Aiden Willingham standing once, when he was walking out of the hospital. They derelict guy had worn a filthy toboggan, dingy gray sweatpants and a huge black puffy coat with stuffing hanging out of it.
She tried to remember more details, but nothing else came. Maybe it would work its way out of her subconscious after they soaked. She stepped over the edge of the tub and eased into the water, gasping at the scalding heat. Almost immediately, though, she felt her sore muscles begin to relax. Lowering her shoulders below the water line, she tried to immerse her sore neck as much as she could. Duncan eased in beside her, stretching his legs out along the length of hers.
“I think I’ll sleep ’ere tonight.”
Even her mouth was relaxing, her words getting slurred, but he chuckled. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. Right now the fettuccine is weighing you down. We’ll soak for a while, then go curl up on the couch and watch a movie or something.”
Alex blinked, wondering if she could keep her eyes open that long.
Then Duncan’s strong arm wrapped around her chest and he tugged her in against him. “If you want to close your eyes for a few minutes, I’ll hold onto you.”
He didn’t even have to tell her twice.
* * *
Shannon woke early Tuesday morning, excitement humming through her veins. She was exactly ten weeks along and she was going to hear her baby’s heartbeat for the first time today.
Turning her head, she smiled into John’s low-lidded dark eyes. “Hey, babe.”
“Hey, gorgeous.”
He rolled up on one elbow to give her a kiss, one hand landing on a sensitive breast. Very carefully, he massaged the weight of her boob and avoided the nipple, where she was painfully sensitive right now. All of the books said that this change in her body was completely normal, but it was a little frustrating. John was definitely a breast man, and it was very hard for him to avoid them.
“I’m glad you finally proposed,” she told him softly. “It was getting hard to not tell you to go easy and why.”
He jerked his hand back, his eyes widening. “This isn’t too hard, is it?”
Shannon rocked her head against the pillow. “No, it’s just right. Thank you for being so… mmmmm… careful.”
Leaning down, he pressed a couple of gentle kisses against her mouth. Then he just leaned into her, one hand wandering down to rest on her belly. “I only want you healthy and happy. I’ve waited for you for so long and I want you to be completely satisfied with your life.”
They were the only ones in the house, but they still whispered quietly into the lightening room about what they wanted to hear today.
“I can tell you now that I’m going to cry,” Shannon warned. “Seems like everything is making me cry right now, but when I hear the heartbeat? Yeah, I’m totally going to lose it.”
“Don’t tell me that. You’ll make me get all teary eyed too.”
It had only happened a couple of times, but Shannon had seen John so full of emotion he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Those times only made her love him more though.
With gentle hands he moved the blankets away from her body, then slowly lifted her T-shirt to look at her belly. “I think I can see just a little tiny bump.” He rested his hand over the area and she smiled. It was where she had noticed a fullness too.
“Yes.”
John ran his hand around the area, always being careful. Right now, even her skin seemed to be a little hyper-sensitive, and he seemed to be cognizant of that.
She moved his hand several inches above her tummy. “This is how big I’m going to be,” she warned.
John frowned and shook his head. “No way. It won’t get that big.”
“Do you know how big you were when you were born?”
Shannon knew this was a potentially sensitive subject, because John’s mother had abandoned him on the steps of a church when he was just a little boy. Whether he admitted it or not, it still affected him.
“Yes. I was eight six when I was born.”
Her eyes widened. “Wow. You were a big one.”
He shrugged, a smile splitting his mouth. “What can I say?”
Giggling, she pressed a kiss to his mouth and rolled out of bed. “I’m going to go shower. Want to join me?”
“Nah, go ahead. I’m going to lay here a few more minutes until my alarm goes off.”
Suiting actions to words, he flopped back against the bed, then tugged the comforter up over his chest. Gray Cat, laying at the bottom of the bed growled at the disturbance. Shannon grinned, her life feeling so right. It was time for them to move into the next stage of their lives.
She woke the puppy—Carmella?—from her pen and let her outside on the leash to go potty. Shawn, the neighbor kid, had scooped her out a couple of paths through the snow to the grass, so she did her business quickly then ran back to Shannon. “Good girl!”
/> Patting the wet snow from her paws, Shannon dropped her to the bed with John as she headed to the bathroom.
Shannon took her time in the shower. Squeezing the coconut lime verbena shower gel bottle over her hand, she paused to inhale. Yeah, that smelled good. Her appointment wasn’t until nine, but she wanted to be more than ready. As her first time visiting the doctor, she was sure she had pages of information to fill out. Even that couldn’t diminish her mood though.
By the time she’d left the bedroom to go make breakfast, John was swinging over the side of the bed to his wheelchair. “I’ll go get cleaned up. I’ll be there in a few.”
Shannon leaned down to give him a kiss, feeling so grateful that they had connected. John Palmer was still a little rough around the edges, but those edges made him unique and she love every one of those edges.
They ate a warm breakfast of oatmeal with fruit, then cleaned up the dishes together. Shannon gave the cats food, and put the puppy in her new kennel with a couple of toys, then went to the living room to tidy it up a bit. The waiting to go was going to kill her.
Then, finally, it was time. They bundled into John’s truck, the automatic lift letting in cold air while they waited. She cranked the heater, wishing they’d warmed the truck sooner. She shuddered with cold as she dragged the seatbelt across her body, but John didn’t even seem to notice the weather.
Other than being in the chair, his legs paralyzed, he was the strongest man she knew. Or maybe the most stubborn, she thought with a giggle.
“What,” he demanded defensively, coal black brows furrowed.
“Nothing, honey. I was just thinking how stubborn you are.”
“I’m not stubborn,” he countered. “I’m determined and motivated.”
Shannon laughed, leaning over to press a kiss to his lean cheek. He’d actually shaved today, and cleaned up a little more than normal. He appeared to be nervous, too.
The medical complex was crowded when they pulled in, so, with a grumble, John pulled into the handicapped spot at the front of the lot. Then he leaned over and dug out the handicapped placard, placing it to swing on the swing on the rear view mirror.
Shannon knew he hated the visible symbol of his disability. Normally, John would have parked at the edge of the parking lot, where cars were sparse and there was plenty of room for his driver’s side lift to operate. It didn’t bother her if it made him happy. One of her deepest secret wishes was to see John regain use of his legs, even just in part. With the medical advancements being made all the time, she didn’t think it the wish was entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Opening the door wide for John’s chair, Shannon moved to the placard with the doctors listed in white letters. “Dr. Wehrum is on the third floor.”
They rode the elevator up, found the office and signed in. As expected, she was handed a clipboard with a stack of forms to be filled out. John parked beside her chair as she dug in and grabbed a magazine to read.
“What the hell…” he mumbled.
Shannon glanced over to see him reading a breastfeeding manual. Giggling, she told him, “You need to read that and let me know if there’s anything interesting in there. I plan on breastfeeding our child.”
When she glanced at him again, it was to find him looking down the V of her shirt, to the cleavage that had grown in the past couple of months. His dark eyes glinted with fascination. “Just how big do you think those will get?”
Shannon snorted. Typical man. “I’m sure they’ll go to double Ds at least.”
When she glanced at him again, he stared at her hard, trying to decide if she were joking or not.
“I don’t know,” she told him honestly. “I’ve already had to buy one new bra a size larger.”
He turned back to the magazine and began reading in earnest. By the time her name was called to go back, John had flipped through a couple of magazines.
The nurse that greeted them had a smile a mile wide. “Oh, yes,” she assured Shannon. “Daddies are always allowed back.”
Shannon got weighed, peed in a cup, then had her blood drawn before she was finally shown to a nicely feminine examination room. She settled onto the table as John maneuvered the wheelchair against the wall, shoving the other chair into the corner. Taking a deep breath, she tried to be patient. John glanced around and fiddled with his chair, rocking back and forth, in general doing his own version of pacing. When the knock finally came at the door, they both startled.
Dr. Wehrum was a nice looking older man with a warm handshake. Shannon loved that he shook John’s hand too, and exchanged a few words with him. The wheelchair seemed to be an everyday occurrence for him.
“So, young lady, you want to hear this baby’s heartbeat. Well, let’s just see what we can find. How about that?”
He used a strange thick wand over her tummy, turning it this way and that. Then, just when she thought she wouldn’t hear it, a heartbeat echoed through the room.
Then a second heartbeat kicked up a rhythm almost as fast as the first.
Shannon gasped and almost bolted upright. “Is that my heartbeat too?”
Dr. Wehrum blinked, then a slow grin cracked his face. “No, I believe that’s a second baby.”
Shannon’s mouth dropped open in shock and she looked at John. Her big, strong, tough as nails former Marine looked like he’d just been mule-kicked.
“Did you say two babies?”
His voice was too quiet. John didn’t speak that quietly unless he was really out of his depth.
“You have two babies. This kind of steps up your care. Let’s see if we can get our ultrasound tech in here to get some pictures. I know it’s a little early but let’s see what we can see.”
Shannon felt like she’d been shifted into an alternate universe, looking down on the busy-ness from a position above… Things started moving around her way too fast for her liking. John sat against the wall looking dazed and a little afraid. Two women came in smiling and moving a big piece of equipment around. One of the nurses brought her a paper drape. “Can you tug your pants down and your shirt up?”
Wriggling on the paper covered table Shannon did as she was told. Then the lights were turned off and a giant monitor flickered to life. The nurse operating the machine squirted gel onto her tummy and started running a broad wand over her tiny bump. Shannon worried that the baby would be hurt by the pressure, but surely the woman knew what she was doing.
Then, even though she had no training whatsoever, she saw the picture of a baby curled up in her tummy. The tech moved the wand and she saw a second, slightly smaller baby.
“Oh, oh my gosh,” she gasped, reaching out a hand. John caught her, as if he needed the connection as well.
Then the tears started. They slipped silently down her cheeks and into her hair, tickling all the way. But she couldn’t stop. Even as the tech started to talk, she couldn’t quit crying long enough to hear her. John’s deep voice rumbled something and the woman started moving the wand again, looking for the clearest pictures she could find of the babies. Then she stilled the shot and took a picture.
Shannon had five million questions she couldn’t articulate right that minute, and they were all super important, but she just could not grasp speech. She looked at John to help her, but his gaze was glued to the screen. He’d rolled forward at some point and was as close to the tech as he could get.
Then the woman handed him a piece of paper with a black and white silhouette on it. Even though it was early in the pregnancy, Shannon could clearly see the baby. Then she passed over a second piece of paper. This baby was laying opposite, but almost perfectly the same.
Gasping in oxygen, Shannon tried to calm her wild emotions. “But they look okay?”
The tech looked at her and smiled in a confident way. “I’ll give my report to the doctor but I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Baby B looks to be a tiny bit smaller, but they’re both in great position.”
The tech left the room with a printe
d report, leaving she and John alone in the room.
Their eyes connected and she shook her head. “I don’t understand what just happened. This was supposed to be a heartbeat check for one baby, not two.”
John had lost a little of his dazed look, and he kept glancing down at the papers in his hand. Rolling forward he held them out to her. “Here’s the proof. And they look very different. It’s not the same baby reversed. Look. This one has his little hand up.”
Shannon felt the tears start again, then John’s arms were around her. Shannon met him half way, stunned at how quickly the path of her life had changed.
Chapter Twelve
Chad adjusted the fit of the little tiara on his big head. Maybe if he held really, really still it would stay put.
“I can’t move, darlin’. You’re going to have to pour the tea.”
“That’s okay, I will. It’s my party anyway. I’m s’posed to pour it.”
Oh. Okay. Well, that put him in his place.
Mercy giggled at the face he made for her, like he was an English nobleman waiting for service. She loved it, so that was all that mattered.
Movement at the doorway caught his attention, and he looked up at Lora with a beleaguered expression on his puss. Rather than commiserate she tossed him a laughing kiss and faded away. Well, that stinker. He would let her escape this time, but only because she was cooking something fabulous downstairs. It could be roasted chicken. Or maybe a turkey breast.
“Chad,” Mercy’s voice took on a wheedling note. “I need more friends my age.”
This sounded like a proposal built on quicksand. “Maybe you do. How do you propose making more friends?”
He had an idea where this was going, but he wanted her to say it out loud.
“Well,” she looked at him from under her lashes. “There were a lot of kids my age at that bouncy place. Maybe we can go back there again.”
She gave him a smile that twisted his gut into a pretzel. It hadn’t taken her long to figure out how to get under his skin.
