“It’s...more than that.”
“More?” It came out a roar, and I winced at what lurid scenarios could possibly be going through his mind.
“No, I meant--”
“I’m coming out,” called Tori.
“Damn straight you are,” yelled Nate. “We’re leaving. Right now.”
“Don’t tell her what to do,” I said on reflex.
Oooooh. Wrong move.
Nate turned on me, his whole body shaking.
“You think you can knock boots with my sister one time, then you magically have the right to make decisions for her?”
“I didn’t mean--” I fought back the urge to laugh at the one time comment. Not to mention the whole concept of me making a single decision for his stubborn-headed sister. “Look, just calm down. I’m sorry. I know I owe you a huge explanation.”
“You don’t owe him squat, Jake.” Tori threw the bathroom door open. She was wearing my shirt and a pair of my old gym shorts that she must have dug out of the laundry basket. Unfortunately, the shorts bore the Crainfield Industries logo, which kind of threw a wrench into the whole, “you don’t owe him anything,” argument.
“I’ll deal with you later.” Nate pointed at Tori.
He might as well have tossed gasoline on a lit match.
“Would you listen to yourself?” She stamped her foot. “I’m not seventeen years old anymore. I’m a grown-ass woman.”
“Then act like it. Instead of sneaking around and sleeping with my best friend behind my back. Is this some kind of twisted payback for me saying that I thought you needed to be more passionate about work?”
“Not everything is about you, Nate!” She spun on her heel toward the bedroom.
The next few moments seemed to slip by in slow-motion. Yet I was helpless to stop it. As she turned, Tori’s foot caught on the door jamb, and her leg twisted under her. She tried to catch herself on the frame of the door, but she wasn’t fast enough, and she toppled, her hip slamming against the wall as she fell.
“Tori!” I raced toward her, kneeling beside her on the floor.
“I’m fine,” she said, but she winced as she clutched at her hip.
“Call an ambulance,” I said to Nate.
“It’s really okay,” she said. “I caught most of the weight on my side.”
“Exactly. We need to get you checked out.”
“For a bruised butt?” Nate said.
I placed my hand protectively over Tori’s bump.
“For our daughter.”
Twenty-Eight
Tori
Well, that could have gone better.
At least I managed to talk Jake out of calling an ambulance. And I was pretty sure the only reason that Nate didn’t insist on calling in a Med-Evac chopper was that he was still in shock until we reached the doors of the ER.
Jake tossed Nate the keys as he ran around to help me out of the car.
Nate opened his mouth, presumably to make some argument that he should be the one to take me inside. He was met with a low rumbling noise that came from somewhere deep in Jake’s chest.
“I’ll go find a spot,” said Nate numbly, sliding over to the driver’s seat.
* * *
As soon as they heard the word pregnant, the ER staff loaded me into a wheelchair and sent me straight back to maternity triage.
It wasn’t until that moment, as the nurse handed me a paper-thin gown and took my vitals while an orderly pulled out an ultrasound machine, that I let myself feel the full weight of what was going on. The fear. And guilt.
I should have been more careful. I knew that my balance was off now. Maybe I should have agreed to the ambulance. It had seemed so silly back at the house, especially since I hadn’t fallen directly onto my abdomen. But what if that had been the wrong call?
None of this would have happened if I’d just told Nate about my pregnancy weeks ago, like Jake had wanted to. My pulse rate on the heart monitor sped up.
I hadn’t felt our baby move since when we were laying around in bed earlier that morning. All the books said that was normal at this stage, but what if I’d hurt her when I fell?
“Jake, what if she’s—?”
“Shhh.” He stroked my leg. “She’s going to be fine. And so are you. Everything is going to be okay. You don’t need to worry about anything.”
The nurse brought over a heated blanket. As she and Jake smoothed it out across me, my pulse slowed back to its normal pace.
“Good job, Daddy,” murmured the nurse as she patted Jake on the back. “I’ll go grab the doctor who’s on-call and then be right back to set up baby’s heart monitor. And we’ll page your OB/Gyn to let her know what happened.”
“Thanks,” I said.
Jake and I sat in silence, holding hands.
After what felt like an eternity but was in reality more like five minutes, the nurse came back in and strapped the monitor over my tummy.
She moved it around, frowning.
No whooshing noise. Nothing but static.
My heart sped back up, and Jake squeezed my hand.
“All right, where are you?” said the nurse.
I held my breath, bracing myself for the worst. Jake’s jaw was clenched in a grim line.
I’d lost her.
Then the nurse moved the monitor once more, and whoosh-whoosh-whoosh.
Our baby’s heartbeat rose above the static, steady and strong.
Jake didn’t even bother to hide his relief. He dove at me over the wires and monitors, snatching me into a hug.
“Thank God,” he whispered.
“Don’t mess the monitor up, Daddy.” The nurse swatted at him as she readjusted the equipment back into place.
As soon as she was out of earshot, I said, “Is it just me or is that Daddy thing super creepy?”
“I know, right?” he said.
We both laughed, and the tension of the whole situation melted away. It was at that moment that our daughter decided to make her presence known by giving me a swift kick to the spleen. Of course, as she was the size of a garden vegetable, it only felt like a flurry of wiggles.
“She thinks it’s creepy, too,” I said.
“You felt her move?”
“Yeah. Just now.” I rubbed my bump. “It would have been helpful if you could have done that about twenty minutes ago.”
“Hmm. Stubborn as all get-out. I wonder where she could have gotten that trait.”
“And just what exactly are you implying?”
“Not implying. Flat-out saying. You’re as stubborn as...as…”
“Nana always used to say I was stubborn as a drunken mule.”
“Are mules more stubborn drunk than sober?”
“No idea. That would make an interesting science experiment, though.”
“Well, no more worrying us like that, okay?” he cooed, his mouth inches from my belly.
The nurse walked back through the curtain.
“The on-call doctor had an emergency c-section, and he’ll be awhile. There’s a man out in the waiting room who said he’s your brother. He asked if he could see you. Do you want me to let him in?”
Sigh.
“I guess he can’t yell too loud here,” I said.
“And when he attempts to murder me, at least we’re already at the hospital,” said Jake.
“Send him on in,” I said.
Two minutes later, Nate’s head popped through the curtain.
“Hey,” he said quietly.
“Hey.”
He hesitated a moment, then rushed over and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m so sorry, Tori. I’ve been worried sick out there. Are you okay? Is…everything okay?”
When he pulled back, I could see a rim of red surrounding his eyes.
“I’m fine. Everything is fine.” I pointed to the quietly whooshing baby heart monitor.
“That’s—” He blinked at the beeping monitor. “I mean, is that—?”
“That’s her heartbeat.
”
“Her? It’s a girl?”
“Yeah.” I reached around Nate and squeezed Jake’s hand. “Our daughter.”
“Your daughter.” Nate stepped back and looked back and forth between us. He kept his voice neutral, but I recognized it as his CEO voice.
“You have to stay calm,” I said. “Doctor’s orders.”
“I’m calm,” he said. “I do have questions. A lot of questions. But I guess they can wait.”
“Can I answer a few before you have to ask them?” said Jake. “Questions that I would have...if I were in your place.”
Nate gulped, but kept his composure.
“Sure,” he said through gritted teeth.
“I’m in love with Tori. And I have been for a long, long time.” Jake rubbed his thumb against his lip. He may have been delivering the information to Nate, but he kept his eyes locked on me. “Yes, we snuck around behind your back. No, I’m not proud of that fact. And, yes, I’d do it all over again for the chance to be with her. She’s nineteen weeks and six days pregnant with our baby. Oh, and uh, we’re getting married. No, we’re not getting married because of the pregnancy. That’s just a bonus layer of icing on the cake.”
Jake let out a sigh and turned to face Nate.
“When Tori and I first started hanging out, I didn’t realize she was your sister. It didn’t take us that long to put two-and-two together, but it was too late at that point. My heart was already hers. My everything was already hers. And it always will be. Period.
“I’m sorry I lied to you. I can’t tell you how sorry. You’re my best friend, and it sucks that I didn’t tell you the truth. There’s no other way around it. I don’t blame you for being furious. And I won’t blame you if you fire me.”
“Fire you?” Nate squinted. “Who said anything about firing you? You’re my niece’s father.”
“See. That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. You don’t owe me anything. I owe you everything.”
“What are you even talking about?” said Nate.
“Hiring me when I was at my lowest. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I didn’t hire you because I felt bad for you. I hired you because you’re damn talented at what you do, Jake. Hiring you was my gain. And those idiot competitors’ loss. That is why I hired you. And I haven’t regretted it for a moment.”
“Thanks.”
They stood there like awkward, leaning statues until Jake held his hand out gruffly. Nate took it and pulled him in for a back-thumping hug.
“Oh, my gosh,” I said. “Enough with this week’s very special episode. Are you guys planning on having a baby together, too?”
“Wow,” said Nate. “Glad to see that impending motherhood hasn’t made you any less of a snark-ass.”
“Nope.” I rubbed my belly. “In fact, I think it may be growing stronger by the day.”
“Fabulous,” muttered Nate. “And, doing the math, this wasn’t a one time thing, was it. I take it this has been going on for...awhile now.”
“Just do yourself a favor, and don’t think back on any comments you’ve made about me to Jake for the last three years or so.”
“Three...years?” Nate’s eyebrows shot up.
“Make you a deal,” I said. “You don’t think about that, and I promise to never bring up the time you told Jake to ride me hard. Right in front of the entire board.”
“La la la la la.” Nate stuck his fingers in his ears. “You’re evil. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Yup.” I twiddled the edge of the scratchy blanket that covered me. “I won’t blame you if you rescind your offer.”
“What are you talking about? What offer?”
“Your offer to...fire me. To let me choose what I’m passionate about and go for it.”
“Are you kidding?”
“No. I get it. I broke your trust.”
“Tori.” He heaved a sigh. “That offer was never based on--I mean, you’re not an employee.”
“I know, I know. I’m family. Blah, blah, blah.”
“No. You’re a part-owner. Talk about trust? You invested your share of Mom and Dad’s insurance settlement in my company when it was nonexistent. You believed in me when I had nothing but a dream and a business plan scribbled on the back of a Denny’s napkin.”
“Pancakes sound so good right now,” I murmured.
“My point is, I want you to do what you’re passionate about. Period. And if that’s staying home full-time with this little peanut when she’s born, then that’s fabulous, too.”
“I know. I guess that it’s just hard to imagine you being proud of me now that you’ve found out…” I gestured to my bump.
“I hardly think you’re the first person who’s had an unexpected pregnancy. I mean, one broken condom, and that could have just as easily been Jen and me.”
“La la la la.” It was my turn to stick my fingers in my ears.
“Wow,” said Jake. “Y’all really don’t handle talking about sex very well.”
While we were laughing, the doctor came in then and introduced himself. He looked over the readout from the baby’s heart rate monitor and nodded approvingly. Then he swung the ultrasound machine over near my middle.
“I’ve intruded long enough,” said Nate. “I’ll go.”
“No. Stay and see her.” I grabbed his hand.
The doctor squirted the jelly on my bump, and as he moved the wand across it, there she was. A little bigger than last time, moving around a little more. And as beautiful as ever.
“She’s looking great in there,” said the doctor.
“You guys,” whispered Nate, his focus riveted to the screen, “she’s so…so….”
My brother’s voice faded away into a reverent silence.
“I know,” said Jake and clapped him on the shoulder.
“Everything looks fine,” said the doctor. “I’ll send a report to your regular doc, and she can follow up if she sees any need. In the meantime, put some ice on that hip. You’ll probably be sore for a few days. No ibuprofen, but you can take acetaminophen if you need it. Remember your center of gravity is going to continue to shift, so be careful. I’ll send the nurse in with your discharge papers in a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“Any questions?” he asked.
“Nope,” I said.
Jake shook the doctor’s hand then rubbed my arm distractedly. His thumb grazed across the edge of my boob.
“Oh, actually,” I said as the doctor walked toward the curtain. “When can we—? I mean, is it okay if we get back to, uhh—?”
The corner of the doctor’s mouth quirked up.
“You’re cleared for intercourse whenever you feel up to it.”
“Any particular positions that—”
“Y’know what? I’m going to head out. We can talk later.” Nate clapped his hands together then pointed at Jake. In a cheerful voice, he said, “Be good to my sister or I’ll have you murdered in your sleep.”
“I love you, too, man.”
As soon as the doctor left, Jake turned to me.
“You do realize that I’m not coming near you until that bruise is completely gone.”
“I figured.”
“So...sexual positions?”
“I was ready for some alone time with you.” I looped my pinkies around his and pulled him down onto the hospital bed next to me. “It was that or remind Nate about the time that he told you to drive the point into me.”
“I believe his exact words were, ‘don’t let her leave until you’ve driven the point in hard.’”
“And if I recall correctly, you did.”
“Twice.” He leaned over and gave me a tantalizingly tempting kiss right as the nurse walked in with my papers.”
“Save some for later, love birds,” she said. “You’re all set to leave whenever you’re ready. Oh, and you’re welcome to keep a copy of these.”
She handed over my clothes and a roll of photographic pap
er. The ultrasound images.
“Thanks,” I said, unfurling the pictures as she left the curtained area.
I would never grow tired of this--seeing my daughter in black and white. I stared at the images, marveling at what it would be like when I got to meet her face-to-face.
“We made that,” I whispered, my voice full of wonder.
“Hell yes, we did.”
I, for one, couldn’t wait to see what other beautiful things we made together.
Epilogue
Jake
“Come on! Let’s go find Mommy!” I scooped Lola up as she raced down the hallway in the opposite direction from Tori’s office, squealing.
“Go Nay.” She squeezed her tiny fist in the direction she’d been running--the universal toddler hand-signal for I want. “Go Nay!”
“I’m not sure if Uncle Nate is here today, doodlebug.”
But no sooner had I said it than Nate emerged from his office.
“Do I hear a LoLo out here?” He kneeled and held out his arms. I put my daughter down so she could run to him.
She giggled all the way down the hallway and took a flying leap into his arms. He spun her around and tossed her into the air.
“How’s my favorite girl?”
I took back any thought I’d ever had about my wife being wrapped around her brother’s little finger. It was nothing in comparison to the hold his niece had on him. In Nate’s book, Lola didn’t so much hang the moon as set the entire galaxy into motion.
Lola started telling him all about her day and the dog (who we’d finally settled on the ever-so-creative permanent name of “Dog” after it was Lola’s first word) and the plot of the Peppa Pig episode that she’d watched fifteen times in the last three weeks.
Nate couldn’t have understood more than every fifth word of her babbling. But he listened with rapt attention, nodding sagely as if she were explaining Einstein’s theory of relativity.
Yup. Wrapped around his pinky.
Not that I was one to talk.
She and her mother had taken up residence in every square inch of my heart. And they’d opened up areas of it that I hadn’t even known existed before.
Into Trouble: A Best Friend’s Sister Forbidden Romance Page 10
