The Marriage Clause

by Dahlia Rose

  “Can you please just put me in a coma until this phase is over?” India pleaded.

  “I wish I could help you, sweetheart. Come on, get into bed under the blanket and maybe take a nap,” Mikael cajoled.

  “That sounds good.” India sighed and moved under the blankets he held open.

  Mikael said, “I’d like to come back when I’m done with work on the base so we can talk and maybe have dinner?”

  She looked up, and he drowned in her eyes which were the color of decadent melted chocolate. India smiled and his breath stopped in his chest for a second. She was so damn gorgeous it made him ache.

  “I’d like that,” India said and yawned.

  “You rest, and I’ll see you about eight tonight.” He leaned down to kiss her, and she put her hand over her mouth. He kissed her knuckles instead.

  “Just threw up, brushed teeth but no kissing the ick right now,” she said.

  “I’ll take a rain check for later.” Mikael grinned. “And I plan to collect.”

  “Go be a soldier and let me drink my tea,” India grumbled good-naturedly.

  “I’m happy about this, India, I really am,” Mikael said suddenly. “Even if our grandmothers are bat-shit crazy.”

  “They’d call it eccentric,” India pointed out.

  “That’s what bat-shit crazy people are supposed to say,” Mikael replied.

  Her laughter followed him down the stairs, and he was smiling when he closed her front door. It had a safety lock that clicked when the door closed so he made sure it was firmly closed when he left. In India’s belly she carried precious cargo in the form of their unborn child. He’d do anything to protect them and vowed to make her happy.

  He was still in a good mood as he went over the Verrazano Bridge and took exit ninety-two to Fort Hamilton Army Base. Most people thought that the base was in Staten Island but it wasn’t, it was still in Brooklyn and was considered part of Bay Ridge. It was where the borough actually ended. He was lucky enough to have his military occupational specialty, or MOS, take him back to the city he loved after being based all over the United States. He’d been deployed three times, twice in Iraq and the last stint in Afghanistan, a seven-month tour. All the while he thought he had a girl at home waiting to love him, and Celeste was just crossing her fingers that he’d die. Wait, that wasn’t quite true, she wanted to marry him before he kicked off. All that was in the past because he had India and the baby. He knew he’d have to take it slow and easy with her, but being her best friend for years give him an in. He knew her emotions in and out and was ready for any roadblocks she might put up. When she got scared she tended to put up walls, and Mikael had every intention of knocking them down one by one.

  He pulled into the office building where he worked on the grounds of Fort Hamilton and frowned when he saw a familiar red and black Miata. Celeste, shit. There was no way in hell she needed to be there now or ever again. He got out of his car, and she was leaning against her car wearing a crisp white business suit and six inch stilettos. Her sunglasses masked her eyes, and she had her brunette hair down and in wild waves. He remembered when he thought she was so sexy but even then he looked past the calculative looks in her eyes. The little questions about his grandmother’s life as an artist in SoHo and the famous people they knew and much more were clues he had let slide.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked bluntly when he stood in front of her.

  She made her red lips into a pout. “Don’t be that way, Mikael. I came to talk so we can work things out.”

  He gave a short laugh. “You really think that is going to happen?”

  She took her sunglasses off and shook her hair. “Everything you thought you heard or saw was all misconstrued.”

  Mikael said, “Oh, the life insurance policy in your case, or the background check on my family assets and holdings were mistakes? Wow, how could I have ever thought you were being a money hungry bitch?”

  “There’s no need for names,” Celeste said coldly. “I was making sure I was protected if something ever happened to you. You are a soldier and you do get deployed. As a business woman I was thinking ahead.”

  “You sell real estate and badly,” Mikael pointed out. “I met you trying to get me to buy a condo and even though I was attracted I still didn’t jump. No, you’re floundering for cash and I was supposed to be the money tree.”

  “You’re being childish…” Celeste stopped herself and tried another tactic. “You remember how good we were together.”

  “Yes, you were very… professional,” Mikael let the double meaning sink in and watched malice flare in her eyes. There’s the true Celeste. “If you have no business on base, I suggest you leave. Don’t use my name to get on here again, you won’t be on my visitors list.”

  “Is that how you’re going to be?” Celeste said.

  “I don’t want you, I doubt I ever did. I’ve moved on and you should do whatever it is you do best,” Mikael answered.

  She laughed. “You’ve moved on? Please, who are you trying to kid? I was the top of the line and you think you can find better than me? You, honey, you aren’t working with all that much.”

  “Oh, a knock on my manhood, I’m crushed. Don’t flatter yourself.” Mikael shook his head. “A knock-off Prada business suit and you think you can hurt my feelings? My grandmother has a few hundred of the real things. I can spot a fake—you, your clothes, and your purse. I’m going to be married and I have a kid on the way. Trust me, it was easy to forget you. Go away, Celeste. It’s almost four and the early bird special at Denny’s will be starting soon. Maybe you can find your next mark there. Some of those old guys have more than their pension stuffed away in their mattress. You can get in on the ground floor.”

  “This isn’t over, you watch,” Celeste seethed. “You talk to me like that and think you’re going to get away easy, you got another thing coming.”

  “Uh-huh, get off this base. I’m walking inside and taking you off my visitors list and if you’re still on United States Government property by the time that happens… well…”

  There was no actual visiting list, all you needed was ID and to tell them where you were going and sign it. But Celeste didn’t know that, she didn’t ever care about his career, just about his pockets. He let the words hang and as expected he saw alarm in her eyes. He knew she wouldn’t get stopped on the way out, but he wanted her gone and far away from him as quickly as possible. Her true colors had come out quickly and thank God he found those papers before he’d talking himself into marrying her.

  Mikael shook his head as her little car roared away. He went inside and put Celeste firmly out of his mind. There was a stack of paperwork on his desk, requisition forms, payroll, and leave requests he had to go through. He wanted to get it all done and head back to India’s apartment. They had a future to plan and it was the right one. In his heart he knew that for certain.

  Chapter Four

  “What kind of appointment is this?” Gran asked. “God, I hate New York traffic. I should move some place warm all year round.”

  “I thought that was what the cruises you and Brownie took were for? We could always relocate you to Boca, Florida,” India teased.

  “Will you get out of the way before I beat you with your own car?” Gran yelled out the window and gave a visible shudder. “Boca, dear? That’s where old people go to die.”

  “I love how you go from road rage to calm grandmother,” India laughed.

  Gran paid her words no attention. “So what’s this appointment?”

  India kept her eyes on the road. “It’s my first OB appointment. Mikael had to work so you get to go with me.”

  “I don’t have to look at your hoo-hoo, do I?” Gran wrinkled her nose. “It can’t be cute like when you were a baby, not after growing up and sex and…”

  “Gran!”

  She held up her hands. “Okay, okay, I need to know the routine, it’s not like when I was young, Honeybee.”

  “You can
come in at the sonogram part,” India answered. “No looking at my hoo-hoo, and who calls it that anymore?”

  “Civilized people do, dear,” Gran said simply.

  “No, they call it a vagina,” India replied with a laugh.

  “Well then, aren’t we progressive.” Gran sighed.

  India was in a definite good mood as they maneuvered through the traffic to Manhattan. It was six weeks since she had found out she was pregnant, and today was one of the good days when she wasn’t worshipping the throne, aka toilet. This was the first appointment she could get and from what the nurse said it was better to wait anyway. They didn’t want it to be early so they couldn’t hear the heartbeat or find the baby on a sonogram. From the date of her last cycle they estimated she was about twelve weeks, or three months along. While she worried and fretted, Mikael was nothing but supportive and came to her apartment every day he could get off base. She was so lucky that she had no nurseries scheduled for another month.

  The name of her business was Fantasy for Baby and her last nursery creation was for a banker and his wife at their penthouse apartment in Manhattan. The check was a big one and kept her bank account flush. But when she opened the paints she used to create the artistry on the walls, one whiff sent her promptly to the bathroom in a tizzy of dry heaves and sickness.

  Mikael had brought baby books and they sat and read them for hours, and from what they read she should be feeling better soon. Hopefully in the next four weeks she could get back to work. Mikael wanted to put her on his insurance and all that good stuff, hell he wanted to get married right away much to their grandmother’s delight. But she was adamant about waiting. A baby or a contract from two very crazy grandparents did not a long lasting relationship make. If they were going to be married at any point in their lives it would be their choice.

  She found a parking spot in the parking deck that was next door to the doctor’s office, and she and her grandmother took the elevator down from the fifth floor of the parking deck to the street. The weather had gone from crisp spring chill to warmer May temperatures. Summer was on its way and the New York streets would be filled with people shaking off the harsh winter. She looked forward to it but dreaded it at the same time. Heat waves in the city were notorious for making people miserable. How much worse would it be while pregnant? She signed in and sat with Gran until her name was called.

  Gran patted her hand. “Call me for the good part, Honeybee. I’ll keep myself entertained with last month’s People and Vogue until you send for me.”

  The nurse gave India an amused look. “Your mother?”

  “Grandmother extraordinaire,” India answered.

  “She looks feisty, I’m Rhonda by the way,” the nurse said as they walked through the doors. “I’ll probably be the nurse-midwife you’ll deal with through your pregnancy. We like to make your pregnancy as special as possible and make sure you’re comfortable with one doctor and one nurse throughout instead of the constant revolution in other clinics. Unless we’re sick or there’s an emergency get used to my friendly face.”

  “That’s great, this is my first pregnancy and I’m very nervous,” India said.

  Rhonda smiled. “Don’t worry, you’re in good hands with Doctor Peters. Now, let’s get you weighed in and urine sample, blood drawn, and a full work-up before you see the doctor. Then we’ll check your cervix to make sure it’s all nice, tight, and closed firmly before the sonogram so we can look at the baby.”

  India gave a nervous laugh. “That’s sounds like a lot.”

  “First appointment is always like this but the rest will be a breeze, trust me,” Rhonda replied.

  They went through the routine check up and everything Rhonda listed. When she had her blood drawn India got a bit woozy. Her nurse brought her juice and cookies to get her blood sugar up, then gave her a stern warning to never skip breakfast before an appointment or go without eating a meal. Her body would be in flux and even a simple set of blood draw for labs could leave her feeling weak or ill. India took it to heart and started planning small, frequent meals through her day from that point on. When Rhonda got her settled in the sonogram room, she went to get Gran so she could be there to see the first images of the baby.

  “Where’s dad?” the sonogram technician asked.

  “He’s on base, he couldn’t get away for this,” India explained.

  “Well, we’ll make sure he has a lot of pictures to look at.” The friendly tech smiled and shook a bottle in her hand. “This is the gel we use to help see the baby clearer, we make sure it’s warm. This does not harm the baby in anyway. Rhonda, could you hit the lights please.”

  “Mood lighting, never had this in my day,” Gran said. “We’ll have to bring Brownie next time, she’ll say the same thing.”

  “Hush, Gran,” India admonished.

  Rhonda did as the tech requested and the tech put the sonogram wand on India’s lower stomach. She moved it around and meticulously made notes on what she was charting.

  “Now, here’s the heart beat, it’s nice and strong,” the technician said and she turned up the dial.

  The fast, rhythmic sound filled her ears, and Gran clutched India’s hand as she loomed over her. They smiled in happiness.

  “Here is your baby and everything looks wonderful.”

  The technician turned the monitor and she could see the outline of the tiny body on the screen. It was gray and grainy, but it was definitely a little baby in there lying on the bottom of her stomach, nestled safely. You are already so loved, India said mentally.

  “Can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl?” Gran asked. India could see she was completely enthralled by the images on the screen.

  “Not yet, it’s still too early. She’ll come back for another sonogram around twenty-five to thirty weeks, and if the baby cooperates you may be able to see the sex then,” the technician answered. “Now I’ve made you some pictures for dad to see and since he wasn’t here today we offer a fetal Doppler machine you can take home so he can hear the heart beat. We can show you how to use it and where to place it for the best audio.”

  “That would be great, thank you,” India said.

  Rhonda gave her some towels to wipe the gel off her stomach and soon she was walking out of the office with a bag that held a folder about her pregnancy and the sonogram pictures plus the Doppler for Mikael to use. She hoped he could come over that night, or even better, she’d drive to Fort Hamilton where he lived in base housing. His place wasn’t that big, but he was always coming to her house so maybe it was time for her to go to him.

  “I’m going to drop you off, Gran, and head over to Mikael’s place,” India told her as they walked back to the parking deck.

  “That sounds lovely. Can I have one of the pictures? I’ll take it to show Brownie,” Gran said.

  “Sure, take four so you each can have two,” India said. “It still leaves a stack, and I plan to start a baby scrapbook.”

  “You’re very creative, I can’t wait to see what you come up with,” Gran said. “If you need help with the nursery, you know both Brownie and I would like to help.”

  “I know Gran, everyone is being very supportive,” India said.

  “Are you happy about the baby, Honeybee?” Gran asked.

  “Yes, it was a shock but it feels really good and right,” India admitted.

  “So does that mean we get a wedding?” Gran said hopefully.

  India laughed. “Don’t push it, lady, I’m still mad about that.”

  She dropped her grandmother off and was reminded to eat lunch. On her way to Fort Hamilton India had an urge for a Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich and an order of fries. She stopped at a drive-thru along the way and picked up her order and nibbled at it happily as she dealt with the start and stop traffic. She got to the base and got in line to go through the gate checkpoint. She had her identification out and in hand. After stating her intent to see him and sign in she took the familiar route to his office.

  As the
Major he oversaw most everything for the unit he was assigned to and had been with for years. He had worked his way up the ranks, and when he said he put blood, sweat, and tears into every year he was in it wasn’t a lie. He embraced his military career the way he did everything in his life, and he bled with the unit when they went into combat and cried with them when they lost a man to the war.

  She remembered Brownie was so happy when he got his promotion, not only because she was proud of him. She thought it was a desk job. She was so very wrong, Mikael was not that type of guy and when his unit got called up again he was right there with them. She walked into the building and spoke to the soldier at the front desk. He directed her to a set of chairs across from the desk and made the call while she sat patiently waiting. Mikael came out from his office and as he strode down the hall he was smiling from ear to ear.

  “Hi, I thought I’d be seeing you later in Brooklyn,” he said. “Come back to my office.”

  “I figured I’d come to your place and make dinner.” India laughed as she fell into step beside him. “It may be hot and sour spicy soup and dumplings from the Chinese place I just passed, though. The last time I was here it sure wasn’t and everything smells good.”

  Mikael laughed as he closed the door. “Those pregnancy hormones are kicking in, huh?”

  “I had a chicken sandwich from Wendy’s on the way here, I was in heaven,” India admitted. “I should take it easy though, because the morning sickness most likely is not over and I could end up hurling it all up.”

  Mikael grimaced. “That does not sound pleasant, trust me, I’ve held your hair.”

  She slapped him on the shoulder. “You can’t say things like that to me anymore, I’m not only your best friend but the mother of your baby.”

  He held up his hands. “Okay, sorry.”

  India smiled. “Besides, when you were seventeen and yakking up beer when you had that party while Brownie was in the city for a showing, I recall holding your hair and trust me, beer and whiskey does not smell pretty coming up.”