He sighed softly. “Okay.”
I closed my eyes and did the breathing exercises we’d learned in our birthing classes. This was it. All the waiting and wondering about our son would be over soon.
The few people outside the ER entrance turned to look at us as the deputy led the way to the door. I scanned the faces and sighed with relief when I saw one of them rushing toward the car. It was Bennett.
Bennett
Charlotte leaned against me, a sheen of sweat on her forehead making me wonder how much pain she was in.
“You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah.” She clutched my shirt. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Anything else I can do?” a lean, blond guy asked. I looked closer and saw that it was Riley, her douche ex.
“What are you doing here?”
“I brought her.”
I scowled at him. “Get the fuck out of here.”
A nurse rolled out a wheelchair for Charlotte and I helped her into it.
“She’s two days from her due date,” I said as we went through the ER’s double doors. “Her OB is Dr. Chung. And she’s having pain. Can she get something for that?”
“We’ll have to take a look at her first.”
Charlotte cringed and groaned.
“Breathe, babe. Hee, hee, hee, hoo, ha, ha.” I simulated the breathing from our birthing class and she cracked a smile.
“I’m not trying to be funny.”
“I know,” she said. “You’re just so damn cute.”
“Liam’s in the waiting room. He called your mom and she’s on her way. My mom is, too.”
It was a two and a half hour trip for my mom, and I hoped she’d make it before the baby came. But Charlotte’s mom was coming from New York, so I doubted she would.
We rode the elevator up to the OB floor and the nurse brought us into a room. She looked at me and then at the door.
“I’ll help her get changed into a gown,” she said. “Won’t take but a minute.”
I paced the hallway up and down twice before the door to the room opened again and I rushed back in. Charlotte was in a bed now, dressed in a big, pink gown. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a bun and she was smiling with excitement. I’d never seen a more beautiful sight.
“Can I get you something?” I asked, wanting to be useful. “Food? A drink? A pillow?”
“She can’t have anything but ice chips,” the nurse said.
Charlotte cringed and moaned with pain. I went to her side and took her hand.
“Squeeze,” I said. “As hard as you can.”
“Keep breathing,” the nurse said. “Dr. Chung is on her way.”
Charlotte gripped my hand and panted while I stood helplessly next to her. I hadn’t considered how hard it would be to see her in pain.
“See the line going down?” The nurse pointed to a machine that was making a graph. “That means the contraction is going down. You can watch that to help her through them.”
“Okay.”
Dr. Chung was all smiles when she arrived. She examined Charlotte and said she was dilated to three, whatever that meant. Then she left again and we started the cycle of breathing through contractions again. After more than an hour of it, Charlotte started resting her eyes between contractions.
“They’re coming closer together,” she said softly. “I hardly have any time to rest.”
“That means you’re progressing,” the nurse said.
I kissed the back of Charlotte’s hand, then the inside of her wrist and the inside of her palm. The taste of peanut M&M’s on her hand was so familiarly Charlotte that it made my heart ache with tenderness for her. God, I loved this woman. She was my everything.
“Marry me, Char,” I whispered. “Please.”
“What?” Her lips parted with surprise. “When?”
“The first moment you’ll have me. I’ll go find a hospital chaplain if I can.”
Her eyes widened with panic. “Don’t leave me, Bennett. I can’t . . . ooooh, shit.”
I looked over at the paper printout on the machine and saw her contraction was hitting a new peak. She cried out and buried her face against my chest as she breathed and moaned through the pain.
“Okay, maybe not now,” I said when she collapsed back against the bed. “But soon, baby. Will you marry me even if I’m just a guy who works at a lumberyard?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked in a tired voice. “You’re a hockey player. Are you trying to distract me from the pain with nonsense?”
“No. I’m just thinking out loud.”
“I love you for your heart,” she said softly. “Not your job.”
I kissed her on the forehead and she murmured, “I may love you just a little bit for your dick, too. But mostly your heart.”
I couldn’t wait until I could make love to her again without our kid in between us. We’d had some amazing sex in creative positions up until this past month. It was awkward as hell and wasn’t comfortable for her anymore, so we were down to just oral. Not that I was complaining, but I missed being inside her and seeing the look in her eyes every time I found the spot that drove her wild.
“Let’s check you again,” Dr. Chung said from the doorway.
Charlotte squeezed my hand as another contraction set in. The doctor helped talk her through it, and by the time she sank back against the pillows, her face was covered with a layer of sweat. The nurse wiped it away and Charlotte caught her breath.
“Just about there,” the doctor said as she pulled her gloved hand out from beneath the sheet covering Charlotte’s legs. “Are you ready to push?”
“Yes.” Charlotte reached for me. “I want you closer. Will you hold on to my shoulders?”
“Of course, babe.” I leaned closer and held on to her, whispering encouraging words in her ear as she cried out with every push.
Every time she sank back against me in between pushing, I wished I could infuse her with strength. Seeing her pushed to the brink of pain and exhaustion delivering our baby was emotional for me. Even after several hours, she was giving it her all.
“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” I said softly in her ear.
She didn’t respond, probably because she couldn’t. I could feel her body growing limper with every push. After a while, I was holding her up while she pushed.
Dr. Chung’s brow was furrowed.
“Come on, Charlotte,” she said. “One more time.”
“One more,” I said in Charlotte’s ear. “Come on, baby. You’re so close.”
Dr. Chung’s eyes locked with mine for just a second. After Charlotte mustered a push and panted with exertion, she spoke to both of us.
“Not close enough. It’s been so long that your body is too exhausted to continue.”
Charlotte gave a mournful cry and a tear ran out the corner of one eye. “No, I’ll . . . try harder. I can do it.”
“It’s not your fault. You did great. But it’s time for a C-section.”
My heart pounded hard and fast. Charlotte was too weak to even protest, though I knew she’d had her heart set on delivering the baby with no surgical intervention.
“It’s definitely necessary?” I asked Dr. Chung.
“Definitely. We’re taking her in now.”
“Can I come with her?” My voice broke as a nurse eased me off the bed so she could move the bed rail up.
“Yes. Give us a couple minutes to prep her and a nurse will come out and get you.”
I rubbed a hand over my face, feeling sick as they rolled her bed out of the room. My vibrant Charlotte was worn down to nearly nothing.
“Fuck,” I whispered, staring up at the ceiling. Tears burned my eyes.
I went to the waiting room and saw my mom in a chair across from Liam. The hopeful look on her face fell away when she took a look at me.
“What is it?” she asked.
“C-section. She’s too exhausted to push anymore.”
; Liam stood, his eyes locking with mine.
“What’s that mean?” he asked frantically. “They’re cutting the baby out of her?”
“It’s a very safe, routine procedure,” my mom said to both of us. “It’ll be okay.”
“I have to wait for them to come get me,” I said, the helplessness choking me. “I haven’t even pissed this whole time because she didn’t want me to leave her.”
Mom put her arm around my back. “Honey, listen to me. This will be over in a matter of minutes. It’s what’s safest for her and the baby. Trust that the doctor will take care of them, okay?”
I paced around the waiting room, unashamed when tears fell onto my cheeks. I’d never even considered that this would happen.
“Mr. Morse?” a nurse dressed in scrubs said.
I followed her to a prep room, where I had to scrub and put on a gown. When I got into the operating room, I went right to Charlotte and smoothed the sweaty hair back from her brow.
“I’m here, baby. It’s almost over. He’s almost here.”
She murmured something unintelligible. The doctor and nurses went to work, and I said a silent prayer for the two people I needed to be okay.
“Here he is,” the doctor said a minute later. She held up our slippery-looking, screaming boy, who had a head full of dark hair.
Charlotte smiled, tears silently streaming from her eyes. I tried to speak, but only a choked sob came out. They took him aside to clean him up.
“He’s beautiful, Char,” I said. “So perfect. You did amazing.”
“Let’s name him . . . Christopher,” she murmured softly.
“I was thinking Charlie,” I said. “After you.”
Her eyes lit up. “Really?”
“Yeah. Charlie Holloway Morse.”
“Bennett.” She closed her eyes and smiled again. “I love you so much. And I love our Charlie.”
“So do I, babe.” I kissed her brow and looked past the sheet at the doctor. “Everything’s good?”
“Yes. I’m stitching her up. You’ll be able to hold your son in just a minute here.”
When they put him in my arms, I bent down and tilted my arms so Charlotte was face-to-face with him. She cooed and kissed him but was too weak to hold him just yet.
I rocked my bundled son and took him outside the operating room for a quick peek from my mom and Liam.
My mom cried, as expected. But what surprised me were the sniffles and tears from my tattooed, badass roommate.
“Man, he’s perfect,” Liam said, wiping his cheek. “Congratulations.”
“Thanks. We named him Charlie. Charlie Holloway Morse.”
Liam sighed and looked up at the ceiling, fresh tears pooling in his eyes. “That’s fucking awesome, brother.”
He hadn’t called me that in almost six months. Maybe Charlie was the one person who could bring us back together.
Charlotte
When I walked into the kitchen, Bennett was cooking eggs at the stove, wearing nothing but a pair of gray sweats and a sexy smile.
“Mornin’,” he said. “Made you some decaf.”
He poured me a mug of coffee and I took a sip. “I’m not even wishing for caffeine today because I just slept for three hours in a row.” I looked down at Charlie, who was nursing contentedly while cradled in my free arm.
“That’s like eight hours in non-newborn-parent time,” Bennett said.
“It is. For a four-week-old baby, he’s a good sleeper.”
I sighed softly. “Four weeks. My maternity leave is halfway over.”
“I’m stopping by that day care today to get a brochure after I meet up with Orion.”
“Orion? Training camp doesn’t start for a couple more weeks, does it?”
Bennett shrugged and met my eyes. “I told him after our last playoff game that I probably wouldn’t be back. I think he wants to find out my plans so he can get a new winger.”
“A new winger? What are you talking about? Is this because you guys didn’t win the championship?”
He shook his head. “It’s just time, babe. I need to get a better job.”
“The money thing is fine. We have enough.”
“Yeah, enough to get by, but I want more than that for us.”
I looked down at my bright-eyed son and smiled. “Please don’t quit, Bennett. You’re supposed to be playing hockey, I just know it.”
“Yeah, but . . . there’s this girl. I want to buy her a ring, and I can’t do that on what I make now. This is for the best.”
“No.” I looked up and held his gaze. “If you want to make me happy, keep playing hockey.”
“I’d be gone so much, though. You’d have to be up with Charlie at night and then go to work the next day when I’m gone. I need to be here to help with him.”
“You’re here a lot of nights too, though. It’s not like you’re permanently gone. And he’ll sleep better as he gets older. Don’t quit hockey for me. You love it and I love that. There are too few passions in life to let one slip away so easily. Didn’t you say that to someone when you were volunteering at the Suicide Prevention Center?”
A corner of his mouth turned up in a smile. “Yeah, I did.”
“Then it’s settled.”
He arched his brows, amused. “Is it?”
“I hope so.”
Charlie had unlatched and was smacking his tiny lips. His eyelids drooped, a nap on its way soon.
“I’ll take him so you can eat,” Bennett said, scooping scrambled eggs from the pan onto a plate for me.
I passed him our son and he cradled him against his bare chest, rocking him slowly. Seeing him in action as a daddy was very sexy. My incision was nearly healed, and I’d be cleared for light exercise by the doctor soon. I was planning on counting sweaty sex in that category.
“I’m working twelve to seven at the lumberyard after I meet Orion,” Bennett said. “You want me to bring home dinner?”
“Sure.”
I finished my eggs and took Charlie, putting him in his cradle for a nap. The swishing sound of the motor rocking it back and forth made me feel sleepy, too. I curled up on the couch with a blanket and was almost asleep when I felt a warm kiss on my forehead.
My man was just about perfect.
Bennett
There were a few guys in the locker room when I walked in. Most of us still lifted weights in the off-season.
“Hey, man, where you been?” Shuck asked me.
“Working and taking care of my boy.”
“How’s he doin’?”
I pulled up a photo of Charlie on my phone. “Cutest kid on the planet.”
“He is. Look at that big noggin. So how’s your woman?”
“Charlotte’s great.” I looked through Orion’s office window in the back of the locker room and saw him sitting at his desk. “Hey, I have to go talk to Orion.”
“Cool, see you around.”
I saw Liam on the other side of the room. He nodded and I nodded back. He’d stopped by Charlotte’s a few times since we’d brought Charlie home. Things seemed better between us. I hoped eventually it would be like old times again.
“Bennett,” Orion said as soon as I walked into his office.
“Hey, Coach. Thanks for the flowers you and your wife sent Charlotte.”
“Fortunately, my wife’s good at those things. How’s life with a baby?”
I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “It’s really good. Tiring, but good.”
“Glad to hear it.”
I took a deep breath, deciding to just dive right in. “So listen, I’m sure you want to know what my plans are since I told you in May that I was probably done.”
“Have you reconsidered?”
I shrugged. “No. I think it’s time to move on. But Charlotte sees it as giving up on my dream, and she doesn’t want me doing that.”
“You don’t see it that way?”
“No. I’m almost twenty-seven years old, and I’ve been playing hocke
y most of my life. I’ve loved it. It would’ve been nice to make it to the top, but my dream was to play pro hockey, and I did. And thanks to the shitty salary, I got to play purely for love of the game.”
Orion grinned and picked up a puck from his desk, turning it over in his hand. “Yeah, I remember those days. When your practice clothes are held together with duct tape and you can’t always afford a new stick when you need one.”
“I’d love to coach at some point. Maybe youth hockey. This isn’t it for me and hockey for sure.”
“No, it’s definitely not. I didn’t ask you to come in so I could ask about your plans for the season.”
“Oh.” I furrowed my brow, confused.
“I wanted to tell you that Chicago wants you.”
If my bladder had been full, I would’ve pissed myself. I just looked across the desk at my coach, too shocked to even speak.
“No more duct tape for you. You’re in a great spot to get a nice contract. They want you to start training camp with the team.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“I fucking am.” He grinned and stood, coming around the desk to shake my hand.
“I don’t . . .” I shook his hand mechanically, my head spinning. “I don’t know what to say.”
“This is it, Bennett. The chance to play at the highest level of the game.”
I scrubbed my hands over my face. “Yeah, but . . . the timing is really bad.”
“How so?”
“I’ve got a four-week-old.”
“Charlotte and the baby can move with you.”
I shook my head. “She won’t go.”
“What?” Orion practically yelled. “The woman who doesn’t want you to give up your dream won’t go?”
“She doesn’t want to get married or live together.”
“But you live with her now.”
I exhaled deeply. “Not officially. My stuff is still at my apartment.”
“Surely she’ll understand this isn’t a job transfer. It’s a big-ass promotion. And there’s no requirement that you guys get married for you to take it.”
“It’s a huge commitment.”
“Marriage?”
“No,” I said. “Chicago. I couldn’t go there and half-ass it. I’d have to be all in. And I don’t see how I could do that and still be the father and partner I want to be.”
Bennett (On the Line Book 2) Page 19
