by Elle Boon
Jase’s body went still. “What do you mean, healthy?”
“At the hospital when I was going through all these tests and found out I was pregnant, they kept saying I might miscarry or spontaneously abort. Since I’d been having my monthly periods and hadn’t gained any weight, had actually lost weight, they said it was a possibility. I placed my hands over my stomach and had a talk with our baby. I promised him or her that I would be the best mom in the world if they would just hang in there.”
He put his hands over her stomach. “You did good. Better than good. I wish…I wish I’d been there.” His hands flexed.
She covered his hands with one of hers, twisting so she could look him in the eyes. “Things worked out okay. Now, let’s talk about something else.”
Jase placed his forehead against Brooke’s then felt the vibration on his wrists. “We’ve got company coming. Take Jack to the bedroom and don’t come out unless I come get you,” he said standing in one motion with her in his arms and placing Brooke on her feet.
“Is it your team?” Brooke hurried to Jack, picking him up in her arms.
He went to the computer he’d set up and looked at it before answering. “Yep. Three vehicles full of people. Looks like Kai and the boys brought their women with.” He looked at the small cabin and thought of all of them crowding into the space.
“Do you still want us to go into the bedroom? I’d feel better out here with you.” Jack grumbled to get back down and play.
Seeing that his son wasn’t too keen on being sequestered away, he looked up at the ceiling. “What if yelling begins and fists get thrown?”
Brooke took Jack back to the toys, murmuring to him before coming back by his side. “First of all, I think you’re wise enough to keep your cool in front of your son. Second, if they’re not, I trust you to make sure they do. None of you are teenagers with out of control hormones. And besides, they’ll see Jack and know they can’t just brawl in the living room like a bunch of idiots.”
Jase laughed, hoping Brooke was correct. If not, he’d do his best to teach them the error of their ways. His son and the woman he loved lives were on the line.
“Just remember, if the shit hits the fan, you grab Jack and keep him out of harm’s way.” Jase wrapped his arms around Brooke, giving her one last kiss before the sound of vehicles pulling up in front of the cabin could be heard.
“Trust me, nobody wants to mess with a mama bear. When it comes to Jack, I will rip the head off of anyone who tries to harm him. A mama bear in a full out frenzy would look tame compared to what I’d do if he were injured, especially if it were done because of some stupidness between men old enough to know better.”
“Damn woman, that actually made me excited. Does that count as male stupidness?” Jase asked as he kissed her temple.
She slapped his chest and laughed. “Go greet your friends.”
He didn’t correct her assumption that they were his friends. The fact she told him to go greet them let him know she wanted him to take it outside away from their son. Smart woman. If the guys were going to say or do anything that would hurt her or Jack, he’d rather it be done outside of both their hearing. “I’ll be right back. Hopefully, they’ll be with me.”
“Jase, they wouldn’t have come all this way if they weren’t your friends, and they sure as heck wouldn’t have brought their wives with them if they didn’t trust you not to hurt them. Remember that.”
Brooke’s admonishment had him pausing with his hand on the door, his gun tucked into the waistband at his back felt heavier than normal. As he opened the door, he saw Kai with the woman he recognized from before next to him. Alexa, the daughter of Russian spies looked nervous. Tay had his arm around a woman with long blonde hair. Her petite form next to the large SEAL had Jase’s lips twitching as she elbowed Tay in the stomach and moved forward first.
“Hi, my name is Jaqui, and if you hurt any of my friends, I’ll make sure they never find the body.” She held her hand out as she walked toward him.
He shook his head and gave a wry chuckle. “I’d rather shoot myself than harm one of them,” he agreed, walking to meet her halfway and taking her hand in his. She gave him a firm handshake.
“I’m with that big lug.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at Tay who was right behind her.
“Good to see you, Tay.” Jase held his hand out to Tay, waiting to see if he’d take it.
Tay looked at the hand then at Jase. “Let’s hope it is,” Tay agreed then shook hands.
Jase pretended it didn’t hurt that Tay didn’t give him the usual back slapping man hug they’d always shared. Hell, that was how they’d always greeted one another in the past. However, that was before. How his life had become so fucked up he had no clue. Always there was a divide when he thought about his time; there was the before the night and after the night.
Coyle and Oz leaned against a big jacked up truck along with Sully. As one they shoved off and came toward him. His body tensed, waiting to see what they’d do. If they came at him as one, he would be hard pressed to take the three of them on. The small gash on his side would give them an extra edge. With a couple side steps, he moved away from the slight form of Jaqui, not wanting her to get injured if punches or kicks were thrown.
“See, I told you he was a good guy.”
Jase turned his head to stare in Jaqui’s direction, not seeing the big fist that was thrown at him from Oz. He went down on one knee from the impact, and spat blood onto the dry dirt. Shaking his head. “We gonna do this, boys?” He looked up at Oz and Coyle as Sully stayed back shaking his head.
Oz rubbed his knuckles. “No, we ain’t doing nothing. I lost the coin toss. One of us had to punch you. Now, it’s done. Can we go inside?”
“Jesus, when did you decide someone needed to punch him?” Kai asked as he held his hand down to help Jase up.
Coyle shrugged his shoulders. “When we started out on this here journey. Figured it needed to be done. So now it’s done.”
Kai placed his hands on his hips. “What kind of logic is that? Figured it needed done, so now it’s done? Why the hell didn’t we discuss this as a team?”
“Cause you two had women, and we didn’t. Therefore, you’d have estrogen in your rigs telling you no. We used that logic and the fact he never wrote us back. Do you know how many letters I wrote that fucker, and he never wrote me back? Not once, did you write me back. So, a split lip ain’t so bad, I figure.” Coyle stabbed an accusing finger at Jase.
“I never got a letter from any of you. It was like you all washed your hands of me, turning your backs like I was a pariah when I could’ve used a friend,” he yelled back.
The sound of the door opening and shutting behind him had all their gazes focusing on the porch and on Brooke and Jack. “Hi, everyone. Jack and I heard voices, and my little man here wanted to see what was going on. He’s only two but is very inquisitive. Tell everyone hi, Jack.” Brooke rocked her hips back and forth.
Jase could see her daring any one of them to say a negative word. Damn, she was fierce without even trying. “I didn’t get any letters,” he reiterated quietly, too low for Brooke and Jack to hear, but he saw Coyle and Oz’s eyes narrow while Sully tilted his head to the side. All three men would know he wasn’t lying. He had no reason to at this point.
Chapter Nine
Brooke hid the fact she was shaking by holding Jack a little tighter. She’d watched as one of the men had punched Jase when his head was turned and wanted to run out the door to help him. Of course, the guy who’d done the hitting was twice as big as her and a couple inches larger than Jase.
Jack waved his right arm but ducked his head against her chest.
Jase ran his thumb over his lip and spat on the ground. She could see his split lip from the porch and hated the man who’d done the damage. “Guys, I’d like you to meet Brooke and my son Jack. We haven’t told Jack I’m his father yet, and I don’t want him hurt.”
She watched as he walked back
ward toward her, keeping the people in the yard within sight.
The tall man who had gotten out of the first vehicle wrapped his arm around the woman next to him. Lord, he was handsome, reminding her of the actor the Rock. Yikes, she’d always had a thing for him even when he’d wrestled back in the day.
Jase came to stand on the top step next to her, waiting.
“Afternoon, ma’am. I’m Kai, and this is my wife Alexa,” Kai said from the bottom of the stairs.
“Hi, thank you for coming.” She held out her left hand while keeping her right under Jack. She noticed Jase didn’t offer to take their son, figuring he wanted both arms free. God, she hated this. Hated the uncertainty.
Kai took her hand in a gentle but firm squeeze stepping aside as the others came forward. Alexa took her hand next, but instead of shaking, she placed both of her hands around Brooke’s. “We’re here to help you, no matter what it looked like out here.”
Jaqui snorted and muttered amen before walking forward and up the stairs. “Ignore them, they’re a bunch of assholes most of the time, but they’re our assholes.”
Jack’s head popped up. “Mommy, she said bad word. You gotta go timeout now.” He pointed his finger at Jaqui.
Brooke laughed at Jaqui as she covered her mouth with her palm, muttering she was sorry.
Tay groaned as he followed up the stairs, kissing Brooke on the cheek, which stunned her. “I’m not an asshole, just so you know.”
Her son pointed his finger at Tay. “Him too, mommy. You say asshole, too.” Jack’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. They made me say bad word.”
Jaqui put her arms around them both. “I think I love this little guy. How about we all go to timeout together?”
“Alright, no more bad words from any of you. You, little man, get one free pass.” She pointed her finger at Jack. He nodded vigorously, making a zipping motion across his lips.
Sully came up, silently. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles, ruffling Jack’s hair. “I’ll make sure nobody else cuss’s or they’ll all be in timeout. By the way, I wasn’t in on dumb and dumbers decision earlier.” He pointed his finger over his shoulder at his teammates.
She tensed as both Oz and Coyle came forward. Without stopping to think, she handed Jack to his dad then stepped in front of the two men as they reached the stairs. “You got one free shot at him,” she pointed her thumb at Jase over her shoulder. “You try it again, and I’ll shoot you in the dick,” she whispered so her son wouldn’t overhear.
Both men covered their groins. Oz slapped Coyle on the shoulder. “I’m glad it was you who lost that coin toss,” he muttered.
“Dang, your girl is scary.” Kai slapped Jase on the shoulder, the hit was one of affection, not anger.
“Ma’am, I promise I won’t do it again…for past transgressions. Now, I can’t say it won’t happen in the future. You need to understand, sometimes shit…I mean stuff happens, like that one time…what, why you all looking at me?” Coyle glared at Kai then Jase.
“Let’s take this inside. I think little man here is ready for a nap.” Jase ran his hand over Jack’s back as their son lay his head on Jase’s chest.
“He looks just like you,” Tay said, staring at them both.
The proud smile that washed over Jase’s lips, and lit up his features was one she’d remember for the rest of her life.
“Nah, I think he’s perfect, unlike me.” He kissed Jack’s cheek then led the way back inside.
Jaqui stopped next to her, placing one hand on Brooke’s arm. “How old is he?”
She shook her head to clear the thoughts from her mind. Jase thinking he wasn’t good enough was written all over him. Looking at the tiny blonde, she struggled to remember what she’d asked. “I’m sorry, can you repeat that?”
“It’s okay, I just wondered how old Jack was.”
“Oh, he’s two going on twenty,” she laughed.
“He’s the spitting image of Jase. I mean…wow. I hope my kids look just like Tay.” She placed a hand on her stomach.
Brooke shut the front door after them, looking from Jaqui to Tay, then down where Jaqui’s hand rested. “How far along are you?”
A smile split her lips. “We just passed twenty-two weeks.”
“Do you know what you’re having?” Excitement bubbled inside her at the prospect of new life and memories from her pregnancy.
Jaqui shook her head then nodded. “What I mean is we had a sonogram, but we had the sonographer put the results in an envelope and seal it. We’re going to do a reveal of some kind but didn’t want to know beforehand either.”
“That is so cool. I would’ve loved to have done something like that.” She’d had a sonogram at the ER, found out she was pregnant, and what she was having all in the span of hours. With her next pregnancy, she’d love to do something like Tay and Jaqui. Her thoughts skidded to a halt as she realized what she was doing. Building castles out of sand. “Silly child, don’t you know sandcastles get destroyed when the tide comes in?” she muttered under her breath the words her mother had said to her more times than she liked to remember.
“What was that?” Jaqui asked, looking puzzled.
Taking a deep breath, she pasted on a smile. “Nothing. I love those reveal parties. I’ve watched some on YouTube. Have you seen some of them?” she steered the conversation toward different videos and laughed as Alexa pulled up a few failed ones.
While she and the two women sat in the living room, her appreciation for female friendship grew. Yes, she liked the time with Jase, but laughing with the two women and getting to know them made her feel as if things were normal. As if they weren’t hiding out because someone had tried to kill her, or at the very least, break into her apartment.
“Jase is really good with Jack.” Alexa’s voice broke into her musings.
Her son had fallen asleep within minutes of them coming back inside, wanting his friend Jase to put him to bed. How she wanted to tell her son Jase was not just his friend…but his dad.
“I’m glad he likes Jack.”
Alexa plopped down on one side of her on the couch while Jaqui sat on the other side. Both women laughed for a moment before Alexa sobered. “Honey, that man has looked in here at least a dozen times checking on you. I can guarantee you, if he thought we were being mean or threatening to you, he’d have been on our asses in a heartbeat.”
Her head jerked up and looked across the room, meeting the intense gaze of Jase’s. She took a deep breath and let it out. “Damn, he’s sexy,” she murmured as he winked and leaned forward with his arms on the back of a chair.
“Girl, they’re all too sexy, but it’s our crosses to bear. We’re saving the world by taking them out of rotation.” Jaqui held her fist out for Alexa to pound.
Caught between the two women, she sat back and chuckled. “So, you’re saying it’s our duty to be with them, because they’re a menace to society? What with the good looks and muscles?”
Alexa nodded. “Oh yeah, the fights they’d start if they walked into a bar and all the women left their men to hang on ours would be astronomical. Luckily for all those men, we’ve taken them in…hand.” Alexa held her hands out and made squeezing motions.
“What’re you ladies talking about?” Kai asked, from the other room.
Alexa held up her hands. “I was telling Brooke I like to juggle balls.”
Kai tilted his head to the side as Brooke busted out laughing while Jaqui began giggling like a loon. The big SEAL team leader pointed his finger at his wife and mouthed something Brooke didn’t catch, but it had Alexa laughing and clapping.
“You are in trouble,” Jaqui said.
Alexa nodded. “I know and I like it.”
*****
Jase had worried about leaving Brooke alone with the other women but shouldn’t have. After he’d put Jack down for a nap, he’d come back to find her in the living room chatting easily with the duo. He’d motioned for the men to come into the kitchen. Although it was an open conc
ept space, he felt they could sit down at the table and hash things out. Kai took a seat at the head of the table, making his status clear as the leader. The move was fine with Jase. In the last three years, he’d come to grips with the fact he was no longer team leader of SEAL Team Phantom. Oz, Coyle, and Tay took the other three chairs, leaving him to stand along with Sully. Again, he was fine as that gave him a chance to gather his thoughts. These men were like brothers to him for years, worked as a team and had each other’s backs during times most would never understand.
“First, I’d like to say thank you for coming,” he said into the quite room. He met each man in eye. “Let me start by saying I’ve had mixed emotions about each and every one of you as I’m sure you’ve had about me. Let me finish before you ask any questions, alright?”
As they all nodded, he took a calming breath. “The night that I supposedly met with the leader of the insurgents wasn’t what it looked like. I didn’t meet with that man in the video. If it had been analyzed, they’d have seen it for the fake it was. Tay, you being the computer expert you are, you can surely pull that footage up and have it checked out in a matter of hours. I did however meet with someone that night. Everything about that meeting except the individual in the video was correct. What we talked about? Me asking about coordinates, how many were there, what I was taking my men into? All that was correct, because I wasn’t taking my team into an ambush. Something felt off. I’d never had an admiral pull me aside and give me orders on a mission before. This was a man who’d told me not six months prior he’d ruin me if I didn’t leave his daughter alone.”
He saw Brooke’s head raise at his words. “What do you mean?”
“Come here.” He held his hand out to her.
“Your dad showed up in the middle of the desert and dropped a bomb on me. He said there was a hostage situation, a young American girl, and wanted me and my team to head out right then to an undisclosed location. He said he’d give me the rest of the intel once we were en route. After he’d threatened my life and career, I didn’t trust him. I told him I needed to see the orders, that there was protocol to be followed. We fought and then he left. The next day we found out the other SEAL team had been ambushed and all fingers were pointed at me.”
