Southern Spirits (The Southern Series Book 3)

by Shelley Stringer

  “Besides, you haven’t gained an ounce of weight anywhere but your little tummy!” Brie exclaimed, taking my hand in hers.

  “Chandler, turn your TV on. The news is breaking.” Constance came bursting through the doorway and grabbed the remote, switching the flat screen on.

  “FOX news has obtained information from an unnamed source that two Navy SEALs who were previously reported missing/presumed dead in the deadly attack on the Navy vessel a few weeks ago have been found alive in Somalia. No official word has been released from the Pentagon. We will bring you updates as they’re received.”

  I smiled at Constance, and she ran over and flopped on the bed beside me. We all settled in…John on one side, Constance and I on the other, Brie and Everett curled up on the foot. None of us could take our eyes from the television, scanning the ticker across the bottom for any updates about the SEALs. We stayed that way for an hour or more, glued to the screen. The doorbell downstairs broke the silence, and Constance jumped up and bounded down the stairs to answer it.

  After several moments of flipping through the news channels some more, Banton’s parents burst into the room.

  “Chandler, what’s going on? Constance wouldn’t tell us anything,” Mrs. Elaine began as she took in all the faces gathered in the room. Mr. Matt came over and took my hand in his.

  “Have you seen any news today?” I asked. Their eyes traveled to the television screen.

  “No, what is it?” Mr. Matt asked. My cell phone rang. I picked it up, and it was a number I didn’t recognize so I answered it quickly.

  “Hello?”

  “Chandler, it’s me. It’s Banton. I’m so glad to hear your voice. They told us we were presumed dead. I’m so sorry! Are you all right?” he asked in a rush. “Sweetheart, are you there?”

  “Yyesss,” I stammered. “I’m here and I’m fine! I…I can’t believe it! It’s you…” I sobbed out.

  “Baby, I love you so much. Calm down, it’s all right. The pregnancy, are you still on schedule?” he asked as I tried to get control to speak coherently.

  “Yyesss, I’m …on bed rest, to keep from going into labor. Sweetheart, there is someone else here who needs to hear your voice,” my voice quivered. I handed the phone to his father. He looked at me inquiringly and took the phone from me, placing it to his ear as he continued to hold my hand in his.

  “Hello…” he asked cautiously. “Ban…oh, my God…Banton?” He looked at me with a shocked expression, and then his knees gave way. John caught him and gently sat him down on the floor. Mrs. Elaine swayed and grabbed the doorway as tears gathered in her eyes. I nodded to her and smiled. Mr. Matt struggled out of his dazed state.

  “Son! Oh, my God! Son, we thought you were dead! When, how did you…” He couldn’t control the flood of emotion enough to formulate his first question. He glanced around to everyone in the room as they waited, holding their breath.

  “Sure, son. I understand. I’ll put her back on.” He turned back to me and handed the phone back up to me in the bed, his hands shaking as badly as mine were. I had the presence of mind to hit the speaker button, so everyone could hear him.

  “Chandler, are you…Are the babies all right?” he asked frantically.

  “Yes, Banton, we’re all fine. I’m perfect, now I know you are alive. I didn’t want to give up hope…I just knew it!” I sobbed.

  “Sweetheart, calm down. I love you so much. I can’t wait to see you.”

  “Banton, a Commander and Chaplain who came by this afternoon after you called, they said you’d been wounded…” I took a deep breath. “How badly are you hurt?”

  “I’m going to be fine. One of my legs was broken, and my arm, several ribs…They healed without being set, and the Doctors had to re-break some bones and set them. I’m on crutches temporarily, but I’ll be good as new, I promise.”

  “Oh, Banton…I…I don’t know what to ask first! When will you be home?”

  “This hurricane off the coast is a factor we might have to deal with, but if everything goes well, we should beat it there and be home by tomorrow evening. If necessary, we will re-route and they will fly us in. Either way, I’m coming home to you as soon as possible. Darlin’, are you still on track with the babies? How many more weeks does the doctor say?” he asked. I began to sob again. “Sweetheart, it’s all right. I’m coming home. Sweetheart?”

  I took a deep breath. “I went into labor a few weeks back, when we got word about the missile strike, but Dr. Lane got the contractions to stop, and he’s pretty much kept me on bed rest until now, trying to get me to thirty-four weeks for the babies’ lungs. I…I can’t believe it! You’re going to be here when they come,” I whispered as the tears continued. I couldn’t breathe. My nose was completely plugged from all the crying I’d done the past two hours. I glanced at Constance, and everyone had forgotten her in all the excitement. I knew she needed to talk to Ty, so I just handed the phone to her.

  “Banton, Chandler’s such a bawl bag, she can’t breathe through her nose to talk to you. You know how she swells up, so she gave the phone to me. Is Ty…Can I talk to him?” she almost whispered as though it might make everything disappear if she said it too loud. I smiled at her, knowing exactly how she felt.

  “Yeah, he’s right here. Ty…” we heard the phone exchange hands, and then Ty’s voice.

  “Constance, darlin’, I’m coming home…I can’t wait to see you!” he exclaimed as the tears began to flow from her eyes as well.

  “I can’t wait…Oh Ty, I can’t believe it. I’m so afraid someone is going to wake us up, that this isn’t real. We thought you both were dead!” she exclaimed into the phone.

  “Hey, it’s all right. I’m coming home. I can’t wait to see you, to hold you…Hey, stop crying, it’s all right, baby…I love you.”

  “I love you too. I sound just like Andie now, I can’t stop crying, either!” she exclaimed into the phone as everyone around the room laughed and cried with her.

  “Baby, the connection is beginning to break up again. One of the guys on the ship is trying to set up a video conference through the base, so maybe we’ll contact you both on Chandler’s laptop a little later...love you all…” then the connection went dead.

  Constance turned my phone off, and then glanced around the room. “I forgot to ask him how badly he was wounded!” she exclaimed, tossing the phone back to me.

  “His wounds probably aren’t any different from Banton’s or they would have said something. I’m sure he’ll be fine, too.” John rose and went around the bed to hug her. I surveyed the room. Banton’s parents sat in the floor, their arms around each other. Everyone else bounced around hugging each other, stopping to watch the television, and talking on their cell phones.

  After he’d had time to calm down and process all of the information, Mr. Matt pulled his cell out and called Claudia and Will to break the news to them, and to ask them to go and get Julia and bring her to Baton Rouge. Everyone in the room could hear Claudia’s squeals, and her promise they were on their way. Soon the house overflowed with guests. Sam and Olivia arrived, and Aunt Sue and Uncle Lon followed soon after. All of our Aldon friends who weren’t already there on guard duty arrived, and I was sure no Orco would dare come within miles of our little neighborhood tonight. We all watched television until the wee hours of the morning, everyone milling around the house. No one wanted to leave until Banton and Ty were home.

  Sometime after three in the morning, my room began to clear as everyone began to settle down. I was exhausted, and my eyes drooped. I was fighting to stay awake. I didn’t want to miss a minute of the celebration.

  “Bebe, you are exhausted. You need to get some rest,” Everett commented, flipping the lamp off beside my bed. The television continued to flicker lights in the darkness.

  “No, don’t leave me, Everett. I don’t want to be alone. I’m afraid I’ll wake up and everything will change - that all of this will have been a dream! Promise me you won’t leave me,” My eyes were clos
ing as I spoke.

  Everett sat back down beside me on the bed, drawing me close. “I promise you, my dearest friend, I will not leave you. I’ll be here when you wake up, and it’s not a dream. Sleep, Bebe. We’ll still be celebrating when you wake.”

  His promise was the last thing I heard before I began to drift.

  Chapter Ten

  Noises intruded…muffled voices, light banter and laughter. I could hear the soft clicking of my laptop keyboard close by. I slowly opened my eyes, and Everett sat beside me on the bed, focused on my laptop, in the exact same place he’d been when I fell asleep,. As usual my eyes were swollen. I felt them as I pushed up in the bed, but at least they weren’t swollen shut this time.

  “Good morning, sweet Bebe. I was beginning to worry I needed to wake you, but I wanted to make sure you got enough sleep.” He smiled as he pushed a lock of my hair out of my eyes.

  “What time is it?” I glanced at the bedroom window realizing it had to be late morning; the sun was streaming through my window.

  “It’s noon. Are you hungry? I’ll go and get you something to eat.” He rose and placed my laptop back down on the bed.

  “Noon! Why didn’t anyone wake me? Has anyone heard from Banton?” I asked frantically.

  “No, darlin’. Constance has been in here every ten minutes all night and all morning, checking your cell phone and your computer. I’m sure when they get your little conference arranged you will hear from him. I think maybe they’ve been a little busy, trying to work out the details of how to get our boys home quickly and safely. We have a little storm moving into the Gulf, you know,” he said as he threw his hand out dramatically like he was tossing the information my way. Normally I would have laughed at him, but I was too distracted to notice his little idiosyncrasies today.

  “What storm?” I asked, perplexed.

  “Did you forget, Bebe, they’ve been talking about it on the news for days, the little tropical depression out in the gulf. It’s now a category three hurricane headed this way. They aren’t sure about how it is tracking, but it looks to make landfall sometime early in the morning tomorrow, anywhere from N’awlins up to Alabama. N’awlins is evacuatin’ north. My mother and grandmother are already here, stayin’ at my apartment for now.”

  “What will they do about Banton and Ty? Will they wait and come in later?” I asked as Everett patted my shoulder.

  “John thinks they will probably make landfall far ahead of the storm, and bring them in to port at either New York or Norfolk, and then fly them down here before the storm hits. He said if he knows Banton, if they close the airport he’ll rent a car. Nothing will delay his trip home to you.”

  “Can’t we find out where they’re going to make landfall? I’ll fly there and wait!” I exclaimed, not wanting the storm to come between me and my reunion with Banton.

  “Andie-girl, calm down. Dr. Lane and Dr. Renault aren’t going to let you fly anywhere.” John appeared at the top of the staircase. He strode into the room, and flopped down on the foot of the bed. “As a matter of fact, Dr. Lane is downstairs right now, talking with Mr. Matt and Mr. Lon. He seems to think with the storm coming, he needs to move you somewhere else. He has a theory about pregnant women and hurricanes.”

  Everett flipped the laptop shut.

  “What theory, Cowboy?” Everett asked as I threw the covers back on the bed, determined to get up.

  “Dr. Lane said it’s a phenomenon. Dozens of women will go into labor during these storms - something about the drop in the barometric pressure. He doesn’t want to get caught unprepared. He wants to get Chandler locked down at his clinic where he has all the equipment he needs. Dr. Renault is already on his way there now.”

  “No way, I want to be here when Banton arrives! We have to wait,” I argued as Dr. Lane came into the room, followed by Banton’s parents.

  “Chandler, I think it’s a good idea. We’ll go with you, but we don’t have to go until late this afternoon. Dr. Lane is going to enlist John and Sam to set up some back-up generators in case we lose power and you go into labor. He’ll need the equipment at the clinic, and we can’t chance having to rush you to a hospital with all of the unknowns and your medical history,” Mr. Matt reasoned as he and Mrs. Elaine sat on either side of me on the bed.

  “We promise, we’ll make arrangements, and we’ll make sure Banton comes straight to the clinic to be with you.” Mrs. Elaine patted my hand, and as I glanced around the room, it seemed it was all settled.

  “Well, I guess I’d better get your little bag packed…and just where do you think you are going, Miss Thing?” Everett scolded when I tried to stand up.

  “Well, it just so happens I’ve been in bed for more than eight hours, I’m pregnant, and my bladder doesn’t seem to function well with two babies laying on it,” I shot over my shoulder. Mrs. Elaine stood and hurried to my side to help me.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, Bebe. I’m just used to policing your every move.” He smiled and hugged me as I passed.

  When I emerged from the bathroom after I’d showered and dressed, my room was full. It seemed I was going to be the entertainment while everyone waited for the boys’ homecoming.

  “What? Is everyone waiting for me to go into labor?” I grinned at them as Aunt Sue and Uncle Lon filed in with everyone else in the room. Someone had pulled extra chairs into the room the evening before, and it would be the gathering place for the remainder of our stay in the house.

  “Yep. It’s kind of like watching the microwave popcorn pop!” Cade quipped from the doorway. “The harder you watch, the longer it seems like it takes.” He shot me a lopsided grin as he flopped down in the floor in front of Uncle Lon.

  We all watched the weather updates together on the television, and I kept my laptop handy in case the video conference was sprung on us in a hurry. While the afternoon drug on, everyone became apprehensive. We assumed there would be at least a phone call from Banton with an update. Sam and John left to go on to the clinic to help Dr. Renault and Dr. Lane with the equipment, and Aunt Sue and Uncle Lon took Constance, Cade and Drew to buy supplies, water and food for us in case of a prolonged power outage while we were at the Clinic. As the house quieted down, Everett tried to get me to lie down and rest, but I was too wired.

  “Bebe, you need to get all the rest you can with this storm coming and all the excitement. We’ll probably be up late tonight.”

  “I can’t sleep anyway, Everett. My back is really aching from all the laying around.” I rubbed my tailbone down low. It seemed with every passing minute my back pain got worse.

  “Lean up. Let me rub it for you.” He began to rub my lower back and my shoulders as we continued to watch the news. There was a commotion down stairs, and voices drifted up the staircase.

  “Sounds like your family is back,” Everett observed as he looked down at his watch. “It’s five o’clock, so I think we might need to get you to the clinic soon. I’ll just take your bags down to load them.”

  “Thanks, Everett. Thank you for everything. You’re a doll.”

  I leaned over and kissed his cheek.

  “Oh, don’t I know it.” He rolled his eyes heavenward, and I giggled as he bounced up to pick up the suitcases. I heard his footsteps descending the staircase, and then hushed voices…

  I frowned as I resumed my search on the computer.

  “Chandler, sweetheart…I’ve waited so long to hear you giggle.”

  I raised my eyes from my laptop and gasped as I heard his deep voice. Sam and John stood at the top of the staircase with Banton’s arms around their shoulders, the two of them helping him to the top step and then through the doorway to our room.

  “Banton…” I breathed in a whispered prayer. I could hardly believe my eyes. “Oh, Banton!”

  I focused on his face. His beautiful brown eyes were brimming with tears. He had the slightest sexy shadow of a beard, and as he grinned and shot his dimple at me, I gasped. I finally tore my eyes away from his face, to appraise the condition of th
e rest of his body. I could see the outline of bandages around his ribs under his t-shirt, and one of his legs was in a boot-type cast. They helped him hobble over to the bed and turned him so he could sit beside me. He pulled me into his arms and I collapsed into them, laughing and crying at the same time. I heard the bedroom door shut, Sam and John were giving us time for a private reunion.

  He pulled my face back to look at me as we gazed at each other. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  “You’re here. You’re really home!” I began to cry again. He covered my face with kisses.

  “Sweetheart, don’t cry. Yes, I’m home!”

  He grinned, and for the first time in months, I touched his dimple, winking at me from the corner of his mouth. He pulled back and placed his hand on my stomach, rubbing it as he leaned over to kiss the basketball that used to be my abdomen.

  “I’ve dreamed of this moment…seeing you so pregnant.” He raised my shirt to look at my belly. “You are so beautiful. I’ve…I’ve missed so much time with you!” he exclaimed angrily as he caressed my skin, expanded across the babies.

  I watched him take in the changes to my body, and then his eyes rose slowly back to hold mine.

  “I can’t believe it!” I breathed. “I’ve never been so relieved…so happy,” I whispered. He held his hand out to my cheek. We sat staring at each other for several minutes. I was lost in his deep brown eyes. He slowly pulled me to him as he covered my lips with his, gently at first, then deepening his kiss. I wound my fingers in his hair while he caressed my lips, pulling back every so often to look at me, and then drawing my lips back up to his again. The babies kicked furiously as he held me. Pulling away, he looked down at my stomach and smiled when he placed both of his hands there to feel them.

  “They’re welcoming you home…they must sense the excitement!” I exclaimed. Banton looked back up into my eyes, and then rose back up over me, kissing the tears as they slid down my cheeks.

  “I kept expecting you to call. I was afraid you’d been held up because of the storm.” I stammered. He pulled me into his lips again. He kissed me deeply, drawing me up fully into his arms as I wound my arms around his neck.