“Whatever it costs, whatever you gotta do Andrew, make that happen for her, okay?”
“I'll call over there today.”
I nod and stand, reaching for his hand and shake it before I leave his office. Time to figure my shit out. Do I want this life with her, or do I not?
Chapter 22
Savannah
I sit at the kitchen table in Charlotte and Gabriel's house, moving my dinner around the plate.
“Alright, what's goin’ on? I know I ain't too good at figurin’ all you girls out, but I know when somethin’ is botherin’ you,” Gabriel says, putting his fork down and crossing his arms over his chest. “Is it still about the trade?”
“I just don't feel good,” I say not making eye contact with him.
I’m heartbroken and mentally drained, but it is true, I really don’t feel good. I thought I skipped out on the miserable first trimester symptoms, but apparently this baby doesn’t really give a shit what trimester I’m in. It doesn’t like Charlotte’s chicken tacos and I might puke all over this table soon.
“Why? You contagious? I don't mind havin’ ya here Sav, but Avery-”
“Pregnancy ain't contagious, or maybe it is. I wasn't pregnant at y'alls wedding, but I left pregnant.”
Charlotte chokes on her water and Gabriel's mouth drops open.
“Well that's one way to tell him,” Charlotte whispers.
“You already told him at the hospital, blabbermouth.”
“Someone wanna explain this to me?” Gabriel says.
“Well ya see, when two people are single and they drink too much tequila, they get super horny and-”
“Stop!” Gabriel cuts me off, putting his hands over his ears. “Ya know what I meant, smartass.”
“It just happened. I dont wanna talk about this.”
“Ah so this is what y'all were talkin’ about the hospital wasn't it? It's Jackson's?”
I nod and continue to move food around on my plate.
“Wait, wait I thought you couldn't get pregnant. What am I missin’ here?”
“Hugh forged my medical documents, or rather had someone forge them. Blackmailed my doctor and what not. It was him the whole time. He is the one that can't have kids.”
“You’re fuckin’ with me, right? Please tell me you are Savannah. I swear to God I won’t just break his nose this time.”
“Get in line.”
“Well how are you holdin’ up with the pregnancy then? You okay?”
“I'm fine. I'm happy all this crap is over, I just...now I gotta deal with the rest of this. Tucker might...it never ends.”
“Jackson will step up, Sav. He's a good guy. He had Lace young, remember?” Gabriel says.
“Too well,” I mumble.
“We’ll figure stuff out with Tuck. You’ll get him, okay? I got someone workin’ on it.”
I nod and get up from the table.
“Thank you,” I say leaning over and kissing my brother on his cheek. “I'm goin’ to bed. Thanks for dinner Charlie, it was great.”
“Ya didn't even eat it, Sav. Ya need to eat.”
I shake my head. “Little one doesn’t like chicken tacos, sorry.”
I shrug and continue to walk upstairs to my old bedroom. I need some sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, I just need to sleep.
Chapter 23
Jackson
I jog up to Savannah's front door and knock excitedly. I want her to be the first one to hear the good news, but she's been so distant.
I've been getting one-word text responses the past two days and she isn't picking up her phone. She told me we needed to talk this morning, but then has gone radio silent. I notice her car isn't in the driveway, so I jog back to mine and head to her office.
I don't see her car in the parking lot, but I see Gabriel's. He'll know where she is. I walk into the office, wave at the receptionist and walk back towards Gabriel's office.
“Hey Gabe. Do you know where I can find Savannah?”
He looks up from his desk and stalks towards me with danger in his eyes. I back up with my hands in front of my chest until my back hits the wall.
“What's goin’ on man?” I ask confused.
“I told you not to hurt her. I fuckin’ told you!” he roars.
He punches the wall next to my head and I duck.
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” I yell back.
“She's been sleepin’ in Bella's room the past few nights cryin’ herself to sleep, you asshole,” he says grabbing the collar of my shirt.
My mind is reeling and I'm trying to figure out what went wrong.
“If this is about the baby, I...I told her I still need to think. It's a big step, a lot of responsibility and I don't know if I'm ready just yet.”
Gabriel's eyes flash with something dark and I feel a burst of pain rip through my nose. He lets go of my collar and I lean forward grabbing my face.
“You dick! I told her you would step up like you did with Lacey. You’re a fuckin’ sad excuse of a man” he says, his voice rough.
“Oh, and you aren't! Leavin’ Charlotte after all that shit--” another punch lands across my jaw and I stumble into the wall.
“I was a fuckin’ kid. You're a man! It's not an excuse, but you should know better! I regret that every damn day of my life and you're gonna make the same mistake!”
His voice roars deep and the sound makes me flinch.
“Where is she?” I rasp out of breath.
My face is throbbing in pain, but if she is as upset as Gabriel says she is, I need to fix it. I didn't know the baby thing was making her this upset.
“I'm not tellin’ you shit. She's better off without you,” he says shaking his head.
“I love her,” I say loudly.
“Oh yeah? You got a funny fuckin’ way of showin’ it!”
“Gabriel!” Charlotte yells running into the office. “Let him explain, dammit!”
“Explain what? He's takin’ the easy way out. He don't know how much this is gonna haunt him, how much he's gonna miss, I just…” his voice breaks on the last word and he turns away from us.
He runs a hand through his hair roughly and turns back, walking towards Charlotte. He kisses her on the forehead and then pushes past me out the door.
We hear the office door slam a couple of seconds later and she shakes her head.
I wipe the blood off my nose and turn to Charlotte. My face already feels swollen, but I need to get to Savannah.
“Where is she Charlie. I'm not givin’ up on her. If you don't tell me, I'll find her myself. I'll rip apart this whole damn town until I do.”
“She's at our place. She hasn't been to work in two days. She barely leaves her room. She doesn’t feel good, but I know a lot of it is all of this stuff. I don't think you're a bad guy and I'm really hopin’ this is all just a misunderstandin’. Gabriel is protective I'm...I'm sorry he hit you.”
I nod and walk towards the door but her hand on my arm stops me.
“Make sure y'all talk, about everything.”
I furrow my brows, not entirely sure what she means, but I nod anyway. I run out of the building towards my car and gun the engine, stepping on the gas heading for Charlotte and Gabriel's house. I really hope this isn’t as far gone as I feel like it is. I finally know what I want, I can’t lose it all now.
Chapter 24
Savannah
I lay in bed, playing with the string of the blanket. Running the material back and forth through my fingers. It's mesmerizing and relaxing and takes my mind off the mess that has become my life.
I should be happy, so freakin’ happy. I thought it would be close to impossible to have my own children, but now it's literally a dream come true. I smile and put my hand on my belly as it also does somersaults. Shit, when the hell does this ever stop.
“You don't deserve your mama to be this upset, peanut. I’ll make you a deal. If you stop kickin’ my ass and let me eat food again, I’ll stop feelin’ sorry for mysel
f and get back to normal. I picked myself up once, I can do it again, for you. Right after I just take a quick nap.”
I curl on my side and pull the blankets up to my neck. I hear the doorbell ring and ignore it. Charlotte and Gabriel have a key, they wouldn't ring the bell. I hear the bell ring again and it wakes Avery. I hear her crying from Charlotte and Gabriel's room. I groan and get out of bed and walk down the hall to her.
“Hi baby girl. Who is makin’ all that racket that woke you up?”
I kiss her cheek, lifting her out of the crib. I hear the doorbell again and curse. We walk downstairs to the front door and I move the curtain to the side to see who it is.
Jackson.
I shut the curtain quickly but it's too late, he already saw me. I briefly remember texting him this morning that we had to talk after I woke up from my nap on the bathroom floor. I need to tell him about the baby, but I just needed some time. First, to collect all my thoughts, but really, I needed to be able to walk away from the bathroom for about five second without wanting to puke.
“Savannah, open the door. We need to talk, you said so yourself” he says, pounding on the door.
Avery starts crying and I rock her, trying to soothe her. He continues to pound the door and I open it, seething.
“God dammit Jackson, calm down. I'm watchin' the baby, you're makin’ her upset!”
His mouth drops open and his arm is frozen in the air, mid knock.
“Let's...let's do the baby thing,” he says through a whisper.
His gaze jumps from me to Avery a couple of times before he finally closes his mouth.
“What?” I ask, dumbfounded. “Wait, what happened to your face?”
“Nothin’ I don't deserve. I'm sorry, hi, you look beautiful, God you look so fuckin’ beautiful. Did you do something different? Can I come in to talk?” he says shaking his head.
I smirk at his nervous rambling but then quickly wipe it off my face.
“I don't see what we have to talk about?”
“A lot. For starters, you look absolutely stunning with a baby, and I want that. I want to see that every day. Can I...can I come in?”
“Jackson, what...Oh, I get it. Your face, your declaration, you talked to Gabriel, didn't you?”
“I did, but that's not why I'm sayin’ this. I went to the office to look for you and he kind of cornered me and well...the face happened.”
“So, if I wasn't already pregnant, you were gonna come and declare your love for me anyway?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.
“You're...you're pregnant?” he asks confused.
His eyebrows furrow and he shakes his head.
“Wait, what did Gabriel say to you?” I ask confused.
“I thought he was talkin’ about the treatments, I...oh my God, Savannah,” he says smiling, kneeling down in front of me.
His hands rest on my waist and he buries his face in my belly.
“Jackson!” I laugh, “Get up, what are you doin’?”
“Savannah Gavinwood, you don't know how happy you make me.”
He gets to his feet and puts a hand on the back of my head, pulling my face to his, brushing our lips together.
I reach for the waistband of his jeans, pulling him closer to me. Avery starts to fuss in between us, and we pull apart.
“Oh gosh, I'm sorry baby girl.”
I put her up on my shoulder, kissing her forehead.
“So, wait. You need to explain this to me. I thought you couldn't get pregnant on your own?”
“Apparently, Hugh couldn't. The bastard blackmailed my first doctor into doctoring my file and then when I went for a second opinion, he did the same. He's the one that can't have kids and this whole time made me believe it was me. He planned on screwin’ me over with that dependent clause the whole time,” I say, frustration lacing my words.
“Jesus, I can't believe that shit. I hope you're draggin’ him through the mud.”
“Oh, don't worry about that, Andrew is already on it. Hugh is gettin’ what he deserves and then I'm puttin’ it all behind me. I want to focus on this baby and gettin’ Tucker.”
“What about us?”
“I heard you Jackson, in Andrew's office.”
“Heard me say what?”
“How it was a good thing that I couldn't have kids because it would have been a disaster if I got pregnant, and now here I am, pregnant,” I say, my voice breaking a little.
“Princess, I said that about you and Hugh. Andrew and I were talkin’ about the whole situation and I just meant it would have been terrible to drag a kid through this. I'm sorry it came out wrong, I didn't mean for it to hurt you. I'm prepared to do this with you Savvy, I want to do this with you.”
“What about baseball? Arizona is a far ride from Louisiana.”
“That's why I’ve been all over the place the last couple days. I had some phone calls to make and what not, but I'm officially retirin’. If you don't mind hubbyin’ up an old washed up ball player, I want to stay here with you.”
“What about the Jackson “Goner” Turner? Doesn't he have to keep roundin’ home for all the fans?” I smirk.
“Oh, believe me, I'm definitely a goner. You've got me so wrapped up in you Savannah Gavinwood. I ain't ever gonna be able to unwrap myself, even if I tried, but I ain't gonna. I found my home, here with you Savvy. I don't need to keep runnin’ around those bases. I'm goin’ home, every day, to you, Lacey, this baby and Tucker. And maybe one or two more?”
“Easy there big guy, let's see how we do with this one first. We got an uphill battle with Tucker though. I think the state already assigned him a foster family and...I’m tryin’, I’m tryin’ so damn hard,” I say shaking my head, a tear escaping.
“I hope to God they get him,” Jackson says kissing my forehead.
“What?” I say backing away from him.
He smiles, and I look at him with confusion.
“Deep down I always knew you would be a great mama, Savannah. Tucker belongs with you. He's officially your foster child. I told them to keep it a secret until it was official.”
“Jackson Turner,” I croak out through tears. “You didn't.”
“I did. I'm sorry I made you doubt me. It's always been about you Savvy. We are buildin’ one hell of a family and I ain't ever gonna make you doubt me again.”
I grab his cheek and kiss him softly and then look down to Avery. She is fast asleep, and I move to the other side of the living room to put her in the pack and play crib.
“Are you sure you're done with the game? I don't want you to resent me and then-”
I turn towards him as he cuts me off with a kiss that steals my breath. I grab for his biceps to steady me and he lifts me, walking us to the kitchen. He puts me down on my feet and corners me against the counter with our lips still locked, neither one of us wanting to pull away.
His hands cup my cheeks and I feel so loved in his arms. My belly does a flip and I don't know if that's the baby moving or my butterflies or the nausea creeping up again. Come on little peanut, please let me make-out with your daddy dammit, behave!
The realization that I only have a couple more months to go before little peanut is here forces me to break our kiss.
“Jackson, I'm due soon. Like a few months soon. I've been pregnant since...well the weddin’.”
“Are you serious? The first time? God Savannah, I'm not one to believe in fate and crap like that but, wow. We were always meant to be, princess.”
“You need to stop makin’ me swoon because then that will make me do very inappropriate things to you and I think Charlotte has had enough of our scandalous behavior to last a lifetime,” I laugh as he kisses down my neck, completely ignoring my request.
He cups my ass and pulls my body closer to his as I snake my hands around his back, resting on his waist, above his luscious ass. I swear the junk in his trunk is unfair. I've gotta workout five times a week for this booty and this man puts mine to shame.
“Come on! The weddi
n’ wasn't enough!”
Charlotte's voice causes me to jump and Jackson pulls back away from me, smirking.
“I'm sorry, nothin’ happened. Avery is okay, she's sleepin’.”
“Well get a room, dammit. I had enough of y'all for a lifetime,” she grumbles, shaking her head.
Going, Going, Goner (Double Play Series Book 2) Page 18
