Corps Security: The Series (118 page)

“This isn’t funny!” she smarts.

“You’re right. It’s hilarious.”

She smacks me again, but I notice that her tears have dried up and she’s looking out the window with a small smirk on her lips.

* * *

We’ve been sitting in these damn narrow chairs for the last hour. I shift a few times uncomfortably, wishing I could get out of this room. There are at least fifteen other pregnant chicks in here. Some have bigger bellies than Chelcie’s, but some are huge—so huge that I swear I can see their babies moving. I look back over at Chelcie’s belly again with what must be a look of horror because she starts laughing lightly.

“Would you relax?” she says with a hushed tone.

I lean over so that my lips are right up against her ear. “Sunshine, would you be able to relax if all you could picture was a little alien popping out of one of their bellies? Just like in that damn Spaceballs movie. I swear to God, if that happens, you’re on your own because I’m out of here.”

She starts laughing loudly, drawing the attention of the room—well, the part of the room that wasn’t already undressing me with their eyes.

“Goddammit, I’m in some weird hormone bubble and I feel violated. Oh so violated,” I complain under my breath, earning even more giggles out of Chelcie. I try to scowl at her, but that only causes her to laugh louder.

She holds her hands up in surrender, trying her hardest to calm down. I just shake my head and look back down at the pregnancy magazine she handed me when we sat down. I think I’ve been reading the same article for the last thirty minutes.

What in the fuck is a mucus plug?

I’m so out of my element right now.

“You two are just lovely together. Congratulations on your baby,” the woman next to me says. “I’m here with my daughter. Her husband is overseas—bless his heart. Anyway, I’m here to be support if she needs me. It’s so wonderful to see a couple so in love.”

“Thank you, ma’am. And please tell your son-in-law thank you for his service.”

She looks over at me with a question in her pale eyes before a wide smile takes over her weathered face. “What branch were you, son?”

“Marines, ma’am. One tour.”

She smiles kindly, her hand reaching out to pat mine. “Such a fine young man. I’ll pass that on. And thank you for your bravery, honey. It takes a strong soul to be able to do what y’all do.”

I swallow the uncomfortable lump in my throat and try to think of an appropriate response. I’m saved from replying when an attractive woman wobbles out and walks over. She smiles and asks the older woman if she’s ready. I get one more pat on my hand before she gets up and leaves.

I look back down at my hands holding this stupid magazine and try to get my head together. If only she knew how broken my soul has been.

“She’s right, you know,” Chelcie whispers.

I don’t respond. I just sit there, reach out, and grasp her hand with mine, giving her a tight squeeze. I’ve never felt brave. I’ve felt compelled to give Coop a better life, to fight with him for our freedom in more ways than one. But I always felt like a fraud because I joined the Marines to make sure I was there for Coop, and I’ve always felt incredibly selfish for my motivations.

“Ms. Avery?”

We both look up when Chelcie’s name is called. I can’t help but frown when I hear her last name. She should have
my
last name. The world should know that she is
my woman,
and I vow right here and now to make sure that happens sooner than later.

I toss the magazine on the chair next to me and stand to help Chelcie up. She laughs but takes my hand anyway, and we make our way back to the exam room.

She was spot on when she told me what would happen. She got pissed as hell when I acted like I was looking at the scale, and I’ve been laughing about it since the nurse left the room ten minutes ago.

“I told you not to look! Oh, God . . . I’m going to get fat and you’re going to be so disgusted!”

Well, that sure sobered my amusement real quick. After getting up from my seat, I walk over to her. “Chelcie, I was just joking. Trust me right now, okay? There isn’t anything that could make me find you disgusting. Looking at you, with that sexy belly, those full breasts just begging for my mouth, those hot-as-hell hips begging for my fingers to dig in deep. Baby, there is nothing in the world that could ever make you disgusting.”

“Oh.” She looks up at me, and once again, she bursts into tears.

I just shake my head and pull her into my arms. “We need to work on all this damn crying,” I joke.

A brisk knock on the door has me stepping away, unsure of where I should be. An older Spanish woman walks in with a smile on her face. She introduces herself as Dr. Sosa and starts asking Chelcie a bunch of questions. She doesn’t even bat an eye at my being here. It gives me a warm sense of pride that she just knows that I’m here with my woman.

I am so lost in thought that I miss her doing half of her exam on Chelcie. I look over to see her placing a small drop of gel on her stomach and wonder if this is it. Chelcie, perceptive as always, looks over and shakes her head slowly with a smile on her face. When the doctor pulls some small box with a microphone-looking thing on it out of her lab coat, I can feel my brows turn in. Well, this wasn’t on the list of what would happen.

“Cálmate, Daddy. I’m just listening to your bebé’s heartbeat.”

My eyes widen and shoot to Chelcie when I hear her call me Daddy. We haven’t discussed my role in the baby’s life. Will I be the uncle/boyfriend, the uncle/husband, the uncle/daddy? Because every time I think I should bring it up, I feel even more confused. I know what I want—I want to raise this baby as if it were my own—but I also want him or her to know who their daddy is. I will never let a day go by that this baby doesn’t know how much their daddy wishes he could be here. But yeah—I
want
to be the daddy in the sense of the word.

I take a chance and look over at Chelcie. She’s looking at me with an expression of love and contentment. I take a deep breath and squeeze her hand. Whatever just happened here, we can talk about later, but right now, all I feel is peace and happiness.

Then
it
happens.

I look over at Dr. Sosa then down to Chelcie’s belly, where that weird microphone is pressed against her skin. The noise echoing through the room sounds like a million horses running at rapid speed. I widen my eyes when I realize what that noise is.

Holy Lord, that’s the heartbeat!

I stand there in shock, my eyes refusing to move from her stomach even after Dr. Sosa removes the microphone thing and goes to address Chelcie.

“Oh, cariño, the bebé sounds perfect. 142 beats per minute. Nice and healthy.” She smiles and moves to the computer on the desk. “Are you ready for the ultrasound? Such an exciting time, yes?”

“Yes, Dr. Sosa. I’ve been waiting for this appointment since I found out I was pregnant. Do you think that we’ll be able to find out the gender today?” Chelcie asks wistfully.

“I believe that, if you’ve got a cooperative little one, then we should have no troubles.”

I help Chelcie off the table and steady her until she can straighten her clothing. She looks up at me, questions in her eyes, and I just smile. I know she’s wondering how I’m dealing with all of this. Truth be told, this is the most astounding moment of my life. I can’t describe what that felt like. To hear the life growing inside her belly was thrilling and magical. I don’t think, until this moment, that it had really hit me that this is real.

Dr. Sosa leads us down the hall into a room that is dimly lit. There’s an exam table that looks more comfortable than the last one she was in and a big machine with all sorts of knobs and shit on it next to the table. And then there’s the screen. A large projector type screen sits opposite her table.

I take another deep breath, help Chelcie back onto the table, and move to stand out of the way. Before I can get too far, her hand shoots out and grabs my arm.

She looks at me shyly for a second before speaking. “Please? You belong right next to me, baby.”

Well hell, you don’t have to tell me twice. She keeps hold of my hand as we wait for the doctor to enter some information into the machine at Chelcie’s hip. After a few minutes, she squirts that gel back on her stomach, only a hell of a lot more, and presses what I’m assuming is the wand to her stomach. Thank God she prepared me for this because there is no way that’s comfortable.

“You okay, Sunshine?” I question.

Her eyes glaze over, looking over my shoulder. “I’m perfect,” she hums. “Look,” she demands, raising the hand I’m not holding and pointing to the wall.

I turn and immediately feel my body rock. It feels like an earthquake just rocked the very foundation I’m standing on. There, looking back at me, is a large, black-and-white, fuzzy image. A moving image that is clearly . . . a baby.

The baby.

“Is that?” I inquire, my voice a low whisper.

“That’s our baby,” Chelcie says with awe. She doesn’t even seem to notice that she called the baby
ours.
I’m unsure if the feeling of pride that is washing through my system is from that one softly spoken word or seeing the baby for the first time.

“Beautiful,” I slur through the thick knot of emotion burning my throat.

I don’t even bother hiding the amazement and unadulterated wonder. This is a moment in my life that I will never forget.

“Everything looks beautiful. Would you two like to know what the gender is? I’ve got quite a clear shot,” she laughs.

“Please,” I whisper, looking down into Chelcie’s wet eyes.

She nods her head, and then I hear it. Another moment in my life when I’m knocked right on my ass.

“Congratulations, you’ve got a perfectly healthy baby boy.”

A boy.

In that moment, I feel like my brother is right here with us. Cheering right along with us. Enjoying this moment for everything it is. Celebrating the life he created. Happy and content.

And that’s all it takes for me to drop to my knees and press my forehead to Chelcie’s belly. I don’t even give a damn that that gel crap is getting all over me. I bring my hands up and frame her stomach, whispering words of love and promises of the future I’ll make sure this little boy has. I can feel Chelcie’s shudders and I know that she’s crying again, but I don’t dare call her on it since I can feel the tears falling from my own eyes.

After a few minutes, I climb to my feet and rub my eyes against my sleeve before moving in, taking her face between my palms, and kissing her with everything I have. We don’t need words right now. She knows—she gets it.

I vaguely hear the click of the door as the doctor leaves us to our moment. Lost in our own thoughts but connected together with our love for each other and our love for this baby.

This little boy.

Our
little boy.

I smile against her lips, feeling a weightlessness cover over me.

You did it, little brother,
I think.
I’m going to make sure that your son knows just how brave his father was. Not one day, Coop . . . Not one day will go by that I won’t show him how much he’s loved. He will never once question if he’s wanted, I promise you that.

When we leave the doctor, I notice that not once has our smiles slipped from either of our faces.

“I love you, Sunshine.”

“I love you back, baby.”

CHAPTER 22

Chelcie

It’s been a week since the doctor’s appointment, a week since we found out that I’m having a baby boy. It’s been such an incredible week. Between working part time with Dee, working on my book, and falling into Asher’s arms at night, my life couldn’t be fuller. I’m beyond happy right now and I don’t think anything can change that.

Asher’s been over the moon since we found out. At first, I could tell he was trying to hide his happiness. The uncertainty with his role in the baby’s life was weighing heavily on him. I didn’t waste a second before letting him know exactly how I felt about it. How I wanted things to be.

I told him, while sitting in his lap in his Jeep, my arms around his neck and my forehead pressed to his, that, in my heart, he’s this baby’s father. Not in the way that he is replacing Coop or Coop’s part in this baby’s life. I want Asher to raise this child alongside of me. I want this baby to look at Asher with the same love I feel, wake up asking for his daddy and Asher is there. And . . . I want Asher to be by my side every night
we
tell our son about how brave his daddy Coop was. This baby would never question who fathered him, but he would also know the very tangible love of his
daddy.

Asher didn’t even fight me on it, as I’d expected. He just pressed his body closer and thanked me over and over again. From that moment on, we’ve grown even closer as a couple. Our love for each other and our love for our child is so all consuming that there is no doubt in my mind that I’m the luckiest woman on the planet.

I grab the mail from Joe before making my way up to my apartment. I had to go into the office today and talk to Dee. Ash and I talked last night and we both decided that I would stop working for her. He wants me to focus on enjoying my pregnancy, and he’s been urging me to finish my book. His faith in my dream and me is what finally caused me to make a decision. She was naturally upset that I would be leaving her at the end of the month, just two weeks away, but she also understood why.

I think her confidence in me really helped to make me see that this is the right move. I might have never had the courage to take this step, but I want nothing more than to make all of them proud of me.

Asher decided to stop taking so many cases that would put him leaving me for long periods. I could tell that he didn’t want to miss a second of my pregnancy either, but I was starting to get worried about how we would support both of us and the baby on one—cut-in-half—income.

Asher explained to me that he’s been working on some technical jobs the guys at Corps Security needed. He said that, with Maddox not around as much, he’s been taking over for him with his normal duties. I felt a little better knowing that, even when Maddox came back to work, they would be keeping him on full time. He says that business is growing so quickly that they need the extra help.