Finding Opa! (12 page)

Hunter knew that she was talking to herself. He also felt privileged to be the one to experience this with her. Everyone handled trauma differently, and if pushed too much, often the traumatized would shut people out. Stacey, however, had opened up to him, trusted him. He knew that he couldn’t ask for much more.

Stacey looked out the window as they moved past her safe area. She looked at the stores and houses that they passed like they had driven to another planet. “Oh, I’d like to go there,” she said, looking at a Moroccan restaurant that they passed.

“We’ll go,” Hunter said with a grin. “We can go wherever you like.”

“That would be nice,” Stacey said, nearly in a whisper. Her hand found the console. Looking over at him, she wiped the tears from her face, though she tried to smile. “I’m scared as hell,” she confessed.

He smiled back. “It’s okay. I know that this isn’t easy, but you have to admit that it isn’t as bad as you thought.”

“Yes, it is,” she said, sitting back. But she knew that it wasn’t. Maybe she was calmed by him being with her or maybe it was that she had made too much of not driving, but she felt somewhat comfortable.

When they pulled into the private drive of the upscale waterfront condo community Hunter lived in, he looked over at her and felt like they had accomplished a major feat.

Stacey looked around impressed. It was definitely a place that she would have picked. The condos were well-built, bricked, and spacey. Each had its own balcony. Plus, it had a beautiful view of the waterway, very much like her own.

After Hunter parked, he walked around and opened the door for her. As she put her feet on the step to get out, he grabbed her and hugged her. Her body was still trembling. Holding her tightly, he kissed her neck. “I’m very proud of you, Stacey,” he said with conviction.

“Thanks,” she said, taking a deep breath. “It was
different
.”

“Nice?”

She bucked her eyes. “I don’t know if I would say that it was nice, yet.”

He liked the word yet. Taking her hand, he led her to his apartment and opened the door.

“Do you have the entire floor?” she asked, stepping across the threshold.

“Yes. This is all me,” he said, closing the door behind them. “Go on. Walk around and make yourself at home.”

She looked back at him. The word home made her smile again. Going in his office to check his messages, he left her to formulate her own opinion about his little kingdom.

No one normally called him at home unless it was an emergency, but he checked his phone to find that he had one urgent message. He pushed the button and closed the door behind him.

“Hunter, it’s your mother,” the voice said. “I haven’t seen you in weeks, and I’m worried. Why won’t you let me see your face? What is happening? I don’t care what it is; I want to hear from you. And Mother’s Day is next Sunday. I hope that whatever you’ve been up to that you’ll come and spend the day with your mother. We are still your family, you know. I expect a call soon. I love you.”

Hunter growled at the nagging voice that pulled him back to his anchor. Having already spoken to Hanna earlier that afternoon, he knew what was happening. He was being set up by them all. Only he would not allow any of them to mess up what he had in the next room.

Stacey was the only thing in his life that was giving him some balance, and in very important and distinct ways, she had given him closure with Corina. Now the family was back to meddling, the same as they had done with his dead wife. He had to figure out a way to solve this problem before it became one. Hanging up the phone, he went back out to find Stacey.

Hunter had a very warm and inviting home with a Greco-Roman theme throughout. Everything was masterfully designed and reeked of privilege and prestige. The first thing that Stacey noticed outside of his interior was that it was extremely clean, just the way that she liked it. She knew instantly based up on his habits at her house that he had to have a maid, because Hunter was hopelessly messy.

The living room and dining room were under high wooden, vaulted ceilings with large-leaf ceiling fans and receding lights. Below were antique wood tables and furniture that Stacey assumed had Greek or Roman origins because of the columns and intricate iron.

The walls were painted in a muted beige and on each wall were photos of Greece and old painting of beautiful Greek women and men. The floors were shining with mahogany wood and elaborate rugs. In the corners were vases and statues much like her African ones.

His kitchen was very modern with stainless steel appliances, gray and black granite tops and more Greek statues and paintings. The hallways were faux painted in a marble design decorated with Danaides of Argos art.

She stopped and looked at the elaborate console table right before she entered his bedroom. A picture of his wife sat by the lamp. Picking it up, she studied Corina. She was a beautiful woman with classic Greek features. Dark curly hair lined her olive-toned face and larger aquiline nose. Her deep set eyes were wide and bright and her high cheek bones complimented her full lips and pearly white teeth.

Stacey ran her hand over the picture and looked back at Hunter, who watched her quietly. “She was beautiful,” she whispered. “I can see why you miss her.”

Hunter walked up and took the picture. Setting it down, he took her hand. “You’re beautiful. I can see why I love you.”

Leading her into the bedroom, Stacey saw which room was the selling point of the upscale condo. The lofty room was painted in a slate marble design. A king-sized bed with a beautiful slate blue and chocolate brown comforter reflected his discriminating taste. The large bay windows were covered in expensive royal empire tailored curtains. And in the corners were stone-carved lamps and large marble lions.

“Do you like it?” Hunter asked as he slipped his arms around her.

“I love it. It’s you,” she said, wanting to crawl into his bed.

“Maybe it could be
us
,” he said, unbuckling the belt on her jeans. He intended to finish what she started back at her place.

Stacey turned to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips lingered at his before she ducked in for another of his sweet kisses. “We have way too much sex,” she said giggling.

He kissed her again, sucking at her bottom lip. “I am a doctor, and I can assure you that there is no such thing as too much sex for healthy adjusted couples,” he said, pulling her to the bed.

“Speaking of which, I need to take my birth control. I forgot it earlier.”

“Do you take it at the same time every day?” he asked, still holding her tight.

“It’s hard enough just to remember to take it at all,” she said, going to her purse. She pulled out her packet and slipped a pill in her mouth. “Do you have some water?”

“Sure,” Hunter said, standing up. He ran to the kitchen to grab a bottle of water and paused. Walking back into the bedroom, he passed her the water and opened his planner on his desk. “I’ve noticed that your breasts are just a tad bit fuller, and you’ve had the very slightest change in mood. When was the last day of your cycle?”

Stacey swallowed the pill and pulled out her cell phone to look at her calendar. “It was thirty-five days ago, but if you read my file,
and I know that you did
, you’ll see that I have irregular cycles. I’m sure it’s coming.”

Hunter bit his lip. They had not used a condom since they started their relationship. In fact, even the first time that he was with her, he had not pulled out. He knew that it was stupid then, but he still did it. It was because of his own actions that he was suddenly suspicious of her small changes. Plus, her pattern of taking her pills would only create more of a chance. He had done everything to get her pregnant whether it was consciously or subconsciously. Maybe he had now succeeded.

Walking over to her, he raised her shirt and looked at her breasts again. He wasn’t crazy; they were larger, but that was not what tipped him off. It was more of a gut feeling, an
uh oh, look what you did
feeling in himself. Sitting back down on the bed, he chuckled a little. She could kill him for what he was about to say, or she could be ecstatic. There was a fifty/fifty chance either way.

“Stacey,” he said in the sweetest voice he could muster. “Baby…”

“Yeah?” she said, taking off her shirt completely.

“Don’t freak out, but I think that we’re pregnant.”

Chapter Nine

It took him nearly half an hour to get back from the pharmacy in the rain. Soaked, he came running in the condo with a small plastic bag clutched in his hand and a wide grin. The look on his face was sheer excitement. Going into the bathroom with her, he unsheathed the box from its plastic wrapping and perched up on the countertop beside her.

Stacey, who had not said one word since he had broken the news to her, quickly took it and pulled her pants down. Sitting on the toilet, she looked over at him.

“This really would be more accurate first thing in the morning,” he explained.

“I can’t wait that long, and I can’t do this with you watching,” she snapped.

Hunter gaffed. “I’m a…”

“Doctor! I know, you’ve said that like a hundred friggin times,” she said as the urine began to trickle down. She stuck the stick in the urine stream.

Hunter stood up and walked over to her. “Don’t be scared.”

“
Don’t be scared
?” she asked mortified. “I could be
ppppregnant
.” The words seemed too surreal for her to digest. “Just this afternoon, I found out that we were living together, and tonight, I find out that I could possibly be pregnant, and you tell me not to be scared?”

Hunter took the white stick from her and slipped the cover over it. Sitting it on the sink, he pulled his pants up, crouched down and watched it. It only took seconds to confirm his suspicions.

Pregnant. His green eyes lit up as he looked over at her.

Stacey leaned over and looked at the test. Her eyes bucked and her pouty mouth flew open. “Oh my God!” she said, jumping up off the toilet. Urine splashed against the toilet seat. Turning with her butt exposed, she waded toilet paper in her hand and wiped herself and toilet off quickly then flushed.

“Baby, calm…” he grabbed her. “Calm down.”

Stacey couldn’t decide if she wanted to cry or laugh. Completely confused, she cried with a smile on her face. Hunter hugged her tight and soothed her. “There, there,” he said, kissing her forehead. “It’s okay.”

“We’re pregnant,” she said, shaking her head. “What does that mean?” Her pants had fallen back down to her ankles.

“It means that we’re going to have a baby,” he said, pulling her face up from his chest. Kissing her again, he nuzzled his nose in her hair.

Stacey reached for the counter but felt herself nearly tip over. Holding her up, Hunter pulled her pants up and snapped them close. Walking her out to the bedroom, he sat her down on the bed and stood in between her legs. His eyes were beaming with pride, but she looked completely taken aback.

“What have we done?” she asked, trying to keep from hyperventilating.

“It looks like we just stop moving
slowish
,” he said, lying beside her on the bed. Putting his head back on the pillow, he looked up at the ceiling fan and took a deep breath. “Wow.”

“You can say that again,” Stacey said, putting her hands over her face.

“I hope that it’s a boy,” Hunter said absently. “But I’ll take a girl.”

Stacey looked over at him and laughed. He laughed too. This was incredible. A wave of emotion swept through both of them.

“You realize that we have a lot to talk about, right,” she said, moving past her initial response. Touching her stomach, she looked down in amazement.
There was a real baby inside of her.

“Can we talk after we finish what we started?” he asked, running his hand over her jeans.

“And you still want to have sex?” she asked, frowning at him.

“Why wouldn’t I? It’s safer than it’s ever been now.”