Las Vegas Sidewinders: Drake (Book 2) (27 page)

He frowned slightly,
wondering if she’d realized they hadn’t used protection. “I think that ship
sailed, babe.”

She shook her head. “I
need you to go buy us a few pregnancy tests.”

“Isn’t it kind of
soon?” He looked at her in confusion.

She smiled softly, her
eyes blazing deep sapphire. “I’m thinking there had to be at least one other
time that we got excited and forgot about protection.”

“What?” he asked, a
strange feeling coming over him.

“That’s why you need to
go buy us some tests. We need to find out.”

“Wait.” Realization
dawned. “You thought you were pregnant before today?”

She nodded slowly. “I
realized I haven’t had a period in over a month, I threw up twice the week I
went to Afghanistan, and three times while I was there. I
never
throw
up.”

“Really?” He stared
down at her with such tenderness she almost fell in love with him all over
again.

“
Is
there a drug
store nearby?”

“Yeah.” He moved away
from her reluctantly.

“I want us to find out
together and I can’t wait until after the game.” Her eyes were shining with
excitement and he sat up.

“Okay.” He found a pair
of jeans on the floor and pulled them on. “There’s a place just down the
street. I’ll be right back.”

Erin lay back and bit
her lip excitedly. Either way, she would be happy, but she wanted his baby.
She’d never really given serious thought to being pregnant before, despite
always knowing she wanted kids, and now she couldn’t wait to find out. She knew
she’d sprung it on him, but she had no doubt that he would want a baby too.

He was back 15 minutes
later, and she was still on the bed, wrapped in the towel. He came and sat next
to her. He handed her the bag and she dug out the contents. They read the
instructions together and just looked at each other.

“I’m thinking I have to
go pee,” she said, her eyes twinkling.

“Yup.” He looked a
little shell-shocked and she reached over to touch his face.

“Are you okay with
this?” she asked softly, searching his face.

“What? Yeah. Hell,
yeah!” He leaned over and kissed her. “I’m just a little overwhelmed. An hour
ago I didn’t know when I was going to see you next, and now you’re here and
we’re doing a pregnancy test!”

She nodded. “Okay, I’m
going to go do it.” She hurried into the bathroom. She came out a minute later
and he met her eyes. “It says we have to wait three minutes,” she said.

He glanced at the
clock. “So…” He pulled her onto his lap. “How long have you suspected?”

“About five days,” she
said. “I really didn’t even consider it, but after the second time Liv saw me
throw up she brought it up.” Her voice faded slightly as she realized she’d
lost one of her best friends.

“So Liv knew you might
be pregnant while she was trying to kill you?” He looked annoyed and Erin
nodded slowly.

“I guess so. I never
really got a chance to ask her anything—the Colonel had her locked up right
away.”

“She didn’t say why she
did this?” He seemed genuinely perplexed. He couldn’t imagine anything that
would make Karl betray him like this.

“Money,” Erin pursed
her lips. “She had gambling debts. God, I can’t imagine any amount of money
that would make me want to kill someone or betray my country.”

He hugged her tightly.
“Me either.” They sat that way for a while, luxuriating in being together.

“Has it been three
minutes?” she asked quietly.

He looked at the clock.
“Two.”

“Maybe it’s already
done?”

“Maybe.” Slowly, he got
up and held out his hands to her. She reached for them and he pulled her up.
They walked into the bathroom and looked over at the two tests sitting on the
sink.

“You ready?” he asked.

She nodded. They moved
closer and Erin picked up the first test. Two very distinct lines ran across
the display window.

“Two means pregnant,
right?” he asked quietly.

She nodded again. She
reached for the second test. Sure enough, a big plus sign flashed in front of
them.

“Holy shit,” he
whispered, looking at her. “We’re going to have a baby?”

She could only nod
again, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Please tell me you’re
happy,” he said softly.

“I’m so happy I can’t
stand it!” She threw her arms around him and he lifted her into the air.

“This is the best thing
ever,” he said. “But we should probably keep this to ourselves until you see a
doctor and everything.”

“Yeah.”

“There’s so much I have
to tell you,” he sighed.

“Tomorrow,” she said
softly. “Tonight I want to just be happy about being home and seeing you and
having a baby and everything!”

He put one of his large
hands on the flat of her stomach. “I can’t believe it,” he said quietly. “Mack
is going to lose her mind, never mind my mother!”

“I haven’t even met
your parents,” she lamented. “There’s
so
much we have to do!”

He looked at the clock.
“Yeah, but I have to be back at the arena in 15 minutes or Coach can fine me.”

“Crap.” She looked in
the mirror and gaped. “Look at my hair! Okay, three minutes and I’ll be ready
to go! Can you bring my bag in here?”

“On it.” He started
moving right away.

They got back to the
arena in record time and Erin found herself coming down off the high of great
sex and their happy news. She really should have taken a nap, but sex with
Drake was too good to resist, and she had to go back to Virginia in a couple of
days. Even though she knew her pregnancy would change all of her plans, she’d
finally made a decision about the future and though leaving the Marines would
be one of the hardest things she’d ever done, she knew now that Drake was more
important. By joining the Marine Corps Reserves, she could have the best of
both worlds.

Unfortunately, for the
immediate future, she would be on the East Coast and he would be based in Las
Vegas and traveling. There was still more than a month left of hockey season,
and right now they were in second place in their division, which meant that
they had a shot at the playoffs. That would take the season into the end of
April if they didn’t advance beyond the first round, and she couldn’t leave the
Marines until June.

It would be okay,
though. She would put her townhouse up for sale and sell off most of her
things. Since she and Drake would be traveling back and forth depending on
their schedules, she could slowly get many of her things to Las Vegas.
Hopefully, over the summer, they would start looking for a place of their own.
They hadn’t had a chance to talk about any of this stuff, but she knew Drake
wanted her with him and that’s what she wanted too.

“There you are!” Kate
grabbed her arm and hugged her. “I was wondering when you guys were getting
back.”

“Drake said you should
catch me up on everything that’s happened since we have a while until the game
starts,” Erin said, linking her arm through Kate’s as they walked.

“Unless you want to
tell me about the hot sex you obviously just had,” Kate teased.

“We could talk about
that,” Erin laughed. “Or you could tell me all about Karl since I really
haven’t heard anything since you started sleeping with him.”

“He’s…” Kate’s eyes
shone. “Amazing?”

“In bed or all around?”

“All around. God, he’s
beautiful and funny and smart… I keep pinching myself to make sure this is real.”

“Told you someone
wonderful was out there for you!” Erin nudged her friend.

“Well, thanks to you
and all your crazy drama, I’ve been with him day and night.”

“Now that Liv is in
jail, I think it’s safe to assume that things will settle down. Although the
military is going to launch an investigation, without more physical evidence
there’s very little chance they’re going to be able to charge Jan with
anything.”

Kate frowned slightly.
“You and Drake didn’t actually
talk
at all, did you?”

“Not about any of
that
.”
Erin stopped and held Kate’s hands in hers. “I have to tell you something, but
you can’t tell anyone—not even Karl.”

Kate’s eyes widened.
“Of course not—what is it?”

“We’re pregnant.”

Kate’s mouth fell open
and she couldn’t stop the squeal of delight that escaped her. “Oh my God, oh my
God, oh my God! That’s so awesome!” She hugged her tightly and they both
giggled. “How far along? What did he say? Are you excited?!”

Erin laughed. “I have
no idea… maybe five or six weeks? He was shocked, but happy too. And yes, I’m
really excited. I haven’t told Drake yet, but I’m going to join the Reserves in
June and move here to Vegas.”

“Wow.” Kate suddenly
swallowed the lump in her throat. “So many changes—and so far away from me.”

“I know.” Erin sighed.
“But won’t you be spending time with Karl?”

“Karl is actually going
to be coming to New York to be with me once the season is over.” Kate smiled
then. “After how I handled everything for Dom last fall, I’ve gotten a ton of
athletes clamoring for my services. One of the Phillies wants to set up a
meeting before baseball season starts. He’s had some trouble with an arrest and
some other crap, so this could be huge for me. He would be my biggest client
ever.”

“Which one?” Erin
asked.

“Dante Lamonte.”

Erin gaped at her. Even
she had heard of the playboy baseball player who was in the news just as much
for his personal life as he was for the number of home runs he hit. “Kate,
that’s huge! Holy shit, you’ve hit the big time!”

“I have to land the
contract first, but yeah—if that happens, my business is going to go nuts. I
may have to rent an actual office!”

“So many changes, so
much going on…” Erin looked at her best friend sadly. “Our lives are going to
be so different after spending the last two years together.”

“But it’ll be good,
right?” Kate felt the same melancholy. “I mean, I’ll be spending as much time
in Vegas as I possibly can, and once you have the baby you’ll be able to come
visit me!”

“Erin! Kate!” Molly and
Suze were calling out to them as they made their way into their section.
Personal conversation was put on hold as they joined the other wives and
girlfriends, already feeling like they were part of them. This was such a great
group of women, Erin was excited to be a part of it, and looked forward to
being able to be here full time. Somehow, Drake and his friends made leaving
the Marines that much easier.

Sitting in the
examination room at the doctor’s office the next afternoon, Erin felt slightly
uncomfortable on the table, her bottom half covered only by a thin paper
blanket. The doctor was going to do an internal ultrasound, and though she knew
it wouldn’t hurt, it still made her feel a little weird. Drake sat beside her,
his hand wrapped around hers. He could see her crossing her legs and he leaned
over to still her nervous feet.

“Relax,” he said with
his quiet, easygoing voice. “We’re going to see our baby. Don’t be nervous.”

“You sit up here
half-naked,” she murmured with a chuckle.

“I know, the whole
pregnancy thing is kind of weird, but we’re in this together.”

“I’ll remind you of
that when I’m screaming like a banshee trying to pop this thing out!” She was
laughing, despite her words, and he brushed his lips across hers as the doctor
came in.

She was middle-aged
with salt-and-pepper hair and bright brown eyes. “Good afternoon!” she said
pleasantly. “I’m Dr. Diaz.”

“Drake Riser,” Drake
stood to shake the woman’s hand. “And my wife, Erin.”

“Nice to meet you.” She
was looking down at the file in her hands. “It says here that you aren’t sure
when you had your last period?”

“No.” Erin shook her
head. “I’m a Marine and I was on a mission—18-hour days for several weeks and
then I was in Afghanistan for almost two weeks. The last time I actually
remember having my period was probably December.”

The doctor looked at
her. “Well, considering your height and weight, and how slim you are, I’m
thinking this is fairly recent. When we get a look, I should be able to narrow
it down for you.”

“Will this hurt her?”
Drake asked quietly.

The doctor smiled at
his concern. “Not at all.” She put on gloves and slowly inserted the slim wand.
Erin winced, though it truly wasn’t painful, and she blinked at the screen,
trying to figure out what she was supposed to see. Dr. Diaz explained
everything, pointing to the screen where a small bean-shaped object appeared.

“The good news is that
you seem to be about 8 weeks pregnant and we’re going to be able to hear the
heartbeat.” She glanced up. “The bad news is, this means your due date is
around October 13
^th
, right at the start of hockey season!” Dr. Diaz
was also Molly and Suze’s doctor, which was how Erin had gotten an appointment
so quickly.