0-69 in 5 Minutes (21 page)

“
Well, what about the
test?”

“
It’s wrong.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
I’ve never had any
illness or injury that could cause sterilization. I’ve never taken
any drugs to cause it either.”

“
So…you’re saying…you
can…” She paled.

“
Val, what’s
wrong?”

“
I’m late.”

The words sank in as a taxi pulled in the
drive. Sadie and Bree escorted Bambi to the cab. They tossed her
boxes in the trunk while Bambi cussed and kicked at Sadie. Good
God! What had he ever been thinking?

He looked down at Val and pulled her into
his arms. “Have you taken a test yet?”

“
No. I’ve been scared
to.”

“
I still have a few
upstairs. If you want, you can take one and I’ll be here with you.
Or not. The choice is yours.” His stomach knotted. One baby had
been ripped from him today. But a baby with Val…He couldn’t hope.
The pain would be too much if she wasn’t.

She bit her bottom lip. “Okay. We’ll find
out together.”

“
Together.”

Chapter 17

Val opened the upstairs bathroom door. Noah
stood on the other side, biting a fingernail. He looked nervous;
his eyes wide and his hair disheveled. Her heart stopped. Three
weeks ago he’d beamed with pride at the news of Bambi’s baby. Today
he looked worried.

“
Well?” He pushed his way
into the bathroom.

Not that she could stop him, after all, it
was his house.

“
We need to wait a few
minutes.”

He stalked over to the plastic strip on the
bathroom counter. “God, I hate this test. It takes too long.
Couldn’t you have used a different one?”

“
Forgive me, your
highness; I forgot which one you preferred from the last time I
balanced over a toilet and pissed on a stick with you stalking
outside the door.” Lord, had he been this bad with the other
pregnancies? Was he just nervous or did he detest the thought of
them having a baby together? Pressure squeezed around her
chest.

“
I’m sorry.” He massaged
his eyes with one hand. “Today’s been like a rollercoaster
ride.”

She sat down on the edge of the tub. “It
hasn’t been easy for me either.”

“
No, I guess not.” He
lowered himself down beside her. “Are you okay?” He placed his hand
on her knee.

Fire lapped up her thigh
and settled between her legs as if a lit match had been set on a
string soaked in acetone.
Traitorous
hormones!
They’d gotten her in this mess
to start with. If she knew Noah wanted a positive result, she could
allow herself to be happy. As it was, her nerves wouldn’t
calm.

“
I’m holding up okay. I
mean, I woke up this morning thinking there was a possibility I’m
pregnant. Then I found out there’s no way I could be. And now I’m
back to theory one.”

“
I’m sorry.”

“
You keep saying
that.”
But what are you sorry for? That I
might be pregnant or that Bambi’s child isn’t yours?
She had to stop thinking these thoughts. Not
thirty minutes ago, he’d thrown out that lying tramp and he was
here with her.
Yeah, but he also held
Bambi’s hand while she took the same tests, in this same
room.

“
There’s been plenty of
time. We’d better look before it disappears.” He squeezed her knee.
“Do you want me to look?”

“
No. I’ll do
it.”

Taking a breath to calm down, she stood and
replayed the instructions in her head. One line, not pregnant. Two
lines, pregnant. She gazed at the stick.

Two lines.

Pregnant!

Nestled deep inside her grew the child of
the man she loved. She utterly and completely loved him with her
whole heart. The same man sat waiting for an answer. And the tone
of her first pregnancy depended on his reaction. She bit her
lip.

“
Val? Which is
it?”

She had to tell him, but the words lodged in
her throat. Gathering all her strength, she nodded once.

Spinning her around, Noah pulled her into
his embrace and rubbed her back. “I’ll be here for you in any way
you need or want, whatever you decide to do.”

She slapped him away. “What the hell?” Not
one sign of emotion. No anger. No excitement. Flat and detached. He
couldn’t have broken her heart anymore than if he’d reached into
her chest and snapped it in two. She edged away until her back
smacked against the wall.

“
Women.” He shook his
head. “I don’t understand. I’m trying to support you. At least let
me do that much. It’s a major life altering decision…Maybe you need
more time to think about it, but I guess…I thought since you
suspected, that you had an idea…”

“
What are you babbling
about?”

He sat back down on the edge of the tub. “I
don’t know. When you figure out what you want, let me know.”

“
Damn it, Noah! I want to
know how you feel. At least get angry or something. Three weeks ago
you were over the moon at the thought of Bambi having your baby. I
get that I took that away from you today. If you don’t want
this
baby, then just
tell me.”

He looked up at her with a blank expression.
“This is different.”

“
How?”

“
How!
You and Bambi are as different as night and day. She’s
immature and bratty. I can’t trust her to do the right things.
You,” he pointed to her, “are intelligent and level-headed. I don’t
have to monitor you twenty-four seven and worry about having
Sudafed in the house. The ball is in your court.”

“
But, I
thought—”

“
I forced Bambi to move in
with me because I needed to protect that child. And I’m still going
to when I turn her in for drugs. You, on the other hand, cannot be
ordered around like a two-year-old.”

He still hadn’t answered her and she had to
know. “Noah, what do you want?”

Before she could say anything else, his
mouth covered hers, causing her head to spin. God, she wanted this.
How she’d missed his soft but strong tongue caressing hers. His
hands on her body.

“
What do I want?” He
murmured between kisses. “I want us.” Warm fingers stroked her
stomach. “I want
our
baby. If you’d let me, I’d pack your stuff and move you in
tomorrow.”

He worked his way down her neck, kissing a
line to her collarbone. A moan escaped her throat. They needed to
talk, but her mind clouded over with desire. She pulled him close,
ran her fingers through his hair.

“
Oh, God yes.” His last
words registered. Had he just asked her to move in with him? “I
mean…”

His hand slid up her skirt. He wasted no
time in pulling her thong to the side and rubbing her clit.

“
I know what you mean.
It’s hard for me to think straight too with your pussy so wet.” He
kissed her lips again; hungry and rough. “We can talk
later.”

Her nipples puckered and pressed against his
chest. The echo of his zipper filled her ears. Within seconds his
hard cock pressed against her opening. Everything inside her wanted
to push down and feel the thickness of him. But she couldn’t. Not
yet.

“
Noah, stop.”

Breathing hard, he placed his forehead
against hers. “Val, baby, you’re killing me. I want you so bad. Let
me make love to you. I need to be inside you. Do you need to hear
me beg? I will. I’ll do anything.”

“
Did you sleep with her
while she was here?”

“
What? Hell no! All I
could think about was you. Your legs. Your ass. Your pussy.” He
pressed forward.

“
Stop!”

He didn’t move farther.

“
We can’t do this until
you’re tested for STDs. Heaven only knows where she’s been and who
with.”

“
Miles ahead of you, babe.
I’m negative. Please, can we talk later?”

She pushed down, urging him on. He filled
her like no other. Swift and firm, he took her standing up. His
massive strength held her pinned to the wall with her legs wrapped
around his waist.

Harder and faster, he thrust inside her. A
cry tore from her lips as her release ripped through her. She
convulsed around his shaft.

Deep husky moans blew across her bare neck
as his seed warmed her. She dug her nails in his back and pulled
him as close as she could. Her clit rubbed over his low belly. The
heat of his sperm deep inside sent her over the edge a second time
mere seconds after her first climax.

When the waves subsided, they relaxed
against each other.

“
I’m sorry I lost
control.” His chest heaved as he talked. “I’ll never take you like
that again.”

“
I’m not complaining,” she
whispered and kissed his neck.

He pulled out, but held her close. “God,
Val, I’ve missed you. Patience has never been my strong point. I
rush into a lot of things, but I know this is right. Even though I
tried not to do this, I’m not strong enough when it comes to you.”
He grasped her cheeks with both palms and held her eyes with his
gaze. “Move in with me. Let me be there for you every step of the
way and let me be a father to our baby. I love you.”

Tears threatened the corners of her eyes.
Missing emotions from earlier spilled from him now. Her heart
swelled at his confession. “That’s all I wanted; to hear how you
felt about this baby and me. Noah, I love you too. This baby
deserves a family and I want us to supply that for him or her.”

“
Her. I’ll love either
one, but I’ve always wanted a girl.”

“
I’ll let you fight that
out with my mother.” She giggled.

He traced her lips with his finger. “So,
will you move in?”

“
Yes.” She
smiled.

Returning her smile with his own, he kissed
her.

“
Val!” Bree’s voice rang
out from below. “Are you two done? Hurry up and get down
here.”

“
We probably should tell
them.” She straightened her wrinkled clothing, waited for him to
adjust his crotch and then opened the door.

They walked down the stairs hand in hand.
Heat burned her cheeks at the knowledge of having a quickie with
their families downstairs.

“
It’s about time. You have
got to see this.” Bree clicked play on the TIVO.

“
Nurse arrested for
stealing drag queen’s sperm. Story at 10.”

A woman in scrubs was handcuffed and being
lead out of the hospital. “Oh my, God! Mother, that’s Rita on the
news.”

“
I know, honey. I’ve been
on the phone with her husband and my team of attorneys this whole
time. Apparently, the real Sam White was in the hospital the same
night Noah was. Rita looked at the charts and took a sperm sample
from the wrong guy.”

“
Mother!”

“
Don’t worry, with Bree’s
little bun in the oven, I’ll be able to buy Rita a defense that
makes Jonny Cochran look like a law school dropout.” She slapped
her phone shut. “Oh, and it looks like Noah’s parts could still be
working just fine.”

“
They are working fine. I
just took a pregnancy test upstairs.”

The three women in the room stared at
her.

“
It was positive. We’re
having a baby.”

All the women squealed together. Sadie
rushed to congratulate Noah while her mother and sister hugged
her.

“
Two grandbabies at the
same time. What wonderful news to tell Dad. Now, I’ve got to run. I
called a cab to take me to post bail for Rita and lucky for me, I
know the judge.” After hugging both of her girls once more, Mom
raced out the door.

“
What was all of that
about?” Noah asked.

“
I’ll explain all of it
later, dear. That is if you are sure you still want me. After all,
my mother comes with the deal, whether we like it or
not.”

He bent down and placed a peck on her lips.
“What can I say? My life will never be boring, but I’ve always
loved excitement.” He smiled. “I’m positive. And now that we’re
past the meet-the-parents-stage, I see no reason not to get
married.”

“
Whoa, driver, slow the
car down. First…let’s go shopping for new bedroom furniture.
Something that neither Bambi nor Tyler has slept on.”

“
Hum? That might be hard
to find, but I love a challenge.” He kissed her nose.

“
I think we can find
something in my grandfather’s factory or we’ll order something to
be custom made.”

“
I love you, Valerie
Jordan.”

“
And I love you Noah
Precious Kittler.”

“
Lord, I hate that name.
How did you find out?”

She laughed. “Maybe I have a bit more of my
mother in me than I want to admit.”

He pinched her butt. “There’s always
something new around the curve with you.

And I can’t wait to see what’s around the
next bend.”

The End

ABOUT
JASMINE BLACK

Jasmine Black has been writing romances from
her heart since 2005. Her stories don’t follow a cookie cutter
pattern and the plots are all different as she lets her characters
tell her where the story is going. She enjoys reading, computer
games and quite time. She also has a heart for charity, and you can
find some of her stories in Coming Together anthologies-Against the
Odds and Al Fresco.