Happily Ever All-Star: A Secret Baby Romance (99 page)

F
or the first time
,
I
wasn’t the one who had forgotten a meeting.

Rory was supposed to meet me for lunch at the hospital.

Busted
.

I checked my phone and carried Dawn to the outdoor picnic table in the hospital’s parkette. It’d been a nice place to join Rory for lunches since she started her new job, but I had a better plan for today.

I tickled Dawn’s bare foot. How the hell a six-month-old lost more socks than I did was a goddamned mystery.

“Let’s text Mommy.” I grinned at her. She coo’ed, kicked, and spit a healthy dose of excitement onto her chin. “She’s going to
love
that I remembered to meet her, and she was the one that forgot—”

“Oh, I see how it is.” Rory huffed from behind me.

“Whoops,” I whispered to the baby. I turned and pointed at the kid. “Dawn was egging me on.”

“Was she now?”

“She’s trouble.”

“Not as much trouble as you’re gonna be in.” She poked my chest. “I’m
five
minutes late, and you get all self-righteous.”

“I’m not a patient man.”

“You’re lucky I’m a forgiving woman. You can give me all the hell you want for me being a late, but I’m still mad about the pizza
you
burned in the oven yesterday.”

“You said you liked it crispy.”

“I
do
like crispy.” She kissed me. “But we ate
cinders
.”

“Good thing I’m making it up to you today. What do you say we get out of here for lunch?”

Rory twisted her fingers in her lab coat. “Oh, Jude, I’d love to, but—”

“I have my six-month follow-up appointment and physical therapy at two o’clock. I figure you, me, and the baby could go for a long lunch. We’ll come back so I can do my appointment…and then I’ll whisk you two away for the weekend.”

“Really?”

“Know what today is?” I brushed her cheek. “It’s been one year since you moved in with me.”

“You do remember the good stuff.”

“I want to show you how grateful I am for you coming into my life…”

I leaned down for a soft kiss. Rory’s lips parted.

I loved causing that sweet sigh. Too bad it turned into a groan.

“I really,
really
like that idea,” she said.

“But?”

“But there’s this
amazing
case that just came in. I’m swamped. I can’t leave.”

I loved Rory, and she loved her job, but every day there was a new
amazing
case. Some concussions, a few nerve damages, sleep disorders, one Parkinson’s study. For as great as she had been at the fellowship, Rory finally found her true passion.

I couldn’t have been more proud of her.

Though I
did
want to drag her away for lunch.

“Training camp starts next week,” I said. “I’m going to be busy with the coaching staff and the players.”

Rory pointed at me. “
Promise me
you aren’t running the routes. You
instruct,
you don’t play.”

“I promise.” I crossed my heart—and then I crossed Dawn’s, just to prove it. “Can’t guarantee I won’t show the rookies up in the weight room though.”

Rory teased me with a squeeze of my biceps. “I don’t mind that as much.”

“I can show you something else hard.”

She smacked me. “Jude Owens, you’re
so
bad.”

“Blame the concussion. I just lose all control around you now.”

Rory kissed me, but she pulled away with a pout. “Lose control tonight. I just can’t get away this afternoon.”

“Tell me what’s so interesting about this patient, and maybe I’ll let you slide.”

Her eyes widened. Her voice hushed, like she was whispering some great secret.

“
Amnesia
.”

“So?” I laughed. “I get that walking from the living room to the kitchen.”

“No, Jude.
Total
amnesia. She came in with a head injury, and she can’t remember a single thing. Not who she is, where she’s come from.
Nothing
. And the craziest part…we can’t find anyone she belongs to. No family has called. There’s no police reports for a missing woman. She’s just like…” Rory wiggled her fingers. “A
ghost
. We’re hoping her memory returns once she’s been treated and rested for a while, but…it’s amazing. I’ve never had a case like this.”

“Amnesia, huh?” I tried
one
last time. “Then she won’t remember if you slipped out for lunch.”

Rory arched an eyebrow. “
Jude
.”

“I know, I know.”

“She’s pregnant.”

Damn. “
Pregnant
?”

“
Nine
.
Months
.
Pregnant
.” Rory took my hand. “I love you, and nothing sounds better than a picnic and fun-filled weekend, but this Jane Doe…she needs me. She’s scared and alone. And…” She squeezed. “I know how scary things can be when you’re that far pregnant alone.”

I wasn’t a monster, and Rory was too gifted a doctor to steal away from a girl who must have needed her.

“Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll hang around until my appointment. Dawn can entertain me. If you get done early, come find me.”

“Thank you for understanding.” Rory hummed as her pager went off. “That’s her. I gotta go. Love you.”

She paused only to lay two kisses on the baby, turned, ran halfway to the building, and then came back for a third kiss to Dawn’s pudgy cheeks. She waved goodbye.

I gave the kid a kiss too and grabbed her carrier. So much for the picnic, but the hospital had a decent cafeteria. I hauled her through the front doors, but we weren’t alone.

“
All-Star
!” Jack held the door open for Leah, but he raced over to shake my hand. “How’ve ya been,
Coach
?”

“Still feels weird to hear that,” I said.

“Stranger than
Daddy
?”

“It’s weirder when you say it.”

Leah bent to see the baby. Her smile grew, and she spoke in pure gibberish as she held Sammy by the hand. “Well, wellow wittle witty waby.”

Her expression changed. She held her stomach and handed Sammy off to Jack.

“Shouldn’t have bent over...”

She rushed from us without another word.

Sammy waved, shouting over the lobby. “
Bye, Mama!”

Jack shrugged. “Morning sickness. We’re here for her sonogram. Finally got one to stick. Sammy, tell Jude what you want. Brother or sister?”

Sammy laughed as Jack hauled him up by his pants and carried him like a football. “Want a puppy!”

Jack nodded. “He’s very excited.”

“I can tell.”

Leah shakily appeared from the bathrooms and gestured Jack towards the elevators. He clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“See you soon, All-Star.”

“Good luck.”

“I don’t need luck.” He grinned that cocky smile. “I’m Jack Carson. Throwing touchdowns and making babies is what I do.”

“
I
can’t take
you anywhere,” Leah said as the elevator closed.

“Come on, Kiss.” I held my hands over Sammy’s ears. “You haven’t been complaining about all the…stork visits that brought us here.”

She wagged a finger at me. “You’ve been insufferable ever since the championship game.”

“I take offense to that.”

“The media events. The fundraisers. Announcing to the entire hospital that you’ve impregnated me.” Leah tried to hide her smile. “You better shape up, Play-Maker.”

“
Shape up
?” The elevator opened. I nabbed Sammy before he took off running. He had a bit of wide-receiver in him I’d have to break. I was leaving a
quarterback
as my legacy. “Kiss, I think you have me confused for some other desperately handsome, ridiculously talented, love of your life. I’m a model citizen now.”

Her eyebrow rose—that pop of an attitude I loved to challenge. “You
might
have learned to behave. You
might
have learned to keep your mouth shut. You
might
have even learned to be a little selfless.”

“I was a lot selfless to you last night.”

“But you have yet to learn how to be
humble
, Mr. Carson.”

“Last I checked, you didn’t like humble.” I tugged her close. “In fact, you thought I was pretty cute.”

“Cute and infuriating. You’re more difficult than Sammy.”

“Just gotta find another way to entertain me.”

“I’m having your baby. Isn’t that entertaining?”

I gave her a devilish smirk. She didn’t know how fucking entertaining it was. Her eyes darted down, and she smacked me.

“Jack Carson, you’re gonna get us arrested.” She huffed. “I’m sweating. I’m throwing up. I’m a mess. And you’re—”

“Loving every minute of it. Why won’t you let me admire my work?”

“You’re gonna get my foot up your…” She glanced at Sammy. “Behind.”

“You sure I won’t like that?”

“Deviant.”

“Not anymore. Thanks to you, the world thinks I’m suave, sophisticated, a true
gentleman
.”

Leah rolled her eyes. “A
gentleman
wouldn’t have his hand on my butt as he escorts me into the doctor’s office.”

“I said that’s what the world
thinks
I am. You know the truth.”

“That you’re a trouble-maker?”

“The best kind.”

Leah squeezed my hand. I wished it was something else.

She entertained Sammy in the waiting room, but the OBGYN was a prison were fun went to rot. Spending all my time indoors slowly drove me insane. Only one week until training camp. And least the appointment gave me something else to do besides work-out.

After all, if Leah was going to get her sonogram, the least I could do was autograph the printout.

Especially since it took so goddamned long to make our second baby.

Doctor Fawna called us to the examination room, but Sammy wasn’t as hyped for the sonogram as we were. I knelt on the floor and pulled the Nerf football from my pocket.

“Keep your eye on the ball, Sammy,” I said. “Ready? One. Two…”

The pass was good. The kid’s hand-eye coordination…not so much. I pelted him in the face.

Good thing he had a sense of humor. Sammy laughed, clapped, and kicked the ball across the room.

“Bad boy, Daddy!”

Leah grinned. “That’s right.
Bad Boy Daddy
.”

“You love it,” I said.

“I think you do too.”

She giggled. Even my straight-laced Kiss liked the attention.

Besides, who needed to be humble when I looked this good, kissed that well, and fucked a baby into her? I gave my family the happily-ever-after they deserved. That was a job well done in my book, complete with a second championship and all the glory that came with it.

Nothing was gonna bring us down.

Doctor Fawna clapped her hands. “Okay, love-birds. Let’s get a look at that baby.”

Leah sucked in a breath as the cold gel spurted on her belly. “We’ve been trying for so long. Over a year. Nothing took. But now…” She puffed her hair from her eyes. “This pregnancy is kicking my butt. I don’t remember being this sick with Sammy.”

I pulled him into my lap and ruffled his hair. “Hear that, Sam? You’re gonna be Mom’s favorite.”

Leah groaned. “Don’t make me put you in time-out, Jack.”

“
Uh-oh
.” Sammy pointed at me with a scowl. “Don’t make Momma mad!”

“Yeah, Jack. Don’t make momma…”

Doctor Fawna hummed an odd sound. Leah quieted. I froze. My heart dropped and my balls recoiled.

Sammy babbled, but I stared only at the doctor.

“
What
?” Leah twisted her fingers in the gown. “Is everything…”

Doctor Fawna cleared her throat. “I…would like to bring a consult in.”

Leah’s hand darted out. “Jack.”

I moved quicker to her side than I had scrambled during the championship game. I took her hand and squeezed.

“What’s happening?” I couldn’t see much on the scan, but hell. It wasn’t like I understood anything that happened in Leah’s uterus. I left that business to her and worshiped her for it. “Is something wrong?”

“Don’t worry.” Doctor Fawna said. My cue to panic. “I’ll be right back.”

The door closed behind her. I held Leah down before she leapt off the table.

“Oh, no, no, no.” She cleared her trembling with a solid breath. “Okay. We need to make a plan. If something’s wrong, we need options. Things we can do.”

“
Whoa
.” I pulled the phone from her hands before she made any lists. “We’ve got enough plans, Kiss. Schedules on the fridge, life-goals mapped out through 2050. We don’t need to worry. She’s only bringing in another doctor. It’s probably nothing.”

Sammy climbed the chair beside her. He reached for his momma with a big grin and offered her the toy truck he’d snuck out of the house.

“Here,” Sammy said. “Be good.”

“Thank you, baby.” Leah kept her voice light. “But why don’t you play with it?”

“Wanna play ball.”

Me too.

Football was simpler than this.

I’d have taken an entire charging defensive line over the agonizing minutes passing in the quiet of the doctor’s office.

He threw the nerf football. I grabbed it before it smacked into the sonogram equipment.

“Okay, Sammy,” I said. “Go long.”

He tripped over his feet and fell face-first into a plant. Fingers crossed he’d figure out which foot to put ahead of the other before pee-wee tryouts in a couple years.

Doctor Fawna returned. She introduced a smiling, sprite of a woman, flittering over the electronics.

“I’m Doctor Flora,” she said. “I’ve got a good gift for getting these pesky computers to show us what we want. Why don’t you scoot your butt down here, and we’ll do the transvaginal scan to see what’s cooking?”

I held Leah’s hand as the sonogram screen popped up, offering a clearer view of the fuzzies and blobs that made up the woman I loved.

Doctor Flora laughed. “Oh, you were
right
.”

Doctor Fawna sighed. “I didn’t want to scare the poor darlings.”

“
What
?” I stared at the image. Unless the damn sonogram spelled out the results in a bottom-of-the-screen crawler that included last night’s baseball scores, I couldn’t read a damn thing.

But Leah could.

And her vice grip on my hand nearly dropped to my knees. She squeezed, too tight, and I counted the millions of dollars each finger was worth as she ground my bones into dust.

“You’re not serious,” Leah whispered. “That’s…that’s gotta be
wrong
.”

“What?” I asked. “What’s wrong?”

Doctor Fawna pointed to the screen. “One. Two. Three!”

Hike
? What the hell did she want from me?

Leah’s voice hollowed. “Jack…Oh dear God, what did you do to me?”

“I have no idea! You’re hurting me, Kiss!”

Doctor Fawna took pity on me. “Congratulations, Daddy. You are a modern day marvel.”

“I don’t need a sonogram to tell me that.”

“What are the chances of this?” Leah asked.

“About one in eight thousand. Higher if they are identical.”

My blood shredded my veins. I backed away from the machine. “What.
They?
”

“Yes,” Doctor Fawna said. “You’re having triplets.”

Oh…
fuck
.

“Uh…”

Leah waved to me. “Jack, sit down before you pass out.”

“Not…passing out.” My throat was just tightening and the room wobbling. “Me? Hell no. I’m…fine. I’m just…gonna be fine.
Triplets
. That’s…” The panic was lost in favor of a wink and nod. “Damn right,
triplets
. I said I was gonna do you right, Kiss.”

She shook her head. “I asked for one baby.
One
.”

“I’ve always been an overachiever.”

Doctor Fawna gave us a smile. “Okay. Since this is so rare, and you’re already ten weeks into this pregnancy, we need a serious talk. Triplets will be difficult. This is a high-risk pregnancy, and we have to go over a few things. Do you have time to talk now?”

Leah nodded and looked to me. “I’ll call Piper. She can watch Sammy for the afternoon.”

“Good,” the doctor said. “We’ll need to discuss some appointments and expectations. Take your time. I’ll meet you in my office. Congratulations again!”

Congratulations
?

Right.

The doctors left us and allowed Leah to dress once more. She stared at me, eyes-wide, her beautiful mocha complexion a radiant shimmer even through her stress.

“Jack…” She swallowed, hard. “What do we…how are we…”

No way was this beautiful woman panicking. Not while she was carrying my baby.

Babies
.

The lightheadedness walloped me, but I’d freak the fuck out later. She needed me to be strong.

And I had to make sure her uterus-turned-mini-van stayed nice and relaxed.

“Don’t worry. We can handle this.”

“Three. Babies.” She pointed to her chest. “I only have two breasts!”

“And they’re great. Trust me.”

“This is insane. I can’t believe…”

I kissed her, brushing my fingers through her hair. “Everything is going to be okay. You wanted a big family. Now we got it.”

“We can’t…”

“I’ll get you whatever help you need. A nanny. A larger car. If they put you on bedrest, I’ll set you up in the bedroom with a big TV and your own bell on the nightstand you can ring when you want food. Or to be pleasured. Or anything. Mostly pleasured.”

“Jack.”

“I don’t want you worrying about
anything
except bringing those babies into the world.”

“But what happens now?”

“What else?” I kissed her. “We live out this fairy tale. You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me. You’ve made me a better man. A very
fertile
man. I’m gonna show you how grateful I am that you came into my life. And if I get to do that by breeding our own pee-wee team…all the better.”

Leah kissed me, holding my face in her hands. “I don’t care what they say, Play-Maker. You’re a good man.”

“Only because you made me that way.”

I led her and Sammy from the examination room. She called Piper, and, once the screaming excitement died down, we waited at the hospital entrance for Piper and Cole.

They arrived after only fifteen minutes. Cole offered me a handshake, and, when the women weren’t looking, a flask from his back pocket.

“Whiskey,” he said. “Thought you could use it.”

I took it, eagerly. “Never let it be said you aren’t a conscientious man.”

Piper touched Leah’s belly, giggling in excitement. “I can’t believe this.
Triplets
!”

Sammy and Rose started a game of tag under our feet, and Ethan babbled on Cole’s shoulder.

Three kids.

With three more on the way.

Holy shit. I nearly went down in the lobby.

But the doors crashed open.

Cole grabbed Sammy and Rose and rolled them out of the way. A blitz of panic and strength bowled through the doors, hopped the chairs in the waiting room, and blasted up the hallway. The shouts of the nurses echoed after the sprinting disaster.

“Was that…” Piper stared after the mayhem. “…
Lachlan
?”

The doors opened again. Elle appeared, baby in her arms, phone on her ear.

“We’re here now.” She spoke quickly into the phone. Her eyes lit up when she saw us. “Oh, excellent, I found babysitters!”

“What’s happening now?” Piper panicked as little baby Nick was passed into her arms. “Elle, is Lachlan okay?”

Elle cradled the phone to her ear and handed the diaper bag to Cole. “Fiona, hold on, we’re in the lobby.” She looked to us, frazzled and exhausted. “Sebastian was just admitted with appendicitis. He’s okay now, but they’re taking him in for emergency surgery.
Lachlan
…” She pointed up the hall, to the disaster and his wake. “Wanted to get up there. Could someone please keep an eye on Nicky?”

“Of course,” Piper said. “Go ahead up to him. We’ll watch the babies.”

“Babies?” Elle asked.

Leah shrugged. “She’s watching Sammy while we go talk to the OGBYN.” She pointed to her belly. “Triplets.”

“
Shut. Up
.”

“It’s true.”

Elle smacked my arm as she raced to the elevator. “Way to be, stud!”

I shrugged. “I do my best.”

“Piper, I’ll call you in like, twenty minutes, once we figure out what’s happening. Will you be okay?”

Cole hadn’t spoken, but Piper smiled. “Of course. No problem. Go help Lachlan…or sedate him.”

“That’s probably the only thing I can do.” Elle twisted the ends of her hair, streaked with vibrant reds and blues. “God only knows the chaos he’s causing.”

I glanced at Cole. He gave a chuckle.

I pitied the poor doctor assigned to slice open Charming’s little brother. Lachlan was a fun guy, but even I knew not to mess with his family.

Whoever held that scalpel was
fucked.