Unchained (46 page)

Tori felt better for confiding in Alex. He loved Draegyn, sometimes more than a brother, but he wasn’t immune to his faults. He wasn’t ignorant of his good traits, either. To be fair, whatever was going on wasn’t one-sided. They were both equally responsible.

Telling him about the doctor was cathartic. Until she was saying the words, she more or less forgot that he knew better than most what post-anything depression was like. Pragmatic to the end, he focused more on what she needed to heal rather than how she got there. Maybe now that Big Daddy was home, he could help her and Draegyn get back on track.

“Where is he?” she heard a mellifluous voice cry out. “Where’s my nephew?”

She gasped. A shot of happiness, like the adrenaline rush of all time, propelled her toward the voice with a high-pitched shriek of delight.

“Irish!” Tori screamed joyfully.

They met right inside her office doorway—hugging and jumping up and down, their arms around each other, just like two teenage girls. After some tears and many more hugs, Tori led Meghan toward Daniel’s play zone, shooed Zeus aside, and gave her a little push.

“Go ahead,” she encouraged with a smile. “He doesn’t bite. Not yet,” she added sardonically.

Meghan just stood there, her hands clasped in the middle of her chest, staring at Tori’s son. She had tears in her eyes when she looked over and said, “Tori, he’s so beautiful. And big!”

“I know, right?” She giggled. “What a difference a few months makes, huh?”

Daniel seemed to understand he was the center of attention and watched them while destroying a squishy rubber teething ball as drool dripped from his chin. He was a sloppy, baby mess, but that didn’t stop Meghan from leaning over the pen and lifting him into her arms.

“Blue steel, indeed.” Tori heard her friend chuckle.

Looking at Meghan, she said pithily, “So I guess by now, we assume he’s keeping the blue eyes, hmm?”

Arching a brow to mock the answer she gave, Tori drawled, “At least, there’s no question who did the deed.”

“Good grief, Victoria! I forgot about that smart mouth of yours.”

She watched as her dearest friend threw herself into a total love encounter with her more-than-happy-to-take-it son. They kissed and snoodled. Giggled and yelled with happiness. Meghan danced around singing happily, and Daniel rocked and gurgled right along with her.

It was a perfect moment inside a shitstorm.

“Now it feels like we’re home.” Alex chuckled from the doorway. He winked at Meghan and gave Tori a half eye roll when his wife kept right on dancing around the room.

“Look at that,” he mocked. Holding up his watch, he tapped it for emphasis. “Relegated to second-class status in favor of another dude and it’s only been an hour. Guess the honeymoon is officially over.”

“Somebody needs his diaper changed,” Meghan cooed with a loud raspberry blown on Daniel’s neck. Her son giggled like she’d never heard him giggle before. “Does Uncle Big Daddy want to take a crack at it?”

“No way,” Alex boomed with his hands up. “Uh-uh. I gag at cleaning up after Zeus. Have to draw the line somewhere.”

Tori scooped her son from Meghan’s arms when she came by in another dancing circuit and laughed as the newlyweds bantered playfully. She was an old pro now at diaper changing on the go. Grabbing her bag, she laid out what she needed, plunked Daniel onto his back, and listened to their snarky back and forth.

“Well, this is a fine time to announce you’re boycotting diaper duty. When were you planning to tell me that? After I was barefoot and pregnant?”

“Pardon me, my dear,” Alex replied with a puffed up and full of himself air, “but the M-A-N plants the seed.” He brushed off his hands and snickered. “Mission accomplished. The rest is chick stuff.” He shuddered dramatically. “Shit no guy in his sane mind wants to even know about.”

Meghan was in full Irish diva mode. Her arms crossed, she was really and truly tapping her foot as she stared her husband down. These two were a crap ton of fun to observe.

“Oh,” she said in a long, drawn-out taunt. “I get it now. This is why guys complain their women stop putting out once they’re married. A couple of those mission accomplished boasts, and you can serve up your hand in the shower sooner than any sane woman is willing to.”

Tori bit her tongue to keep from roaring when she ended the snarky comeback by sticking out her tongue. Irish was the perfect match for Alex.

They continued hurling hilarious comments at each other as she zipped through a diaper change and got Big D presentable again. “He needs some juice,” she announced and left them going back and forth as she made her way from the far corner of the big hacienda and into the living space.

“Shut up, Major,” Tori heard Meghan snipe when they followed her a minute later.

“Got my smacking hand out and ready.”

Irish’s flippant, “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” struck her as riotously funny.

With a dry snicker, she looked at her boss. “What’s the current tally? Should I get a donut for her to sit on?”

“Victoria St. John,” Meghan bellowed with affronted outrage, “do NOT encourage him. You have no idea what he’s capable of.”

Alex shrugged and made a face. “Whaddaya want me to say?” He playfully pounded his chest, grunted, and made like an ape.

For the first time since forever, Tori felt relief. Felt like everything was going to be okay. Watching Alex and Meghan get silly and standing there with her growing son safe in her arms, she just knew whatever challenges lay ahead, she could face them now. She was surrounded by family or at least would be once Cam came back from who-knows-where. With them by their sides, she and Draegyn had a better chance of making it through the storm.

“Y
OU’RE GONNA GET
in trouble,” Stephanie sang with cheeky glee when he stopped the SUV and threw it into park. “Remy won’t like you parking in Alex’s special spot.”

“Yeah?” Calder hissed. “Well, tough shit. I don’t see Alex’s car anywhere, and frankly, I wouldn’t care if I did. Gonna park wherever I damn well please,” he muttered under his breath. “Pregnancy trumps being a spoiled asshole every time.”

She laughed the whole time it took him to get out of the car, grab her bags, unhook her seat belt, and help her down from the big vehicle. Running her fingers down his cheek, she toyed with his chin and grinned.

“Do you think I’ll have a big baby bump? I think I’d like that. A nice round tummy to waddle around with.”

The gentle tease brought a wicked smile to her handsome lover’s face. She’d just been joking around, but Stephanie could tell by his expression that he kind of liked the idea of her sporting a big belly. Macho pride, no doubt. And she loved it!

“Can you walk?” he asked as they started down the path.

She stopped abruptly. He bumped into her and nearly pushed Stephanie off the path.

“For heaven’s sake, Calder. Of course, I can walk. If I need help, you’ll be the first to know, but until then, how about we at least try not to act like crazy people. Everyone is going to freak out as it is. Let’s not make it worse, hmm?”

“Duchess,” he told her with a delightful glint in his eyes, “I’m afraid the normal train left the station about the same time Doctor Murphy said congratulations.”

She felt like a kid again and couldn’t contain her joyful exuberance. Telling him furtively and with a giggle, she said, “I know, right? But we have to pretend or something around others, okay? Things are weird enough right now.”

Slipping her hand through his arm, he covered her fingers and smiled down at her as they started walking.

“Yeah, well, fuck everyone and their weirdness. We’re having a baby. Family first.”

Family first. Squee! She nearly swooned at the manly bark in his words.

He pushed open the heavy ornate wood door, and as she stepped inside, Stephanie was grateful for the cool interior of the old stately home. The doctor warned them about not underestimating her physical response to the scorching heat. What didn’t bother her before might very well be too much as the pregnancy progressed.

“Do you want to go lie down? Are you tired? Thirsty? What do you need?”

It wouldn’t do much good to ask him not to be so concerned. He’d ease off some once he got used to the idea and realized she wasn’t going to break. So she opted for matter-of-fact. They were in this together. He wanted to take care of her, and that was a good thing.

“I should have some juice or something small to nibble on. Nothing big. Or elaborate. I’m not really hungry.”

“I thought you said you were hungry before.”

Had she? Maybe. She could tell already that the appetite and eating things were going to be a concern.

“Oh, and my bladder is about to burst. Hold that thought,” she told him. Snatching her purse from his hands, she motioned toward the powder room across the foyer. “Let me take care of this and then because you’re cute, I will allow you to feed me. Something cool. Fruit.”

She started walking away, stopped, and whirled back. “And yogurt. Should be some fresh in the fridge.” Taking a dozen steps, she turned around again, and this time, she had to speak louder so he could hear her across the gigantic open foyer. “I want toast, too. With avocado. Oh, and tea!”

Skipping seemed like a lovely idea, so she hippety-hopped her way into the bathroom, glancing at her man the second before she rounded the corner. He resembled a statue—a befuddled statue standing frozen in place, still holding the white plastic bag crammed full of crap from the doctor’s office.

Stowing her purse on the little counter, Stephanie looked in the mirror above the sink and smiled at her reflection. Was it her imagination or did she have a natural glow? Leaning over the sink for a closer look, she peered at the oval glass and saw nothing but pink cheeks, bright eyes, and a smile showing more than a smidge of pleasure.

Took but a short few minutes to go through a quick refresh. Bladder relieved and happy once more, she freshened up, fluffed her hair, and applied a quick swipe of her to-die-for favorite lip tint, smacked her lips, and blew a kiss to her reflection for good luck.

“I’m not afraid,” she said to the woman looking back at her in the mirror. “You heard the doctor. I’m healthy as fuck and in excellent shape.” Resting both hands protectively over her abdomen, Stephanie felt nothing but awe and wonder. “I can do this,” she muttered. “You, me, and Daddy,” she assured her indiscernible bump. “We can do this. Stick with me, kid, and everything’s gonna be fine.”

Grabbing her purse, her laughter rang out in the small space. “Enjoy it while you can,” she told the designer accessory. “You’re soon to be replaced by a diaper bag. Holy shit!”

She was still chuckling quietly when she rejoined Calder in the foyer. He was sitting in one of the hand tooled leather chairs flanking a distinctive 19
th
-century wood table. Being a Georgia girl with a flair for simple French country décor, Stephanie was drawn to the magnificent Spanish colonial pieces dominating the Villa’s interior.

This will be a wonderful place to raise a family.

Happy beyond words, she walked straight up to her befuddled man and touched his arm. He was looking at her, but she wasn’t altogether sure if he was daydreaming, in a state of shock, or just completely blank.

“Honey?”

He blinked. Looked at her. She saw a lot in that two-second glance. Then he smiled. Drawing her close with both hands moving to her bottom, he pressed his face to her belly and just held her there. It was so sweet. Running her hands through his hair, she let the touching moment sweep her away. When he released her and stood, Stephanie didn’t wait—she simply went into his warm embrace and sighed contentedly.

“Teatime, m’lady,” he told her as they turned toward the kitchen and walked arm in arm. The closer they got, it became apparent they were not alone in the big house. Voices and laughter were coming from the hacienda’s enormous kitchen and great room.

She gasped. “Oh my lord, Calder! Is that Alex? They’re home? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Oh, yeah. Right. I forgot. Ben did tell me he was picking them up at the airport. Guess I was thinking about other stuff. Sorry.”