Lucky II (Patten Bodyguards Book 6) Read online

  “Struth.” I pull her rolled up legs out from under her and rub her feet. The midwife said any day now and that was last week. I can’t help but wonder if anything is wrong. “Any pains today?”

  “No. I swear, this baby is never going to come. She’s like you. Stubborn.” Her eyes dance, challenging me to argue.

  “I called my mum. Me and my brothers were all early so it’s all on you. However, I got an idea. I read where sex will move things along. I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

  She rolls those lovely seas of blue and giggles. “We’ve tried making love, a lot. Besides, I’m huge. It must be like screwing a beached whale.”

  “Ah luv, you’re the most beautiful beluga I’ve ever seen.”

  “You’re not supposed to agree with me.” She punches my arm slightly so I tickle her until she says uncle then kiss her tummy. “You’re perfectly the right size according to your doctor.”

  “Midwife.” She corrects me for the hundredth time this week.

  “Oi. Right. Sorry, I forgot.” I love teasing her.

  “Well, don’t.” She harrumphs then suddenly her eyes go wide and she holds her belly. “Oh… oh.”

  “What?” I spring up, halfway to the door, ready to get the car started.

  Her hands go back to typing and she sighs. “It’s nothing but another one of those Braxton Hicks. Go back to reading. Honestly, Loch, you’re driving me nuts.”

  Me? She’s the one with all the false alarms. Better I don’t point it out. “Want something to eat?”

  “No, my stomach doesn’t feel so good. Maybe I’m coming down with something. Oh my God, that’s all I need.” She punches her pillow hard, places it behind her back, and frowns.

  Both CJ and Grayson said to watch her mood. If she gets crabby, I should expect the baby soon. She seems super-grouchy so without her knowing, I grab her go-bag, and put it in the back seat of the car.

  When I come back inside, she’s pacing back and forth across our small living room.

  “Where did you go?” Her hands go to her hips but I slide behind her and kiss her ears.

  “I went to check we had enough gas.”

  “But you already did, twice.”

  “Did I? I guess I forgot.”

  “Can you make me a sandwich?” She sits and I watch her face for any sign of pain.

  “I thought you said you weren’t hungry.”

  “I’m not. I really need you to find something to do besides wait for me to have a contraction.”

  “On it. Grilled cheese?”

  She calls in from the other room. “Yes, that would be… owwww.”

  I peek my head into the living room. “Be ow?”

  Her eyes lift to mine and she gives me a worried smile as she pulls out her cell phone app. “Let’s time it.”

  “For real?” I give her a stupid grin and squat next to her, watching and waiting for the next pain.

  “Whoa, we have another.”

  I look at the clock. It can’t be right. “The two contractions were only three minutes apart. Didn’t the doctor say this could take hours?”

  “Tell it to your daughter. And we’re using a midwife, not a doctor.”

  I lift her up off the chair, wrap her in the couch’s afghan, and run with her to the car.

  “Put me down Loch, I can walk.”

  “Hell no. With one hand, I open the door to our SUV, set her gently in, and latch the seatbelt.

  After checking for traffic, I run every red light from our apartment to Georgetown. I kind of wish a cop would stop me so he can help me deliver the baby because we are cutting it close.

  I try to make light of it as I break another law. “I swear, if we have another, we’re renting an apartment next door to the damn hospital.”

  “Oww… Another? If you think I’m going through this again, you are out… owwww…”

  “Breathe luv, and don’t push. We’re almost there.”

  Three months ago, I parked in this same spot under very different circumstances. I run around to the passenger side, lift her, and bring her into the emergency room.

  I recognize a few of the staff and smile. “Oi. My wife is having my baby. Where do I put her?”

  A wheel chair is brought around and I set her in and kiss the top of Callie’s head.

  “I can walk. I’m okay now. Nooo…” She leans back, closes her eyes, and pales.

  The nurse jumps to take control of the chair and rushes her down the hall. Without slowing she glances over a shoulder and says, “Don’t worry. We got her. Go park your car, get her things, then come right back in. We’ll have her settled in a moment.”

  I forgot I left the car running with the keys in the ignition. “Oi. Be right back.”

  I look to where they wheel her, suddenly not sure in which direction I should go. What if she needs me?

  There’s a cop standing by the door so I come up to him and point. “Could you move my car, mate? My baby is having a wife. Reverse that. Oh yeah, her preggo bag is in the back seat. Bring it?”

  He chuckles. “I got this. Go on.”

  “Thank you. Appreciate it.” Turning, I run down the hall until I find the birthing room.

  She’s already in a hospital gown but instead of open in the back, they have it tied at the neck. Her legs are in stirrups and a nurse is checking her opening with some kind of gauge.

  “Almost time to push.” She smiles at me but I can’t return it. Holy fuck. We’re going to have a baby.

  “What about Joyce?” Callie’s eyes go wide, frightened, so I hold her hand. “The doc is on her way. If not, the hospital is full of doctors, eh?”

  “Midwife. She’s a god-damned midwife. And no, we wait for her.”

  This is probably not a good time to tell her she’s being irrational, instead I grab her bag. Want your own nightgown?”

  “No! Ow. Why would you ask me such a stupid question?”

  I look to the nurse and she smiles reassuringly at me and whispers, “Perfectly normal.”

  Hell no, it’s not. I’ve never seen my wife in such a tizzy. Frustrated, I dial a number Jenna Jones gave to me in case of emergencies.

  “Hello, Mr. James. How can I help you?” Jason answers my call on the second ring.

  “I need to find Joyce McFarlin. She’s my wife’s midwife. She should be here by now.”

  “She had a flat tire. She is waiting for an uber.”

  “How fast can you get her here.”

  “With ninety-five percent accuracy, I believe I can get her here in five minutes”

  “Please, do it. Do whatever it takes.

  I turn to my wife, staring at me aghast. “You can’t use Jason for personal reasons.”

  “I just did.”

  She laughs then her face contorts. “Don’t tell jokes, oh my God, it hurts.”

  “Breathe. Remember our class?”

  “You fucking breathe. It doesn’t help. Who the fuck thinks breathing helps? It’s ridiculous. Shit!”

  When the next contraction comes, she says to the nurse. “It feels like I need to push.”

  The nurse checks then runs out of the room. “I’ll get the doctor on call. It’s time.

  Alone with Callie, I wipe her brow. “You’re doing great, sweetheart.”

  “I don’t want a doctor. What if he has a golf game and gives me a C-section.”

  “I won’t let him, honey. Relax. Let me worry about that.” My heart pumps. In a few short minutes, I’m going to hold our baby. To think, had I reenlisted, I wouldn’t be here. Some other bloke would be holding her hand, talking her through the pain.

  I was a bloody idiot.

  Thank God she did the intervention. It was lame but it helped me recognize how all my friends are here for me. Despite what I thought at the time, I was not alone.

  “Loch. Get the doctor. Owww… She’s coming.” I step into the hall where a dark man in scrubs is rushing our way.

  “Well, well, well. What’ve we got here? He checks my wif
e and says, “You’re right. It’s time to push. Next contraction, bear down and push your baby to me.”

  I wipe the sweat off Callie’s face and give her hand a squeeze. “Almost there, luv.”

  “Joyce?”

  “On her way.”

  “I’m Doctor Pawar, by the way. Weren’t you the woman who got kidnapped?”

  “Nice to meet you. Oh shit. Here we go.” She grips my arm tight while I rub her back.

  “Push.”

  “I’m am pushing dammit.” She grits her teeth then asks, “You don’t have a golf game scheduled, do you?”

  He chuckles. “No. My t-time isn’t for another couple hours.”

  She moans.

  “I’m kidding. Good girl. I see her head. Give me another push exactly like the last.”

  Three more times and the baby’s head crowns. I had no idea women’s openings could go so wide. It’s miraculous and disturbing.

  With one final scream from my wife, my daughter slips out. She’s all red and wrinkly, and I hold my breath while they suction her.

  Why doesn’t she cry?

  When she does, the tiny wail fills my heart. They put her to my wife’s breast who counts fingers and toes.

  “She fookin’ perfect.” I put my head next to hers and hug my family.

  Then, I take a tiny hand and when my daughter squeezes, I fall instantly in love.

  “We’ll bring her right back, we just need to weigh her and check a few things.” They let me cut the cord and a few minutes later, reappear with her swaddled in a cotton blanket.

  My baby girl bobs her head, snorts for a breast, and the nurse helps her find it. When she suckles, Callie dons this heavenly smile and I swear to God, choruses of angels begin to sing Waltzing Mathilda.

  I stand, grinning like an idiot, about as happy as a bloke like me can get.

  Epilogue

  Five years later…

  Lochlan grins, buried up to his neck in sand by our three kids. He wiggles a toe near the youngest.

  Polly buries it and pats it with her plastic shovel. “Daddy, no.”

  The other two girls giggle and pour more buckets of sand onto him as he struggles to break arms and legs free

  Suddenly, he stands, sand flies everywhere and he roars. “Oi! I’m a sea monster and coming to eat you.”

  Squealing, they all run toward the ocean and I jog behind to make sure the toddler doesn’t dive head first into a wave.

  He scoops up all three and dunks them into the ocean while they laugh and kick. The littlest, he plops on her butt at the water’s edge by me. She bounces up and down, yelling at her siblings in baby-talk while he throws the older two into a wave.

  The sea monster glances up at me with the devil in his eyes. “Everyone. Get Mommy!”

  “Oh, no.” I run the other way but seconds later I’m lifted off my feet and tossed into the frigid water, swallowing salt water because I’m laughing so hard.

  “You beast!” I dive under, pinch his ass, then swim away.

  The girls giggle at the shoreline and when I come up for air, I shout to the oldest. “Watch Polly.”

  Jennifer grabs the baby’s hand. “I got her, Mommy. You go get Daddy.”

  “Hey, four against one. That’s not fair.” Lochlan grabs me by the waist and tickles me mercilessly while I struggle to get to his armpits to repay the torture.

  My middle one, the mathematician, pipes up, “It is too, fair. You’re four times bigger than us.”

  “Helloooo?” A familiar male voice shouts from up at the dunes.

  When Grayson waves I point. “Time out. There’s Aunt Izzy and Uncle Gray.”

  “Yeah!!!” Their kids and ours hug and start looking for shells while I open the cooler filled with juice and beer.

  We chat for a while until Lilac and Slate show up. She’s got a baby bump and he looks like he’s on top of the world. He sits her down and puts a cold sparkling water in her hand.

  After a bit, CJ and his brother Andy arrive, holding another plastic cooler between them. Their wives follow, kids in tow.

  Altogether, we make an even dozen.

  “Hold on. Who needs sunscreen?” I hold up the plastic tube.

  “We do.”

  I slather down the first bunch, then another, while the guys set up a tent for the youngest to sleep in. Chairs, towels, beach toys, and such are all put into a giant circle, taking up a good portion of sand.

  CJ and Andy take the older ones for a game of water football, the rules I don’t even pretend to understand. The babies play in a blow-up pool near Lilac.

  Me, Mel, and Blake sit near the ocean’s edge, making sure as the kids run up and down, they don’t get in too deep.

  “I am so glad we could all be together again.” I sip on a beer as the sun grows high in the sky.

  “Miss the Fourth on the island? Perish the thought.” Mel chuckles, shades her eyes, and turns inland. “How do you like your new place?”

  “Love it. It’s got lots of room. After the kids tire out, we figured to have dinner there. We got lobsters for us, hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids.”

  “Sounds perfect.” Blake leans back and closes her eyes. “This is pure heaven.”

  Seeing her, makes me think back on five summers ago. I say a short prayer of thanks to the Big Guy upstairs. Things could’ve turned out so differently and yet, somehow, we pulled through. It hasn’t always been easy but days like today make it all seem worthwhile.

  Lucky takes my hand. “Walk with me?”

  “Who’s watching the kids?”

  “Polly has Lilac wrapped around her little finger and the other two are searching for crabs with Slate. We’re free for a bit if you’re up for it.”

  “See you later.” I wave to Mel and Blake then take Loch’s outstretched hand.

  We intertwine fingers and stroll to the ocean’s edge where the sand is hard and easier to walk on. Gulls take flight, sandpipers skitter, and a kite with a long tail dances in the wind.

  My husband stops walking to slide his arm around me and kiss me in the breeze. I reach behind his head and hold him. His hands slip to my waist, then hips. For the longest time, we enjoy being together and alone.

  When we stop, his eyes are full of heated lust. “We still don’t have a son.”

  “Not my fault. Yours is the determining sex chromosome.” I grin back at him, knowing exactly where his mind is at.

  “I’ve been thinkin’. I got only brothers and lots of male cousins. Odds are, the next one will be a boy.”

  “If not?”

  “We’ll have to keep trying. I’m no quitter. You made sure of it.”

  “You ever regret not reenlisting again?”

  He thinks for a while, the ocean lapping at our toes. “I always wanted to go back and prove I could be the man I was.”

  “So, that’s a yes?”

  “Nah. You made me a better man. You made me see how leaving that shit behind left room for what we got now. I wouldn’t change a fucking thing.”

  “Me neither.” My heart overflowing with love, we turn and wander back to our colorful towels, chairs, and tents.

  Tonight, we’ll put everyone to bed early and go up onto the top deck. Under the stars, we’ll make sweet, sweet love and let the ocean’s lullaby sing us to sleep. Happiness, I’ve come to realize, is not a gift that falls from the sky. More like a paycheck, it arrives after lots of hard work.

  Arm and arm, we head back to our home, our friends, and our beautiful children.

  The End

  From the Author

  Thank you so much for downloading Lucky II. I hope you enjoyed reading his story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Want to know more about Jack? Grayson? Read ‘Busted Play’, where it all started.

  'Busted Play, The Series'

  Slate**

  In My Custody**

  Jack**

  Jack II

  Lucky

  **(contained in 'Bushwick, The Series')

  Busted P
lay

  CJ Quinn

  Fuck this knee.

  The doctors told me it would be good as new and yet after a couple weeks, I’m not convinced. Dammit all. If I don’t get back on the field soon, there’s no way my contract is going to get renewed. I need to get a whole lot better, a whole lot faster.

  Stan, my manager-trainer is at the front desk, arguing about insurance. I told him I needed better care than this God-forsaken hole-in-the-wall but he insists it’s the best place in the city.

  And that young woman who just came in the door? She’d better not be my physical therapist. She’s obviously slept in those clothes, her hair is wet, and there’s dark circles under her eyes. That’s hardly the professional that I need to get me back in the game.

  She shakes hands with Stan and puts her long blond hair into a pony tail. Then staring down at a tablet, heads my way. Under that coat, she’s probably shapely but it’s hard to tell. One thing’s for sure, those cute features, pouty lips, and thick lashes are better suited for a model.

  I’m not blind. I like the way her jeans hug her tight ass and I’m sure I’d enjoy her in bed but that’s not what I’m looking for. There’s no way in hell she’s tough enough to get me in shape.

  “Hello Mr. Quinn.” She holds out her hand as if she thinks I’m going to shake it.

  When I stare into the space behind her head, she drops her arm back down, cheeks red. I don’t mean to be rude but this isn’t going to work out.

  Stan hasn’t left yet so I jump off the table, grab my cane, and pull him aside. “What the fuck! I told you I wanted to be one hundred percent before next season. What the hell is that?” I point to the girl. “I need a real physical therapist, not a fucking Barbie.”

  He eyes me like I’m a piece of shit. “You’re lucky to have her. Lucky to have anything at all. You screwed up big time.”

  His attitude is totally uncalled for. “Hey. I wasn’t found guilty of anything. I’m the victim here.”

  “Shit, CJ. You were in a car with a minor. The press has taken ahold of it and made you look like a rapist. Have you seen any fans lately? Any tweets that sing your praises? Now go make nice while I make sure your bills get paid.”