Chapter 61
I ndie shifted out of the bed and headed quietly to the bathroom. She just needed a few moments of privacy. Stepping into the bathroom, she used the toilet, then washed her hands before studying herself in the mirror.
God.
She looked like crap. There was no way the guys could be attracted to her like this.
She was a mess.
After spending a few moments trying to tame her hair and bring some color into her cheeks, she gave up.
Opening the bathroom door, she came face-to-face with Quaid who gave her a stern look. “What do you think you are doing?”
She glanced at Slade and brought her finger to her mouth and drew him into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
“Slade has a migraine. And he needs to sleep.”
“And so do you, so why are you walking around?”
Indie crossed her arms over chest, which wasn’t that easy with a protruding belly. But she kind of managed.
“You’re being very naughty, young lady.”
Sheesh .
Quaid really sounded like a Daddy Dom right now.
Suddenly, he stepped back and she could feel him closing off from her.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. I don’t have the right to berate you.”
Maybe she should make him grovel more, but she knew that he was likely punishing himself far more than she could ever do.
“Don’t leave,” she said. “I hate this gap that is between us right now.”
“I do too,” he said. “I especially hate that I put it there. I thought I was doing the right thing by staying away from you. Then when I came home, I upset you so much you collapsed.” There was a note of pain in his voice.
Which was a huge display of emotion for him.
“It’s not your fault I fainted.”
He looked unconvinced.
“It’s not.”
He nodded, but she wasn’t certain he believed it.
Stubborn ass.
Reaching out slowly, he cupped the side of her face. She sucked in her breath. This moment felt like a turning point. Where either of them could make or break the other. Moving cautiously, she turned her head and nuzzled into him.
Part of her expected rejection. But elation filled her as he let out a quiet sigh. “You are so beautiful. I don’t deserve you. But I also can’t stay away. I want you, Indie Madden.”
“I want you too, Quaid Ashworth.”
“Let me take care of you? Please?”
She didn’t know if she’d ever heard him say please. And she found herself nodding.
“Thank you,” he told her.
“You don’t have to thank me for letting you take care of me,” she told him. “I want you too.”
“Good, because it feels like this was what I was put on this earth to do.” He picked her up in his arms. “Now, no more walking around on your own, understand? You could have fainted and hit your head.”
She frowned.
“This is serious, Indie. You are ill. And you could get very ill. Preeclampsia is no joke. We are not going to lose you or the baby, but you have to help us by letting us look after you.”
“You guys tell me that a lot. I’ll try.”
Slade was snoring softly in the bed when Quaid laid her down next to him. Slade stopped snoring and she held her breath. Shit. If they woke him up . . .
But he simply rolled over and went back to sleep.
To her surprise, Quaid didn’t leave. Instead, he sat in her armchair and stared at her for a long moment. Then, suddenly, he got up and left without a word.
Oh.
Disappointment filled her. She’d thought he was staying.
But he quickly returned with Gary in his arms. Gary! He must have been in the playroom. Poor Gary.
She held her hands out and took the gargoyle, hugging him tight. Quaid brushed his lips over her forehead.
“Sleep.”
To her surprise, she found herself closing her eyes. She’d just close them for a few minutes.
“You’re going to be a terrible patient, aren’t you?” Quaid murmured.
No she wasn’t as long as everyone let her do what she wanted.
See? Easy.
“Quaid is certainly paying penance, isn’t he?” Spencer said cheerfully as he walked into the kitchen.
Slade shook his head. “What did she do now?”
Their girl had been home from the hospital a few days. And she’d made it clear she wasn’t going to be a model patient. Of course, none of them were having that.
Nope, they were all over her.
Spencer had made it his personal mission to feed her up. While Quaid barely left her side, carrying her to and from the bathroom.
Rock liked to feed her. And Slade . . . well, he still wasn’t sleeping much. He tended to sit and watch her sleep at night.
To be honest, Spencer thought that they were all a bit of a mess.
But he was going to pretend that they weren’t.
When in doubt, just fake it. He’d called his family yesterday to tell them how sick she was.
His ma had wanted to rush down here to help but he’d managed to convince her to stay home.
He loved how much his family cared, but they’d be too much for Indie right now.
He knew that Indie had messaged Maggie, Margo, and Lemon to let them know what was going on. Maggie had already called Slade and ordered him to let her know as soon as anything changed with Indie.
“Made him watch that soap opera she likes. The one in Spanish,” Spencer said. “Quaid said he has a headache trying to figure out what was going on and if one more character turned up pregnant or fell off a bridge, he was going to jump from the nearest window.”
Speak of the devil. He walked out into the kitchen and grabbed a beer, handing one to Spencer and Slade.
Rock didn’t drink. His grandfather had been a mean drunk and he didn’t want to risk becoming like him.
“She’s sleeping,” Quaid told them. “Beth told me to take a break. I don’t know why.”
“Maybe because you look like death,” Spencer told him cheerfully.
Quaid glowered at him and Spencer decided he better make some dinner. Quaid was always grouchy when he was hungry. Hmm. What to make tonight? He had a list of healthy meals for expectant mums.
“She’s a terrible patient,” Quaid said .
Rock just grunted, but there was a smile playing on his lips. Rock was terrible at giving in to her. If she wanted the Mona Lisa hanging in her room, he’d probably plot ways to infiltrate the Louvre and get it for her.
“I’m getting worried about her,” Quaid said. “She just seems to be getting sadder every day. Even when we were watching that shitty soap, her smiles seemed . . . forced.”
“She needs some Little time,” Spencer said. He was certain that would help.
“And I think she should talk to a therapist,” Slade said. “I’ve tried to talk to her a couple of times, but she told me she was all right. However, with everything that has happened . . . I think she needs to speak to one.”
Spencer nodded. “Now might not be the time, though. It must be hard for her being trapped in bed. She’s always tried to keep up with all of us.
Remember the time she wanted to take up mountain biking and thought she could just launch herself down a track without any training?
Broke her arm in three places and then wouldn’t accept our help until Slade threatened to spank her. ”
And it wasn’t like her mother was helping her at all. Hell, she was struggling just to get toothpaste on her toothbrush.
That bitch wouldn’t go out of her way to help anyone.
“You’re sure Sylvia is out of the picture?” he asked Quaid.
“Oh yeah. She’s not coming back.”
“And Roger?” Rock asked.
“I’ll slowly make him pay,” Quaid told him.
Good. They all deserved it. He only wished that Billy was alive so he could torture him. Slowly. Spencer didn’t usually like to use violence.
Unless you hurt someone he cared about. Then all bets were off.
Spencer walked into her bedroom with her dinner and nearly dropped the tray as he saw her.
He’d just passed Beth in the hallway on her way home. What could have happened in the few seconds between her leaving and him arriving?
He hastily put the tray on the bedside table and sat facing her on the bed.
“Princess? What is it? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”
“I . . . I don’t know,” she wailed.
“Hey, calm down. You need to calm down.” He stood and lifted her into his arms, carrying her to the chair and sitting with her on his lap.
“What’s going on?” he asked as he ran his hand down her hair. “Tell Dada.”
“It’s all s-so messed up. I feel w-weird. And I c-can’t do anything and it’s nearly C-Christmas. I just feel h-helpless and stuck.”
Oh, his poor girl.
“I know it’s hard, Princess. I know you feel strange and scared. We’re here for you, though. Nothing is going to happen.”
“I just want to f-feel normal. I want to do n-normal things.”
Hmm.
“I have an idea.” Sure, she had to rest. But getting upset like this wasn’t good for her or Button. “How would you like to come and bake some Christmas biscuits with me?”
“Are . . . are you sure I’m allowed?” she asked.
He tilted her head back and kissed her nose. “If Dada says you’re allowed! Then you’re allowed!”
She smiled and it reached her eyes. “I would love that.”
She giggled as Spencer danced around the kitchen in a reindeer onesie. It was ridiculous and cute and just what she needed. The others hadn’t looked at all convinced when he’d carried her out to the kitchen. But once Spencer had a word to them, they’d all come onboard.
“Why won’t this icing stick to my biscuits?” Quaid said, holding his up. All the icing had melted off.
She giggled again and noticed that the guys all smiled in reaction.
“Have you never iced biscuits before?” she asked him as she poured sprinkles onto hers.
Hmm. That wasn’t enough.
She needed more! You could never have enough sprinkles!
“No, I haven’t,” he said.
She sobered at that. She couldn’t imagine what his childhood had been like, especially before boarding school. He never talked much about his family, but she knew his mum had died when he was young and that his dad wasn’t very nice.
Even if he was a duke.
“Um, Princess, I think you’ve got more sprinkles than icing,” Spencer pointed out.
“And more icing than biscuit,” Slade added.
“Yep, so they’re perfect!” She held one up and the biscuit nearly collapsed under the weight of the icing and sprinkles. She took a bite out of it.
“Yum-yum.”
“Pure sugar,” Rock said.
His biscuits looked perfect, of course.
“Yep,” she said.
“You’re going to have to brush your teeth well,” Spencer told her, waggling a finger. “We might get Daddy to do it for you.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’m a big girl. I don’t need Daddy’s help with my teeth.”
“We’ll see,” Slade said to her. They all looked so relieved for some reason. But she wasn’t sure why.
She took another bite from her biscuit and it collapsed. “Oh no! It broke. Oh, well, I’ll just have to do another one.” She grabbed another biscuit from the pile in the middle .
Quaid had grabbed one that was too hot, that was why his icing wouldn’t work.
“No more eating them,” Slade said.
“What? Why, Daddy? That’s mean. If you ice them, you get to eat them. It’s a rule.”
“Not a rule,” Spencer said.
“Dada, hush.” She pointed at him. “You don’t know the Christmas biscuit rules.”
Spencer raised an eyebrow, giving her a stern look.
“Well, you don’t know all of the rules,” she grumbled. “Right, Da? I get to eat them all.”
Rock nodded. “One more.”
“You can’t keep giving in to her, Rock,” Slade told him. “You’ll create a monster.”
“Rawr,” she said, holding her fingers up like claws. They were covered in icing and she thought she should suck the icing off.
Something occurred to her suddenly. “Your gifts!”
“What?” Spencer asked as he stuck his tongue out while icing his biscuits.
“I had them in the car with Dave. I don’t know where they went. Oh no, Christmas is ruined!”
“Christmas isn’t ruined,” Slade told her calmly. “Margo got them and wrapped them for you. They’re under the tree.”
“Well, thank goodness. Because I wouldn’t rely on Santa bringing you guys gifts. I think you’re all getting coal in your stocking.”
She laughed at the looks on their faces.
This was the most fun she’d had in ages.