Chapter 41
forty-one
CIAR
The car ride was silent as they traveled through Dublin’s busy streets to the doctor’s. Ciar was reeling. He thought he’d been going to break up a romantic lunch, but in truth, she’d not only been faithful to him during their time apart but also had been growing their child. Alone.
He was weeks away from being the father of two children. It was overwhelming but exhilarating. He loved being a father. He would love it more if Gray were by his side.
Imogen would be eight months old when his son was born.
His phone dinged before they reached their destination. Looking, he saw it was Mags.
Mags: Gray just texted that she didn’t need me at her appointment. Way to finally pull your head out of your ass.
He shook his head and choked on a laugh. Gray looked at him in question, so he angled his phone so she could read her friend’s message.
“I wondered how you knew where I’d be. I’m going to kill her,” Gray frowned.
“I plan on hugging her. Because of her, I’m sitting next to you. And him,” he spread his fingers wide over her small bump. “I’m grateful that I get to meet the doctor. Hell, Gray, I’m grateful for anything you let me be a part of.”
“Still,” Gray said, her lips pressed tight. Mags would be hearing from her.
He took her hand and placed it flat against his thigh. She glanced sideways at him but left it. “Don’t be mad at Mags. She loves you.”
“I know. I have the best friends,” she sighed.
Ciar felt her words like a punch to the gut. He had great friends, too, or he had. They avoided him because of Gray, and he couldn’t blame them.
The cabbie announced they’d arrived. He paid and helped Gray out, marveling anew at how stunning she looked pregnant. He wrapped his arm around her waist as they entered the fancy lobby of the obstetrics office.
“Ciar,” she warned, trying to shake his arm off. “We aren’t a couple.”
“We are in my mind. Let me at least have this moment.” She had another think coming if she believed he was ever letting her go again.
With a huff, she entered the elevator and selected the third floor. “So, you plan on having him here instead of Scotland?”
She sighed, and her shoulders bowed slightly as if a great weight had been placed on them. “I’ve been indecisive, which is ridiculous considering I’ve never struggled with knowing my own mind in the past.”
He wanted to beg her to have their son in Ireland, but it was too soon. He had to be careful not to chase her off. The door pinged and slid open, revealing a handsomely appointed waiting room and reception area.
Gray checked in and reminded the smiling woman behind the counter that she was scheduled for an ultrasound.
“Oh yes. I see that. Dr. Beckett likes to make sure the little ones are on schedule, especially for mothers who find out they’re expecting later in the term, in case the date changes. Have a seat. It should only be a few minutes.”
Sure enough, a side door opened, and a nurse stuck her head out and asked for “Gray MacGregor.”
Ciar felt sweat prick his brow, nervous to see his son for the first time. He’d gone to a few of Marie’s appointments, but that was him staying in the background. An observer, not a participant.
The nurse ushered them into a room and took Gray’s vitals and asked a million questions. Satisfied, she told Gray to take her dress off and lie on the table where the ultrasound machine was waiting. There was also a warming cabinet full of blankets.
Gray thanked her while nervously glancing his way. Her dress had a side zipper, loosening the material enough to slip over her shoulders.
She caught the bodice before her lace-covered breasts were exposed. He really shouldn’t be getting turned on in the middle of a doctor’s appointment, but here he was. His throat was scratchy when he tried to swallow, his eyes riveted to every peek of the milky smooth softness of her collarbones.
“Ciar,” Gray pleaded. “Get a blanket, please.”
The “and stop staring” was unspoken but implied. He snatched a blanket from the box and was back in front of her in seconds. He witnessed when she gave up trying to get him not to look and finally stepped out of her dress.
He lost his breath, his mind, everything. Gray was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever laid eyes on before. Now, she was a goddess.
“Fucking hell, baby. You take my breath.” He dropped the blanket on the exam table behind her and, hoping she didn’t swat him away, he wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her tight to his chest and pressing his hands into her bare back.
Every part of her body was lush. Mouthwatering. He palmed the back of her head and tilted her face up toward his.
“Let me kiss you, Gray. Please. Just one.” The last plea was said against her mouth, her whimper setting his body on fire. When he swiped his tongue across her lips, she opened on a gasp and let him inside.
He couldn’t remember where he was, why they weren’t in a bed, or even his name.
Gray MacGregor was a toxin and intoxicating.
As their tongues twisted, he walked her step by step to the bed behind them.
One moment from stripping her panties, he registered someone clearing their throat behind his back.
They jumped apart like someone dropped a snake at their feet. Gray’s face blazed a brilliant pink. While she stuttered out an apology, Ciar adjusted himself, his dick a single-minded beast.
The doctor was a smiling, middle-aged woman who didn’t miss a step at finding one of her mothers-to-be wrapped around a large, tattooed man in an exam room.
“Gray, you know the drill. Lie back and get comfortable. I’m happy to see that you’ve brought Baby Boy MacGregor’s father.”
Gray paused while draping the blanket over her legs, glancing at him uncertainly. He didn’t hesitate. “Baby Boy Murphy, Doctor,” he politely corrected.
“Oh, of course,” the doctor grinned at Gray and then Ciar.
She bustled around, uncovering Gray’s rounded belly, making his chest swell, as if he were the only man who had ever put a child in a woman’s belly.
While the doctor spread warmed gel over Gray’s belly, Ciar took her hand in his own, holding it close to his chest while the doctor rolled the machine over her skin. Gray gave him a small, nervous smile, and he was once again weak with relief that he was there.
A loud heartbeat filled the small room, making his own heart thump. “Our son.” He took her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.
“Would you come home with me so we can talk more about this?” Ciar laid his hand on the top of Gray’s rounded belly. He couldn’t get enough of touching her. Today had given him a resurgence of hope.
They were standing just inside the lower-level exit at the doctor's clinic. He was afraid that if he let her walk outside without a plan, she’d jump in a taxi and leave him behind.
“I have to fly to Japan early in the morning. I’ll be gone a week,” he sighed with regret at the timing. “This trip is an absolute necessity, or I would cancel it or send someone else in my place. It’s a ￡150 million deal, and Anders wouldn’t take kindly to me blowing it off.”
Gray looked uneasy about his offer. He understood since he’d given her nothing that she’d asked for yet. He would, though. He would swear to Gray that he planned on telling her everything, but at this point, she wouldn’t believe him.
“Umm, why don’t we talk when you get back from your trip. I’m flying out in four hours and promised to visit my friends first. We can discuss how this will work over the phone anyway.”
“Gray, please,” he begged. “I just found out that you and I are having a baby. I don’t want to separate. Not yet.” He placed his hands on her hips and brought their bodies close enough that he felt their child press into him.
She looked like she might be considering going with him when his phone rang loudly in his pocket. It had to be Tina. He’d turned his phone on do not disturb and had made Tina’s number the only one allowed while they were in with the doctor, and he hadn’t taken it off yet.
“Sorry, I have to take this.” He explained as he pulled his phone free.
Gray didn’t say anything, so he answered. “Tina,” he started tersely, “what is it?” He watched Gray take two steps back from him. He took two forward.
As he listened to Tina, he swore, and took Gray’s hand, and walked them outside and hailed a cab. Thankfully, she knew something was wrong and didn’t fight him putting her in the cab before sliding in next to her.
He gave the driver the address to his house. “Okay, Tina, calm down. I’ll be there in eight minutes. Go ahead and call an ambulance. They’ll have questions for you that I can’t answer. Stop arguing and do as I tell you.” Hanging up, he pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What’s going on?” Gray asked.
He took her hand and placed it on his thigh, feeling ten times better for her touch. “Tina was on a ladder for some damn reason and fell. She thinks something is broken. She was panicked about not being able to reach Imogen if she woke from her nap.
“She hadn’t even called the damn ambulance yet.” He felt awful for his nanny, but the timing was terrible. He briefly wondered if she’d sabotaged his time with Gray, though he knew that was absurd since she hadn’t known his plans.
“That’s terrible,” Gray gasped. “She must be in so much pain. As soon as we get to your place, I’ll have the taxi take me to Triskelion, so I’m not in the way. Bébhinn’s working today and can take me to the airport.”
Ciar’s mind was whirling, coming up with plan after plan, only to discard them. He might be shooting himself in the foot, but “I’ll have to follow the ambulance to the hospital and help Tina get situated. She told me once, after I first hired her, that she doesn’t have any family.
“If something is broken, she’ll be in the hospital for a few days at least, and then will struggle to take care of Imogen. Gray,” he started, praying for everything he was worth, “I don’t have anyone else who can watch the baby, and I’m leaving for Tokyo at four in the morning.
“Would you please stay with Imogen until I get home?”
Gray reared back like he’d slapped her. “You can’t be serious,” she questioned, appalled.
“Listen, Gray, I know we have a million things to work out between us, but my ultimate goal is for you to move in permanently. I want us to be a family, and it’s best you know now, I don’t plan on giving up on that dream.
“You don’t have to do this, Gray. I will beg one of the Byrne sisters to take her in until I can get back. It’s just, if you moved in, I hoped you might start work on decorating the place. Our son’s room, perhaps even Imogen’s, and,” he hesitated once more, “our bedroom.
“You were meant to decorate the whole place. You didn’t keep your word, and you always do. So, I’m asking you to do it now.”
“You made me a lot of promises, too, Ciar, and haven’t kept any of them. Holding me to a separate standard is small-minded and hurtful.”
Ouch. “I promise here and now, Gray MacGregor, to fulfill every promise I’ve ever made to you. I promise to make new promises and keep those too. Do this for me. Move in and see what I see. Make that cold two-story building into a home for our family.
“I’ll only be gone a week, but you could start. Anything you want is yours, Gray. I only need you. I’m begging you to give us a chance.”