Chapter 20
Twenty
Elite training procedures and hand-to-hand combat scenarios are performed inside a secure, simulated, environment—with the ability to shift from natural to industrial landscapes for optimal scenario development dependent on individualized needs of the trainees in attendance…
Hawk had memorized the spiel. Inside and out. Front to back. And he’d been home late every fucking day that week because of it. Jessie was asleep on the couch each night before he walked through the door. And now he had to leave them.
It’s just one night.
Yeah. And one night was one too many. It would be so easy to tell Seb someone else on the team needed to travel with him, but truth be told, Hawk knew none of the other guys would want to leave their families either.
When the fuck had that happened? There was a time when Gunner and Hawk lived for the thrill of picking up a government contract and working off grid for weeks, sometimes months, at a time.
Gunner had been the first to fall in love.
The first to become a homebody. One by one, he’d watched his buddies fall in love.
And still, he never thought that life was meant for him.
Thank God for Jessie. For their baby. Because everything felt warm and right when he was with her. And he didn’t want to think about that ache in his chest that he’d lived with for years, waiting for her to come along and soothe it.
Jessie twitched in her sleep, her hand lifting from his chest to rest on her belly. It was a new week in the pregnancy. His favorite day, because the app he used to track and learn about the pregnancy changed the fruit size of the baby.
Careful not to disturb Jessie, Hawk reached behind to grab his phone off the night stand. A quick tap of his thumb and the app was pulled up in front of him.
Twenty weeks.
A little banana.
Fuck. He didn’t want to get out of bed. Hawk’s eyes bounced to the clock at the top of the display. There was just over three hours before he had to be out the door to meet Seb at the airfield.
“Happy halfway day, Mama.” Jessie stretched as Hawk’s lips brushed against her temple. She kept her eyes closed as he kissed down her body until he lifted the shirt she was sleeping in, kissing the swell of her belly. “Hey, Bee. Happy twenty weeks inside your mama. Just twenty more to go.”
She smiled as he made his way back up to the pillows. “What’s he the size of now?”
Hawk grabbed a package of butter crackers off his nightstand. Jessie mentioned they were helping her stomach more in the morning than the plain crackers, and he’d stocked their room with them.
“The app said she’s a banana this week.” He handed her the open packet.
“Our own little banana bee. So cute.” She took a bite of the cracker, smiling up at him.
Hawk let his fingers run through her hair.
Every morning should be like that one. Warm sunlight streaming in the window.
Their baby between them. Jessie smiling up at him.
His chest tightened with emotion. Fuck. He was absolutely gone for this woman.
“The cutest. I’m so excited for your appointment next week.
I can’t believe it’s time to see her again. ”
“And we’ll finally be able to find out which one of us is right.”
Hawk chuckled, pushing up from his elbows to sit beside her. “Maybe we should wait. Have something to look forward to with the birth.”
Her eyes went wide and her smile turned down. “I think the arrival of our child will be the thing to look forward to, don’t you?”
“Absolutely,” he chuckled. “What I meant to say is ‘it’s completely up to you when we find out whether it’s a boy or a girl’.”
Her hand patted his chest. “Good save. And it will be next week. I can’t take not knowing. And I want to be able to feel settled. With their nursery, and clothes, and all the million other things I need to check off the to-do list before their arrival.”
She went stiff in his arms, her eyes going a bit glassy as she continued to nibble on her cracker.
“Jess?”
She blinked, as if clearing something from her mind. “Sorry. There’s just so much still left to do.”
“And we’ve got time. I’ve got everything covered, so you just focus on the stuff that brings you and Bee happiness. I’m here for all the other pieces.”
Jessie stretched up to grab her dress off the hanger in the closet. She absolutely was not looking forward to Hawk being gone, but she was so proud of him and knew he deserved this moment.
Her phone buzzed on the dresser back in the room, and she padded gently back out to the bed, the shower still running in the bathroom. She’d had half a mind to join him there a few minutes ago, but thought better of it.
A message from Mae was waiting for her.
Okay, Jessie. Enough’s enough! I’m ditching work today and we’re spending time together. So, what’ll it be? Pajamas on the couch with all the things my niece or nephew wants you to snack on, or a walk around town and then a lunch out and about? You get to pick, but you’re picking one of them!
She smiled. There was a fifty percent chance that Hawk had put his sister up to this, but also, knowing Mae, her reaching out came from a genuine place of concern.
Jessie hadn’t been the best friend since getting pregnant, and she isolated herself after moving in with Hawk.
Maybe it was time to put herself back out there.
I’d love to go for a walk. Hawk leaves in an hour, can we plan for something after that?
Of course! Say bye to your man and then just shoot me a text. I’m hanging out with Stone in the office until you’re ready.
Jessie liked the message, then tossed her phone on the bed and pulled her hair up into a bun as she walked over to the mirror.
“Holy shit.”
“What?” Jessie asked, the heat of Hawk’s eyes burning a trail from her neck down to her belly. His hair was still shimmering with little drops of water from his shower. She forced herself not to think about how good he looked.
“The bump. It’s really just…there now, isn’t it?”
She smiled. “You have this reaction every time you see me getting dressed lately!”
In two strides he was next to her, angling his body so one of his hands could come up and rest against their baby while the other rested against the small of her back.
“Yeah, because it’s incredible. You’re incredible.
I did this, Jess. Fuck. I put this baby inside you and now they’re growing so big.
I’ve never seen a more perfect sight before in my life. ”
Hawk dropped to his knees and smiled. She laughed, her hands reaching out to rest on his shoulders. “I’ll try to remind you of that when I’m the size of a whale and I won’t be able to see you over the belly when you’re down there like that.”
“And what would I be down here doing where you couldn’t see me?” His eyebrow raised as he smirked at her. His fingers slipped beneath the hem of her dress and danced along the skin of her thigh.
Her fingers raked through his hair. “We don’t have time for that right now,” she sighed.
“You sound sad about that. I can’t leave knowing you’re sad.” Hawk’s finger traced along the edge of her panties, slipping between the soft fabric and her skin.
“Hawk…”
“It’s okay, Pretty Girl. I can be very efficient when I put my mind to it. One or two orgasms before I leave should set you up nicely until I’m back tomorrow.”
“Mm. Oh!” Jessie gasped, her fingers tightening around the handful of hair she’d taken hold of as Hawk’s thumb pressed against her clit.
He chuckled. “And that sight right there will be all I can think of today.”
“Hawk… I…”
“I know how you like it, mama.” His free hand came up under her thigh, lifting it to rest over his shoulder. Her back rested more on the wall as her leg shook with every stroke of his fingers. “I’m in charge right now. You’ll get there. I promise.”
The hand that had just been on her thigh snaked up her body, in through the opening of her wrap dress and warmly caressed her breast. Before she could take her next breath, the cold air of the room kissed her skin as Hawk pushed her dress down and her breast popped free from the confinement.
“I know… Oh, God. I know…” She moaned as he ran his thumb back and forth across her pebbled nipple. Every sensation was heightened with pregnancy, and before she could catch her breath, her back was arching and her legs were trembling with the force of her release.
“Told you I could get you there. Now, I want you to think about how good that felt all day, and when I call tonight, be ready to follow my instructions.”
“Sure thing, daddy,” Jessie laughed as Hawk rested his head on her shoulder and groaned.
Man, the diner was busy that morning. Maybe she should cancel her walk with Mae and grab an apron…
Hawk:
Miss you and Bee already.
We miss you too. Safe travels, and get them to sign the contract so you don’t have to leave again.
That’s the plan.
How are you feeling? Nausea level?
I’m great. Don’t worry. Nausea is a one.
Perfect. Tell Bee to practice her kicking. I want to feel it when I get back.
She should tell him where she was. That she was going to try to clear the air with her mom, like he’d been gently encouraging her to do since the disaster of dinner. But if she talked about it, she was going to lose her steam.
“Well, hey, stranger!” Adrienne smiled as she walked by Jessie with a pot of coffee. “I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever! Are you stopping in for something to eat?”
“No. Just a muffin to go for me. But I think Mae will probably want a coffee. I’m just waiting for her before we take a walk.”
“Hanging with the baby daddy’s family more than your friends. Damn,” Adrienne laughed. “That’s cold.”
She knew her friend was only teasing, but it still stung. “I know I haven’t been a very good friend lately. And that I just left here without really saying why…”