Chapter Thirty-eight – Gunpowder & Lead #2
Parker twisted around, scanning me. His eyes lingered on the slice on my arm still dribbling blood and the bruised flesh on my wrists from where I’d been trying to bust the zip ties.
Then, he was kissing me. It was fierce and desperate and dark.
I felt his fear and rage and relief in it, tasted the metallic of the blood from the cut on my lip.
And yet, it was the best kiss of my life.
Because we were all alive. We’d made it. The bad guy had lost, and we’d won.
Parker drew back and pulled his knife from his pocket. He sliced the ties and then eyed the manacle on my ankle.
“Fuck. Sweeney, we need a blowtorch,” he said, looking back over his shoulder at his teammate.
“No, we don’t,” I breathed out. Parker turned as I opened my clutched hand to show him the key.
Surprise coated his face. “How the hell did you get that?”
“Used my expert antagonization skills.”
His eyes narrowed on my swollen cheek and mouth. “And paid the price, damnit.”
He unlocked the metal and then pulled me from the ground and into his arms. His warmth seeped into me, the love I felt covering the fear that still lingered in the air around us.
“They’re asking for a sitrep,” Sweeney said behind us.
Without letting go of me, Parker pressed a finger to his comms unit. “Ducky secure. Repeat. Ducky secure. Targets neutralized.”
From beyond us in the dark of the caverns, a “Hooyah” sounded.
And that was what broke me. A sob escaped, tears flooded me, and the shaking took over in full force. Parker looked down into my face, his own turning squinty. “Damn it. Don’t cry.”
“I wasn’t afraid, P-Parker. He was mad because I wasn’t afraid, but I knew you’d come. I knew I wasn’t alone.”
Before he could respond, more bodies filled the cave opening, shifting in the shadow and light.
The rest of his team. My team .
Our family.
? ? ?
In the quiet of my kitchen, I slowly pulled out the ingredients for the churro waffles that were one of Parker’s favorite morning dishes. I was sore. Bruised and cut and tired. We both were, but our wounds would heal. We were alive, and the baby was okay. Those were the only things that mattered.
When we’d gone to the ER, and I’d told the doctor I’d been punched in the stomach, I thought Parker was going to lose his shit all over again.
But the doctor had performed an ultrasound and said the baby appeared to be just fine.
When we’d heard the heartbeat, the look Parker got on his face—the complete and indescribable love—had me falling for him all over again.
He was madly in love with not only me but a baby that might not be his by DNA, and who he’d already claimed as his.
She was ours and no one else’s.
While the ultrasound hadn’t been able to reveal the gender of the baby, for some reason, we’d both taken to calling the baby her .
It had to mean something, didn’t it? Some kind of universal parent intuition?
Regardless of its gender, the baby would be accepted and cherished.
It wouldn’t be an obligation to raise her. It would be an honor.
After finally unburying the waffle maker from the far recesses of the cabinet, I stood up too fast and banged my head on a cabinet I’d left open.
I swore silently just as the machine was ripped from my hands and tossed onto the counter beside me.
“What the hell is wrong with you? Rest! You need rest, goddamnit. For at least a week. No more bangs to the head or cuts or kidnappings. You will do nothing but lay around and heal. You’ll take care of yourself and that little one inside you, or I’ll tie you to the bed myself.”
I rubbed my head and glared. “I wanted to make my husband breakfast.”
His eyes flared. That word, that single word, got him every time, and my heart leaped with joy. I was going to like using it on him for the rest of our lives .
I fisted his T-shirt, rose on my toes, and kissed him before murmuring against his lips, “But I kind of like the idea of being tied up in bed as long as you’re in it with me.”
He snorted out a laugh. “That wouldn’t be rest.”
“How about if I promise not to move even an inch. Not even a finger. You can do all the work.”
Stormy eyes met mine. “We might be able to arrange something like that, Wife.”
My heart tripped at the matching word he was going to enjoy using on me just as much as I’d enjoy using husband on him.
I raised a brow. “Yeah? Then, when the doctor clears me, I’ll tie you to the bed and return the favor.”
“Fuck. Our parents are ten minutes from here, and I’m hard as a rock.”
“Our parents?!” I scrambled to put distance between us. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why are they coming?”
He looked at me as if I’d lost my mind. “Ducky, our plane crashed, and you were kidnapped. I think our parents want to see that we’re all okay with their own eyes.”
“Is Theo coming with your parents?”
He nodded, and that soft look returned to his face. Love.
No remainder of the furious Navy SEAL I’d witnessed yesterday was on his face today.
But I knew it existed inside him. I’d seen it in action firsthand in a way I never wanted to see again.
It was a piece of him he’d honed and developed and that he was giving up to be here with Theo, me, and the baby.
“Stop,” he said.
“I want to hate when you do that.”
“What?”
“Read my thoughts. But I can’t find it in me to actually hate it, because it means you know me better than anyone. It means you love me.”
Even as I said it, I knew it for the truth it was. He really did love me exactly as I’d always dreamed he would.
“You’re right, Wife. I do.”
He kissed me slowly and thoroughly in a way that made me hope our families would be a bit longer than ten minutes. But just as my knees went weak, a clatter of footsteps on the porch had him pushing me behind him.
At some point in my life, I might have been frustrated by those protective instincts, but instead, it filled my chest with warmth. I’d never be alone. I’d never be without protection, because I had someone who would always put me and our children first.
The lock clicked open, and Mom rushed through the door on two feet.
Her moves were awkward and stilted, but she was upright on a prosthetic limb hidden below her yoga pants.
Joy at seeing her standing had me rushing over to her, prepared to swoop her into my arms, but I didn’t get a chance.
She hugged me to her first, holding on so tight I thought we’d both topple to the ground.
“I’m sorry,” she cried. “God, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.”
I squeezed her back. “I’m sorry you were hurt before they came for me.”
Then, Dad was there, striding into the house behind her and pulling us both into strong arms. For a moment, it brought back pained memories I’d tried hard to forget—us sharing this same kind of desperate and relieved hug after Sadie and I had been taken by Adam and Theresa.
When we eased back, Sadie was there, taking her turn squeezing me.
“You saved yourself again,” she said, emotions choking her.
I pulled back to wipe at the tears on her face. “No. This time, Parker saved me.”
“You left the clues for Sweeney and me to follow, Ducky,” Parker said, easing in next to me. “You had the key to that goddamn shackle before I’d even gotten to you. I’d say you were well on your way to saving yourself.”
Dad and Mom watched with narrowed eyes as Parker drew me to him so my back was to his chest and his arm banded my waist.
Before they could comment, I asked, “Where are Spencey and Caro?”
“We sent them on to Tennessee with the jet,” Sadie said. “We weren’t sure what we’d find when we got here.”
Her eyes were cloudy, and I hated that what had happened was making her relive her own traumas—not only the time with Adam but the things that had happened to her long before I’d ever come into her life.
But maybe it was those shared traumas that had bonded my stepmom and me more than I’d ever felt bonded to my mother.
When I looked over at Mom, she looked sad, as if she was once again on the outskirts of my life. Some of that had been her doing. Some of it had been mine. But I could fix it. I could jump the gap and pull her close. I could do my best to make sure she didn’t feel alone any more than I did.
I moved away from Parker and clasped her hand. “I love you, Mom.” Her eyes turned wide. I looked down at her prosthetic. “And I’m so proud of you. For your bravery and resilience. You know I learned that from you, don’t you?”
She sobbed and leaned into me.
A car engine drew our gaze to the yard. The dark SUV had barely stopped before the vehicle’s back door opened, and Theo jumped out.
As he raced up the steps, Parker bent low, and the little boy flew into his arms.
“Missed you, bud.” Parker’s voice was thick and heavy with emotion. He extended a hand toward me, and I went to them, surrounding them with my arms and my love.
Theo was the first to pull back, looking from Parker to me. “Grandpa said the bad guy is all gone. Did you rescue Fallon from a tower like in that princess movie?”
I smiled, and Parker laughed. “A cave. And Fallon is a warrior princess who was already beating the bad guy at his own game before I got there.”
“And you helped me,” I told Theo.
He looked at me wide-eyed, pointing to his chest. “Me?”
I nodded. “You were right. The bracelet you gave me worked like a charm. I used it to leave clues for Parker to find me.”
Theo flushed happily.
“We’ll replace it,” Parker said solemnly. “Then, you’ll always have protection.”
And in the rosy hue of sunrise that filled the house, my life felt miraculously whole. Not just because of this family Parker and I were forging but because of the people who’d stood by me my entire life, waiting for me to realize I’d never been alone and never would be again.