Chapter Twenty-Five
chapter twenty-five
NATE
“They’ve confirmed the bones are not from an Indian tribe,” Nolan says over my Bluetooth.
“Thanks.” I sigh in relief. “Let’s?—”
The screen on the dash lights up with an incoming call—Julian Parker. He never calls me. The only reason I have his number saved is because of our companies working together, but our teams are handling the details, so this can’t be about the partnership, which means there’s only one reason he’s calling me.
“I’ll call you back.”
Without waiting for Nolan’s response, I switch the call over.
“Hey, Julian. Is?—”
“Please tell me you’re on your way here.” Ana.
The desperation in her tone causes goose bumps to prickle my skin.
“I’m on my way to Paige’s house as we speak.”
Her doctor’s appointment isn’t until tomorrow, but I couldn’t stay away from Paige another day. The phone calls weren’t enough. And the stress of being away from her was eating away at me. She’s the calm to my storm, and I told my dad that I’ll be working remotely from Rosemary since there’s nothing else for me to do in Vegas.
Thanks to Nolan’s update, all we’re waiting on now is for the county to give us the green light for construction to continue, and they don’t need me there for that.
My plan is to get to Paige’s place before she gets off work and surprise her with dinner since I know the code to get inside her house. And now, with the county approving us to continue construction, we have something to celebrate.
“Okay, good,” Ana says, bringing me back to the now. “There’s something you need to know…Paige fell.”
“What? Where is she? Is she okay?”
“We’re on our way to the hospital now. We don’t know anything, but she’s in the ambulance. We didn’t want to risk moving her. They’re taking her to Rosemary General.”
“I’m on my way.”
I hang up with her and input the hospital into the GPS. Fifteen minutes. Thank God this town is fucking small.
When I arrive, Ana and Julian are already in the waiting room. I shake Julian’s hand, and Ana gives me a quick hug. Then, I go to the nurse at the front desk, needing to get to Paige.
After explaining that she’s my wife and she’s pregnant, the nurse scans my license and then guides me back to Paige’s room. The door is closed, so I knock, and once I hear her soft voice say to come in, I step inside, noting how fragile and scared she looks, sitting in the large hospital bed.
“Nate,” she gasps, her eyes widening in surprise. “You’re here.”
“Fuck, Princess.”
I make a beeline straight for her, ignoring the woman who’s standing next to her. I give her a kiss on her forehead, inhaling her sweet scent. And when I tilt her chin up, my heart breaks at the raw emotion swimming in her eyes.
“Are you okay?” I murmur, squatting so we’re eye level.
“I…” She glances at the woman. “I’m okay but…” The tears welling up in her eyes spill over. “I don’t know if the baby is,” she whispers.
“It’s okay,” I tell her, taking her hand in mine. “It’s going to be okay.”
“You’re just in time,” the woman says. “We were just about to do an ultrasound to see what we’re working with.”
I notice she’s wearing a white lab coat, and when she twists slightly, her name badge reads Dr. Michaels.
She looks at Paige. “Are you okay with him being in the room? ”
“Yes,” Paige says. “He’s the dad.”
“Okay, I’m going to go grab the machine, and I’ll be back in a moment.”
“What happened?” I ask once the doctor leaves us alone.
“It was all my fault,” Paige cries, shaking her head. “You told me not to wear heels?—”
“Hey, hey, stop. You look sexy in those heels. I just didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
“I tripped,” she mutters. “My heel got caught on something, and I fell. My stomach hit the corner of the desk,” she sobs. “It hurt so badly.”
“Paige, this isn’t your fault,” I tell her, hating that she’s blaming herself. If something is wrong with the baby, she’s never going to forgive herself. “People trip all the time. Even if you had been in the safest tennis shoes possible, you could’ve tripped.”
“But I wasn’t in the safest heels. I was in tall heels. If something happened to our baby?—”
“Stop,” I tell her, grabbing a chair and sitting next to her. She lays her head on my shoulder, and I hold her the best I can from the side. “No matter what that ultrasound shows, this wasn’t your fault. Shit happens. But we’ll get through it together.”
She looks up at me, and I kiss her soft lips that are tinged with salt from her tears.
“I missed you,” she says.
“Not as much as I missed you.”
“How long are you here for?”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Her phone buzzes from next to her on the bed, and I sit back.
“Why did Ana call me?” I ask.
I assumed it was because Paige hadn’t had access to her phone, but she obviously does.
“I didn’t want to bother you,” she admits with a frown.
“What?” I hiss. “Are you serious? You fell. In what universe did you think calling me to let me know what happened would be considered bothering me?”
And then it hits me. “Did I do something to make you think you couldn’t call me?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “It’s just…you’ve been busy. You’ve barely called the past couple of days, and when we did talk, I could see the stress you were under. I didn’t want to add to that, especially without knowing what’s going on.”
She rests her hand on her protruding belly. In the week and a half that I’ve been gone, she’s grown more, her bump even more pronounced, and I can’t wait to see all the ways her body changes as she grows our baby.
“It feels like you do that a lot,” I say with a sigh.
“What?”
“Take my choices away from me. You didn’t call me because you didn’t want to bother me, but did you think about how I would feel, not knowing? Had Ana not called me, I would’ve been at your house, surprising you with dinner, while you’re in the hospital, worried about our baby. The same way you keep telling me where I should and shouldn’t live and whether I should be with you.”
She swallows thickly, and I hate that we’re having this conversation right now, but it’s one that needs to be had.
“You told me that your dad didn’t talk to you after your mom died. He moved you to another country without considering your feelings. He took your choices away, and you didn’t like that, did you?”
She shakes her head.
“Neither do I. I’m never too busy for you, Paige. Never. You understand that?” I pinch her chin and look into her eyes, which are filled with sorrow. “I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing. You come first. Always. Don’t take my choices away. You and this baby are my world. Let me in, please.”
She nods in understanding, and we’re both quiet for a moment before she breaks the silence.
“What if I lost the baby?” she whispers, fresh tears filling her eyes.
“Don’t think like that,” I say, squeezing her hand. “There’s no use in thinking the worst.”
“But it hurt. And…I’d rather prepare for the worst.”
I don’t agree with that logic, but since that’s her way of thinking, I go with it. “ If something happened to the baby, we’ll handle it together.” With the hand that’s not holding hers, I palm her cheek. “It’s you and me, for as long as you’ll have me. I came to Rosemary for you. You being pregnant was merely a bonus.”
“I want you,” she admits, shocking me. “I realized this week how much I care about you. And even though it’s selfish, I want to be with you. I know your family is going to be upset but?—”
“Whoa, why would my family be upset?”
My family has been one hundred percent supportive since they found out about her.
“I overheard Dustin and his wife talking at the barbecue,” she admits, looking at me sheepishly.
Suddenly, it all makes sense. One minute, she was fine, and the next, she was pushing me away.
“He said they would have to find someone to replace you…someone that’s not family, and Valerie said you must be devastated.”
Jesus, fuck. I’m going to kill my brother and his wife. I know without a doubt that they both support my decision but…
“Dustin is a numbers guy,” I tell her. “He’s good at his job. He handles our numbers like the expert he is, but there’s a reason why he doesn’t want to be anything but our CFO. He sucks at communication, and he’s the least eloquent speaker I know.
“And as for Valerie, she’s a workaholic, and I say that in the nicest way possible. It’s why she and my brother don’t have kids. They love their jobs, and for her, the thought of me walking away from the CEO position is unfathomable.” I run my knuckles down her cheek. “ But I can tell you, they both support my decision.”
“They probably hate me for taking you away,” she mutters.
“Not even close. Are they upset that I’m leaving? Of course. Honestly, I would be a bit hurt if they didn’t give a shit.” I shrug. “But Valerie is Dustin’s world, so he gets it.”
“He told her that,” she says. “He said he would choose her. But he doesn’t have to.”
A tear slides down her cheek, and I catch it with my thumb.
“That’s because she works for Bradford, and they’ve created a life together without having to make choices like we do.”
“I hate that you have to choose. That I’m making you choose.”
“You’re not making me do anything. You told me this is where your life is and you’re not comfortable moving to Dallas, so I’m choosing to move here to be with you. You’ve been hurt, and you’ve lost your trust in others. But I’m going to prove to you that not all of us will hurt you. And one day, you’re going to trust me…trust us .”
“I want that,” she admits.
“Good.” I lean over and kiss her. “Because I’m going to make sure you have everything you want.”
I hold her for a few minutes, until there’s a knock on the door, followed by the doctor pulling in a cart.
“Sorry about that,” Dr. Michaels says. “We’re a bit short-staffed at the moment.”
She types away on the screen and then says, “Okay, let’s have a look.”
Paige lifts her shirt, and the doctor tucks a blue towel in her waistband, then squirts gel onto her stomach.
We sit in silence, both of us watching the screen, though I have no idea what I’m looking for since I’ve never seen an ultrasound in action before.
Paige squeezes my hand, and I do it back, silently letting her know I’m right here.
The doctor moves the probe around her stomach, spreading the gel all over. She stops every few seconds, clicks and types, and then does it all over again.
Finally, she glances at us with a soft smile, and I sigh in relief because there’s no way a doctor smiles like that if she’s about to give you bad news.
“Everything looks perfect,” she says, making Paige sob in relief. “This is your baby’s heartbeat.” She turns a knob, and the most beautiful whooshing sound hits our ears. “It’s strong. One hundred forty-three beats per minute.”
She moves the probe around some more. “This is the face…the hands…the feet.”
The screen is gray and black, but the baby is outlined perfectly. I can make out the face, the ribs, his or her little heart beating. Until now, I don’t think I fully grasped it…
“We’re having a baby,” I murmur to Paige, who laughs .
“We are.” She giggles.
“That’s in you,” I whisper.
“It is,” she agrees with another watery laugh.
“I’m assuming by the way you’re talking, you don’t know the gender yet,” the doctor says with a grin. “Are we waiting, or would you like to know?”
“You know?” Paige asks, her eyes lighting up.
“I do. Would you like to know?”
“Yes,” Paige says, then glances at me. “You still want to know, right?”
“Sure. Would be nice to be able to refer to it as a he or she.”
“Okay then,” the doctor says. “You see this?” She slides the probe over and points to a blurry area on the screen. “That’s a boy.”
“Really?” Paige gasps. “We’re having a boy?”
“You are,” the doctor says. “I know your appointment is tomorrow. And because of what’s happened, I’d like you to keep it. It can’t hurt to have another ultrasound done, but everything looks good. A woman’s body is meant to protect the baby, and when you fell, your body did just that.”
She removes the probe and stands. “I’ll let them know that you can be discharged, but I do want you to take it easy. Based on the bruise that’s already forming, you’re going to be sore. If you can, rest for a few days.”
Once she’s gone, Paige looks at me with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes. “He’s okay.”
“He is.” I bring her hand up to my lips and kiss her knuckles. “And he’s perfect.”