Chapter 3 #4
Eventually, Noah, Nash, Caleb, Greer, and Travis wandered over to play with the toys in the living area. The babies, Gregory, Layne, Brandon, and Thea, were being held by their parents or the ladies who had brought them into the room.
“Danae, we heard what happened and that you thought Heath had ghosted you. I feel so terrible that you had to go through that. We want you to know that we’re always here if you need anything or just need someone to talk to who can relate to what you’re going through,” Sloan said kindly.
“Thank you so much. I do appreciate the offer,” I assured her.
“I’d like to talk over a couple of things on Monday. Should I come into the office, or is a call okay?” Heath asked his bosses.
“We’ll have Margie or Abigail send you a time. No need to come in.” Sean waved away the idea.
“Good. And I appreciate you being here for Danae. She has Johann and me, but he’s due to return to duty in a few days. I don’t want her alone. Her health is a little precarious at the moment, and I don’t want anything happening.”
As Heath finished speaking, I saw concern on his friends’ faces. Oh crap, he hadn’t said whether he wanted to tell them I was pregnant or not. I squeezed the hand that I was holding. He smiled at me.
“We don’t mean to be nosy, but may I ask what’s wrong?” Gemma asked.
“It’s not nosy. I’m having episodes of feeling faint due to my blood sugar dropping. I have to make sure I eat frequently and combine carbohydrates with protein in a ratio that keeps it stable,” I explained.
“Have you always been hypoglycemic?” Keeley asked.
When I glanced over at Heath, he winked, and then he answered for me. I held myself still, wondering what their reaction would be. I hoped they didn’t think I’d gotten pregnant on purpose or wanted to take advantage of Heath. I tried to swallow the knot in my throat.
“No, it developed about a month ago, but they don’t want her to end up with gestational diabetes. She’s a physician’s assistant, but I don’t like the idea of her being alone. What if it comes on too fast for her to do anything about it?” Heath explained his position.
“Whoa, wait, back up. Gestational diabetes? That means you’re… pregnant,” Cassidy said.
I thought there was an edge of excitement in her voice.
I nodded. It sounded as if an explosion of voices went off.
The women and the men were talking over each other.
Everything ran together, creating a garbled mess.
Then, they were on their feet, and I was hugged and told that they’d be there for us.
It took several minutes for the zeal to die down. I was left stunned at their outburst.
Heath was given hell for not telling them about me and for not providing me with contacts in case he ever had to go away on an assignment. He took it. After that, the ladies broke off to talk while the guys did the same. When the kids got restless, they were taken back to the playroom.
I was given so much advice on what was a must-have when the baby came, what was nice but not necessary, and what not to bother spending money on.
That led them to talk about the baby shower they had to organize.
I told them that wasn’t necessary. I was ignored.
Tears smarted my eyes. I hadn’t had this feeling of family since before Dad died.
I’d always had Dad, Haris, and Johann to care for me.
Now, I have the people in this room. My circle seems to be expanding rapidly.
Dinner was served at five o’clock for the kids, and then the adults ate at seven o’clock.
When the little ones were finished eating, they went off to get their baths.
I learned the women were the nannies Griff and Hadley employed.
They would have them available on occasions like this.
I was stunned when I was told that Hadley ran a multi-billion-dollar defense contractor company that she had inherited from her dad.
Griff had his job with the Dark Patriots, so they were extremely busy but didn’t have nannies around the clock.
After dinner, we toured the house. My mouth kept dropping open. It was clear that they were extremely wealthy, and the house was incredible, but it wasn’t cold. Despite the structure and content’s opulence, it was warm and welcoming. You could relax. That was a difficult mix to pull off.
Hadley explained that they had the house built when she and Griffin got together.
Her dad had lived with them until his death.
You could tell how much she loved and missed him.
Their son, Travis, was named after her dad.
I hugged her and whispered I felt her loss.
All the women were wonderful, but I knew Hadley, and I would have a special bond due to our losses.
It was back to the family room after the tour. The kids were brought back out to get hugs and kisses before bed. I watched as the bigger kids mobbed Heath again. Johann stood next to me.
He leaned over and whispered in my ear, “He seems to be a decent guy. And if the way he is with these kids holds, then he’ll be a good father to your daughter.
I know he hurt you, and I’m not saying you jump straight back into what you had with him.
But consider it. And know that no matter what you decide, I’ll back you. ”
I turned my head and placed a kiss on his cheek as I used one arm to hug him to me.
“Thank you. I love you,” I whispered back.
Johann kissed me the same way I had him as he said, “I love you, too.”
Our side chat was interrupted when someone touched my leg. When I glanced down, I saw Noah there. He gestured as if saying, Come here, so I bent to his level.
His tiny hand came up to cup around his mouth as he whispered, “Uncle Heath is sorry for hurting your feelings. He’ll bring you flowers and candy to say he’s sorry. Don’t worry. I told him to do it.”
My heart almost burst. I held back my chuckle because he was dead serious, and I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“Thank you for telling me. I promise, I’ll wait for his apology. Thank you for telling him to do it.”
I kissed Noah on his little cheek. He beamed at me as he gave me one in return, then ran off. I did laugh when he passed Heath and called out loudly, “She kissed me.”
That announcement made us all laugh. The nannies were coaxing them to bed.
On the tour, I’d seen that their huge playroom had bunk beds, toddler beds, and even cribs to accommodate several kids.
Hadley explained she wanted it so that whenever they did something like today or in an emergency, the parents could stay as long as they liked without rushing off. I adored it.
Over time, the women discussed what they did for work.
None of them sat at home all day. Cassidy and Sloan worked at Dark Patriots.
Cassidy was mainly in the office. They hated for her to go into the field, though it happened on rare occasions.
Sloan, on the other hand, had been an operative before she got with Undertaker, so she did field work.
Most of the time, she and Undertaker were teamed up.
Gemma ran a boutique store. When she met Gabe, she’d been managing her family’s Italian restaurant, but it went out of business after arrests were made for laundering money for a mobster family. This freed her to be with Gabe and live her dream of having a boutique.
Hadley was an engineer and ran her late father’s defense contracting company. It was the largest contractor in the country, and the US government was its largest customer.
Keeley had been in Mountain Rescue before she moved to Virginia, where there weren’t a lot of mountains to climb.
But she did volunteer with an organization that provided search, rescue, and recovery services for people missing or lost in the wilderness, rural areas, and disaster zones.
When she wasn’t doing that, she helped out at Dark Patriots.
She had survivalist training and apparently taught the Patriot operatives a great deal about it.
Her sister Kensy was the opposite. She had the same training as Keeley, but she worked as an accountant and billing clerk at a medical facility.
When I heard that, I let her know ours needed someone who knew what they were doing, if she was interested.
Kensy had taken the information to check it out.
Overall, the women in this house were a very diverse bunch. The guys talked about their military experiences to a degree, especially with Johann. They even shared some of what they did at Dark Patriots. We had lively talks all around.
When we had to call it a night, both Johann and I were reluctant to leave. This was the warmest place and people we’d been around in years. But people had to work the next morning. We were promised that we’d do this again soon.
In the car, Johann talked about the night, and I chimed in with my observations.
The car's lights following us shone through the back window. Despite arguing with Heath to go home, he insisted he’d make sure we got home safely.
And he planned to be at the house tomorrow morning.
I gave up and told him that if he made it by seven, he could have breakfast with us. He told me he’d be there.
Spending the day the way we had, my mind was a whirling mess.
Should I forgive Heath? If yes, how soon?
If not, then I needed to get him to understand that.
I wouldn’t keep him from his daughter, unless he turned cruel or abusive.
I wasn’t that vindictive. But one thing was for sure.
My child would not grow up thinking of herself as a commodity with value only when I obtained something for my family—wealth, lucrative deals, status, or whatever.