Danaë
Danae:
We spent the bulk of the day at Dark Patriot headquarters.
There was a lot of planning to be done. I was involved in some sessions but not all.
When I wasn’t, I hung out with the wives, which, despite the seriousness of why we were there, was fun.
They kept me entertained, awed, and distracted by their various stories.
I shared with them stories of growing up, my brother, and then what it was like after Dad died.
It was during the talk about Dad that I broke down and cried.
The reason was that I knew my child wouldn’t have grandparents on either side.
Heath and I had briefly talked about it.
But as my due date got closer, the idea of it loomed over me.
Shouldn’t most women have their mom in the delivery room when they give birth?
And there to help the first week or so as you get used to being a mom and over the rigors of delivery?
Fortunately, pretty much all of them were in the same boat, and they gave me lots of reassurance that I wouldn’t be alone either during labor and delivery or afterward.
I’d have not only Heath, but all of them, including their husbands, who would be sticking their noses in so much, I’d probably kick them out.
And when we came home from the hospital, they would be available.
Their offer made me cry more, but these were happy tears.
I’d only had Johann for years. I loved him, but he couldn’t always be there.
By the time we left for the day, I felt exhausted. Heath recognized it and suggested we order in dinner tonight. I had no complaints about his idea. I wanted to strip and put on comfortable clothing, then veg out on the couch or in bed.
Now, I was relaxing on the couch with a cup of decaf hot tea.
Heath was with me. We were trying to decide where to order dinner from.
I jerked and almost spilled my tea. My cell phone rang unexpectedly, and I had the volume up.
Chuckling, I picked it up off the end table to see who was calling.
I gasped. It read Johann. I couldn’t press the Talk button fast enough.
“It’s about time I heard from you. I’ve been crazy thinking some mermaid kidnapped you and took you under the sea to be her sex slave,” I greeted him.
Heath grinned at my words and shook his head. Johann’s deep chuckle made me relax.
“Christ, only you would answer the damn phone that way, Danni. You’re out of luck. No mermaid wants me. You’re stuck with me.”
“Goddamn, we’re stuck with him, babe,” I told Heath.
“Shit, there goes my good mood,” Heath joked.
“Hey, no fair two on one. I couldn't handle you alone, don’t add someone,” Johann protested.
“Okay, all joking aside. Are you back or just able to call?” I asked, getting serious.
“I’m back. I missed you, and even Heath’s ugly mug would’ve been a welcome sight on this one.” There was weariness in his voice.
Before responding, I mouthed to Heath. Invite him over? Dinner? Luckily, he understood me. His immediate response was a nod and a smile.
“You need to come over. We’ll talk. You can relax. Decompress. We have some things to update you on,” I enticed.
Johann hesitated a couple of seconds, then asked, “Is Heath okay with that plan? I don’t want to impose.”
“Get your dumb ass over here, squid,” Heath told him from across the room. I had put Johann on speaker.
“Hey, watch who you’re calling a squid, grunt,” Johann fired back.
Heath snorted. “Get your shit right. I wasn’t a grunt, I was a damn Ranger.”
“I’m not just a squid. When you change yours for me, I’ll do the same.” Johann told Heath that, but I heard the underlying amusement. They loved pushing each other. I noted it with most men and women in the military.
“Then get over here. We’re going to bring in dinner. Any suggestions on the type? My baby momma is being picky tonight,” Heath replied.
“Me! What about you? Lord, we would’ve already ordered it and be headed to get it if you hadn’t kept declining them all,” I prodded.
“Before you two come to fisticuffs, may I suggest something? Not sure if it’ll mess with your stomach or not, Danni. I have had a craving for Indian or Thai. Sound enticing?”
I thought for a moment. “My vote is Thai first, Indian second. What about you, Heath?”
“I’d go with Thai, too.”
It took a few minutes to decide where to get it. We said we’d order it, and then Johann would pick it up on his way over. With that in motion, I hung up and placed the order. My tiredness eased at the prospect of seeing Johann.
I was trying to make sure the house was presentable.
Heath pushed me back down on the couch. “I’ll check.
If he sees a few dishes in the sink, I don’t believe his head will explode.
Relax. You’ll want to talk half the night with him.
I think in light of how taxing today was and now Johann coming home, what about taking tomorrow off from work? ”
He sounded hesitant, as if he knew I would say no, but I thought of it. I was tired, and it would actually be good to get some rest.
“That’s a good idea. Let me call Caroline.”
So while he checked over the house, I made the call.
Caroline was very understanding and had no problem with me taking another day.
In anticipation of my maternity leave, the clinic had hired a new PA, Meghan.
She started two weeks ago. The idea was to have her for overflow and call-offs right now, and then when I went on maternity leave, she’d take over for me.
Caroline told me she’d call her. Meghan had told her that if she was needed tomorrow or any other day this week, to call.
I felt much better after getting off the phone.
She was right, it was good practice for the newbie and would give her some pay.
She worked as needed in a few places for now.
With my work settled, I got up and went to use the bathroom.
Returning, I found Heath on the couch. He patted the cushion next to him.
“Sit here and give me your feet,” he instructed.
“Why do you want my feet?”
“To give you a foot rub. I know you want one,” he wiggled his eyebrows.
He knew I was a sucker for any kind of massage, but a foot one was my favorite. As someone on her feet all the time, even if I wore good shoes, my feet hurt. I eagerly dropped down and brought them up.
“Gimme, gimme,” I sing-songed.
He laughed, then went to work. It felt so amazing that I moaned.
I was lost in the wonderful sensations he was creating that I forgot time, or that Johann was coming by.
The knock on the front door brought me out of the haze.
I sent a disappointed pout Heath’s way. He stood, bent down to kiss me, then chuckled before going to answer the summons.
As expected, it was Johann. I remained on the couch with my arms in the air as he came into the house. Heath took the bags from him.
“Better go give her a proper hello, or she’ll burst,” my man warned my best friend.
“Hush,” I playfully told Heath.
Johann took in the sight of me sprawled out as he came over to me.
“What’s this? You’re too much of a princess to get up?” he teased.
He leaned over and gave me a semi-bear hug. I returned it as hard as I could. I wasn’t to be outdone.
“I’ll have you know that I’m no princess…I’m the queen. Don’t forget it or off with your head!” I mocked.
He rolled his eyes, but they were twinkling, and he smiled. I hated to let go of him, so I clung to his neck.
“Hey, Heath, you wanna come over here and pry her off me? What the hell? Haven’t you been giving her enough attention?” he quipped.
Heath rejoined us. He wore a sexy smirk when he answered. “I’ve given her plenty of attention, especially the sexual kind.”
That made me let go so I could try to smack Heath. He twisted away, but my hand struck him on the ass.
“Watch it. No foreplay in front of the child,” My man chided me.
And that got the two of them going at it.
Time flew as we laid out dinner, and the razzing ran down.
When it did, we asked him how his time away was.
I knew there would be a lot he couldn’t tell us.
He did fill us in on what he could. Overall, the mission, whatever it was, had been considered successful, but it had been tiring, and there were difficulties they hadn’t expected.
Johann had dark shadows under his eyes, and he’d lost weight.
I knew it was worse than he let on, but if pressed, he’d wave it off, so I kept quiet. All I cared about was that he was home.
By the time we'd finished telling him about our work, how the baby was doing, and his update, we’d finished eating. A quick cleanup, and then we were in the living room. It was time to fill him in on the good and bad in our lives. I went for the good first.
“We got good news while you were away,” I chimed in.
“Really. What?”
“Our offer on the house we liked the most was accepted. We’re waiting for escrow to close, and then we’ll be able to move!” I told him happily.
“Wow, that was fast, but I’m thrilled you got the one you wanted. You’ll be in with time to spare before the baby gets here. I’m available for moving duties and painting when it comes to the nursery or anything else.”
“We’ll take you up on the move part. As for painting, other than the nursery, we’re having someone come in to do the whole inside in colors she chose.
And the upstairs carpet will be removed, and hard flooring will be installed.
It shouldn’t take terribly long, so we’ll be in before the baby comes,” Heath explained.
“Have you two decided on her name yet?” Johann asked before taking a swig of his beer.
“We’ve had a few ideas, but we’re waiting before we tell anyone,” I admitted.
Johann tried to cajole me into spilling, but I held strong. When he quieted down, he asked a loaded question.
“Did I miss anything else?”
Heath and I exchanged glances. I nodded, giving him the signal that he could explain. Johann’s forehead furrowed.
“What the fuck happened? Did Dallia act up again?”
Concisely, Heath told him about getting two women fired at my work, the man with the gun, our engagement, the gala, and then the information discovered about Huston and Zhāng.
Johanna was thrilled about our engagement and congratulated us both.
When Johann asked if Mom knew, Heath confirmed she did.
The only mystery was how long she had known it.
By the time Heath, with a bit of help from me, was done, Johann was up pacing, muttering to himself, and running his hand through his hair.
As a SEAL, he had more leeway in how long he could grow his hair, which isn’t typically acceptable in the military.
It stuck up on top. There was rage burning in his eyes.
“Fuck. Jesus Christ, I can’t believe this!
A dude with a goddamn gun. Do you think those two chicks who got fired were behind him, or was it a coincidence?
As for your mom and Huston Masters III, I always felt there was something off about the guy.
And your mom changed years ago. You know she’s not the one you feel any guilt over.
They need to go, Heath. And I don’t mean prison.
And that Triad dude, his organization needs to be torn down and then burned.
Anyone who deals in those kinds of things at that level isn’t redeemable.
You can count me in. When you’re ready to make your move, presuming I’m around, I’ll be there. ”
“You can’t do that!. What if you get caught?” I asked.
Johann shrugged. “What if I am? To keep you and that baby safe. To ensure that innocent people who are harmed by those drugs, especially if they’re selling people. Hell no. I can’t pretend not to know. I knew your mom was a bitch, but she’s moved so far beyond that.”
I couldn’t disagree with him. Heath told him that he’d let the Patriots know what he offered, and it would be up to them if he were to be included. Based on his expression, if the Patriots said no, Johann would go to them to argue his case.
“What about the dude with the gun?” was my bestie’s next focus after we got him to calm down.
“The techs are searching to see if he comes up in facial recognition. After today, they’ll add checking into Julie and Holly to their list to see if they can connect him to them.
But there’s always the chance that he was just an opportunist. He saw a lone woman who was stopped, and he thought she’d be an easy target to carjack,” Heath told him.
“He wouldn’t have known what he got hold of with her. Not that I want you exposed to that shit, but if he had succeeded, I would’ve watched and brought the popcorn. I’m telling you, watch your ass, Heath. She’s no sweet, helpless thing.”
I argued with him, and we fell into more back-and-forth banter. Time passed too quickly. And the alcohol they drank gave them both a decent buzz. Hours later, Heath was the one to broach it.
“Johann, man, you can’t drive home. If you get pulled over, your Navy career is done. And I don’t want Danae out this late, even if I go with her. You should crash here. I got plenty of beds. Pick one. I’ll loan you anything you need.”
“I probably should. Thanks. I’ll get up and run home before heading to the base. It’s late, and she’s yawned five times in the last fifteen minutes. Take her to bed and make sure she gets some sleep. All I need is to be pointed to the right room. I’ve got a bag in the car. Let me go get it first.”
As we made final prep for bed, I was happy. I had the two people I cared for most in the world with me and safe. And my baby was snug in her home, waiting until it was time to make her official appearance. I pushed thoughts of Mom, Huston, and their so-called friend to the far recesses of my brain.