Chapter Thirty-Six
Brooklyn
I actually sleep in a bit the next morning, so when I come down to the kitchen, everyone has already finished breakfast. Zadie and Ethan are peeling potatoes while Christmas music plays softly in the background.
I scan the room - my eyes fall on Kip, holding Micah.
He’s talking happily with Zadie and Ethan. None of them have spotted me yet.
“We read Refuge in one of my book clubs,” Zadie says, sliding a peeler across a potato without looking up. “It’s one of my favorite books.”
Kip is staring down at Micah who is sound asleep. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”
“Are you still writing?” Ethan asks.
“I took a break for a few years, but I’m back at it again.” Kip’s eyes are still down. I want so badly to join this conversation, but I stay still and just listen.
“That’s wonderful.” Zadie points to a bowl. “Ethan, will you pass me that?”
He hands it to her, and she starts adding her peels.
“Will it be coming out anytime soon?” Ethan asks. He stops peeling and lays his peeler on the counter.
Kip finally looks up, his eyes flick to me briefly and then back to Ethan. “Yes. It’s coming out in March.”
“I can’t wait to read it.” Zadie finally notices me. “Brooklyn, good morning. Are you hungry? Everyone else is about to start the snowman competition, but I can warm some food up for you.”
"Not hungry.” I don’t move.
Kip’s jaw tightens slightly, and then he opens his mouth to say something, but Micah starts to stir and fuss.
“Looks like someone is ready for breakfast number two.” Ethan starts to walk toward Kip.
“I think it might be breakfast number three. I’ve lost count.” Zadie shakes her head. Ethan takes Micah from Kip, bouncing him up and down while Zadie washes her hands. “I’ll meet you guys outside after I feed him.”
Without a word, I head over to the foyer and start getting into my snow gear.
I can feel Kip behind me, but I don’t acknowledge him.
I’m pretty sure he’s just watching me, and I hate it.
It’s making me irrationally angry and somehow irrationally horny too.
Good Lord, someone save me from my hormones.
The snow has stopped falling, but I overheard Will say last night that it was supposed to resume later this evening and continue through the night. When I step outside, I have to shield my eyes. The snow is so bright in the morning sun.
“Brooklyn, join us.” Eli waves. He’s working in the snow with Juno and Keene.
I walk over. “What are we making?”
“An octopus!” Juno’s eyes light up.
Eli stops gathering snow for a moment and says, “What happened between you and Kip?”
I groan. I didn’t come over here to talk about this. “Really?”
“Are you just mad he had his brother fingerprint that house?” Keene asks. He pauses from rolling a big snowball to look up at me.
“That seemed like a reasonable thing to do,” Juno says. She’s smoothing some snow to make legs.
“I would have done the same,” Eli adds.
“Me too,” Keene nods in agreement.
“Do you want my help or not?” I’m not hiding my impatience.
They ignore my tone, and Juno says, “I like him.”
“He seems like a nice guy.” Eli agrees. I scowl at him.
“Yeah, I really like him too,” Keene chimes in.
“He’s an amazing writer, that’s for sure,” Eli says.
Juno’s eyes drift over to where Kip is standing, helping Olivia and Will with their snow creation. “He’s just all around amazing.”
My eyes flash over to Kip, who looks like some sort of snow god. Of course, it hasn’t escaped my attention that he seems to grow more attractive by the minute - although I imagine that these damn pregnancy hormones are to blame for that too.
Eli points at me. “There it is.”
“What?” I’m looking down at my clothes.
“That look.” His eyes flash over to Kip and then back at me.
I put my hands on my hips. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. Are we going to build this thing or what?”
I sink down to my knees and start gathering snow.
“I think we should start taking bets,” Juno whispers.
I freeze.
“I’m in,” Keene says.
“Oh, no. This isn’t like that.” My siblings believe there is some sort of magical power to the Christmas cabin that makes people fall in love.
Ok, most years I believe it too, but not this year.
Definitely not this year. I have to admit, the cabin does have a pretty good track record after seemingly nudging together all the couples in our family.
“It is exactly like that,” Keene snaps back.
“Sometimes I really hate you guys,” I pout.
Keene just snorts. Thankfully, they move on and start discussing the best snow sculpting strategies, and I zone out. I bet Will thinks the cabin is going to work its magic on me, but he’s mistaken.
“Hot chocolate break!” Elizabeth calls from the porch after an hour.
“Sweet.” Keene has jumped to his feet.
“Perfect. I can’t feel my hands anymore.” Juno is trailing behind him toward the house.
“You going?” Eli asks as he stands up.
“Nah. I’m going to finish these eyes. I almost have it.”
Eli gives a little nod and follows behind Juno and Keene.
I’m so engrossed in sculpting these octopus eyes that I don’t notice Kip walk up.
“Looks good.” I jump at the sound of his voice. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”
I lift my head to look at him. “I didn’t hear you walk up.”
“You going to get some hot chocolate?”
It doesn’t sound great to me, but my butt is completely numb from sitting in the snow. I should probably go warm up a bit.
I shrug. “I guess so.”
He holds out his hand, but I don’t take it. As soon as I stand up, spots float in front of my eyes.
Oh no.
I teeter slightly, and my vision goes completely dark.
Shit.
I snap my eyes closed. Dizziness washes over me.
“Brooklyn, what’s wrong?”
I feel Kip’s hand grip my arm, hard. My legs wobble.
“Brooklyn,” he yells.
My knees buckle, and the lights go completely out.
Next thing I know, I’m in his arms. He’s rushing me toward the house. I blink a few times. My vision has returned. “Kip, put me down. I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.” He strengthens his grip on me.
“Kip, you’re overreacting.”
He doesn’t respond as he climbs the stairs to the porch and barrels through the door.
“What happened?” Elizabeth gasps as soon as she spots us.
I’m about to open my mouth to say nothing happened, but Kip says, “She fainted.”
“Kip, put me down. I’m fine. I just got dizzy from standing up too fast.”
I’m squirming to get free.
“I’ll get the doctor,” Elizabeth calls and rushes away. The President always travels with a doctor. I groan a little. I don’t need a doctor.
“Put me down,” I protest again.
“No.” He completely ignores me and walks me into the nearest bedroom. He gently sets me on the bed and without a word kneels in front of me.
I suck in a quick breath, confused by what he’s doing. He starts untying my boots and gingerly pulls them off. Before I can say a word, he’s unzipping my big coat. Shivers ripple down my spine as I watch the zipper go down. He pulls the coat off my back and hangs it over the chair.
“Your snow pants.” He just points. I’m just blinking at him without responding. “They are wet too. We need to get them off.”
I look down. Everything feels in slow motion right now. He steps forward and grabs the zipper of the overall-style pants. I feel a wave of emotion crash over me as his hand starts to move down. I reach up and grab his wrist. “No.”
His eyes jerk up to mine.
“I can do it.” I lower the zipper and pull the straps off my shoulders.
I feel his eyes watching my every move. There’s nothing about this that should be sensual, but everything about his presence feels sensual right now.
I stand up to pull my snow pants down, and Kip’s hand is immediately on my bicep.
“I’m not going to faint again,” I hiss.
He just growls a little as I pull off the pants.
I’m bent over at the waist to get out of one of the legs when I remember I’m wearing leggings and a tight shirt underneath.
If he sees me, he’ll know immediately I’m pregnant.
Instead of standing straight up, I step back until my butt hits the bed and then pull my legs up, so I’m curled into a ball. I wrap my arms around my legs.
“Cold?” He frowns.
“Yes. Can you get me a sweater?”
He nods and leaves the room. I let out a deep sigh.
I hear a soft knock on the door, and it cracks open just a little. Will pokes his head in the door. “Doctor’s here. Ready for him?”
I nod.
“Hi Brooklyn, I’m Dr. Fallows. I heard you fainted. How are you feeling?”
He softly shuts the door behind him. As he’s walking toward me, I say, “I realize you work for my brother, but...”
“I work for the American people,” he interrupts.
“Right, but do you still have to keep doctor patient confidentiality?”
“Of course.”
“You can’t tell any of them what we talk about, right?”
“That’s right? Not even if the President tortures me,” he grins.
I snort. “I wouldn’t put it past him.”
“What’s going on?” He pulls up a chair in front of the bed and sits down.
“I’m pregnant.”
He doesn’t react at all. “How far along?”
“I haven’t been to the doctor, but I think around twelve weeks.”
“And you fainted?”
I nod.
“What other symptoms are you having?”
“Which ones am I not having?” I laugh. “Nauseous. Loss of appetite. Insomnia. Headaches. Dizziness. Breast Pain. Fainting apparently.”
He pulls his stethoscope from around his neck and places it in his ears. “Is it okay if I examine you?”
“Yes.” I turn and lean back against the pillow and place my legs on the bed.
“Are you planning to see a doctor?”
“Yes. I have an appointment for next Wednesday,” I answer.
“Good.” He listens to my heart and my breathing, and then he pulls out a blood pressure cuff. I hold out my arm, and he wraps the cuff around my bicep. After a moment, he pulls it off.
“What I thought...”
I look up at him.
“Low blood pressure. It’s normal for some women while pregnant, but it can cause dizziness and fainting.”
“I thought that was just in old movies.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “No, there’s truth to it. It’s not dangerous, but you need to be careful about how quickly you stand up.”
I rub my hands on my legs.
“How are you eating?”
I groan. “I couldn’t eat breakfast this morning. The only thing I could keep down yesterday was ginger cookies.”
He gives me a sad smile. “Well, that will hopefully start to subside in the next few weeks. It normally peaks between eight to twelve weeks.”
“God, I hope so.”
“Have you lost weight?”
I nod. “Probably fifteen pounds. I’ve really struggled to keep food down.”
“You may want to consider an anti-nausea medication if it doesn’t start to lessen in the next week.”
“Okay.”
“Just try to eat what you can right now - it doesn't matter if it’s cookies.”
I laugh. “I bet that’s the only time I'll have a doctor tell me that.”
He smiles. “Are you taking prenatal vitamins?”
“Yes, I started when I realized I was pregnant.”
“That’s good. Keep that up. So, no spotting or cramping? Sharp pains?”
I shake my head.
“Well, everything else looks normal to me. Of course I don’t have an ultrasound machine or anything. You’ll get a full examination when you go next week, but I don’t see any reason for concern.”
“Thanks.” He gathers his things and heads toward the door. Before he leaves he says, “I’m going to send one of your siblings in with some toast and ginger ale. Try to eat a little. That will help with the dizziness too.”
“Ok. Thanks.”
As soon as he leaves the room, I close my eyes. My head is pounding, and my stomach is growling with hunger. Will slips into the room with a plate of toast and a ginger ale a few minutes later.
“Here.” He holds out the plate and sets the drink on the nightstand.
“Thanks.” I nibble on the toast.
“You okay?”
“I just stood up too fast.” I pick up the can and open it.
“Is that what the doctor said?”
I laugh. “Actually yes. It’s quite common for pregnant women to have low blood pressure. He said don’t stand up so fast.”
He looks relieved, and then he nods toward the door. “Kip is pacing outside.”
I stop chewing and stare at him. “Did you tell him?”
He shakes his head. “I told you I wouldn’t. He thinks you’re in here dying though. You should tell him.”
I resume chewing and then wash down the toast with a sip of the drink. Will just watches me for a moment, and then I roll my eyes. “Send him in.”
I set the plate and drink down on the nightstand and pull a blanket over my body. Kip walks in the room, shoulders tight and his face full of worry. He’s carrying a Christmas sweater.
“I got you this.” He holds out the sweater, and I take it.
“Thanks.”
“Can I sit?” He points to the chair.
“Sure.”
After he sits down, he runs his hand through his hair. “Are you alright? What did the doctor say?” There’s a deep line between his brows.
“I’m fine.”
“The doctor said you’re fine?” The line between his brows just deepens.
“Yes. I just stood up too fast.”
He scowls. “That’s what the doctor said?”
“Well, my blood pressure is a bit low...”
He inhales sharply.
“It’s nothing to be concerned about,” I add quickly.
“Why is it low? Should you get some tests done?” His face is pale now. I should tell him. I should tell all of them, but I’m just not ready. I want to do this on my own terms, and I’m not even sure what that is right now.
“I have a doctor’s appointment scheduled for next Wednesday when I get back. Don’t worry.”
“I am worried.” He runs his hands through his hair and blows out another long breath. “I’m really worried. You fainted. You aren’t eating. You didn’t eat anything yesterday. I watched you at dinner, Brooklyn. You didn’t eat a single bite.”
I feel heat rising to my face. “Kip, you really don’t need to worry. I’m okay.”
He hangs his head and curses softly. “I just want to help.”
I shift on the bed. “I know.”
When he lifts his head toward me, his eyes say so much - so much more than he could say with words. They are full of pain and worry. I reach out my hand. “Kip, it’s fine.”
He takes my hand and squeezes it. It’s too much though. The contact is too much, and I pull my hand back.
“I’m going to take a nap.”
He stares at me for a moment and then stands up.
He steps toward me, and I hold my breath, unsure what he’s going to do next.
He lifts the blanket covering me and pulls it up higher until it reaches my shoulders then he lets his hand drift down my arm just briefly.
It stirs a deep desire inside me. I look down quickly, afraid my face would betray me.
“Need anything else?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No. Thank you.”
Before he can say anything else, I close my eyes and listen to his footsteps leaving the room.