That she couldn’t even pick up a phone to call them when she just needed to hear their voices.
234 Tymber
Dalton
He took the keycard from her and held her hand all the way up to her room. He put out the Do Not Disturb sign, flipped the dead bolt and security latch, and stretched out with her on the bed, holding her as she crashed into sleep in his arms.
Allan was almost ready to fall asleep when the pounding on the door startled him. Libbie stirred at the sound. He carefully untangled himself from her and looked through the peephole before unlocking the door for Ben.
When Ben raced in, Allan shushed him and pointed to Libbie asleep on the bed. He locked the door while Ben hurried to her side.
She slowly opened her eyes when he sat next to her on the bed and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead.
“Hey,” he softly said.
“I’m sorry.”
“Shh, it’s okay.”
Ben stretched out next to her, relief flooding him and temporarily shoving all thoughts of Bianco out of his head. As she snuggled in his arms, he inhaled her scent deeply, reassuring himself that she was truly safe. Until Allan had called him he’d struggled with horrible thoughts of never finding her, of something awful happening to her without him ever getting to see her again.
Or tell her one last time how much he loved her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked her.
Her tiny voice ripped at his heart. “I’m okay.”
“Bullshit,” Allan said. “She’s not okay. She’s in a horrible flare.
She can’t drive back to Brooksville like this.”
“Tell us the truth.”
She wouldn’t meet his gaze. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have come. It was stupid. I’m sorry.”
He pulled her close again. “Shh, it’s done. You’re here, and no, It’s a Sweet Life 235
I’m not happy you put yourself at risk, but I am happy to see you.
You have no idea how much we’ve missed you.”
That seemed to quiet her.
“Now the truth. Tell us what’s wrong.”
She listed what he’d expected, the pain, weakness, lethargy.
“Worse, I think the naproxen’s making my stomach upset so I stopped taking it.”
“Why?” Allan asked as he sat on the other side of the bed.
“I keep feeling queasy in the mornings. It got a little better when I stopped taking it.”
Ben felt like he couldn’t breathe. “Queasy?”
“Just a little. Not bad.” She snorted. “The gift of fibro, symptoms that come and go and no clue if it’s related to fibro or anything normal.”
When he met Allan’s gaze, his brother’s eyes looked as wide and filled with shock as his own.
“Baby, when was your last period?” Allan asked.
“What?”
“Are you late?” Ben asked.
“I’m…” She sat up, her brow scrunched as she tried to think. “I don’t know. It’s nothing to worry about. I’ve been irregular off and on the past year or so. The doctor said I might be going into early menopause.”
“How long have you been queasy?” Allan asked.
“Just the past couple of…” Her eyes widened as she finally boarded their train of thought and handed the conductor her ticket.
“No!” She shook her head. “No. I can’t be.”
“How late are you?” Ben asked again.
“I don’t know. But we used condoms.”
“They’re not perfect,” Allan said.
“Where’s the closest drugstore?” Ben asked Allan.
“I saw a Walgreens a couple of blocks down.” He stood. “I’ll go.”
“Go where?” she asked.
236 Tymber
Dalton
He leaned in and kissed her. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be right back.” He glanced up at Ben. “Come lock the door after me.”
When they were alone again, Ben removed his jacket and tossed it on the other bed, then removed his gun and holster and placed them on top of the jacket, followed by his shirt and bulletproof vest before rejoining her.
She looked shell-shocked. “I can’t be pregnant,” she said as she crumbled into his arms again. “I just can’t. We used condoms.”
Except for how upset she was, he would have laughed. “Sweetie, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay.”
That set his worry off. “Why? You don’t want kids?”
“I can’t do this alone!”
He made her look at him. “You are not alone. You have both of us.”
“You’re here in Miami. Plus I was taking the naproxen. What if…” She buried her head against his chest again. She didn’t cry out loud, but he could tell from the irregular rise and fall of her chest and her frequent sniffling that she was crying.
He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have words. Instead, he opted to call Grover and tell him she was safe and sound, but that he didn’t have time to talk to go into details.
He also didn’t tell him she was right there with him, because he suspected the last thing she needed was the tongue-lashing she knew Grover would rightfully give her for scaring the crap out of all of them.
It felt like forever before he heard Allan knock on the door. He checked before opening it, and Allan rushed in with a bag. “Okay, I got three different ones so we can tell for sure. They can’t all be wrong.” He emptied the bag onto the bed.
She sat up and wiped at her face. “I…” She sniffled. “Can one of you help me? I can’t…I can’t focus today. I’m sorry.” Ben worried most about her state of mind. She sounded weak, defeated.
It’s a Sweet Life
237
He took her hand and helped her up. “Quit apologizing. You can’t help that you’re in a flare. And yes, of course we’ll both help you.”
He shot Allan a warning look not to laugh while they opened and read the instructions for all three test kits, which were all two-packs.
“Okay,” Ben said. “This is logistically going to be difficult. I say we go with two of them for now. She’s not a racehorse with a gallon of pee in her.”
Sitting on the bathroom counter and looking even weaker in the fluorescent lighting, Libbie managed a wan smile. “I do have to pee.”
“All right,” Allan said, grabbing one. “Assume the position.” He reached for the second test stick. “Ben, you just stand there and take them from me. I don’t want you getting pee on my suit.”
That earned them a soft laugh that relieved Ben. And how it actually worked was Libbie started out holding one of the test strips, and then Allan made the switch with her while Ben took the first one and snapped the cap back on it and started keeping the time.
A few minutes later, all three of them stood there in silence. Ben wanted to jump up and down with joy. Allan, he suspected, was staying quiet until he read Libbie’s mood.
Ben knew there might be health considerations for both Libbie and the baby, but for now he didn’t want to think about that. He wanted to bask in his joy, something he’d all but given up hope of ever feeling.
Libbie stood in front of them, her full attention focused on the two plastic test sticks.
They both read positive.
Ben gently rubbed her shoulders. “Sweetheart, it’s your body and your decision. But Allan and I both want kids. So keep that in mind.
And we promise we will be there for you, no matter how we need to manage it.”