Page 92 of Whatever It Takes

My eyes poppedopen at the sound of soft footsteps padding across the hardwood floor. I threw the covers back and grabbed my robe hanging along the chair in the corner of my bedroom. Quinn was snoring with an arm resting over his face. His chest rose and fell with each breath.

We had both given into sleep sometime right before the sun came up. We spent the entire night talking about the future and making love like two crazy teenagers who couldn’t get enough of each other. There was no other perfect feeling than being back in his arms.

I quietly made my way across the room, hoping not to wake him. I needed my coffee, even though it was only decaf, and a few minutes to myself. Unfortunately, my daughter had other plans for me.

“Mom, why is the door locked?” Emery asked from outside my bedroom door, jingling the handle back and forth.

I ran a hand through my tangled hair and swung the door open. Emery stood there in her long monkey nightgown with matching slippers.

I looked down at her, wishing I had prepared myself better for this conversation. “What are you doing up so early?”

She looked at me funny while rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “I don’t know. I waited for you to come wake me up, but you never came.”

I glanced over my shoulder to see if we had woken up Quinn. Emery tracked my line of sight and gasped. “Mommy, Quinn’s sleeping in your bed.”

I was about to haul her downstairs and tell her that he needed to rest when his deep morning voice spoke up. “Morning, Peanut.”

I turned to see him sitting up against the headboard. He shot me a hopeful smile. One that said, I got this. Having him back in her life would be the one positive outcome from all this. She had been upset lately and did absolutely nothing to hide her true feelings. Any chance she got, she told me in as many ways as she could that she missed having him around.

Her frustration was just too big for her little body. Her attachment to him kind of freaked me out, because I knew better than anyone what it was like to all of a sudden have Quinn Walker disappear from your life. It worried me that someday I might have to endure that again, only this time it would be my daughter’s feelings on the line if we crashed and burned like before. It almost felt reckless and people probably thought we were crazy, but I didn’t care. No one knew our love like we did.

She looked more than pleased to see him and rushed at rapid speed toward his grinning face. Her tiny body skidded to a halt at the end of the bed. God, I wish I had her energy first thing in the morning. “You’re back.”

He gave her a warm smile, while scrubbing his jaw with his left hand. His morning scruff was sexy as hell. My thighs clenched, remembering how good it felt between my legs last night. “I missed your mom’s banana cinnamon pancakes.” He winked at me, causing a flush to hit my face. The man was lethal when it came to women, regardless of their age, and he knew it too. “Do you think we can convince her to make some for breakfast?”

She nodded her head enthusiastically. “I know she will, but she won’t eat any because she gets sick in the toilet every morning, so she doesn’t eat breakfast anymore.”

Quinn’s eyes flew to mine. “You didn’t tell me you haven’t been feeling well.”

My heart dropped. This was not how I wanted him to find out. I still wasn’t sure if I was pregnant, but I had a sinking feeling that I was.

Unease crawled up my spine. Maybe I was being paranoid, but at that moment I started to feel queasy and nauseous. I brought my hands to my temple and that dizzy feeling had me rushing into the bathroom.

Quinn was right behind me, holding my hair back as I emptied the contents of my stomach. After a couple minutes of hovering over the toilet bowl, Quinn helped me up and walked me over to the sink so I could brush my teeth.

“Emery.” I wiped my mouth off with a towel and looked to my daughter who was standing in the doorway watching this all unfold. “Can you get the ingredients out for the pancakes and we’ll be down in a couple minutes?”

“Okay.” She started to walk away but stopped. “Do you want me to make some tea, so that your tummy will feel better?”

“Yes, thank you,” I said, and watched her run out of the room.

Quinn leaned against the bathroom vanity. He crossed his bare feet at the ankles and folded his hands against his chest. “What’s going? How long have you been getting sick?”

I hung my head and averted my gaze. “A couple of weeks.”

“Have you called a doctor?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“Have you had a fever, sore throat, cough? Any other symptoms?”

I snaked a hand through my hair and tried to untangle my thoughts. “Just dizzy, lightheaded, and nauseous. Other than that, I’ve been extremely tired lately.”

He had that detective stare. The one that unnerved me. The one that had me all figured out. “When’s the last time you had your period?”

Jesus Christ! He didn’t beat around the bush. No wonder he was so good at his job. “I’m a little late. I’ve been meaning to buy a test. I haven’t had the time. Plus, whenever I’m at the store, Emery is with me. And that’s the last thing I want to explain to her.”

He flew out of the room and started to throw his clothes on. He ran over to the dresser and pocketed his phone and wallet. My heart felt like it was going to fly out of my chest. My mind started to run with all crazy thoughts. Was he really going to leave me?

---