Page 33 of Tangled
“He’ll panic over every little thing until Tia tells him to get his shit together. Then he’ll snap out of it and be a great—and normal—dad. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if he passes out in the delivery room.”
She laughed, her breath huffing over his chest. “What are you going to be like in the delivery room?” she asked, touching on the specific topic for the first time. They’d talked about parenting, but they hadn’t talked about the birth. He liked that she assumed he’d be there.
“Solid as a rock, I promise,” he said, patting her arm.
“You know, it’s always the mighty who fall.”
“Not going to happen. You’ll be doing all the hard work. The least I can do is be your biggest cheerleader.”
She raised a brow. “Cheerleader? There is one rule I’m laying down right now.”
“Yeah?” He drew back far enough to see her.
“There will be no cheerleading. I do not want to hear you chanting that I can do it or telling me that I’m doing great. And if you so much as think of telling me how amazing I am for doing something women have been doing for thousands of years, I will have you removed. I think I could get Ethan to do it for me.” He laughed, then she added, “Of course, I’m assuming everything progresses the way it should and that there aren’t any complications.”
“Are you worried about that?” he asked. One in the morning wasn’t the best time to have this conversation. Between her fatigue and his job, though, he’d take what they could get.
“I have no specific reason to be. I guess I’ve just seen a lot of thingsnotgo well. One of those ‘the more you know, the more you know what can go wrong’ kind of things.”
“You mentioned seeing a doctor in LA?”
She nodded, her hair brushing his chest. “After the at-home test, I was feeling so terrible that I went to see a friend of mine.He did an ultrasound, and everything looked the way it should for how far along I was. I even heard the heartbeat. He’s the one who diagnosed me with hyperemesis gravidarum.”
“Do you need to be seen again? We can make that happen,” he said, not having any idea how frequently pregnant women were supposed to see the doctor.
“I am due for a monthly check-up, but it can wait until this other stuff is resolved. I’m sure Kara would bring a monitor here if you wanted to hear the heartbeat.”
A chill raced across his skin at that thought. The hospital would give the family a private waiting room after Tia’s delivery. Maybe he could get Asher or Kara to give her an informal check-up while they were there. Of course, that was assuming she’d go with him. Which he had.
“Will you come with me tonight when it’s time?” he asked.
She lifted her head and searched his expression.
“Don’t say it’s a family thing, because you are very much a part of this family already,” he said, heading off the objection he could all but hear in her head. “I’m not going to try to convince you. I want you to be there. I don’t want you to doubt that for a second. But the decision is yours.”
“Way to put a girl on the spot,” she muttered. “At least I don’t have to decide right this moment.”
He chuckled as his phone dinged with a text. He read the message from his mom, then laughed. “Actually, love, you do need to decide. Tia is getting ready to push.”
***
At six that morning, Brad and Scarlett reentered the apartment, exhausted but high on adrenaline. Maya and Ruby Warwick had entered the world at forty-two minutes after two in the morning. By four, they’d met their adoring grandparentsfrom both sides of the family as well as their uncles and aunts-to-be. Even if Scarlett wasn’t aware of her future title.
He’d told her they wouldn’t marry because of the baby, and he hadn’t lied about that. He fully intended for them to marry because theywanted to. While he might be certain about this eventuality, though, he recognized that she might not be there yet. She also had a lot of other things on her mind that needed more immediate attention—like the threat to her life and growing their baby.
Their baby. Their baby whom he’d seen for the first time an hour earlier. It hadn’t taken much to convince Kara to sneak them to a back room and do an ultrasound. The first time he saw the little bean floating around in the amniotic fluid, he realized his dad wasn’t the only crier in the family. He hadn’t let loose quite like his dad, but he definitely experienced some heavy emotions.
Between meeting his nieces and seeing their baby, it had been an eventful five hours. And without a word, they walked to Scarlett’s room, stripped down to minimal clothing, and climbed back into bed. Opening his arms, she turned and curled her body around his, setting her head on his chest and sliding a leg over his thigh. Warm and happy, it didn’t take either of them long to fall asleep.
A scant three hours later, he was standing in the living room, cup of coffee in hand, staring out the window at the snow-covered lake. Flurries swirled through the air, a precursor of the coming storm. He raised his mug in silent salute to Mother Nature—she was giving them a hell of a season, timing the storms perfectly in sync for skiers to have new powder every weekend.
On the counter, his phone buzzed with a text. After walking over to grab it, he took a seat on the sofa, pulled a blanket over his lap, and opened the app.
Gramps:When am I going to meet Scarlett?
Brad winced. He was usually good about checking in with his grandfather every day or two, but this week had thrown him off schedule.
Brad:I should have brought her over sooner. Maybe this weekend if she’s feeling up for it?
