"Yes."
"I think my water just broke."
"What the hell?!" He jumped out of bed, glancing around for his pants. He found them on the back of the chair. He wasn't completely unprepared for this. He'd had his assistant get him a couple of books on pregnancy, and he knew the layout of the hospital where Cassidy was expected to give birth … in two more weeks. He was even scheduled to attend his first childbirth class with Cassidy next week.
"Did it?"
She glanced down at the bed. "Um … yes."
He kept cool but inside he was panicking. What was he supposed to do with a pregnant woman? "Okay, let's get you dressed and we'll head out."
"Donovan?"
"Yes, baby?"
"I'm scared."
"Don't be. I'm here and I'll make sure everything goes exactly the way it's supposed to." He knew then that he couldn't give in to the uncertainty that swirled around him. He had to be the one to take control and present a calm front for her.
She smiled at him and he felt the burden he'd taken from her. He was scared, too, because he didn't want anything to go wrong. He needed Cassidy, and not just because he wanted to beat Sam in their quest for the CEO position.
He grabbed clean clothes for her from her overnight bag and called her doctor while she changed in the bathroom. He finished dressing and got his wallet. He also called the valet desk and had them bring his car around.
The door opened and Cassidy stepped out looking a bit dazed and scared. He didn't think of anything but Cassidy and the baby. Didn't think of anything but taking care of her.
This was a first for him, putting someone else completely before himself. He'd analyze that later. But for now, as they were riding in the elevator, he just wrapped his arm around her and held her close.
"I was so sure I could do this on my own," she said.
"You could have. Your mom would have been here with you, or Emma."
"That's true, but I was just thinking that having you here is exactly what I need. With you I can really relax and know that you'll take care of everything."
He really was a bastard for having walked out of her life the way he had and for only coming back for himself. There was so much he hadn't realized he was doing to her.
His car was waiting when they got downstairs and Cassidy started having some serious contractions while he drove them to the hospital. The decision to have their wedding night in Charleston instead of somewhere else outside the city had been a good one.
"Did you call my parents?"
"Not yet."
She pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed their number. He half listened to her conversation, thinking about the fact that this was his life now. This woman and the child about to be born.
He wasn't sure he was ready for his life to change this drastically.
He pulled into the parking lot at the hospital and got Cassidy out of the car and into the reception area. He pushed aside everything but Cassidy and the baby. He took control in the waiting area, got the nurses to see to Cassidy. He signed paperwork and talked to the doctor on call. Then there was nothing else to do.
He paced around the private room. It was nice enough, he supposed, with walls painted in neutral, soothing colors.
"Stop pacing," Cassidy said.
"Sorry. After all the stuff we had to do to get here, just standing around waiting for the monitor to do something … "
"Is making you crazy?"
"Pretty much. The next thing that should happen is your contractions getting more intensive. I'll help you manage them."
"You will? How?"
"By managing … distracting you," he said.
"I'm not exactly looking forward to this part," Cassidy said.
"What did you think when you found out you were pregnant?" he asked.
"Well, at first I was excited."
"When did you find out?" he asked. Everything had been going so fast since he'd walked back into her life that he hadn't had a chance to really talk to Cassidy about the baby. He'd been at the office as much as possible, shoring up his position with the board. Making sure that they knew he was the only man for the CEO position.
"The day you asked me to marry you," she said.
He crossed his arms over his chest. "Why did you turn me down? I mean, you knew about the baby, right?"
She closed her eyes for a second, and he checked the monitor and saw that she'd just had a contraction. "Sorry about missing that."
He went back to her side and took her hand in his. He kept one eye on the monitor. "Tell me why you didn't just marry me when I asked you to. Was it only because of what I said about children and family?"
"Yes. I didn't want you to feel trapped. I could have mentioned I was pregnant, and I know you, Donovan, you would have done the right thing."
He wasn't too sure about that. As much as he prided himself on being an upstanding man, a real gentleman when it came to women, he'd also seen what kids did to a man and his career. Relationships that had once been solid often folded under the pressures that a man inherited when he became a father.
"What's wrong about that?" he asked, truly not understanding what she was saying. He only knew that if she backed out of being married to him now, he didn't know what he'd do.
"I wanted you to marry me for me."
Cassidy didn't want to have a conversation about herself right now. The baby and marriage weren't exactly topics that she wanted to discuss during labor. She was interested in finding out what was going on with his cousin and Tolley-Patterson, but right now she didn't think she was up to an in-depth conversation.
Right now, she was figuring out that moderate pain wasn't as moderate as the books described-or maybe she was wimpier than the average woman. Hell, she didn't care. The sensation in her abdomen was getting more intense and Donovan was standing over her, looking like a man who wanted to discuss the weight of the world.
"Baby," he said in a very low tone, and she felt a sting of tears in her eyes.
She turned away so he wouldn't see. He sounded as though he really cared. The man who could never and probably would never tell her how he felt had a voice that could melt her heart sometimes. She hated her weakness for tears. Especially now, when she was trying not to let him see how much pain she was in.
"I was speaking hypothetically. I was a man who arrogantly thought he knew what he felt about children."
"And you didn't?" she asked. Because Donovan was the kind of man who knew how he stood on every topic. She appreciated that he wanted to make her feel better and was trying to say something that would, but she saw through his words to the truth underneath.
And that truth was exactly what she'd feared. That Donovan would have married her and in fact probably had married her because she was pregnant with his child.
"Well, let's just say that I didn't anticipate anything to do with you and me and this child."
"What does that mean?" she asked, feeling her stomach start to tighten.
"You've got another contraction coming," he said, holding her hand solidly in his.
She gripped his hand.
"I just … Listen, Cassidy," he said once her pain subsided. He sank down on the bed next to her hip and took her hand in both of his. "My life was on a certain track, you know? Working my way to the top and proving to Granddaddy that I was his logical successor was always my focus."
He was trying to tell her something, but she had no idea what. There was too much going on inside her as her body prepared to give birth. She appreciated that Donovan was finally opening up to her but now was seriously not the time.
"I know. You've always been focused on your job," she said.
Her belly started to tighten again and she clamped down on his hand, her nails digging into his skin. "God this hurts."
Donovan held her hand through the long contraction and then stood up. "I'll take care of this."
She was amazed at how quickly he got the floor nurse into her room to take care of the pain. The technician who was supposed to be administering her epidural arrived and in a very short time she was resting comfortably. Donovan was commanding and in charge, making sure the hospital staff took care of her every need.
Her mother and Emma arrived. The women swarmed around the bed to ask if she was okay. Her father stood in the hallway, cell phone attached to his ear. She could hardly believe he'd come at this hour.
"I'll leave you alone with your girls for a little while. Have them call me on my cell if you need me." Donovan kissed her forehead.