"You protected him, and then got married?"
"No. I protected him, married him, protected him some more-by making people think I was sleeping with his friends without telling him what I was really doing-and then we finally fought hard enough for each other to make it stick. It wasn't easy, and both of us said and did things we're ashamed of. We don't dwell on those things, if we did we'd be over before we even had a chance to start again. We've spent the last few months concentrating on the present and the future, and I've never been happier.
"No matter how happy we all are, though, I'll never fully forgive myself for keeping my boys apart. Audrey would never do that to you. Our situations are different, and she would want you in the baby's life, even if you aren't together. You have to know that. I let him go in there, because I think he needed to rally for you since he never had that chance to do it for himself, but she was already going to talk to you."
"I believe that. I don't want to be a part-time parent. I want my baby, but I also want Audrey. All day, every day, I want her."
She looks at me and smiles. "I think you mean that. Now you just need to prove it."
"I will."
Tegan surprises me by giving me a hug, and then I walk to Audrey's door. Caleb comes out as I go in, and I shake his hand. "Thank you."
"She's a special lady. Treat her right from now on," he warns me in a smooth voice that carries a Southern accent.
"I plan to."
"Good."
I stop inside the room to take Audrey in. She has a bandage on her head, and her hands on her stomach, where a monitor is attached. I can hear our baby's heartbeat, but it's Audrey's smile that I'm focusing on. She's smiling, and I feel like I just won everything in life. Every. Damn. Thing.
Chapter 19
Audrey
"Hi," Blake says, standing just inside my hospital room door.
"Hi."
"Can I come in?"
"Hmm … that question could mean so much more than you want it to."
He looks shocked for a minute, but quickly recovers. "I want. Believe me I want. I wasn't referring to that, but it's always on the table where you're concerned."
"Always?"
"Always, and all ways, too."
"Come over here so I can kiss you."
He doesn't hesitate, sitting on my bed and letting me have his lips. I know we need to talk, but I've missed his mouth. And all of his other wonderful body parts. The Griffin women all joked about being extra horny while they were pregnant, and I totally understand. I may only be a few weeks along, but I feel like an addict who hasn't had a hit in weeks. I haven't had Blake in weeks, and I need him, especially after being stuck in that office with Jimmy the other day.
I move my hands under his t-shirt, and start to pull it off. "Dree, you're in the hospital."
"No I'm in a medical ward in a sublevel of Corrigan & Co. and I want you. Now."
"Someone could walk in."
"I just had my vitals checked. We have a little time," I say as I stroke him through his jeans.
"Fuck."
"Exactly."
"What the hell, it's not like I haven't shown my ass to the world before."
"Best movie ever."
"It was not even close to being my best movie," he tells me as he takes his clothes off and gets under my blanket with me.
"None of the other ones had your ass on full display, so I stand by my original declaration."
"Perv."
"Says the man who just got naked in a pregnant woman's hospital bed."
"You practically begged."
"You're right. Carry on," I tell him as he slides his hands under the only piece of clothing I'm wearing."
He looks at the I.V. and various wires all over me. "I don't think we're going to get this nightie off you."
"Can't you tear it off with your bare hands?"
"Um, no. I could maybe tear a thong off of you, but even that would be pushing it. I'm not really a superhero, Dree. I just played one once."
"Where's my call button? I'll ask the nurse to bring us scissors."
"I am bare ass naked, and you want to call a nurse?"
"Hmm, you're right again, she might try to join in and I'd have to use the scissors to cut her. Just move the wires out of the way."
He's staring at me like I'm nuts. "I don't even know what to say to that."
"So quit talking, and use your mouth for better things."
"Yeah. Good idea. If I think about this conversation anymore, I may feel objectified, rendering me incapable of performing to my best ability."
"This is going to be epic," I tell him, arching my breasts towards his mouth. "And you'll perform. Little Hollywood loves me."
He shakes his head as he lowers it, and takes my nipple in his mouth. That's more like it. I pull him almost on top of me so I can stroke him without pulling my I.V. out. He's getting into it, and it's hot. Until my door opens, that is.
"Oh my God. You women. You damn women," Kendrick yells, turning his back to us.
"That was Blake's ass you saw, not mine," I say, pulling my shirt back down. "The whole world's already seen it, so nothing new."
"I have not seen it. I didn't go to that movie. Why would I have gone to that movie?"
"To study his anatomy?"
"Stop, Audrey. Please stop," Blake begs as he puts his pants back on. "You can turn around now, Doc."
"This is just … unacceptable. What if a nurse had walked in?"
"We wouldn't have let her join in. I promise."
"I think she hit her head too hard, man. She wasn't like this before."
"She's always been like this," Kendrick tells Blake, looking at him curiously. "How well do you know her?"
"Well enough to knock me up."
"Oh God. I'm in the Twilight Zone, or there's a hidden camera, right? It would have to be HBO or Showtime with the nudity, but there has to be a camera in here somewhere."
"No cameras, Mr. Armstrong. This is just business as usual here. I'd say you get used to it, but I've been here for three months, and I'm still shocked by one of them every single day."
"We like to keep you on your toes," Reina says as she walks in. "What was so disturbing that you needed to call me down here, Ken?"
"They were about to be intimate when I walked in. That is not proper."
"Aud?"
"We'd barely just started the foreplay. We had at least a few minutes to go before the main event."
"Oh God. Is there an escape hatch in here? There has to be, right?" Blake asks Reina, practically pleading with her.
"It's fine, Blake. We're all adults here."
"It is not fine," Kendrick tells her.
"I explained that you'd be facing some interesting situations if you took this job."
"I expected ‘interesting' to mean injuries and other such things you'd find with a secret spy group."
"You've had those."
"Yes, but this … this … "
"Sex," I tell him. "It's called sex, Kenny. I think you need some. Stat."
Reina shoots me a wicked smile before putting on a serious face for Kendrick. "I am truly sorry that Audrey has upset your delicate sensibilities. Blake and I will leave while you examine her."
"Wait. Shouldn't I be here? You know, since I'm the dad?"
"Yeah. He needs to hold my hand."
"As long as that's all he's holding, he can stay," Kendrick tells us.
I hold out my hand and Blake takes it with a rueful smile. "What have I gotten myself into?"
"Me. And now we're having a baby. Buckle up, Hollywood. It's going to be a bumpy ride with me. Always."
Blake
Kendrick checks Audrey's chart and then checks her vitals, and gives her an exam-you know, the woman kind of exam. He says she's doing well, and can go home after breakfast. I hold out my hand to thank him, but he just shakes his head. I was using it to hold myself up over Audrey when he walked in, and not doing other things with it, but whatever. He really is uptight.
"That was awkward," I say as he walks out.
"Ready to try again?"
"Definitely not."
"He won't come back," she tells me with a pout.
"No, but he said breakfast will be here any minute."
"Can we at least cuddle?"
"That, we can do," I say, taking her in my arms as I lie down next to her. "I never realized you were so funny."
"There are a lot of things we don't know about each other."
"I know. I was thinking about that while I was waiting for you to wake up. Would you go out with me?"
"Like 80s ‘going out' as in dating?"
"Yes, please. I want to get to know you. All of you, Aud. I already know I love you, but I want to learn how much I like you, too."
"Well, of course I'll go out with you."
"Great. I thought we could take turns planning the dates."