Pregnant by the Maverick Millionaire(19)

"Right now, yeah!" Kade snapped. He rubbed his jaw before gripping the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb.

"You haven't told them," Poppy said and he heard the amusement in her  voice. Glad she was finding this funny because he sure as hell wasn't.

"Told us what?" Quinn asked, his eyes alight with curiosity.

Poppy's open hand drifted through the air, silently telling him it was  his call whether to answer his friends or not. They had to know  sometime. If he told them now, then he'd avoid them nagging him to  distraction.

Kade looked toward the open door and crossed the floor, slamming it  shut. They all knew the signal: closed door meant what was said in the  room stayed in the room. Both Mac and Quinn nodded their agreement.

"Brodie is pregnant," Kade quietly said. He handed Mac a rueful smile. "I'm right behind you in the new-dads line."

* * *

Kade was grateful that beyond quietly congratulating him, Mac and Quinn  didn't make a big song and dance over his announcement. Instead they  just left the room, still looking shocked. All their lives were changing  at a rapid pace. Just a few months ago they had been the most eligible  bachelors in the city. Now Mac was getting married and he and Kade were  both going to be fathers.                       
       
           



       

Then again, none of them ever eased their way into a situation, Kade  thought as Mac shut the door behind him. They always jumped into the  deep end and swam hard. "They took it rather well," Poppy said, linking  her hands around her knee.

"They were behaving themselves in front of you," Kade explained. "Trust me, when they get me alone, they'll rip into me."

Kade dropped his head and rubbed the back of his neck. White-hot pain  shot up his spine and bounced off the back of his skull. Hell, he hadn't  had a migraine for years and, he recalled, they always started like  this. It had been so long since an attack he'd stopped the habit of  carrying medicine with him to take the edge off the pain.

"Are you unhappy about this baby, Kade?"

Kade had to concentrate hard for her words to make sense. "Not unhappy.  Surprised, getting used to the idea. Wondering how we're going to make  it work."

"You will," Poppy told him, sounding convinced. "And Brodie being pregnant is the reason I am here.

"I am scheduled to go on a cruise in a week or so. Ordinarily I would  cancel the cruise and stay home with Brodie. I'm worried about her. But I  am one of the tour leaders and they need me."

Kade held up a hand and silently cursed when he saw his vision was  starting to double. Dammit, he had about fifteen minutes, a half hour at  most, before he fell to the floor. "Do you want her to move in with  me?"

"Not necessarily, but I am worried about her, Kade. She's sick and  stressed and she's not sleeping, not eating. If no one keeps an eye on  her, I worry I'll come back to a skeleton that swallowed a pea."

"How long are you away for?" God, it was getting difficult to concentrate.

"Two months. Are you okay? You look awfully pale."

That would be a negative. "I'll look after her... I'll keep an eye on her," Kade muttered, slurring his words.

"Oh, my God, you really don't look well. Can I call someone for you?"

He wanted to shrug off the pain, to act like nothing was wrong, but it  felt like there were pickaxes penetrating his skull. "Call Mac, Quinn.  Tell them...migraine."

"I'm on it." Poppy jumped up so fast the foot of her chair scraped along  the floor and the sound sliced through Kade's head as he dropped his  head to the desk.

* * *

When Brodie arrived at Kade's loft, Quinn opened the door to let her in.  Brodie was surprised when he bent down and dropped a friendly kiss on  her cheek. "Hey, pretty girl."

She couldn't feel offended. Quinn was so damn good-looking he could  charm a fence post out of concrete. "Hey, Quinn." Brodie dropped her bag  on the hall table and saw Mac standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows  looking out at the incredible views of the city. "Hi, Mac."

"Hi, Brodie." He walked over to her and, equally surprisingly, dropped a kiss on her cheek.

"How is he?" she asked, biting her bottom lip.

"He's over the worst of it and this one was bad." Mac ran a hand through his hair.

"Does he get them often?" Brodie asked.

Quinn shook his head. "No, not anymore. He used to when he first joined the Mavericks but he hasn't had one for years."

"We think it's stress-induced," Mac quietly added. He looked at her  stomach and back up to her eyes again and Brodie flushed. "He's got  quite a bit to be stressed about at the moment."

"I told him he doesn't have to be! This is my problem. I can deal with  it." Brodie felt sick and sad. It wasn't her fault Kade had endured two  days of pain, that he'd been restricted to a darkened room, all because  she'd told him she didn't need him.

She didn't need him.

"You don't know Kade at all if you think he'd just walk away from you  and his child," Mac replied, ignoring her flash of temper. "And it's not  only your situation causing his stress. He's dealing with a hell of a  lot, work-wise, at the moment."

Brodie folded her arms across her chest and sucked in a calming breath.  Mac was right; she didn't really know anything about Kade and she knew  even less about what he dealt with on a daily basis.

Brodie looked down at the container of soup in her arms. She'd had a  friend in college who suffered from migraines and she knew she battled  to eat anything solid for days afterward. Chicken soup had been all her  friend could stand. So, Brodie had whipped up a batch and decided to  bring it over.

A little get-better-soon gesture from her baby's mommy to her baby's  daddy. That was all that this visit was. All it could be. "Is he awake?  Would he like something to eat?"                       
       
           



       

Quinn took the container from her and walked toward the kitchen. "He's  still sleeping and likely to be asleep for another hour or two." Quinn  exchanged a look with Mac and spoke again. "Hey, can you do us a favor?"

"Maybe," Brodie cautiously answered.

Quinn put down the container and placed his hands on the center island  separating the dining area from the kitchen. "Can you hang out here for  an hour or two and then wake Kade up and try to get him to eat?"

Mac nodded his agreement. "Our new player arrived in the city earlier  this afternoon and the three of us were supposed to take him out to  dinner. Quinn and I can still do that if you hang around here and feed  Kade."

"Sure."

"We'll call you later and see how he's doing. If you think he's okay, then we'll go back to our own places."

"You've been here for two days?" Brodie asked, surprised.

Mac flushed. "We've taken shifts. He's a friggin' miserable patient and we could do with a break."

Kade had good friends, Brodie realized. Very good friends. There for  each other through thick and thin. Brodie ignored her envy and nodded.  "Go, I'll be fine."

"We know you will." Quinn walked up to her, placed his big hands on her  shoulders. He gave her a slow, sweet, genuine smile. "Congratulations on  the baby, Brodie. We can't wait to meet him...or her."

Brodie felt her throat tighten. "Thank you."

Quinn turned away and Mac bent down to give her a small hug. "Yeah, from  me, too, Brodie. I don't know how you two are going to make this work  but we're rooting for you. And Rory wants to have lunch. She says the  two of you are reasonably smart people and you can figure out the  pregnancy thing together."

"I'd like that," Brodie murmured.

Quinn pointed at the container. "Make him eat. He'll feel better for it."

Mac clapped Quinn on the shoulder and steered him to the door. "Stop fussing. Brodie can handle it."

"I know but he gets all depressed and mopey after a migraine," Quinn complained.

"Brodie. Will. Handle. It." With a last eye-roll at Brodie, Mac steered  Quinn through the doors. He looked back and flashed Brodie a grin. "I  swear after raising these two, having a kid is going to be a breeze."





Eight

"Go away, Quinn."

"Sorry, not Quinn." Brodie pushed open the door to Kade's bedroom and  walked into the darkness to stand at the end of his bed. Her eyes  adjusted and she took in his broad back, the yummy butt covered in a  pair of loose boxers, the muscled thighs and calves. He was in great  shape-long, lean and muscular. Powerful.

"Brodie?" Kade rolled over and leaned on one elbow. He pushed his hair  back from his forehead and squinted at her. "What are you doing here?"