Pregnant with a Royal Baby!(29)

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It sounded like such a good plan when his heart beat slow and heavy in  his chest from the ache of knowing he was about to lose her. He lowered  his head and kissed her. Her arms came up to wrap around his shoulders  and everything suddenly made sense in Dominic's world.

The buzz of the phone on his bedside table interrupted his thoughts. He  didn't want to stop kissing Ginny. Didn't want this moment filled with  possibilities to end. So he let the phone go, knowing it would switch to  voice mail after five rings, only to have it immediately start ringing  again.

The call of duty was stronger than his simple human needs. He pulled  away from Ginny with a sigh, but didn't release her. Stretching, he  retrieved the receiver for the phone and said, "Yes?"

"One of our ports has been taken by the sheikh. We are at war."





CHAPTER THIRTEEN

DOMINIC DIDN'T JUMP out of bed; he flew. "I don't know how much of this  is going to hit the press or how soon, but the sheikh has taken one of  our ports. He's telling people we're too weak to protect our waterways,  so he's taking over. Which means that port is the first step to all-out  war."

Ginny sucked in a breath. On top of all the other odd things she was  feeling tonight, having her husband go to war made her chest hurt. She  grabbed his arm as he turned to find clothes and get dressed.

"Where will you be? You don't actually have to lead troops into battle, do you?"

"No. There's a war room. My father and I will direct the military from  there." He pursed his lips for a second as if debating, then sat on the  edge of the bed. "I'll be fine. It's our military who will suffer  casualties. Because we don't want to attack our own facility, we have to  try diplomacy first. Worst-case scenario happens if he tries to move  farther inland or take another port. Then there will be battles,  casualties." He caught her gaze. "And then you might not see me until  it's over."

She nodded, but the tears were back. No matter how strange or odd she  felt, she didn't want to stop him from doing his duty. In fact, there  was a part of her that was proud of him.

She leaned forward and kissed him. "Go stop that guy."

He nodded, dressed and raced out of the room.

Ginny lay in bed, breathing hard. Her stomach felt like a rock.  Everything around her seemed out of control. So she did some of the  breathing she'd been taught in the childbirth classes Sally had arranged  for her. Even though Dom was supposed to be in the delivery room, he  hadn't attended the classes. But since most of it was about breathing  and remaining calm, he really hadn't needed to. Nobody could remain calm  and detached the way Dom could.

She breathed again, in and out, and her stomach relaxed. Knowing she  wouldn't sleep, she got out of bed and grabbed her book. Sitting on the  sofa-with all her lights on because she was just a little afraid, and  stupid as it sounded, the light made her feel better-she read until  three o'clock in the morning. Her stomach tensed often enough that a  horrible realization sliced through her. Still, with weeks until her due  date, she didn't want to think she was in labor. So she let herself  believe these contractions would pass.

But at seven, she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She picked up the  house phone and dialed her mom's extension. "I think I'm in labor."

"Oh, no! Ginny, sweetie...this is too early."

Her stomach contracted again and she doubled over with pain. "All right. I no longer think I'm in labor. I know I am."

"Did they tell you what to do?"

"I have to call the doctor, but-" She doubled over again. "Oh, my God, this hurts."

"That'd be labor. Okay. I'm coming over. I'll call Sally who will tell Dom."

"He's in the war room. We're at war."

Her mom was quiet for a few seconds, then she said, "Didn't know if  you'd been told, but, yes. I saw the news this morning. We're at war."

"I don't even know if Dom can come out for this."

"Oh, dear Lord, of course, he can. You just go get some clothes on so  security can get you to the hospital. I will take care of calling Sally  who will get Dom to the hospital."                       
       
           



       

Ginny did as she was told. The week before she'd been advised by her  birthing coach to pack a bag for the hospital "just in case." So after  sliding into maternity jeans and a sweater, she lugged the bag from  Dom's room to the sitting area.

Then pain roared through her stomach and she fell to the sofa. She tried  to breathe, but the fear that gripped her kept her from being able to  focus. Her new country was at war and she was in labor. Four weeks too  early. She didn't even want to contemplate that her baby might not be  ready, but how could she not?

When she was almost at the point of hyperventilation, her door swung  open and her mom raced in. "I talked to Sally, who said she will talk to  the king. She said not to worry. She'll take care of everything."

She rose from the sofa, the pain so intense, tears speared her eyes again. "Good."

The doors opened again and Dom's top security team ran in.

"Ma'am? Can you walk?"

She caught her mother's hand. "Oh, jeez. Now I'm ma'am."

Her mother led her to the door. "That's right, sweetie. Keep your sense of humor."

Her labor lasted twelve long hours. Every twenty minutes she asked where  Dom was. Every twenty-one minutes her mother would say, "He's been told  you're in labor. He'll be here any minute."

She gave birth to a healthy, albeit tiny, baby boy. The happy, smiling  doctor, a man who'd clearly gotten sufficient sleep the night before,  joyfully said, "Can you tell me his name?"

She blinked tiredly. "For the birth certificate?"

He laughed. "No, just because I'm curious."

She swallowed. "We didn't really pick a name yet." But she remembered  James Tiberius Kirk. There were some times Dom could be so much fun, so  loving, that she knew this war had to be god-awful to keep him away from  his son's birth.

The doctor placed her little boy, her little king, in her arms, and the  tears that fell this time were happy tears. "Look at him, Mom." But she  wished she was saying that to Dom. She should be saying, "Look at your  son."

But they were at war. And he was needed.

Still, the sting of giving birth to their child alone caused tears to prick her eyelids.

"He's beautiful." Her mom kissed her cheek. "But you're tired."

"Have you heard from Sally?"

"Not a peep."

"Okay."

The doctor walked to the head of her bed. "The nurses need to take your  son to be cleaned up and examined. You can have him back in an hour or  so."

"You're taking him?" She hadn't been told this protocol, but it just  didn't seem right to hand over the future king to people who were  essentially strangers.

The doctor laughed and pointed outside the delivery room doors where her  security detail stood guard. "Don't worry. He's already been assigned  security. He might be leaving your sight but he won't be leaving the  royal family's sight."

Her mom took the future king from her arms. "Why don't you go to sleep, honey?"

She said, "Okay," and felt herself drifting off as her mom handed her little boy to the doctor.

When she woke forty minutes later, she took off the ugly hospital gown  they'd insisted she give birth in, and with her mom's help put on a  pretty nightgown. She prayed Xaviera's war didn't last long, and also  knew that when he could Dom would slip out and see his son. She wanted  him to see she'd done okay. That she was fine. She was being the  stiff-upper-lip princess she needed to be in this difficult time.

Nurses brought her baby back almost exactly an hour after he'd been  taken away. The royal pediatrician came in and told her that her son was  in good health, but he was small, so a few precautions would be taken.

The pediatrician returned the next morning and gave her the same report.  She squeezed her hands together nervously. With her mom there, security  outside her door and very attentive nurses, she shouldn't feel alone,  but she did. They wouldn't let her see a newspaper so she knew whatever  was going on had to be terrible.

She wondered how safe the war room was-how safe the palace was? The  sheikh had barrels of money, and money bought weapons and soldiers. She  knew very little about Xaviera's army and worried that Dom would have to  bomb his own ports.

The next day she noticed security outside her room had been doubled.  That's when it dawned on her that she hadn't seen any press. When she  got out of bed and looked out her window, the world looked calm.  Peaceful. Knowing that everybody in the kingdom was waiting for this  baby, it seemed odd that the press wasn't climbing the walls, trying to  get pictures.