Many minutes later, Vinny collapsed along the length of the couch, pulled her into his arms, and flipped the throw over their naked bodies. He kissed her forehead. “God, I love our life together,” he mumbled.
She smiled like a cat that had eaten the canary. “I’m glad you said that.” She lifted her head off his shoulder and reached for the gift he’d left for later. “Open it now.”
What he’d thought was a box of chocolates proved too light. Bemused, Vinny tugged off the bow, lifted the lid, and peeked inside. A white plastic test strip with an unmistakable plus sign looked out at him from a bed of velvet. First surprise, then astonishment, then euphoria broke over him in successive waves, rendering him speechless.
“I’m six weeks pregnant,” Lia announced, her eyes dancing with joy. “Looks like we had our own Christmas miracle.”
“Holy shit.” Vinny had never doubted his ability to get Lia pregnant; he’d accomplished everything he’d ever set his sights on. He just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
“You’ll just be starting med school, and I’ll be working at a new job when the baby’s born,” she added, revealing a trace of her old self-doubt.
“Hey,” he admonished. “Just love our baby the way you love me, and it’ll all work out. There is nothing you and I can’t handle together. Remember?”
“I remember,” she said, brushing away happy tears.
After what had happened to her at Rawlings’ hands, she would never forget it.
“I love you, Lia.” He slid his arm beneath the throw and placed a large warm palm over her bare stomach, right over his child. “Thank you,” he said, meaning it. “This is the best Valentine’s Day present I could ever get.”
“Just wait until the birth,” she murmured, with a touch of wryness.
“That’ll be a pretty damn great gift, too.”
*
About the Author
Marliss Melton is the best-selling, award-winning author of a seven-book Navy SEALs series and the critically acclaimed Taskforce series, plus related novellas and short stories. Daughter of a foreign services officer and wife of a retired Navy veteran, Melton relies on her many contacts in various government agencies and in the Spec Ops community to pen realistic and heartfelt romantic suspense. Be sure to friend her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Goodreads. Get inspired with a weekly blog about heroes, qualify for monthly prizes, or sign up for a newsletter at www.marlissmelton.com.
SEAL Team 12 series (7 novels, 1 novella, 1 short story)
Taskforce series (3 novels)
Echo Platoon SEALs series (coming soon)
Holding On
Stephanie Tyler
Copyright © 2011 Stephanie Tyler
EPUB Edition
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
About the Book
Jamie Michaels is an FBI Agent, married to a Navy SEAL…and about to give birth while her husband’s deployed.
Navy SEAL Chris Waldron’s been on some impossible missions before, but getting home in time for the birth of his son might prove to be the toughest—and most rewarding mission of all.
This is dedicated to all the men and women who’ve served—thank you.
A Quick Note from Stephanie
This story is set approximately six and a half months from the end of HOLD ON TIGHT. So many readers asked about what was happening with the Navy SEAL brothers from the HOLD series (HARD TO HOLD, TOO HOT TO HOLD, HOLD ON TIGHT), I thought this was the perfect opportunity to catch everyone up.
This story has also been featured in the anthology, SEAL of My Dreams.
“The only easy day was yesterday.”
—US NAVY SEAL saying
Chapter One
‡
Virginia Beach 2 days before Christmas
“We’re going to be delivering this baby,” she heard Nick say, and his brother’s answer was in typical Jake fashion, “You’ve got to be kidding me with that shit.”
Jamie Michaels looked up from the book she’d been halfheartedly reading and smiled. Jake was finally home after being gone a month, and it was nothing he wouldn’t say to her face, which was one of the many things she loved about him and Nick both.
“No offense, but I do not want to be the midwife,” Jake continued. “Dude, that’s Chris’s job, legally bound and all that crap.”
She shifted to catch sight of him. He wore his jungle cammies, evidence of paint still on his face and neck.
He’d rushed, and she was grateful. She’d be more so if she heard from Chris at all over the past month. Under normal circumstances, she’d be optimistically concerned, her FBI past clouded by the fact that she was waiting on the man she loved.