Delta's Baby Surprise (Special Forces Elite 1)

I jumped down from the lowest branch before the man was in front of me.

I eyed him. It only took one glance to recognize another soldier, and another to know I was looking at a fellow Special Forces soldier.

“You’ve got to be Jackson.” The man walked forward, extending a hand.

I shook his hand. “Who’s asking?”

“Gage.” I nodded my head. “I’m with a Green Beret team that just got back from Razastan.”

My chest puffed out. Hearing the country’s name shot emotion through my veins. “What brings you here?”

“Your orders are in. Too sensitive for electronic communication. My mission was to find you in person.”

I understood what he meant. Gage had been sent to give me my next assignment. Fuck. I wasn’t expecting him today.

“When?” I asked.

“You leave at zero five hundred.”

“Zero five hundred? In the morning?”

He nodded.

That would mean no wedding. That would mean leaving a pregnant Gretchen behind in Havenville. Alone.

I shoved my hands in my pockets. I felt the resolve start in my fingertips. It worked its way through my veins as the blood pumped through my arms and along my spine. Surging through my back and down my legs. It was strong and resolute. The resolve I had been searching for.

It was the sudden clarity I had wanted. The answer that told me which side to embrace. Be the man I promised my country I would be, or be the husband and father that was meant to lead my family into years of peace with Gretchen by my side?

Gage cleared his throat. “Are you ready for the instructions? Nothing can be recorded. Oral transmission only.”

I stared in his eyes. This man was a warrior like me. A man trying to serve both sides of his nature in a way no one else could possibly understand.

It had happened in a flash. A moment so quick and fleeting I almost didn’t feel it. But it had happened. All the clarity had crashed upon my soul, claiming me, deciding my future.

“I understand.” I looked at him. “Let’s walk.”

Twenty-Four

Gretchen

It was dark. I had convinced myself Brett would be back by now. He only needed time to think. Who wouldn’t? In less than a month we had met, now we’re somehow bonded for life, and on our way to becoming parents.

I watched the flames dart through the logs as the embers faded. If I threw another log on top I would have to wait for it to burn. If I didn’t, the room would grow cold and the waiting would be over. I would leave, knowing what Brett’s answer was.

Maybe it was too much to ask him. But he had asked me for more than I thought was possible.

If he didn’t come home did that mean I was no longer to be his wife? Could I go back to the hospital and try to hide my pregnancy until I

moved away from Havenville?

I started pacing the cabin. None of the answers were ones I liked. Without Brett, they were all cold, just like the fire.

Brett

I stared at the front door, knowing everything was about to change. My hand landed on the knob.

She was there, standing in front of the fire.