Happy Ending (Fisher Brothers 4)

When he kissed my head and his eyes turned glassy, my breath caught. If he cried right now, I’d absolutely lose it.

Moments later, Mariana and Grant practically burst through the front door. They hurried through the house and came to a stop outside our closed bedroom door.

Knocking softly, Grant asked, “You two heathens decent?” Mariana chastised him in hushed tones.

“Come in, old man,” Ryan said, and I was thankful for the spark of humor in his voice.

“Oh, Sofia, what happened?” Mariana cried out when she saw me, her face creased with concern.

Oh dear God. I couldn’t tell her the truth, that I was riding my boyfriend too hard, and now I was cramping and worried that maybe we really did hit the baby in the head.

“My stomach hurts. Cramps,” I said, skipping over the details. Then I tried to stand up straight, but my body refused, and I glanced at Mariana in question.

Her silence told me everything. She had no idea what it meant either.

“We need to go. Thank you both so much for coming over. Matson shouldn’t wake up, but if he does, tell him we went out for food. I’ll tell him the truth later,” Ryan said, snapping out parental instructions like he’d been doing it his whole life.

He wrapped an arm around my waist and started to walk with me. Apparently, I was moving too slowly, because he suddenly leaned over and swept me into his arms.

Grant held the front door open as Ryan maneuvered us through it.

“Drive safe,” Grant yelled as he closed the door behind us.

I tightened my arms around Ryan’s neck, praying silently that the baby was okay.

Freaking Out

Ryan

I tried to stay cool on the outside, but inside, I was completely losing it.

Sofia needed me to be strong, I knew that much, but I was terrified that we’d done something to hurt the baby—or her. If anything was wrong with either of them, I’d never recover. Especially if it was something that could have been avoided, and my inserting my Tab A in Sofia’s Slot B could have definitely been avoided.

I did my best to tone down my fear and worry as we waited in a curtained-off area in the hospital’s emergency room. Sofia lay on the bed with me standing at her side, holding her hand. I refused to stop touching her, and there was no way in hell I was going to leave her side.

The doctor walked through the door with a smile on her face. That had to mean good news, I convinced myself.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Anson. I heard you had a scare,” she said as she adjusted her glasses, her tone confident but calming.

Sofia nodded, her hand involuntarily squeezing the life out of mine.

“Mind if I check you out?” the doctor asked, as if either of us would have said no. That was the whole reason we were there in the first place.

“Please.”

The doctor lifted Sofia’s gown and gently pressed on her swollen abdomen. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”

Sofia’s gaze shot to mine, and I gave her a small smile. Her cheeks immediately flushed, and I wondered if she’d be able to get the story out or if I would have to tell the doctor.

“Well, we were . . .” Sofia paused and swallowed hard, so I took over.

“We were having sex and she started having pains,” I said quickly and painlessly. Sofia gave me a grateful look and her face relaxed.

“Okay. And the pain, it’s never happened before tonight?” Dr. Anson asked.

“Never,” Sofia said, clearly more comfortable.

“And you’ve been having intercourse regularly?”