After talking to my mother the day after Devlin had asked me to marry him, I’d subtly asked her if she’d had blood pressure issues when she was pregnant. Her answer had only confirmed Linc’s suspicions. She’s had high blood pressure throughout both her pregnancies, had even had to be put on bed rest with Jenna because of it.
Finding that out only made my need to see Dr. Rashid today even more urgent.
The fact that we hadn’t told my brothers or anyone else for that matter that I was pregnant, however, made me not want to get out of bed. Linc only knew about my condition because the man was my best friend and too fucking observant. I wouldn’t have told him before telling Devlin, but Linc had noticed the changes in me and followed me to the doctor when I’d gone in after missing my period. He’d been waiting for me in the waiting room when I’d come out with a prescription for prenatal vitamins.
I’d broken down and told Jenna about the baby, but I’d done it knowing that my sister would take the secret to her grave. My sister and I had the kind of relationship that if I called her and told her I’d killed someone, she would come up with an air-tight alibi for me even as she was searching for the best place to bury the body. It was the same for me. Having someone who would always have your back like my sister and I had each other’s, was something that everyone should have.
When I went into the doctor’s office with Lana and Dallas later today there would be no hiding my condition from Drake or anyone else any longer. I didn’t know how my brothers were going to react to me being pregnant, but since they’d been so accepting of Devlin asking me to marry him, I hoped they wouldn’t be too unpleasant to deal with.
“Good,” Devlin murmured. His lips skimmed up my neck and across my cheek until he reached my lips. When he kissed me, it was one of his slow, tender kisses that left me more breathless than if he’d been kissing me hard and deep. He knew that I could never withstand those kinds of kisses.
After only a few minutes of that kiss I was on the verge of begging him to make love to me. Devlin lifted his head with a drugged look in his eyes. “Should we take Harris with us today?” he asked, and I saw the uncertainty on his face.
He wanted to include Harris in such a big event but didn’t know if I wanted to. I cupped the side of his face in my hand. “Yeah. I think that would be great,.” I told him, letting him know by that simple little answer that when I thought of our future I would always include his son. Harris was a part of Devlin. If I didn’t already love that kid, I would have loved him for that fact alone.
Devlin’s face relaxed and he brushed another soft kiss over my lips. “Wonder how he’s going to take our news.”
I bit my lip, wondering that same thing. We hadn’t told anyone yet, not even Harris. I didn’t know how my future stepson was going to react to the news of becoming a brother. There was going to be a huge age gap between him and any child we had. Would he accept his sibling?
At the sound of people moving around, Devlin kissed me again, this one quick and hard, before reaching for the curtain of our roost. He slipped from our bed, pulling a shirt over his head as he headed toward the bathroom. “Get up, baby. You need to eat.”
I wasn’t hungry, but knew that he was right. Sighing, I reached for my robe hanging from the little hook on the outside of the roost and pulled it on as I walked down the hall to the kitchenette. Zander, Liam, and Linc were sitting at the table drinking coffee when I walked in.
“Morning,” Zander greeted. He stood and offered me a cup of coffee but I shook my head, pulling out a bottle of water instead.
“Want me to fix you something?” Linc asked as he stood and opened the refrigerator door. “I can make you an omelet or some French toast.”
I reached around him for the milk. “I think I’m going to stick with cereal this morning, but thanks all the same Momma Linc.” I smirked up at him.
Linc caught hold of a few locks of my short hair and tugged it affectionately. “If you weren’t such a bitch I might actually love you, Natalie Stevenson.”
I pouted out my bottom lip. “You’re breaking my heart, Linc.”
He rolled his green eyes at me before kissing the top of my head and stepping away from me. “Anyone else want anything to eat?” he asked, taking out the carton of eggs and some vegetables.
“Me.” Liam was the first to speak up.
“I’m good, dude.” Zander wasn’t much of a breakfast person. If Linc had been offering to fix spaghetti, chicken, or steak he would have been all over that. Eggs… not so much.
I poured a bowl of cereal that was full bran flakes mixed with granola and raisins. I was just adding the milk when Devlin came into the kitchenette. He saw what I was having for breakfast and made a face. “Really? That’s all you’re gonna eat?”
“I’m not very hungry,” I told him as I returned the milk to the fridge. “Linc’s making omelets though, if you want one.”
“I have some smoked sausage that I can add to it,” Linc informed him enticingly.
I couldn’t help but giggle at the look that filled Devlin’s face. Smoked sausage must have been the equivalent of a blowjob when it came to food. Devlin rubbed his hands together. “Dude, I’ll take two.”
Linc smirked. “Of course you will. You like eating my sausage.”
Liam and Zander nearly burst a gut from laughing so hard. I watched with glee as Devlin’s face turned beet red for the first time since I’d met him. “Walked right into that one, didn’t I?” he muttered.
“It’s okay, babe. I won’t get jealous if you eat Linc’s sausage.” I winked up at him as I took a bite of my cereal. “I’ll even help you eat it.”
“Ah fuck,” he grumbled and walked back toward the sleeping area. “I’m going to kill someone by the end of the day.”
The four of us were still laughing our asses off when the door to the sleeping area slammed shut.
When the van arrived to take us to Dr. Rashid’s office, I was still smiling.
Devlin had eaten his omelet, but he’d been blushing and muttering curses under his breath the entire time. It had been a fun morning and I was happy that we could have times like this with our friends.
Axton and Dallas climbed into the van first. They were leaving Cannon on their bus with Kenzie watching over him. Drake and Lana, however, put Neveah’s car-seat in the middle row between them. They didn’t leave their daughter often. One of them was almost always with her.
Once they were all settled, I climbed in and took a place in the back, scooting over so that Devlin could climb in with me. Harris was left with the front passenger seat. He put his Beats on and frowned out the window as the driver pulled into traffic. I didn’t know what Devlin had told him to get him to come with us, but I doubted he’d already explained what was going to happen when we got to the doctor.
The ride took less than fifteen minutes and when we entered the doctor’s plush office, I went straight to the receptionist to sign us all in. Since I’d had Lana and Dallas fill out the paperwork in advance and emailed it to the doctor’s staff, there was no reason for us to have to wait more than necessary.
The waiting room was empty so we all sat together. Neveah ran straight to the little play area that was set up for toddlers and I watched with an indulgent smile as my beautiful little niece brought me toy after toy after toy. She jabbered in her sweet little voice and I nodded like I understood everything she was saying.
When the door beside the receptionist’s desk opened, I turned my head, expecting a nurse to be standing there to call us back. The beast of a man standing there instead caused me to blink a few times because I could have sworn the guy looked familiar. He could have easily been as tall as Devlin. His hair was short, and there were muscles everywhere. Everywhere. All of that with some freaky cool-gray eyes mixed together to make a combination of hot and scary.
He barely glanced at the rest of us before he turned to hold the door open for the chick behind him.
Mister tall, hot, and scary smiled do
wn at the chick and she gave him a beaming smile in return. My mouth dropped open at the sight of just how beautiful she was. Damn. I wasn’t one to appreciate another girl’s beauty but this chick was drop-dead gorgeous, with long strawberry and gold hair, and a creamy complexion that was without makeup yet completely perfect. She was thin, with just a few curves. She reminded me of a dancer with the way she moved so effortlessly.
“Kieran?”
I turned my gaze from the couple at the sound of Dallas’s voice then glanced back at the man. His head had snapped around when Dallas had called his name. His face scrunched up as if he were trying to place the blonde who was now out of her chair and heading for him. “Dallas?” His face split into a grin. “Well hell, I wasn’t expecting to see you again.”
Dallas wrapped her arms around the beast named Kieran’s neck and he swung her around twice before placing her on her feet. “What are you doing here?” she demanded at the same time he did, making them both laugh.
“I live here now,” Kieran informed her as he placed her on her feet and stepped back to grasp the hand of the girl beside him. “What are you doing here? The last time I asked your dad about you he said you were in New York and were a nurse.”
Axton was up and next to his wife now, his hand moving to her waist to stake claim. I rolled my eyes at his possessiveness. It was more than obvious that he hadn’t needed to stake any claim. Kieran the Beast was so in love with the chick beside him that he was oblivious to anyone else.
Dallas glanced at her husband then back to Kieran. Kieran did a double take when he got a closer look at the rocker now standing in front of him. “Well fuck.” He laughed, holding out his hand. “Axton Cage, right? We actually have tickets to tonight’s show.”
After a small hesitation, Axton shook the man’s hand. “Yeah, dude. Wait… Stone? You’re the MMA superstar.”
That was when the reason the beast had seemed so familiar clicked. Of course he had. I’d seen his MMA fights on both television and live with Linc. The man was the undefeated heavyweight champ. Did he know that Dallas knew one of his idols? Probably. He had known Dallas a long time so he probably knew Kieran as well.
“So what brings you to this doctor?” Dallas asked, her blue gaze going to the beauty beside her friend. “Are you two…?”
The girl shook her head, a small smile tilting her lips. “No. Not this time. I just had to come in for a checkup. Our daughter is with my grandfather this evening.”
Dallas’s eyes widened. “Kieran Stone has a daughter?” She grinned. “Is he as overbearing as I suspect he is?”
“Worse.” The chick giggled. “Let’s just say that he’s already preparing for her teens.”
Kieran made a grunting noise. “I’ve put on ten more pounds of muscle since I found out we were having a girl. There are too many dicks to worry about when Melanie looks so much like you, Reese.” He pulled her close and kissed her lips before turning back to Dallas. “This is Reese, by the way. Baby, this is Dallas Bradshaw. Her dad owns that huge ranch across from my parents’.”
“Austin’s your dad?” Reese’s smile brightened. “I really enjoyed meeting him.” The smile dimmed. “It was about the only thing I enjoyed about our visit to Oklahoma to see his parents.”
“It’s actually Dallas Cage now,” Dallas corrected them. “And yeah, my daddy is a pretty great guy.”
While the four of them stood there talking, I turned back to the two men I was sitting between. Drake had Lana tucked into his side to my left. They were whispering something back and forth, grinning from time to time, and I knew it was something naughty. Dallas and Kieran’s commotion earlier hadn’t even made them lift their heads. I rolled my eyes at them in their own little love-filled world and turned my gaze to the man on my right.
Devlin was flipping through a Pregnancy Fitness magazine. He seemed oblivious to the scary MMA fighter just a few yards away from him. On the other side of him, Harris still had his Beats on his ears while he typed away on his phone. He looked bored and I couldn’t help wondering how he was going to react when the nurse called my name.
As if I’d conjured her with my musings, the door opened again and a small woman in Hello Kitty scrubs stood there with an iPad in her hand. “Cage?”
“Guess that’s you two. Congrats on the new baby and your son.” Kieran hugged Dallas then offered his hand to Axton. “We’ll see you guys later tonight, then.”
“Bring your daughter,” Dallas told them. “We have special headphones for Cannon so the music doesn’t hurt his ears. I have a few extra pair so she will be set.”
Reese smiled but shook her head. “I would love to, but she’s spending the night with my grandfather and his new wife tonight. He says it’s so that Kieran and I can have a night to ourselves, but I know it’s because he wants to have her to himself without anyone trying to hog her.”
Dallas grinned. “Yeah, I get that. Daddy and Tink are always doing that with Cannon.” She waved and then she and Axton followed the nurse back to the exam rooms.
I bit my lip as I watched Kieran and his Reese leave, not so much curious about those two than I was nervous of what was going to happen in the next few minutes. Neveah produced yet another toy for me to gush over before running back to her fun time. I tapped my fingers on the armrest of the seat between me and Devlin, trying to dispel some of the excess energy that was rushing through me from my growing anxiety.
When long fingers threaded through mine, some of my nervousness disappeared. He lifted our linked fingers and kissed the back of my hand without taking his gaze from the magazine in front of him. I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder.
The door opened again and a different nurse stood in the doorway. She smiled. “Stevenson?”
Without questioning the woman, Lana stood. “That’s us, Nev. Let’s go see what your sister is up to. Arella has not been too happy with mommy lately, from the way she’s been kicking.” Neveah rushed to take her mother’s offered hand.
The nurse looked at Lana for a moment and then back to the iPad in her hands. “Oh, sorry. Not Mrs. Stevenson. Miss Stevenson.”
I let out a small groan, when my brother and sister-in-law turned startled eyes on me. Drake’s mouth opened and closed like a fish as I stood. Devlin got to his feet behind me after nudging Harris’s arm. I sighed as I passed Drake. “We can talk later, okay?” I told him as I moved toward the nurse.
Lana’s face brightened. “Trust me he will want to talk. But I wouldn’t worry about it too much, Nat. You’re not the only person to ever get knocked up without having a ring on your finger first. Your brother had trouble keeping it in his pants, too.”
“Angel…” Drake grumbled.
“Relax, babe. Let the girl go and see the doctor.” Lana sat back down and pulled Neveah onto her lap. “Look, Nev. When we see that vein pop out in Daddy’s forehead that’s when we know to give him lots and lots of kisses. Right?”
“Daddy, kiss!” Neveah nodded and held her hands out for Drake to hold her. “Kiss. Kiss.”
I relaxed when Drake’s face melted into an adoring grin as he lifted his daughter into his arms and let her kiss every part of his face she could reach. Lana winked at me and I turned back to the nurse and the two men already standing by the door waiting on me.
Devlin held out his hand and I rushed to take it as we followed the nurse down a short hall and straight into an exam room. The nurse glanced from one Cutter male to the other then finally rested on me as she placed her iPad on a table. “How have you been feeling, Miss Stevenson?” she asked as she pulled out a blood pressure cuff.
Before I could even open my mouth, Devlin was answering for me. “She’s been having some bad headaches.”
She nodded as if I’d been the one to speak. “Any morning sickness?”
“No.” Harris surprised me when he answered this time.
I frowned at my future stepson. His face didn’t show any sign of surprise that I was the one on an exam table in an obstet
rician’s office. The sly look in his eyes told me that he must have known for a lot longer than just a few minutes. “Jenna told you!” I accused.
He shook his head and smiled. “No. Jenna didn’t say anything. I’m not completely dense about some things.”
“When did you realize..?” I murmured as the nurse started squeezing that damn little ball that tightened the blood pressure cuff around my arm. Fuck, why did it have to be so tight?
“I told Lucy about your headaches and she said that her mom got them all the time when she was pregnant with the twins.” His eyes widened. “It’s not twins, is it?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not twins.”
“How do you know?” he demanded. “It could easily be twins.”
“Because when I went in for my first checkup the doctor only heard one heartbeat and then he did an ultrasound and it showed only one embryo,” I assured him.
“Do you normally have a BP this high, Miss Stevenson?” the nurse asked as she frowned down at the monitor attached to the cuff on my arm.
“I don’t know,” I told her honestly.
Devlin caught my free hand and lifted it to his lips when he saw my worried frown. “Is it bad?”
The nurse shook her head. “It’s not great, but it’s not in the range that we worry about. However, it might be something that the doctor wants to monitor throughout the rest of the pregnancy.”
She took a few more vitals, marked them on her iPad and then left us alone with the promise of the doctor seeing us soon. I held onto Devlin’s hand like it was a lifeline. “So… How do you feel about being a brother?” I finally asked Harris.
“As long as you don’t expect me to change shitty diapers, I’m happy about it.” Devlin shot him a glare at his language choice but it quickly turned into a grin when his son smirked at him. “Good work, Dad. Knocking her up to make sure we get to keep her was a great idea.”