Chapter Fifteen
Gracie
AFTER THE EXCITEMENT OF THE afternoon, I wasn’t ready to go when Hawk showed up to take me for my appointment with Doc. I was still putting the final touches on the contract Rory had asked for, making sure every possible loophole was closed. I was always meticulous when it came to anything I drew up, but this time, there was more at risk. It wasn’t just about Rory and Matt and that dickhead mayor. Hawk and the rest of the MC were at risk too. I wanted Derrick Michaels out of Creswell Springs just as much as his daughter did.
At two minutes after four, Hawk walked in, a glower on his handsome face. “Woman,” he growled as he slammed my office door. “I told you, you’re going to the doctor. Now, grab your things.”
I held up a finger as I turned my attention back to the contract. I reread what I had just corrected, making sure it was completely airtight. Once Rory got her bastard of a father to sign on the dotted line, Creswell Springs was going to be a better place. And given Rory’s plan, I doubted the honorable mayor would be able to walk away. Two hundred and forty-nine million dollars was a lot of money for even a saint to walk away from, and Mayor Michaels was far too greedy to be the exception.
“Gracie,” Hawk bit out impatiently, and I smiled to myself as I printed out the last page of the contract and put it into the envelope with the rest of the document.
“Almost done. Promise.” Jumping to my feet, feeling like I had more energy than I’d had in a long time, I skipped out of my office and down to where Jenkins had moved his stuff. His old office was still under renovation after Santino’s men had broken down a wall with their van to take me. But not even the memory of that crazy day—and everything that had followed—could dampen my good mood right then.
I knocked once on his door then opened it. Still smiling happily, I handed over the envelope. “How did the meeting go?”
His face was full of amusement, but his eyes were dark. “It started out rough, but by the time I left with Rory, we were all on the same page.”
“Great. So…have you given any more thought to what Rory suggested? That you run for mayor?”
“That’s not a good idea. I’m not the best guy to run this town, and it’s not like anyone would actually vote for me.” But even as he was making up excuses not to run, I could tell the idea held some appeal for him.
I rolled my eyes at him, figuring he just wanted me to stroke his ego. “I know about three hundred people just off the top of my head who would vote for you. You would do a pretty good job cleaning up Michaels’s messes, and I already know what your first order as mayor should be.”
Eyes sparkling with laughter, he snorted. “What’s that?”
“Fire Campbell and Bates.”
“Campbell’s position is an elected one,” he reminded me.
“Then Bates. Fire that lazy sonofabitch.”
“Gracie—”
I held up a hand, stopping whatever new protest he was going to come up with. “Just think about it, okay? And just know, you would have my vote in a heartbeat.”
He was quiet as I left the room, shutting the door behind me as I went. Hawk was standing in the hall outside my office, my briefcase and jacket in his hands and an impatient look on his face that I’d always thought added to his sex appeal. “You done now?”
I grinned up at him before standing on tiptoes to kiss him. My sexy, growly biker melted against me for a moment, kissing me back. When I pulled away, however, the scowl was back in place. “Now, I’m ready.”
He drove us over to Doc’s office, his eyes darting from one mirror to the other, making sure no one was following us. Before the Morgans had conspired with Santino’s people to take me, I would have laughed at how paranoid he was. Now, I was glad for it. Those fucking Italians had turned me into a nervous wreck lately.
It was almost closing time for the private practice, and the waiting room was empty. The receptionist waved us on back, and we were greeted by Doc’s only nurse, Wendy. “Hey, guys. How are you?”
“I’m actually feeling a lot better,” I assured the cheerful nurse. “Like I told Hawk countless times over the last few days, it’s only stress.”
Wendy gave me a quick appraisal with her eyes, and a frown wrinkled her brow. “It hasn’t been that long since we saw you for a follow-up after your sepsis, Gracie. But I can tell just from looking at you that you have lost some weight.”
“Weight she didn’t have to lose in the first place.”
I shot Hawk a look that told him to be quiet, and surprisingly, he did. Wendy made me stand on a digital scale and shook her head when she saw I was fifteen pounds lighter than the last time I’d been there. In an exam room, she took my temperature after putting an automatic blood pressure cuff on my arm and a heart rate monitor on my middle finger.
“No fever, and BP and heart rate look good.” She scribbled the numbers down and stepped back. “Doc will be right with you.”
When we were alone in the exam room, Hawk was anything but idle. He grasped my hand, playing with my fingers as he paced in front of the exam table I was sitting on. “Please relax. I’m fine. I swear.”
“You don’t know that, and even if you did, you wouldn’t say anything.”
“I do know it,” I argued. I tightened my fingers on his and tugged him toward me. I knew that if he didn’t want to be moved, he wasn’t going to shift so much as an inch, but he came willingly to stand between my legs. Stroking my free hand over his jaw, I repeated what I’d been telling him for days now. “It’s only stress. I’m perfectly fine. There’s no need to worry about me.”
Releasing my hand, he cupped the back of my head, pulling it back so that he could look straight into my eyes. “I worry about you every minute of every day. Whether I’m with you or not, I worry about you. It’s not just you being sick, it’s about you being you. I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I’m fucking terrified that something is going to fuck all of that up.”
“Nothing is going to take me away from you. Ever.”
His olive-green eyes darkened, and he lowered his head until our lips were almost touching. “Marry me, Gracie.”
If the heart monitor had still been on my finger, it would have made an angry noise because right then my heart was beating so wildly it felt like it might burst. I sucked in a soft gasp and tried to make my voice work. “I-is that a question or a demand?”
“It’s whatever the fuck it needs to be that will make you say yes,” he gritted out, and I realized he was holding his breath, waiting for my answer.
“Did you honestly think I would say anything but yes?” I teased.
“I’ve had nightmares about it, so yeah, actually, I did.” He still hadn’t released his breath, though. “And you haven’t said yes yet.”
“Yes, Hawk. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.”
He groaned like I was torturing him and caught my mouth in a deep, hungry kiss that left us both breathless. I felt him shudder as I kissed him back, my fingers tangling in his shirt as I held on for all I was worth.
The exam room door opening was the only thing that pulled us apart several minutes later. Hawk reluctantly lifted his head and turned to glare at Doc. “Fix her,” he commanded. “She says she isn’t sick, but I know better.”
I hid my grin as Doc walked fully into the room, shutting the door behind him. Doc had been taking care of me for a few years now. He knew me well considering he’d not only treated me when I’d had a concussion but had also taken over my care after I’d gotten home from the East Coast a few months back, having been in the hospital with sepsis.
His concerned eyes went from the looming biker to me and shook his head. “What’s been going on, Gracie?”
“I’ve been nauseated the last week or so. It’s just stress, though,” I laughed, but when the doctor didn’t laugh in return, mine died flat. Of course he would be on Hawk’s side, dang it.
“She hasn’t been eating, and she’s been throwing up randomly throughout the day,” Hawk filled in when I didn’t. “She’s been stressed before, and this didn’t happen.”
“Well, let’s have a look, okay?” Doc stepped forward and gave me a full exam. Checking my ears and eyes, looking at my throat, and listening to my heart and lungs. He had me lie back and listened to my stomach for a moment. With a shake of his head, he pulled my shirt up and pushed my dress slacks down a little. When his cold hands touched my stomach, I let out a small hiss, but when he pressed down on my lower abdomen, I groaned in discomfort.
Beside me, Hawk’s hands balled into tight fists, but he remained mute as the doctor finished up and then stepped back to wash his hands. “Gracie, when was your last period?”
“Oh…” I thought back to when my last period had been. “Um, I can’t honestly remember. I’ve had a lot on my plate lately, and I haven’t kept up with it like I should.”
“I’m going to have Wendy do a pregnancy test, but I think it’s safe to say that you’re most likely pregnant.”
All the air rushed from my lungs with a whoosh. I hadn’t been expecting that to be his diagnosis, but now that those words were suddenly a glaring neon light, I felt stupid for not having thought of it myself. Weren’t women supposed to know—or at least freaking suspect—when they had life growing inside of them?
I chanced a glance at Hawk to determine his reaction. His face had gone pale as a ghost, and the look in his eyes was shell-shocked. “You…” He cleared his throat. “You’re sure?”
Doc shrugged. “I can’t say one hundred percent for sure until we do the test, but my professional opinion is that, yes, she’s very much pregnant. She will have to have an ultrasound to determine how far along and get an accurate due date, but I would say Gracie is between eight and nine weeks at the least.”
Hawk turned away, effectively blocking out the doctor and me. Doc shot me a grim smile, promised Wendy would be in to take care of me, and then made a quick exit. I stared at Hawk’s back, unsure of what to say or do. Hell, I was just as shocked as he was.
Wendy opening the door less than a minute later saved me from the tension that was rolling off Hawk, and I was all too happy to take the cup she offered and go into the bathroom to pee in it. After putting the little cup in the cubby so the nurse could use it for the pregnancy test, I washed my hands but didn’t leave the bathroom. Instead, I just stood there, staring at myself in the mirror.
My face was just as pale as Hawk’s, but my eyes looked bright. With what, though, I didn’t know. Excitement? Was I excited to be pregnant? Not particularly. I had so much on my plate at work, and if Jenkins did run for mayor, I was going to have twice as much. Being pregnant wasn’t going to make my workload any easier. If anything, it was going to get in my way a whole heck of a lot.
But I wasn’t particularly unhappy about it either.
My hands covered my lower stomach where Doc had pressed and made me so uncomfortable earlier. Was there really a baby in there? A part of Hawk and me that was growing and waiting to take the world by storm as soon as he or she took their first breath? Did I want there to be?
Yes. The answer floated through me without hesitation. Yes, I wanted there to be a baby. I wanted this part of the man I loved growing inside of me.
With that thought, I opened the bathroom door and went back to the exam room where I’d left Hawk. As I closed the door behind me, he lifted his blond head, and I was glad to see that most of his paleness had faded. “You okay?”
I shrugged. “I was about to ask you that.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” he asked with a frown. “You said yes to marrying me, and Doc just said you’re probably pregnant. I’m on top of the fucking world right now.”
“Really?” I asked weakly, tears surprising me as they leaked from my eyes.
He groaned at the sight of my tears and pulled me into his arms. “Really, baby. I’m so fucking happy right now, but I’m scared too.”
I didn’t ask why, because I was scared myself. Anything could happen between now and the time our baby was born, and after having Tanner and Warden taken from us the day before, I was even more scared. Not for me, but for Hawk. What if the next time they tried to take out one of the MC guys, they targeted the MC’s VP?
There was a light tap on the door. Hawk turned me in his arms as Wendy stepped in, a beaming smile on her face. “Well, it seems someone is going to be busy in a few months. Your pregnancy test was positive, hon.” She handed over a slip of paper. “Doc said to have these filled today. They’re prenatal vitamins. Take them before bed because they might upset your stomach, and you’re already nauseated as it is. Also, I’ll make an appointment with the OB-GYN that Doc suggested. He said that he was Raven’s doctor, so you’ll be happy with him.” Her laughing eyes lifted to Hawk. “Or at least, Daddy here will be. I’ll call you when I have the date and time.”
Out in the car, we sat there for a long while just looking at each other. We had lost two people the day before, but this baby was proof that life goes on. I took Hawk’s hand and placed it over my lower stomach. “I don’t want to tell anyone yet. Not until we see the OB-GYN and find out how far along we are.”
“Whatever you want, baby.” His fingers stroked over my stomach through my shirt, his look of shock replaced with one of awe now. “I’m serious. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
“I have everything I want,” I whispered.