Goodbyes
Thane felt a sense of foreboding overtake him as he looked down at Brie.
“I’d rather have you safe at home than have you fighting LA traffic,” he explained, suddenly concerned for her safety.
She looked at him in surprise, unhappy that she would not be seeing him off at the airport but, to her credit, she did not protest. “I understand.”
He smirked, knowing that although she understood his command, she did not agree with it. It was written all over her face even though she tried to hide it. Brie had never been good at hiding her emotions, but it was something that he loved about her. She was as genuine as they came.
Thane picked up his suitcase and headed toward the door, wanting to make a quick exit so it would be easier on them both, but he was suddenly overcome with an urge he could not deny.
He turned to face her, putting down his suitcase. In a formal voice, he said, “Before I leave, there are two things I must do.”
She looked at him questioningly as he walked back to her. Thane growled in a low voice, “It’s only right I give you a proper goodbye, Mrs. Davis.” Fisting her long hair, he pulled her head back to plant a passionate kiss on those sexy lips.
Brie moaned in pleasure, melting against him. When he pulled away, she said with a flirtatious smile, “Thank you, Mr. Davis. I like proper goodbyes.”
Thane then knelt down and grabbed her waist. The all-consuming feeling of love for the tiny being growing inside her surprised him. Pressing his lips against her stomach, he said, “Goodbye, little one.”
He looked up at Brie and smiled. If he could have it his way, he would not be leaving today. He would have preferred to remain by Brie’s side the entire pregnancy, but that would be foolish. As a businessman, he needed to take advantage of the rare opportunity he’d been given in Dubai. It was important that he continue to create a sound base of clients so that Brie and the baby were well taken care of.
Thane was not a man afraid of hard work but he liked to be efficient. Because of that, he’d been able to keep the time away from Brie to a minimum.
He stood back up, ignoring the nagging feeling of unease. Brie was safe, and that was all that mattered.
As the taxi drove him to the airport, Thane made a few calls to keep his mind focused on things other than his rising anxiety.
“Captain, I was instructed by Baron to call so we could set up a time to discuss your new project. Unfortunately, I’m headed to Dubai for the next four days, but why don’t we set a meeting next week?”
“How does Wednesday at noon work for you?”
“I’m typing in my calendar as we speak.”
“Excellent. Both Baron and I look forward to sharing our plans with you.”
“And I look forward to hearing about it. Baron left Brie and I a cryptic message as a wedding present.”
Captain chuckled. “He has been chomping at the bit to tell you for a while now.”
Before Thane hung up, he gave into his misgivings and asked Captain, “Do you mind calling Brie while I’m gone to make sure she’s doing well? Now that Brie is in a delicate condition, I feel…a tad overprotective.”
Captained laughed. “Now, I must admit I never saw you as a doting husband but, then again, you never take on any job without giving it your full effort.”
Thane chuckled self-consciously. “I’m rather shocked to find myself so concerned about Brie when it’s only a few days, but there we have it. I acknowledge my concern and I own it. The fact is, knowing you’ll be checking in on her while I’m gone eases my mind, since I’ll be so far away.”
“If such a simple request will provide you peace of mind while traveling, I’m happy to do it. Candy and I can even visit her if you’d like.”
“You can ask Brie if she would like the company. I don’t want my overprotectiveness to become a burden to her.”
“As always, thoughtful and respectful to your woman.”
Thane smiled to himself, thinking about Brie. “She deserves no less. Thank you, Captain. I look forward to seeing you next Wednesday.”
Thane got out of the car, hopeful that the rising level of anxiety he’d been feeling would now dissipate. He walked through the crowded airport, finding he was acutely aware of the pregnant bellies and tiny infants he passed. He shook his head, amused that simply knowing Brie was pregnant was already changing his way of interacting with the world around him.
What the hell would he be like once the baby was born?
It’s entirely possible Anderson has a valid reason for being concerned about us changing because of this child, he thought, chuckling to himself.
Thane boarded the plane and settled down, appreciative of his window seat. With the excessive amount of traveling he’d done throughout his career, there were times he felt claustrophobic sitting in the aisle seat. These days, he preferred the scenic view a window could provide, especially on the longer flights.
The stewardess sat a young girl in the aisle seat beside him. Normally, he would have groaned at the thought of dealing with a child for the next sixteen hours. However, his inner heart had changed, sparking a different response. He welcomed the challenge of it.
Thane listened to the stewardess explain, “Now, Lucinda, our pilot wanted me to give you this special pin.” She promptly pinned a set of gold wings with the airlines logo onto the collar of the girl’s dress and smiled. “It makes you part of the flight crew for this trip.”
“Really?”
The woman nodded. “If you need anything, you just press this button right up here and one of us will come to help you.”
Lucinda tried to press it with her fingers, her tongue sticking out from the concentrated effort, but she was too tiny to reach it. Seeing her reminded Thane of another little girl straining to reach for a bottle of catsup back when he was in college, and he chuckled. “Don’t worry,” he assured the child. “If you need to press the button, just tell me.”
She looked at him shyly and nodded.
Thane could tell she was nervous, and why wouldn’t she be at her young age—facing a plane ride in a huge, international plane full of strangers.
He held out his hand to her formally. “My name is Thane Davis. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss…?”
She blushed as she took his hand. “I’m Lucinda Jefferys, mister.”
“You may call me Thane, Miss Jefferys.”
She looked at the stewardess and giggled. “He called me Miss Jefferys.”
“I heard,” the woman answered with a grin. “And you are in luck, Lucinda. Sir Davis happens to be a well-known instructor.” When the little girl looked up at her, confused, the stewardess amended, “A teacher.”
“Oh, like my teacher, Miss Honey?”
“Yes, but for older students like me.”
When the stewardess shot Thane a glance, he realized she was one of the subs who frequented the Haven.
He nodded to her, letting the woman know that he would look after the girl.
“So, Lucinda, do you like to fly on airplanes?” he asked, trying to distract her as she glanced around nervously.
She turned her head and looked up at him with big brown eyes. “This is my first time.”
Thane smiled. “If it’s your first time, then you should sit next to the window so you can see everything.”
“May I?”
Thane unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his laptop from under the seat in front of him to make the switch. Once she was settled and buckled in, he asked her, “Can you see the men loading the plane with the luggage?”
“Yes, I can,” she answered excitedly.
“See if you can spot your own suitcase as they load it.”
With Lucinda’s attention now on the stream of luggage being transferred onto the plane, Thane sat back in his aisle seat. He smiled to himself. There were times when small sacrifices were totally worth it.
A middle-aged woman sitting across the aisle commented, “It’s nice what you did there.”
He shrugged. “It’s nothing for me, but everything to a first-time flyer.”
“I heard the stewardess say you’re a famous instructor. What do you teach?”
Thane smiled pleasantly. “Actually, I no longer teach these days. These days I help businesses run with more efficiency, hence my trip to Dubai.” In order to change the subject and avoid any further questions about his past, he asked, “What has you headed to Dubai?”
The woman pointed to the man sitting next to her. “We’re vacationing there because that city has all kinds of over-the-top entertainment like snow skiing inside a building, racing Formula One cars, and even diving with the sharks. But, me, I’m going for the full-body chocolate treatment and the 24-karat gold facial.”
“Sounds decadent.”
She grinned. “Only the best for me. So, other than business, what are your plans in Dubai?”
“Just there for business.”
“Life is more than just work,” she stated firmly.
Thane chuckled. “I had an old college roommate tell me the same thing, and you’re both correct, but I have no time to play as I am anxious to return to my new wife.” He looked down thoughtfully at the ring on his finger. It was more information than he had ever shared with a stranger, but just thinking about leaving Brie had him feeling uptight again.
He reasoned with himself. Brie was a grown woman and quite capable of taking care of herself for a few days. Why he was worried about leaving her was beyond him.
Hell, he chided himself, you’ve got nine more months of this, buddy.
The pilot came on over the speakers, announcing that they were about to leave and rattling off details about the flight. He ended his spiel by telling them to buckle in for a relaxing flight.
Thane turned to Lucinda. “Did you see your suitcase?”
She wore a worried expression and shook her head.
“That must mean it was already safely on the plane before you started watching for it.”
She smiled at him, nodding enthusiastically.
As they were taxiing, he watched her eyes growing wider in fear. To ease his own anxiety, and hers, Thane told the girl, “My favorite part of flying is when the plane takes off from the ground.” He remembered when he was a boy, traveling with his father. “Have you ever wanted to fly like a bird?”
She nodded again.
“Well, now you will get to know what it feels like. It’s fun,” he assured her.
Her eyes flashed with excitement as she turned to look out the window again.
Thane stared past her as the engines began to roar and the large aircraft raced along the runway, slowly lifting off the ground.
The girl began bopping happily up and down in her seat. She looked back at him, grinning before pressing her nose against the window. Her enthusiasm for the takeoff was contagious and reminded him of the miracle that flight truly was. The fact that an aircraft carrying so many people, luggage, and fuel could break its connection with the Earth was extraordinary.
He wondered if this what it was like to be a father. Seeing every aspect of the world in an entirely new way?
Thane looked at the girl and smiled to himself.
If so, he looked forward to reliving the wonder of the world through the eyes of his child. Just the thought of it had him tearing up, and he quickly swiped an errant tear away.
Just as they were banking right over the ocean, heading north, the plane was rocked by a loud explosion on the right side of the plane.
The moment Thane heard it, dread coursed through his body.
He had been wrong.
His anxiety had not been for Brie—it had been for his own fate.
Thane could see fire streaming from the engine on the opposite side of the plane and heard the frightened cry of the little girl beside him.
Remembering a study about the safest seat on a plane during a crash, he told her, “Lucinda, the pilot is going to get the plane back on the ground, but I need you to sit in the middle seat right now.” He quickly unbuckled her and lifted her into the seat, buckling her back up.
With people screaming all around them, Thane looked into her eyes and said calmly, “You’re safe. I will protect you.”
She nodded with tears in her eyes, her bottom lip trembling.
Thane wrapped his arms around the little girl. He thought about his own child, who he would never meet.
Oh, Brie, you will need to be strong for her.
Her…
Thane felt certain their baby was a girl. A little girl who would never know him.
His heart broke.
Thane quietly repeated over and over to Lucinda, “You’re going to be okay,” as the plane pitched wildly, trying to make a last-ditch effort to land safely back at the airport.
He was determined to save this little girl—to make sure Lucinda made it out alive, even if he did not.
Random thoughts raced through his head in those last moments before impact:
Rytsar pressing his wrist against Thane’s as they vowed to be brothers…
Brad’s jovial face as he dunked Thane’s head under the ocean water at the beach…
The pride he felt facing his first class of submissives as Headmaster of The Submissive Training Center…
His father’s laughter as he lifted Thane up as a young boy, twirling him in the air…
The engaging smile of his mother as she pretended to catch fish on their make-believe pirate ship…
Throughout these memories, the sound of his father’s violin steadily grew louder in his head.
Thane pulled Lucinda closer to him, covering her with his body.
His very last thoughts were of Brie and a recent memory of her—which were about to become a lifetime ago.
Shaking the mixture vigorously for several seconds, he poured the clear liquid out into two martini glasses and returned to Brie.
She gave him a questioning look as she took it from him.
“Drink,” he commanded.
Ever dutiful, she took a small sip and broke out in a grin. “It’s coconut water.”
“As is mine. I will not ask you to do what I am unwilling to do myself,” he stated. Holding up his martini glass, he said, “For our child.”
Brie nodded and clinked glasses with him.
Thane had never known he was capable of feeling so protective of someone. The thought that Brie might be pregnant had him focused on her like never before.
She looked at him shyly. “Do you really think I could be pregnant so soon?”
Remembering all the passionate encounters they’d enjoyed over their long honeymoon, he replied with a smirk, “Wouldn’t you say we’ve given it our best effort?”
She clinked glasses again. “We certainly have, Sir.”
He took another sip of his mock martini and winked at her. “In answer to your question, I do believe you are already with child. The last couple of days, I’ve noticed a slight rise in your inner core temperature when we’ve been intimate, and your nipples have become unusually sensitive. Both are indicators of pregnancy.”
“But it’s only been a few weeks…”
“Of intense fucking,” he reminded her lustfully.
When she looked up, her smile took his breath away. Brie had always had that power over him from the very first moment they met.
“Why don’t you take a pregnancy test, my dear?” he suggested.
As Thane watched her walk down the hallway, he marveled at how Brie had been able to bring him to this place emotionally. Ever since his father’s death, he’d closed himself off, only letting Rytsar into those darker parts of his soul.
He’d been satisfied to enhance the world with his knowledge of BDSM and keep his distance from everyone else. It was easier that way… safer that way.
Yet, here he was now, in love with a woman and ready to start a family with her.
Thane shook his head, still in shock at the turn his life had taken. Brie was proof that miracles were possible—that someone broken had hope for a normal life.
Hope…
Recently, that word had become like a mantra for him. Hope had not been a part of his reality since he was a young boy. It had had no place in his LBB—Life Before Brie.
When he heard her giggling nervously from the bathroom, he walked down the hallway and stuck his head inside the doorway. “Having problems, my dear?”
She looked up at him sheepishly from the toilet. “I’m too nervous to pee.”
Thane turned on the sink faucet, knowing the sound of the running water would help. It didn’t take long before she had the tester soaked. Laying the stick on the counter, they both watched it intently.
The first blue line slowly appeared, indicating that the test was working. He waited with patience, certain the second blue line would soon follow.
Thane smiled when he saw the faint blue of that second line.
An image of his father flashed in his mind. Papa, he called out silently, I understand now…
The full force of the burden of caring for this new life hit him hard, but along with it came an undeniable joy.
My child.
“Hello, little mama,” he growled in Brie’s ear, wrapping his arms around her.
She closed her eyes and purred. He looked at the reflection of the two of them in the mirror and mused, This beautiful woman is going to have my baby.
He had to blink several times to hold back tears of gratitude.
Brie giggled. “Apparently, you were right. We are a compatible couple.”
“No doubt my sperm enjoyed penetrating your egg.”
She was silent, seemingly lost in thought. It was not the reaction he had been expecting. Turning her around to face him, he asked, “Are you okay, Brie? You’re so quiet. You aren’t having second thoughts, are you?”
She looked up at him, shaking her head with tears in her eyes. “No, I just can’t believe I’m having a baby. Your baby, Thane.”
His heart overflowed with his intense love for her and this new life she was now carrying. He crushed her in a tight embrace, murmuring gruffly, “Our baby.”
The haunting melody of his father’s violin overtook his thoughts while the sound of another explosion rocked the plane and it ripped apart around them.
“Goodbye, babygirl.”