Reckless Redemption: A Bad Blooded Rebel Novel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (32 page)

I
smiled and placed my hand over his.

“Everything’s
fine, Beau. She’s just kicking like crazy. She knows you’re near me.”

Beau
smiled that damn sexy smile and dropped to his knees in front of me.

“Hey
there angel,” he said to my distended belly. “I can’t wait to meet you and
spoil you. We’re ready for you here so you can come out at any time.”

I
laughed and said, “Don’t say that, it’s almost Thanksgiving and we have a big
dinner planned. Besides, the nursery isn’t even ready yet!”

“Hey,
don’t worry, it’s not like we’re hosting Thanksgiving dinner here, it’s at
Ryder and Evie’s place. And as for the nursery…the crib’s put together and all
of her clothes are put away in her dresser. Besides a few minor things, what
else is there to do?”

I
rolled my eyes at him.

“Beau,
be serious. We need to set up the changing table and stock it, her bassinet
needs to be put together and placed in our room, the glider needs to be set up,
the decorations need to be hung on the walls…”

He
chuckled and stood back

He
led me into the kitchen and pulled out a chair at the table. Motioning for me
to sit, I did as he wanted and he sat next to me.

“Listen,
we have plenty of time to get everything ready for her, okay? You’re not being
induced until next week so that will give me time to get it all set up and
ready for our little girl, okay? I promise, no matter what, it will get done.”

I
breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at him. “Okay. Thank you.”

He
leaned in to kiss me. “So, did you have fun with the guys watching the game?”

“Yeah,
it was nice. We obviously couldn’t get as rowdy as we used to since I don’t
drink anymore and Max is only a few weeks old, but we had a good time hanging
out and stuffing our faces. I need to bust ass at the gym to work off all the
pizza I ate.”

I
rolled my eyes. “Oh please, shut up. You are cut like a fucking god. I’m the
one over here with a watermelon in her belly. I can’t wait to have this baby
with me on the outside. I want to fit into my clothes again.”

“I
don’t care if you are a size two or a size twenty-eight, you will always be
beautiful to me, Danni. You look gorgeous with my baby inside you.”

“Thanks,
baby.”

At
that moment my stomach growled and Beau chuckled.

“Well,
seems like Jelly Bean’s telling me it’s time to eat.”

He
rubbed a hand over my belly. “Didn’t you eat while you were out?”

“Of
course,” I laughed. “But I’m extremely pregnant, babe. I’m hungry
all the
time
.”

Beau
smiled at me. “Well, do you want me to make you something?”

“Um,
I love you, but no. Hate to break it to you, but you can’t cook worth a shit.”

He
laughed out loud and said, “Well you got me there. Do you want me to go pick
something up?”

“Hmm,
let me think about what I want,” I answered.

As
I was trying to decide there was a knock at the kitchen door.

“Hey,
it’s just me,” Jude answered as he walked into the kitchen. “Sorry, I didn’t
mean to bother you two.”

“Oh,
you’re never a bother Jude,” I told him, giving him a smile.

“Yeah,
I only saw you less than thirty minutes ago, it’s been too long,” Beau joked.

Jude
flipped him off. “Fuck you. I was on my way home and decided to stop by to see
if Sadie was still here.”

I
shook my head and said, “No, she’s not. She left about fifteen minutes ago and
said she was going home.”

“Shit,
I was hoping to catch her. She’s been having car trouble lately; the girl never
listens to me and I keep bitching at her to take her car into the shop. I was
going to give her a lift home.”

“Well,
she should be there soon, you don’t live far from here,” I answered.

“Hey,
Jude, can you do me a favor?” Beau asked him.

“Sure
man, what’s up?” Jude asked.

“Danni’s
hungry and I want to run and get her something to eat but I don’t want to leave
her here alone.”

Jude
nodded and sat in a chair across from me at the table.

“I’ll
stay with her man, don’t worry about it.”

“Guys,
I’ll be fine here for a few minutes by myself.”

“Danni,
don’t argue. Just tell me what you want and I’ll go get it,” Beau said,
laughing.

I
sighed and looked at the two of them; it was pointless to argue. Beau was way
overprotective of me and Jude was just plain stubborn.

“Fine,
get me a banana split. The bigger the better.”

“Ice
cream? That’s all you want?” he asked me.

“Yes,
but I want to go into a diabetic coma from this thing. The biggest one you can
buy.”

He
smiled at me and kissed my lips.

“Whatever
you want, it’s yours. I won’t be gone long.”

“You’re
okay, Beau. Don’t get into an accident just to get me some ice cream.”

“I
won’t. I love you,” he said, kissing me one more time before he stood up.

“If
you feel uncomfortable at all or decide you want a cheeseburger or pizza
instead of ice cream, you call me, okay?”

“I
will, I promise. I love you too, now go!” I answered and he winked at me before
he left.

“Stay
here until I get back, Jude!” he called out.

I
heard the door close and I turned to face Jude.

“So,”
he asked, “Can I get you anything?”

I
smiled. “No thank you Jude, I’m fine. How’s it been going with you? I feel like
we never really talk much.”

Jude
grinned and shrugged out of his jacket.

“Everything’s
good. I’m just looking forward to this record being finished. Sadie’s been
impossible to live with lately.”

“Oh?
How so?”

“She’s
a damn perfectionist. She will blare a song we recorded on repeat for hours on
end convinced it’s missing something when it’s not.”

“Well,
she’s the producer, Jude. It’s her job. This is what she loves to do, what
she’s always dreamed of doing. Cut her some slack.”

“I’m
trying, Danni, but I just wish she’d mellow out a bit. I wish I could convince
her to take a day off and relax.”

I
smiled to myself.
I have a pretty good idea of what you could do that would
relax her
, I thought.

“Well
good luck with that,” I answered.

“No
shit.”

We
sat at the kitchen table for several minutes chatting and catching up. He even
reached out to feel the baby kick. I was laughing at some story he was telling
when his cell phone rang. He pressed it to his ear and the smile left his face.

“Hello?
You’re what? What happened? Damn it, I told you to get it checked out. I was
afraid this would happen. Did you call AAA? How long?
Fuck!
Sit tight
and lock the doors, I’ll be there soon. I’m at Beau and Danni’s and he ran out
to get something for Danni to eat. Okay, just sit tight. Later.” He toyed with
his phone and sighed angrily. “Shit.”

“Everything
all right?” I asked him, knowing already that it wasn’t.

“No,
that was Sadie. Her car died in the middle of the fucking road.”

He
tossed his phone down on the table with a hard thump.

“Well,
go help her then,” I insisted, staring at him.

“I
can’t leave you here, Danni. Beau asked me to stick around until he got back.”

“Well
you can’t leave Sadie stranded in the cold either, Jude. It’s November and it’s
below freezing out.”

Jude
groaned and ran a big hand over the devil tattoo on the side of his head.

“I
don’t know…”

I
placed my hand on his and gave it a squeeze. “Please go help Sadie.”

“You
sure you’re going to be okay here for a little while alone?” Jude asked, his
eyebrows drawn together.

I
hugged him around his torso and answered, “I’ll be fine, I promise. Beau
shouldn’t be much longer.”

“I
hate to leave you alone like this though,” he said.

“Are
you sure you don’t need me to stay until he gets back?”

I
rolled my eyes and smirked.

“Oh
my God, Jude, go. I am okay, I swear. You can’t leave Sadie stranded on the
side of the road. She’s your best friend’s sister! Seriously, I’ll be just
fine.”

He
sighed deeply, standing up from the table. After he pulled on his coat he
looked at me one last time.

“You
call me if you need anything, okay?”

I
stood and waddled over to him.

“I
will, I promise. Beau should seriously be back in just a few minutes.” I felt
bad that he ran out to get me ice cream but that’s what I wanted so he wanted
to make sure I got it. I really did have an amazing husband.

“All
right, well at least sit down and put your feet up. This little girl will be
here in a few days so get some rest while you can.”

I
hugged him again and kissed his cheek.

“Thank
you, Jude. I will do that right now. Thank you for staying with me while Beau
ran out.”

“Hey,
it was no trouble at all. I better go. Sadie will rip my balls off if she has
to wait too long,” he laughed.

“That
is true. You drive carefully, okay?”

“I
will. Take care, Danni,” he said as he walked through the house and out the
door.

“Bye
Jude,” I called after him.

As
soon as he left, I decided to take a nap because I was already starting to feel
tired. Thank goodness I only had a few more days of the pregnancy because
carrying my baby girl around was really starting to wear on my body.

I
knew I wasn’t going to make it to the bedroom so I opted for the sofa in the
living room.

As
I stood up and began to walk, I felt a strong tightening in my stomach and pain
like I’d never felt.

“Oh
shit!” I yelled out, grabbing my stomach…something was obviously wrong.

I
reached for the kitchen counter to steady myself and knocked a glass onto the
floor where it shattered into a million pieces. I know it’s normal to have
aches and pains during pregnancy but this didn’t feel right. I didn’t know what
contractions felt like but this had to be close to it. I waited for it to start
to taper off like Dr. Mitchell said it would but it wasn’t letting up and I was
becoming more scared by the second.

I
guided myself over to the kitchen counter and found my cell phone, picking it
up with a shaking hand. I tried to navigate through my phone to call Beau but I
was having a hard time concentrating through the pain. My eyes started to blur
with tears and I was terrified now. I couldn’t make out the numbers or letters
on the phone display no matter how hard I squinted. I just needed to call
Beau…as soon as he picked up he’d come rushing back home.

Just
as I made out Beau’s name and was about to push the call button, I felt the
excruciating stabbing pain in my stomach get ten times stronger. I screamed out
and dropped my phone as I felt wetness rolling down my legs. I didn’t know if
my water had broken or not and there was no way I’d be able to see anything…why
couldn’t I see anything? I cradled my belly with one hand and I felt between my
legs with the other. My leggings were soaking wet already. I pulled my hand up,
expecting to see wetness but instead I saw blood…a lot of it.

“No,
no, no…this can’t be happening,” I cried, tears pouring down my face. I was
fine just a few minutes ago…what was happening?

I
had to protect the baby, no matter what. I just needed to find my phone and
call an ambulance. Once Beau came home and saw them here he’d know what to
do…he always knew how to calm me. I needed my husband with me now more than
ever before.
Please hurry
, I thought to myself.

I
tried to bend down and find my phone but as soon as I moved, my legs gave out
and I could feel myself falling to the floor.
Protect the baby
was the
last thing I thought before I hit the tile and blacked out.

Beau

“Danni?
I’m home!” I called from the foyer.

I
closed the door and slid out of my coat.

“I
hope you still want ice cream because your man went above and beyond. I can’t
remember the last time I spent twenty bucks on a banana split!” I laughed.

This
pregnancy had turned Danni into an ice cream pregzilla so I made sure to get
the biggest sundae they had and added every topping the place carried.

I
walked into the kitchen, expecting her to still be there with Jude.