Secrets in Battle: Secrets of Savannah Series Book 3 (19 page)

Chapter 36

To say the reading of the will was a little shocking was an understatement. I expected so
me little trinket or something, definitely not her legacy. I was still going to finish her memoirs, but I just figured the profits would go to Ryder and Greer. I want to make sure they are finished in time for the holidays just like she wanted.

Everyone else headed straight there, but I needed a detour. I had some thinking to do. I know I need to tell Judd about this baby, but I have to make sure he’s mentally ready.
With his rage the other night and now losing Nana, I need to make sure of where he’s at in his head. Is he the guy that I can talk to rationally or is he the guy that’s going to wake up in the middle of the night choking me?

Pulling up to her house and knowing she’s not coming out on the front porch
to greet me is strange. I loved that woman, probably more than my own family. What I said was the truth, she accepted me for me.

I can’t seem to get out of the car at the moment. I really need to look into getting my own
, I’ve been driving Scarlet’s now for a while. She drives any of the vehicles here, but I need to be able to stand on my own two feet for this baby’s sake.

My phone rings
. Looking, I see it’s my brother Vic.

“Hey
, brother.”

“Hey
, Prissy Pants. I was just calling to check on you. I heard about Miss Pearl Abbott passing away. I know you were close to her. I also wanted to check on Scarlet and Ryder. I know I’ve never gotten to spend much time with them to get to know them, but they seemed really nice and close to her at the cook out I went to. I can see why you love that family, they are the opposite of our family. They all have a welcoming demeanor.”

“
Yes, that is why I love them all so much. I’m doing okay. It’s just an adjustment, you know I’d been working with her every day. I was the one who found her, Vic. It hurts but I’m working through it.”

I see Scarlet walking out on the porch. “Hey
, Vic, I need to go help Scar with some things. Can I call you this week for lunch?”

“Sure
, Prissy Pants, but you call me before if you need to.”

“Thanks. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I step out of the car. “Hey
, Scar. I was coming in, I was just talking to Vic on the phone. He was calling to check on me and you guys.”

“Oh
, okay. Well we’ve got all the stuff from the lists. She mostly sorted out the guns and a few other pieces that people had given her. Judd wanted us to take whatever we wanted, but we just went by the list for now. We left all of the journals and memoir stuff where you guys were working on it.”

I suddenly feel tired and weak. “Okay.”

She looks at me curious. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”

“Yeah
, I just need to eat a little something. It’s kinda been an emotional day. You know?”

She nods thoughtfully. “Yeah. Tell me about it. I just inherited a classic car that is going to have both of my brothers
blowing a load in their pants.”

I laugh, “Wow
, such a way with words, ma’am.”

“So are you going to talk to him after we leave?”

“Yeah, I’m going to try. It’s just really hard coming up with the words. You know, I don’t know if we’re really at a place where I can just say ‘Hey, guess what? I’m knocked up with your kid.’ You know?”

She nods
and chuckles. “I think it’ll all be fine. Plus, we have Nana watching our backs now.”

I walk up on the porch with her and we go inside.
“I know, but he has so much on his plate already.”

“This little bit on his plate may give him something to fight for.” She says as she grabs the screen door to go inside.

As we go in, Ryder, Nelson, Greer and Judd are loading some boxes out back in the Ranger. I guess there really wasn’t much at all.

I take a small cardboard box and start clearing the desk that all the journals are on. A few minutes later
, they breeze back through the room heading out.

“You could leave all of that here if you wanted to.” I hear Judd behind me.

I sigh a little. “It’s okay, I’ll use my laptop to work on it. It will probably be a little more convenient anyway.”

He grunts. “Princess
, what did I do? You won’t look at me or talk to me. Everyone keeps telling me to be patient. I’m not sure if I can any more since I don’t really know what I’ve done. You let me hold you while you were in shock the other day, but you haven’t looked my way since.”

I spin around and put my hand up. “You don’t know what you’ve done? You almost killed a guy the other night and you almost hit me.
Forgive me for being a little freaked out.”

He steps closer to me and I shiver a little.
“I would never hit you.”

I try to step past him. “You almost did!”

“Well, I’m sorry that I beat the shit out of a guy who drugged you, and probably countless other girls to rape them! Fuck, Annabelle!”

He called me Annabelle. I don’t know if he’s
ever called me by my actual name.

He looks defeated.
“I’ve talked to my counselor about the rage that unleashed the other night. He told me it’s ultimately up to me to control my rage problem. He gave me some exercises to do when I find myself in a situation like that. I believe I can do it. I would really hope that you could believe in me, too.”

I’m t
rying to be strong and not cry. “It’s not just about believing in you. There is more to it than that.”

He brushes his hand down the side of my face.
“What more is there? What, you don’t believe in us? I was pretty sure you would always believe in us. I guess I was wrong.”

I start crying. I slam the box of journals down and try again to walk past him. “If you really believe that I don’t care
, then you’re wrong.”

He won’t let me past. “What is the problem then? Explain it to me. What’s wrong with us?”

I’m getting pissed off that he won’t let me past him.

“DAMN IT! Judd
, this is bigger than us. It’s bigger than both of us. It’s not just the two of us I worry about anymore! I’m pregnant, damn it!” I shove him in the chest and stalk past him. He stands there in shock.

Chapter 37

Surprised. Shocked. Bewildered. Dumbfounded. Stupefied. Those are all words that can be used to describe how I’m feeling right now. I shake from the thoughts racing through my mind. “Wait! Princess, stop.”

She spins around and puts her hands on her hips. “What
, now I’m Princess?”

“You are always my Princess. I was upset a few minutes ago.”

She wipes a tear from her face. “You see, Judd, that’s just it. I have to wonder what you are going to do every time you get angry or upset. Are you gonna get mad and shut down? Are you going to drink yourself into a stupor? Are you going to burst into a rage like the Hulk? What are you going to do? We have a baby coming, I have to protect this baby.”

“You think you have to protect my child from me?” I’m starting to get pissed, but I’m trying my hardest to keep it in control.

“I don’t know, Judd. The other night you were completely out of control, you scared me. I was never worried before because I could help you. The other night you never heard me begging you to stop. Then when I touched you…”

I put my hands on her shoulders and she
starts shaking. “Hey, please don’t be scared of me. The biggest difference is the other night I was hurting someone that hurt you. I will never let anyone hurt you or this baby, and if I thought I could do it myself, I’d back away.”

She nods and sits on the couch. “I’m just scared of everything right now.
This is so much at one time.”

I squat down in front of her
, taking her hands in mine. “We are going to get through this together. I love you.”

She lunges at me
sobbing, wrapping herself around me on the floor. “I’m sorry for how I’ve been acting.”

I brush her hair with my hand. “So when did you find out?”

“Well, not so funny story. Nana kept telling me
she was sure that I was pregnant. That I needed to go get one of them test things
. I got one and well, you know the answer. I came down to talk to her and tell her that morning I found her.”

I hug her. “You’ve been dealing with this alone, with everything going on after Nana.”

“Scarlet guessed last night. She’s been worried because I’ve been so tired and all.”

Holding her tight with her ear close to my mouth
, I whisper. “So that’s the reason you didn’t want me to come up to your room last night?”

She nods. “Yeah, everything was finally slowing down. I just needed time to process it all.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been going through this on your own, but not anymore.” I pull her in tight. “Do you know anything else?”

She giggles. “No. It
’s not like as soon as you know you’re pregnant, they download a book into your brain.”

“I was just wondering
. You are a nurse, you know.”

She laughs. “I’m a student.”

“Can we get up off this floor? My lower back is bothering me.”

She nods and stands up. I notice sh
e weaves a little. “Are you okay?”

She nods slowly. “Yeah, I’m just gonna grab something to drink.”

“Let me get it for you.”

She’s already walking. “No
, I got it.”

I hear her fall in the kitchen. “Princess
!” I run to her and she moans a little. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just a little woozy.
I got a little light headed.”

I pick her up. “Come on
, let’s get you to the doctor.”

“We don’t have to go to the doctor
, Judd. I’ll be fine.”

I shake my head. “No, we are getting you and this baby checked out.”

She sighs and her head flops back. “Okay, will you at least put me down?”

I sit her on her feet and help her to my truck. We make small talk on the way to the hospital.

After waiting for what seems like forever, they call us back. The doctor goes over everything with her. She tells him about her sickness and being tired, and about Nana passing away.

He looks at her. “Well
, Ms. Garrett, I’m going to run some labs on the blood we’ve drawn. The urine you gave us shows you are most definitely pregnant. While we are waiting, I’ll have the tech grab the ultrasound machine and wheel it in here so we can have a look at the little one.”

She smiles a hundred watt smile as Nana used to say. “That would be awesome.”

A few minutes later, a young girl wheels a big machine in the door. She smiles at us. “Sir, could you hit that light switch? The pictures show up clearer when the lights are dim. Ms. Garrett, if you would, step behind the partition and remove your clothes from the waist down. You can wrap up in this sheet.”

A couple of minutes later
, Princess sits up on the exam table.

The tech
looks at Princess. “How far along are they estimating you are?”

“According to my last period, probably around five or six weeks. I just took the at home test a few days ago.”

The tech smiles. “Well, in that case we’ll use the transvaginal ultrasound. Slide down the table just like you do for your annual exam, put your feet in the stirrups.” She pulls out a wand that looks frightening and rolls a condom over it. “Okay, I’m going to insert this, you are going to feel some pressure and we’ll have a look around.”

Princess looks at me. “You okay
, Judd? You look a little worried.”

I chuckle. “I’m not gonna lie
, that thing she just put in you looks scary as hell.”

They both laugh. Suddenly
, I hear a whooshing sound. The tech smiles and then gives us a weird look. Princess senses it, too. She looks at her. “Is e-everything okay?”

The tech nods. “Yes
, everything appears fine with everything. You’re five weeks and four days.” She turns the monitor so we can see. She points to the screen. “Do you see that little sack right there?” We both nod. “That’s a baby.”

We both smile and Princess looks back at the screen. “Wait. Is that two sacks?”

The tech nods her head. “Yes, ma’am. Congratulations, you guys are having twins.”

I look hard at the monitor and sure enough
, I see two little sacks fluttering.

I swallow hard. “Is everything okay with both of them?”

She nods. “Everything looks good here. I’m going to let the doctor come back in and talk with you some more.”

She leaves the room and I look at Princess. “Holy shit
, baby.”

“I promise
, I didn’t mean to surprise you this much. I’m just now getting settled with the idea of one baby. Now there are two. What are we going to do?”

I look at her. “Love them, and love each other.”