Stalemate Page 8

  “I guess it’s exciting knowing the exact date of birth,” Isa admitted, and looked at Bryce. “With that said, and it’s so far along, let’s wait to be pleasantly surprised when they are born. What do you think?”

  “I like that idea.” Bryce reached up and caressed her cheek.

  The nurse popped her head in. “I have the glucose drink, orange flavor.”

  “Bryce, how about you try that outside while I give her the exam and then we can draw blood,” Ben suggested. “We’ll step out so you can get under the blanket, then the nurse and I will come back in.”

  Isa nodded. “Okey-dokey.”

  When they left the room, she got out of her tights and undies before getting back on the exam table and under the sheet. Ben and his nurse came back in a minute later. After he put the gloves on, he proceeded with her exam. She breathed and tried to relax her muscles through the prodding, which was more than a bit uncomfortable. Ben moved and she sighed with relief when he snapped the gloves off and disposed of them.

  “We need to put in her chart the chance she may not reach forty weeks and to alert the labor and delivery ward if she comes in early that she is a C-section,” Ben said to his nurse.

  “Ben, what’s going on?” Isa asked.

  “Your cervix has thinned out and you could go into labor anytime. If your water breaks, I need you to call me immediately and go to the hospital. We are going to transfer your charts over today. You get dressed, I’ll get Bryce in.”

  “Oh wow,” Isa said, excited and afraid at the same time about the prospect of going into labor.

  When Bryce came in, he had a grimace on his face and his hand on his stomach.

  “Guess what?” Isa said as she slipped on her sneakers.

  Bending was hard so she usually just chased it around with her toes until she could get her foot in. It was a delicate dance to get clothes, sock, or shoes on while pregnant.

  “That stuff is disgusting, you win, honey,” Bryce said. “What am I guessing?”

  “My cervix has thinned out and I could have these babies anytime.”

  “What now?” Bryce looked at her with alarm in his eyes and his face was a not so great color of pale green.

  He rushed over to the sink and she turned away to give him some modicum of privacy as he threw up the orange flavored death that was a glucose drink. That, and if she saw, she’d be right there with him. Isa tucked away the little nugget to tell the twins when they got older. The day their father threw up in panic at the thought of her going into labor.

  Chapter Seven

  They were in the middle of getting the nursery ready and it was a full-blown rush of activity. Bryce hired some expensive decorators who wanted to give the nursery some elaborate Venetian baby theme. It sounded more like ten thousand dollars’ worth of crap, in her opinion. When they looked down their pompous noses at her jungle theme with monkeys and giraffes, Isa was over it. Bryce came in when she was about to tell them where they could put their attitude and throw them out on their asses and tell them what they could do with their snarky attitude. He told them to give her exactly what she wanted or he would fire them and find someone who would.

  The thought of losing business from him seemed to snap them in place because the construction started the next day. She saw the plain beige walls turn into a jungle paradise with flowers. The furniture they’d picked out from the Comfortable Baby store came in soon after. Isa wanted to do the rest herself. Since they didn’t know the sex of the babies, they bought neutral-colored clothes. The shelves that were built into the walls held tons of stuff, and Isa was convinced that Bryce had gone a little crazy. Every day he came home with a new bag of baby items, whether it was toys or clothes. When the doorbell rang, she was thinking he had his hands full with bags, so she moved as fast as she could to the door. When she opened it, people almost knocked her back as they spilled through the door.

  “What the fuck is going on?” Isa yelled angrily, and the person who stepped forward to answer was none other than “cigarette tuna breath” from the gala on TV.

  She cast a haughty glance at Isa. “Bryce is hiring way below the pay grade, and pregnant too. I guess one must work to provide for their spawn.”

  Isa clenched her fist, ready to swing. “Lady, call my children spawn again and you will swallow your teeth. Secondly, I’m Bryce’s girlfriend and these are his children. This is our home, so get the fuck out.”

  Haughty bitch laughed. “Oh please, give me a break. Bryce sleep with you? Look at me, darling. I’m what he wants. That kiss at the gala was more than a bit steamy. I brought him spontaneity and this is my gift to him. Go start us some food before more guests arrive. We’re about to party.”

  The entire crowd cheered and Isa smiled coldly. “We will see about that.” Isa took her phone from her pocket, and as the music cued up, she heard his phone ring on the other end twice before he picked up.

  “Hey, woman of my life,” Bryce said happily. “I’m almost home.”

  “You may want David to step on it, your brunette from the gala is here, and as you can hear from the noise, they’re having a party,” Isa said more calmly than she was feeling. “Since I’m the pregnant help carrying spawn, I’m supposed to keep my mouth shut and go make food. Because, you know, you’d never sleep with a person like me when you could have her.”

  “Floor it, David,” Bryce said to his driver. “I’m almost there, sweetie. How did they get in?”

  “I thought it was you carrying packages and I opened the door. They almost knocked me into the wall and they filed in like ants.” Isa rubbed her belly as a Braxton-Hicks contraction hit.

  “The hell they did,” Bryce said. “I can see the house, darling. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  “Why aren’t you in the kitchen?” the brunette snapped as she walked up to Isa.

  “May I ask your name?” Isa asked sweetly.

  “Amanda Carrington.” She smiled almost wickedly.

  “Well, Amanda, since I’m not your servant, you can go fuck yourself.” Isa’s voice dripped with deadly sweetness. “Bryce is on his way here, and he’ll take care of this. Just know, babe, the next time I see you, I won’t be pregnant and I will punch you in your face for calling my children spawn. Oh, they are twins, so I’ll hit you twice.”

  “Crass bitch,” Amanda said viciously.

  “Uptight, chain-smoking twat,” Isa answered.

  Amanda was just about to say something else when Bryce barged through the door. David stood behind him with a grim expression on his face.

  “Get the fuck out of my house,” Bryce roared. His voice was so loud that everyone heard over the music and the DJ cut that off quickly. “You have thirty seconds to be out that door, or we will put you out my way. You don’t want that, trust me.”

  Everyone began to move silently, but rushed out the door because they could see Bryce meant his words. Amanda, who Isa could see was re-thinking her actions, grabbed her throw and tried to pass him. Bryce stopped her with one hand to the shoulder.

  “Not you. You get to go for a special ride,” Bryce’s said. “David, call the police and the reporters who can get here in ten minutes or less. Let’s see if the rags will love a picture of the debutante being arrested at my home for breaking and entering.”

  “Bryce, darling, this was for you,” Amanda said sweetly. “Let’s not do anything rash.”

  “When did I ever tell you I wanted people invading my privacy? Even better question, when did we talk?” Bryce asked.

  “We kissed,” Amanda whined.

  “No, you kissed me, and lady, it was not pleasant,” Bryce snarled. He pointed at Isa. “Then to come into my home, harass my fiancée, who could have twins at any time. You are lucky you are only getting arrested and I don’t throttle you! How the hell do you know where I live?”

  “Darling, anyone who is anyone knows where you live. It was easy information to get,” Amanda purred.

  “Well forget my fucking address,” Bryce s
aid angrily.

  The Braxton-Hicks contraction came again and, this time, it was more pain. Isa gasped and held onto the wall as she clutched her stomach.

  Bryce was instantly at her side. “Isa, are you okay?”

  It was like feeling a pop and then a rush of fluid soaked her underwear and pajama bottoms and ran down her legs.

  Isa looked up at Bryce in alarm. “I don’t think I’m okay, my water just broke.”

  “Holy shit!” Bryce said in a panic. “What do we do?”

  “Eww, she made a puddle on the floor.” Amanda wrinkled her nose in disgust. “Is that...urine? Ugh, I may hurl.”

  “Shut up!” Bryce and Isa shouted together.

  The both looked at David, who very rarely said anything, and he smiled. “Call your Dr. Allary and then we drive to the hospital.”

  “Yes, we do that.” Bryce nodded.

  “After she takes a shower,” David added.

  “Take care of her and get her gone, will you, David?” Bryce indicated Amanda as he led Isa upstairs. He kissed Isa’s temple. “Don’t worry, baby, we can do this.”

  “Yes, we can.” Isa smiled up at him.

  Bryce helped her into the shower and, as she washed, she listened to him tell the doctor she was on her way to the hospital. Isa dressed in loose pajamas and, by the time they came downstairs, the house was empty. Isa assumed that David chose to give Amana a break from the press after all and she was happy about that. She didn’t want flashing lights and being chased by reporters to ruin the birth of their children.

  David opened the car door as they came down the steps. “The New Orleans Police Department has your unwanted guest.”

  “You saved her from the paparazzi?” Isa asked, and winced. “Oh boy, I think I’m having contractions, Bryce.”

  “Let’s get her in the car,” David said. “Oh, and no, I directed the reporters down to the police station. I figured the press here wouldn’t be welcomed.”

  Isa nodded gratefully as she slid into the seats. “David, thank you.”

  “Not at all, Miss.” He inclined his head before he closed the door to the limo and went to the front.

  The engine revved and he pulled away from the curb slowly. Bryce held her hand and caressed her skin as they drove. She felt nauseous and closed her eyes, leaning back against the leather of the seat and breathing through her mouth. Another contraction took hold when they were halfway to the hospital. The intensity of it made her cry out as her stomach tightened and the pain rolled across her in waves.

  “What can I do?” Bryce asked urgently.

  “Nothing unless you want me to bite you. You know like when they put a branch in your mouth to sever a leg in the old days,” Isa said through gritted teeth.

  “I don’t think I want that,” Bryce said slowly. “How about you keep breathing through it?”

  “I’m doing that!”

  “Okay, okay,” Bryce said gently.

  The sliding glass partition came down slowly and David glanced back using the rearview mirror as he drove. “Everything okay back there, sir?”

  “I’d suggest you hurry so we can get medication into her before she bites me,” Bryce answered.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Oh Tawny. She is going to miss this. She was going to be home the day before the C-section,” Isa said, and she instantly began to cry.

  “Don’t cry, sweetheart. I will call her as soon as we get you settled and get her on the first red eye out from Italy,” Bryce said.

  Isa breathed a sigh of relief when they pulled into the hospital parking lot. Bryce rushed out and left her in the limo. She saw him race through the sliding doors of the ER. He came back with a nurse who was pushing a wheelchair.

  “Be blessed and safe delivery, Miss.” David grinned. “Hopefully, Mr. Forte doesn’t pass out.”

  ‘”Remind me to tell you how he threw up when they said I could be in labor any minute.” Isa grinned.

  David chuckled. “I will do that.” Both he and Bryce helped her into the wheel chair.

  “You are the first woman who’s ever come in a limo to have a baby,” the nurse said excitedly.

  “Right now, I’d sell it to you for some pain meds.” Isa groaned as another contraction took hold of her.

  “We’ll get you up to labor and delivery,” the nurse said sympathetically.

  Since her water had broken, when Dr. Allary arrived, it was straight to an operating room to get her prepped for her C-section. The risk of infection was higher because she’d gone into labor before her scheduled procedure. Lying on the table with her epidural in, she could hear the twin beats of their babies’ hearts and all she felt was pure excitement. Bryce sat by her head and held her hand. Every once in awhile, he would bend low and kiss her temple close to the surgical cap she wore over her hair and whisper encouraging words.

  Dr. Allary looked over the high-draped sheet and asked through his mask, “Are you ready to have these babies?”

  “We definitely are,” Isa said.

  Bryce bent his head to whisper in her ear. “I love you, Isa.”

  She looked up at him in surprise. “You tell me this now?”

  He eyes were a warm and happy blue. “What better time than this? Our children are ready to come into the world.”

  “I love you, Bryce,” Isa said with sincerity.

  “Then they will come into our world filled with love,” he replied. “We had some rough patches there, but we will make it.”

  Isa nodded. “I know.”

  “We’re ready to get Forte baby number one out,” Dr. Allary said cheerfully. “You’re going to feel some tugging, Isa, but no pain.”

  “Okay.”

  She could hear the trembling in her own voice and Bryce squeezed her hand. The first cry was soft and then a loud wail that made her laugh though her tears. Bryce did as well.

  “We have a boy,” Dr. Allary said, and held him over the draped sheet for them to see. “Healthy with all ten fingers and toes. Nurse, please take this very angry baby and get him cleaned up, please.”

  “Did you see him?” Isa asked excitedly.

  “I did, he is amazing,” Bryce answered.

  “More tugging,” Dr. Allary said. “This one doesn’t want to leave Mom.”

  Soon there was another cry, and Isa couldn’t help the tears that streamed down her face faster than Bryce could wipe them away.

  “It’s a girl. You have one of each,” Dr. Allary announced.

  “Oh my God, a boy and a girl,” Bryce said, and laughed. “Hot damn, those are my kids.”

  “Our kids,” Isa reminded him. “I can’t wait to hold them.”

  “Daddy gets to first while we take care of you,” the nurse said gently. “Here is baby boy Forte, his weight is six pounds, ten ounces.” She came back with a baby wrapped in a matching delivering blanket and wearing a pink hat. “And we have baby girl Forte, weighing seven pounds, two ounces.”

  Bryce took them carefully and looked down at them. “Isa, they are so tiny and so perfect.”

  “I want to kiss them,” Isa pleaded.

  The nurse took her son so Bryce could hold up the baby to her face and she could press a kiss against the soft kin of her daughter’s cheek. She did the same to her son before the nurse made sure they all had matching coded armbands and took them to be examined.

  “Don’t worry, we won’t lose them,’ Dr. Allary said. “Later when you are settled in your room, they’ll bring the twins and you can breastfeed them.”

  “Okay,” Isa said. “I’ll have a scar, still love me?”

  “That’s the most precious scar in the world, and I would love you regardless,” Bryce answered.

  Later, when she was in her room and she had eaten, the sunrise filtered through the blinds of her maternity suite. Bryce held their daughter and Isa held their son. She looked at Bryce and could tell he had a hard time looking away from the baby that slept peacefully in his arms. She felt the same way and caressed the soft cheek of
her son with one finger. Isa laughed when the baby squirmed in her arms.

  “We can’t call them baby boy and girl Forte forever,” Bryce murmured. “Any ideas on names?”

  “I actually do. I was looking up baby names before that Amanda weirdo arrived and was going to show you. I have no family to name them after and, even if I did, would I want to give them names of someone who gave me away? I want them to have their own identity. I was thinking A names. Ashley for a girl—”

  “And Avery for a boy,” Bryce finished.

  “How did you know?” Isa asked, surprised.

  “I looked at the site you had on the tablet, that and that crazy game you play,” Bryce replied. “I like them and they fit our children perfectly.”

  She looked down at the baby. “Avery and Ashley Forte.”

  “Sound’s very distinguished,” Bryce said with a grin.

  “Ready for a house full of dolls, crying, two o’ clock feedings, crayons on the walls, and baby proofing?” Isa asked.

  “Bring it on,” Bryce replied with a grin. “I love you, Isa. Don’t you ever forget it.”

  “I won’t if you won’t.”

  Ashley squirmed in Bryce’s arms and they did a quick change off so she could nurse her daughter. Hearing his sister’s cries, Avery began to fuss as well. Isa and Bryce looked at each other helplessly before grins spread across their faces. This would be their life from now on. Trying to keep up with twins and living a hectic life between his work and the rest of her time in the Navy. Isa had no doubt that they’d meet any challenges head-on together. When you found the person who became your other half, the person who you loved more than anything in the world, it made the obstacles that looked like mountains as easy to climb as rolling hills.

  * * * *

  Seven weeks later, Isa was looking out across the crystal blue water of Monaco from the bedroom balcony. She had a few more weeks of maternity leave left, but she tried not to think about it. Soon, she would be back to her nine-to-five and the twins would be with a nanny all day while she and Bryce were at work. She hated the thought of leaving them, but her sense of duty, her commission with the military, was also important to her. Bryce understood and he promised to go home as many times in the day as he could when that time came. He understood what it meant to be a military husband.