Intercepted by Love: Part Six: A Football Romance (The Quarterback's Heart Book 6) (9 page)

A
ndie rubbed
her belly and breathed as evenly as she could. This was it. Her wedding. Her mother had stopped by the powder room and reassured her that the pastor was on his way. Meanwhile, she’d kept the marriage license in Bret’s diaper bag, so it would be binding—the real deal.

Somewhere out there, Cade stood next to a half-brother he barely knew. Her father was waiting to give her away. Even though Aunt Helen and all of her other relatives wouldn’t be present, Cade’s mother was here, showing she really did care about Cade, so much that she was risking arrest to be at their wedding.

Outside, a pump organ played the Wedding March. This was real. She was marrying Cade. She didn’t know how other brides felt while getting ready to walk down the aisle, but she was a bundle of nerves and excitement. Most of all, she was full of joy, except for the nagging contractions. They were becoming harder to ignore, and she’d better hurry down the aisle before it was too late.

One. Two. Three. She counted until her womb relaxed.

She opened the door and stepped out, glad that her sandals were flat without heels. Historically accurate.

Dad stood right outside, his chest puffed proudly. He offered his arm, even as he held onto the walker.

“You ready, darling?” Tears glittered in his eyes. “I’m so proud of you.”

“And I’m proud of you too,” Andie said, kissing him. She turned to her mother and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

The three of them walked toward the head of the farmhouse table where Barbara stood with Bret in the spot where the maid of honor would have been. She didn’t have a bouquet, and there was no flower girl, or flower dog, not even rings, but none of it mattered except Cade.

She only had eyes for her hunk of a football player who stood proudly next to Pastor Stewart. He wasn’t wearing a suit or tux, but was clad in jeans and a football jersey. There would never ever be a man more handsome and lovable than her Cade Prescott.

All eyes were on Andie as she joined hands with Cade. The way his eyes took her in, as if she were the most gorgeous woman in the world, had her knees weak and her heart aflutter.

“Who gives this woman in marriage?” Pastor Stewart asked the gathering.

“Her mother and I do,” Andie’s father said in a loud, firm voice.

Pastor Stewart cleared his throat and droned on with the the dearly beloved speech, but Andie could hardly concentrate. She was drowning in Cade’s deep blue eyes, full of love and adoration, showing her how precious she was by the way he held her hand.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Cade mouthed while the pastor gave a short sermon about marriage.

Andie nodded gamely. No way was she going to ruin their special moment. She’d deal with the labor pains later.

After the sermon, Pastor Stewart started with the vows. As Andie and Cade repeated them, the pain worsened.

Andie gasped and held her abdomen, missing her cue.

“You’re not okay,” Cade said. “Let’s stop this and get you to the hospital.”

“Sssh, we’re finishing this,” Andie argued. “Let me say what I have to say.”

The pastor lowered his glasses and glanced from one to the other. “Are we having second thoughts?”

“No,” both Andie and Cade shouted at the same time.

Andie raised her hand and touched Cade’s cheek. “Cade, you are the man of my dreams. All I have and wish for is in you.”

Cade pressed her hand to his face and held it. “And you, Andie, are the good and joy of my life. I’m so honored to be yours, and I will forever always be your number one fan.”

“I pledge myself to you, for always, Cade.”

“And I vow to take you, Andie, as my wife, to love you and care for you with all my devotion, always and forever.”

“Then I have the pleasure of pronouncing you husband and wife,” Pastor Stewart finally cut in. “You may kiss the bride.”

Andie opened her mouth to accept Cade’s kiss. He sealed their lips together in a kiss full of promise and forever love as a monster contraction squeezed her womb.

She screamed at the slicing pain ripping through her body, and her water broke.

C
ade cradled
Andie’s flailing body, rushing her to a giant four-poster bed. His baby was coming, and not a moment too soon. Voices shouted around him, as everyone tried to help.

“Boil water.”

“Bring towels.”

“Call nine-one-one.”

Cade couldn’t fall apart. He had to be strong. His baby was on the way, and he had a wife to take care of.

“You’re okay,” Cade said, stroking Andie’s forehead. “You’re doing great.”

“It hurts so bad.” Andie’s grip was much stronger than he’d expected, and her moans were sharp and blood-curdling.

“We’re going to have to strip the gown before it gets stained,” her mother said. “No time to be modest.”

Cade helped take off Andie’s wedding gown, then draped a sheet over most of her body. He couldn’t help staring at the area between her legs where the shape of a head bulged. It looked painful.

“I can see her head,” Cade said. “She’s really coming.”

“You need to push,” Andie’s mother said. “Next contraction, help it along and push real hard.”

“I’m trying.” Andie squeezed her eyes shut and breathed hard. “I can’t.”

Cade lost count of the times Andie pushed and struggled. Her face was red and sweaty, and she crushed all the bones in his hand with her iron grip.

Finally, just when Cade couldn’t take it anymore and wished he’d never made love to Andie, she screamed long and loud. The baby burst out and slid into the hands of Barbara and Pam, the two grandmothers.

Cade’s heart exploded with pride and love, as Bonnie, his daughter, all red and squirmy, opened her mouth and took her first breath.

“Waaah!!!”

“You did it.” Cade kissed Andie. “You did it, Andie. Bonnie’s beautiful, just like her mom. Except she’s not bald. She has red hair.”

An exhausted Andie peered over at the baby cuddled in Barb’s arms. Cade’s mother was staring at the baby, smiling and crying at the same time.

“Hi, Bonnie. Little Bonnie Blue. Your nana loves you, but she has to go.”

Bonnie had stopped crying as she blinked, looking around. Just as Cade was ready to breathe evenly with relief, everything went crazy.

Sirens blared. Tires screeched and gunshots were fired.

Cade covered Andie with his body, and his mother held Bonnie close to her body.

Loud voices on a mega horn demanded everyone to come out with their hands up. Then police stormed the farmhouse, along with FBI agents, all with guns trained on Barbara who was still holding his baby, Bonnie.

“Don’t shoot the baby,” Andie’s mother said, stepping in front of both Barbara and Bonnie.

“It’s me they want,” Barbara said in a loud voice. “I’m turning myself in. This here’s my new granddaughter, Bonnie, and someday, I’m going to be a grandmother she can be proud of.”

Cade took Bonnie from his mother, who slowly raised her hands and put them on her head.

Tears rimmed his eyes as he watched them march away with his mother. She’d cared enough to see him married and had turned herself in. She’d sacrificed her freedom because she loved him.

“Andie,” he said, placing Bonnie in her arms. “You were right. She does love me, and I’m glad she showed up for the wedding.”

“I told you so,” Andie replied with a vindicated toss of her head. “Let’s not have a baby shower until Barb’s able to throw one. I don’t care if Bonnie’s in kindergarten. Let’s wait for Barb to do one like she always wanted to, no matter how long it’ll take.”

“Yes, no matter how long.” Cade bent over Andie and kissed her. “Thanks for understanding how much it meant for me to have my mother back again.”

“
H
er eyes are blue
,” Andie said, gazing at her precious daughter.

“No, they’re green,” Cade argued, holding her hand as they rode in the back of an ambulance to the hospital.

“Come on, anyone can tell they’re blue.” Andie couldn’t resist kissing the soft tufts of red fuzz her beautiful Bonnie had.

“Green like her mother.” Cade broke out his phone and switched on the camera. “Here, let’s get our first selfie.”

He stretched out his arm, but the nearest paramedic took the phone from him. “Let me get a picture of you guys.”

Andie propped up Bonnie to face the camera. “Come on, baby doll. First family picture.”

After the police stormed the farmhouse, they’d called the ambulance to take her and the baby to the hospital. Bonnie looked fine, but she had to be sure that her exposure to heroin early in her pregnancy hadn’t affected her. The gangsters she’d been putting a sting on had captured her and injected her as a ploy to make Cade’s mother divulge where she’d hidden the casino chips.

Bonnie’s complexion was pink and she was alert. Maybe she’d been too little to be affected. Meanwhile, poor Cade had been born addicted, but then, his mother had been using throughout her entire pregnancy.

The pictures taken, Cade thanked the paramedics and they were soon chatting about the Super Bowl.

“You’re going to be okay, little one.” Andie stroked the baby’s face. Suddenly her cheeks reddened and Bonnie’s eyes squeezed together while her mouth opened wide.

“Ahhhh,” Bonnie cried, whipping her head from side to side.

“What did I do?” Andie withdrew her hand and stared, wide-eyed. “I was just touching her face. Did I hurt her?”

The woman paramedic sitting next to her threw her head back and laughed. “She’s hungry. I bet she wants some breast. Mind if I show you?”

“Oh, not at all.” Andie darted a glance at Cade and the male paramedic he was talking to. “Could you two turn around?”

“Are you kidding?” Cade moved forward, opening her gown. “That’s my daughter and her lunchbox I’m looking at.”

“You hold her like a football, right under your arm,” the female paramedic said. “Tuck her right there and rub your nipple on her cheek. She’ll know what to do.”

“Hey, I know a little about handling footballs,” Cade said. “Little ones and big ones.”

“Ugh, that’s a bad one,” Andie said, as both paramedics laughed along with her.

“Yep, even for me, it is.” Cade chuckled. Grinning, he put his big hand on Bonnie’s tiny head as she rooted for the nipple, guiding her to Andie’s breast.

When she latched on, a warm rush of sweetness covered Andie from head to toe. She was feeding her very own baby. She was finally a mother. And she was also Cade’s wife.

“I’m so happy, Cade. So very, very happy.”

“So am I, sweetness.” He kissed her forehead and caressed Bonnie. “And look at her. She’s as adorable as her mother.”

“But look at her big, blue eyes,” Andie said. “Just like her dad.”

“They’re green jewels, like yours.”

The baby suckled, her eyes tracking Andie’s, big and blue, well, maybe a little green. She was her own precious person, a little one just starting her journey of life.

“Blue-green, then,” Andie said. Her heart swelled with so much love, she felt she’d burst. “I love you, baby. So much. You’re my dream true. My little sweet Bonnie Blue.”

“Green,” Cade said, and both paramedics shook their heads and said, “No, just no.”

W
atching his wife
, Andie, feed his baby was the most incredible high for Cade, surpassing winning Super Bowl MVP. Warm and tender feelings seeped through him as he caressed Bonnie’s tiny, downy head and guided her to Andie’s nipple. This was what her large, round breasts were meant for. Mother and child were both perfect. He’d etch this scene inside the jostling ambulance for the rest of his life.

Several minutes later, the ambulance turned the corner and came to a gentle stop. Bonnie hadn’t fed long, being a wee little newborn, and had tired out already. She slept contently in Andie’s arms, and Cade’s hands itched with yearning, wanting to hold his little girl.

As soon as the ambulance stopped, the paramedics got busy.

“Even though your wife looks fine, we need to have a doctor check her out. We’ll monitor her blood pressure and make sure she’s healing,” the female paramedic said.

“How about the baby?”

“Same thing. Pediatrics will want to give her a go-over. Don’t worry. She looks great, feeding well,” the paramedic reassured.

Cade stepped out of the ambulance and leaned over, giving Andie a kiss. “I’ll bring your parents as soon as I can.”

“I can’t wait for my mom and dad to see this little one,” Andie said, her eyes sparkling with joy. “What about your mother? I was kind of out of it, but what happened to her?”

A heavy dark blanket descended on him and he shook his head. “She turned herself in, and my brother and sister were arrested for kidnapping you.”

“What’s going to happen to them?” Andie’s face tightened.

“I don’t know. But it’s nothing for you to worry about.” He gave her hand a squeeze and kissed the top of Bonnie’s head. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you, both of you.”

“I know,” she whispered and smiled at Bonnie. “It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world, isn’t it?”

Oh yeah. Being a dad and a husband meant he had a real family now. One he’d protect and cherish. He’d never have to be on the outside looking in, ever again. And best of all, he’d ensure his son and daughter had all the love and acceptance they both could get. It would be a wonderful life from now on.

After Andie and Bonnie were taken to their respective hospital rooms, Cade called Tyson. “Any news about Rob Cash and Devon Davis?”

“They haven’t been sighted yet,” Tyson said. “Their cellmates are saying Andie’s the target, not you.”

Every drop of blood froze in Cade’s veins. “Why? What has Andie done to them?”

“The sting. Somehow they got wind that the sting was her idea. They say she double-crossed them, getting the FBI involved. By the way, word on the street is that she intended to give the money to your mother all along.”

“She did not! She was working for the FBI.”

“I’m just saying what I’m hearing. There’s a guy at the FBI who says she didn’t follow directions. She was told to bring the chips back to her room, but instead, she wandered around the casino and found Barbara.”

“That’s wrong,” Cade growled. “Barbara found her. Andie was confused about the instructions. She told me later that she started suspecting Owen, the guy who was posing as her husband on a honeymoon, so she was afraid to go back to her room. As it turned out, Devon neutralized her FBI protectors who were in the room.”

“Hey, I’m not saying she’s guilty or anything. But as your bodyguard, I need to let you know what you’re up against. Fact is, Andie handed the money to Barbara, so both Devon and Rob are out for her blood. Sure, they’ll kill Barbara if they could get their hands on her, but Andie’s an easier target. Besides, your mother’s in protective custody, so right now, Andie’s the
only
target.”

Cade hit his forehead with his palm. Dammit. He had to get Andie to safety. She couldn’t be stuck in that hospital, vulnerable to an assassin. Even though Rob and Devon couldn’t have arrived in Itasca that quickly, assuming they were unable to catch a plane, they could have hired someone to do the hit.

“Whatever we have to do, we have to do quickly,” Cade said. “Is everything prepared? Are Andie’s parents in danger?”

“I’m assuming so,” Tyson replied. “It’s vengeance they’re after, so extracting maximum pain and suffering is the way to do it. Torturing family members is very effective.”

“Round up her parents and Bret. Explain the situation,” Cade ordered. “I’m going to have a chat with the hospital.”