MVP (13 page)

Chapter Eight

Morgan’s eyes opened to find a very weary looking Seth sitting on her hospital bed. His bow tie was missing and his five o’clock shadow was beginning to show. The room was quiet except for the thunderous sound of the intravenous drip echoing through the room. The memory of their first meeting flashed in her mind but this time there were no sandy beaches and palm trees dancing in the wind.

She smiled. “Déjà vu.”

“Morgan,” was all Seth was able say as he leaned in and kissed her.

“This is so embarrassing.” She blushed. She was in a hospital gown and her pretty pink dress was hanging in the open closet.

“You scared the hell out of me.” Seth cupped her face in his hands.

“Sorry. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends. Where’s your family?”

“In the waiting room. Aggravating the hell out of the hospital staff.”

“I see they’re giving me fluids.” She took a look at the label on the IV bag.

“Yes, they said you were dehydrated. They also ran some tests. The doctor will be in any moment.”

Morgan took his hand and brought it to her heart. “Hey, you look shaken. I just passed out. Unless I did it in an undignified way. Did my dress fly up in the air?”

“No. But you did look like Sleeping Beauty.” He smiled.

“I can live with that.”

A big bearded man entered the room wearing green scrubs. “Mrs. Blake, so glad to see you’re awake. I’m doctor Engle. Don’t mind me, I was finishing up in surgery when the nurse told me she heard you talking to Mr. Blake. Thought I’d pop in to give you the results. We took blood and had it rushed to the lab.”

Morgan smiled. She wondered which Blake had insisted her blood work be rushed. “Thank you for taking such quick action.”

“No worries, dear.” Dr. Engle grinned. “Now I have the results here. It’s pretty big news.”

Morgan felt her heart clench. What had she done to herself, running ragged, trying to do too much at once?

“You two are going to be parents.”

She gasped, then laughed. She was pregnant? That explained a lot.

“A baby?” Seth grinned as he squeezed her hand.

Morgan smiled, still in shock. “A baby.”

Dr. Engle couldn’t stop grinning either from the looks of it. “That’s right. I am very proud to say I told Seth Blake he’s going to be a father. Wait until my golf buddies hear about this.” Then he cleared his throat. “But in all seriousness, your husband was telling me you had an issue with chili the other day. And you haven’t been eating well. You were a bit dehydrated. I want to start you on prenatal vitamins immediately. From now on you have to eat well, the baby will be cravings those nutrients as well. I’ll have the staff bring you in a big breakfast and I want you to continue the IV until tomorrow. So, I would like you to extend your stay for another day. I will be back in two hours to go over a few more things with you. I will send my notes to your OB-GYN in Philadelphia.” Dr. Engle zipped out of her room as fast as he’d entered.

“Dr. Dynamo didn’t tell us the due date.” She turned to Seth as she recovered from the shock of the news to find him with a big, goofy grin on his face.

“Morgan, you don’t know how happy you just made me.” Seth touched her nose with his.

“I know we just got married and—”

He silenced her with a long, sensuous kiss.

“It looks like she’s feeling better or he’s giving her mouth to mouth resuscitation,” Tate said as he and the whole family filed into the room.

“Leave them alone, boy.” Teri-Lyn smiled. “They’re celebrating.”

“Celebrating what?” John Jacob said.

Seth beamed. “Morgan and I are having a baby.”

Between all the hollering, hooting, and hugging, Teri-Lyn made it to the side of the bed and hugged Morgan.

“Honey, I didn’t have the heart to tell you that although Tyler’s chili can take the paint off a car, you were having classic pregnancy symptoms.”

“I must have sounded like an idiot to you.”

“Denial is the first stage of pregnancy for new mothers,” Teri-Lyn said with a laugh.

“Morgan, honey, any special cravings you been having?” John Jacob asked. “We have to feed my grandson right.”

“Or granddaughter,” Morgan said.

“Seth, you didn’t tell her?” John Jacob glared at him.

“Tell me what?” Morgan looked at Seth.

“Well, baby, boys tend to run in the family. There is probably a girl born once a generation. And your dad had three boys before he had you, so the odds are in the male favor.”

She huffed. “Well, there’s always a possibility of a girl. None of us here are doctors.”

“Sure,” all the Blake men said in unison.

* * *

Seth convinced Morgan to stay at the ranch a few more days after she was released from the hospital. He didn’t want to take any chances she would get sick on the plane. She wanted to go to the stables to see Reed’s Fire, but he had forbidden her to go.

“Did you just ban me from going to the stables?” She clutched one of his trophies in her hand, threatening to throw it.

“Yes, I did. It’s dangerous for you to be down there.”

“Are you going to be an overbearing daddy during this whole pregnancy? Cause last time I checked you have a job. And it starts in a couple of weeks.”

“Yes, ma’am. If I have to bubble wrap you every day before you leave the house, I’ll do it.”

“If you tried something that idiotic, no more sex for you.”

He chuckled. “We both know who’d crumble first.”

Morgan yawned. “I’m tired just from arguing with you. I am going to take a nap.”

“That sounds good.” Seth grinned. “A nice nap.”

“First, you have to go and check on Reed’s Fire.” She folded her arms over her chest.

Seth snorted. “That horse lives in a five star stable and has round the clock care.”

* * *

Seth made his way down to the stables after Morgan ran out of steam and finally succumbed to sleep. The doctor had told her it may be a few days before she was back to her normal energy level, but she didn’t want to listen. One look in her eyes and he knew she was more tired than she was want to admit. He knew fussing with her would accelerate the process.

He’d been hearing congratulations the last couple of days but each time someone new said it, a sense of happiness filled him again that he couldn’t describe.

“He is a beautiful horse,” a familiar female voice said from the other side of the stables.

Seth’s back stiffened. “This is Morgan’s horse.”

Penny’s lips twitched. “You sure are spoiling that wife of yours.”

He nodded. “She’s worth it. What are you doing here?”

“I hear congratulations are in order.”

Seth laughed. “How did you find out about that?”

“I went by the hospital this morning. I thought I would check up on Morgan, see if she’s doing OK.”

“She’s fine.”

“How long do you think that will last? Do you think a baby is going to keep you together? The two of you have nothing in common.” Penny walked around the barn, looking at the horses in their stalls.

Seth gritted his teeth. “Forever, if I’m lucky.”

Penny sighed. “Are you really happy without me?”

“Things happen for a reason. Everything turned out of the best.”

“Did it?”

Seth looked her right in the eye. “I love Morgan.”

Penny held his gaze. “You’re settling for her and when she finds out it’s going to break her heart. Then you’re going to have a baby to share.”

The blood pounded in his ears at that. “Now wait a damn minute. I didn’t
settle
with Morgan.”

“Do you forget I’ve known you all your life? I know being with this woman is different but it’s not you.”

“You have no idea what I want or need in my life. Not anymore. People grow up and want different things for themselves.”

Penny scoffed. “Well, I hope you don’t think Ms. Priss is going to move back here on the ranch when you retire from the NFL. You hate Philadelphia.”

“I do not hate Philadelphia.”

“You would write long emails about how it was so far away and the people were rude. You said you missed home and couldn’t wait until you could come back and be on the ranch full time.”

Seth glared at her. “I don’t think I was giving living in the city a chance because I was so convinced I’d be happy living here with you. What a mistake that was. And you don’t get to talk about Morgan like she’s some insignificant play thing. She is going to be the mother of my children. She deserves more respect than that from you.”

Penny folded her arms. “Why don’t you just admit that you still want me? You’ve always wanted me.”

“You always wanted me to want you. We were playing a game and only you had the rulebook.” He laughed bitterly.

“It was hard to see you plunged into the limelight and knew it was only a matter of time before someone took you from me.”

“I never understood why you didn’t give me more credit as a man who loved you. Why would you think it would be so easy to tuck away my feelings for you?”

Penny flipped her hair over her shoulder. “You know how hard I had to fight in high school? Every girl in the school wanted you. The cheerleading squad kidnapped you for heaven’s sake and some of those girls were my friends. How long could I expect you to resist temptation at every turn?”

“All you needed was a little faith in me.”

“I never stopped loving you, even when I was pushing you away.”

“Penny, stomping on my heart was the best thing you could have done for me. It’s in the right hands now. I don’t worry about Morgan throwing it away. I have found a sense of peace I never had with you. Nothing you can say about the past could make me derail my future.”

Penny blinked her eyes rapidly like she was trying not to cry. Seth didn’t want her to cry or to even hurt anymore about their relationship. It simply just wasn’t worth it.

“Will you continue to contribute to the clinic?” Penny said quietly.

“That clinic is the one thing we didn’t manage to screw up. Believe it or not I was proud of you when you opened it and I respect and admire what you’ve done with it. You did it. You made your dream come true. That reminds me of that little girl I used to know who wanted to save the world.
That
Penny Winterbourne will always be my friend.”

“My, my Seth Blake. Look at the man you turned out to be. Love does agree with you. I know you’ll be a great father.” Penny ran to Seth and hugged him.

“Thanks, Penny.”

Seth walked Penny to her car. As she drove off a sense of relief flooded him. This was the closure he had needed so many years ago.

Seth froze when he saw Morgan walking toward him. “Aren’t you supposed to be taking a nap?”

“I came down to see what was taking you so long.”

“So how much did you hear?”

“Enough.” She smiled at him.

He smiled back. “Since you won’t be riding for a while, let’s take a walk.”

Seth and Morgan held hands as they walked around the ranch. Finally, she stopped and rested in Seth’s arms under the shade of a huge oak tree not too far from the house.

Seth tucked her head under his chin. “What are you thinking about at this very moment?”

“It’s good to be back here. I like cowboy Seth. He’s very sexy.”

“Is that right?” he drawled.

“That’s right. One look at that Stetson and I’m ready to get naked.” She giggled.

“You are something else, Morgan Blake.” He kissed her.

“It’s so beautiful here. You want to move back here permanently someday. Don’t you?” She up looked at him.

“I’ve been thinking about it. Hard. I know it’s a lot to ask. But we have plenty of time to talk about it.”

“I don’t care where we live. I just want to be with you, raising our kids.” Morgan leaned into him and squeezed him.

Kids? That sparked something inside him. Seth scooped her up and carried her back to the stables. He locked the door to his office, carried Morgan over to his desk, and placed her on it, but not before he wiped it cleaned of everything, including two trophies.

“Did they break? I’m pretty sure those were important.” She looked down on the floor.

“I’ll win new ones.” He pulled off her jacket and blouse.

Seth ran his hands along her arms then slid down the straps of her bra. It didn’t matter what bra she wore, the swell of her breasts falling lusciously out of the soft fabric always sent shivers down his spine. He’d dated women who’d had surgery to look this way. But not his Morgan. She helped by wiggling out of her jeans and panties as he made a slow trek down her hips to remove them.

“You know these are going to get bigger?” she murmured.

“I’m not complaining.” He took her nipple into his mouth and suckled it while Morgan unbuttoned his shirt, but she took her sweet time with his jeans. Seth ran out of patience and pulled off his jeans, boxers, and boots all at the same time.

And there they were skin against skin, making contact and promising sensual friction. Her skin a few shades darker than his tan, he imagined the baby’s complexion being a culmination of that, and he sighed. His children were going to be the perfect mix of the two of them. He climbed on top of the desk and slid into her.

Seth stilled, barely able to contain the pleasure rippling through his body. “I’m not hurting the baby am I?”

“The baby is fine.”

Morgan wrapped her legs tight around his waist and they quickened the rhythm. It was moments before he remembered to breathe. Morgan’s moans brought him back to the matter at hand as she began to squirm and grab hold of his back. Seth buried himself deep inside her, then pulled out and plunged back into her over and over. Morgan tightened around his penis and ran her hand down to the small of his back, a particularly sensitive area of his body. As soon as her hand traveled down to his ass, he couldn’t stop the build up from erupting. He’d done a good job until then of keeping his weight off her. Seth eased onto her and laid his head on Morgan’s chest, but he didn’t pull out of her. She ran her hands through his hair.

“We have had one hell of a week,” Morgan mumbled.