The Gunslinger's Gift (12 page)

“No,
you shouldn’t say you’re sorry. I’m happy. The connection we have is worth so
much more than a piece of paper. And that’s all marriage is—a piece of paper. I
don’t need that. Not when I know what real and true love is. What this perfect
connection to another being is.”

“Okay,
if that changes though, you say the word. I need you to be as happy and
thrilled as I am being your life, in my life.” Sighing, he hugged her close to
him and shifted a little. “We have a ways to go yet, honey. Have a nap with me,
will you?”

“Nap is
good.” Sophia yawned. “Rest, James. We’ll get you all patched up, and then
we’ll sleep for like a week before we come out of our rooms. We’ll be able to
get delivery of food, right?” she asked, hopefully.

“I’m
sure we could arrange something. As long as it’s not your sister,” he muttered.
“I love you, Soph, and I even like Vivian a hell of a lot. I’m just not sure if
she wouldn’t try to off me once she finds out this latest bit of news she can
use to glare at me.”

“Crap,
good point. Okay, we’ll have someone else bring us food. We’ll have them keep
her far from it as well, because she likely would do something that would
bother you, even if it’s just mixing in something that you don’t like or food
you are allergic to. That’s just her.” Sophia yawned again and closed her eyes.
“Rest. You have to be ready to drop with being shot and all.” She couldn’t
believe that here he was making her feel better when he was the one who had
been wounded.

“Later,
maybe. Currently, I’m still feeling some of the adrenaline racing through me.
In an hour though, I’ll be ready to face plant onto our bed. I probably won’t
get up for a good long while, either, so be warned. I tend to sleep a lot after
an injury.” James leaned back against the SUV’s door, tugging her with him, and
let out a slow breath. “Sleep for now, Soph. We’ll be back at the compound in
about an hour.”

Epilogue

Twelve weeks later

“I
swear to God, if you don’t back off, I will beat you,” Sophia told her sister,
who was shooting daggers at James. “I mean it, Viv.” She looked across the room
and to Jason. “Jase, will you please take your woman out of here? It’s just a
bloody doctor’s visit.”

Sophia
rested her hand on her small baby belly and grinned. Just the feeling of the
slightest flutters made her heart race. “When we’re seeing the images of the baby
it’s going to be just me, James, and Janet. I mean it. I love you, sis, but you
blackened James’s eye when you were told I was pregnant, so, therefore, you’ve
got to sit on the sidelines.”

Jason
chuckled as he slipped an arm around Vivian’s waist. “It was a beautiful punch,
though. Caught him dead on with very little damage to her own hand.” He kissed
Viv’s cheek and whispered something that had her sister grinning. “We’ll be
outside waiting for the news. Shout if you need us.” Turning, he lifted Viv off
her feet and carried her out of the room.

“Thank
the gods,” James muttered in obvious relief. The poor man had tried to make
peace with her sister, she gave him that, but Vivian seemed to be stuck on
hating him. Not that they could get a solid reason out of her.

Sophia
shook her head and watched them leave. “She still sees me as a baby she’s
trying to protect and thinks that she’s failing. I really hate that. She should
know that you would move heaven and earth for me.” Sophia let out a sad sigh.
“Anyway, come and give me a hug while we wait for Janet to be told that my
sister is outside and can come in.” Everyone seemed to go running from her. It
was actually kind of funny.

He
moved to her with long strides, sliding up next to her, and wrapped her in his
arms. “I think it’s more than that,” he told her, quietly. “I hurt you, Soph.
She’s waiting for me to do something stupid again so she can nail my balls to
the wall. I understand her being mad initially, upset even, but I don’t
understand why she can’t be content when it’s clear to everyone you’re happy.”
Sighing, he gave her a squeeze. “It doesn’t matter, though. It’s our life. If
she’d rather remain pissed off at me, then that’s her choice. I’m not going to
let her ruin our joy because she can’t get over the past.”

“I
couldn’t agree more. This is our life. This is for us and only us. I love my
sister, but honestly, in the scheme of things, you’re the only one that
matters. Well, you and our baby, that is.” She grinned, pulling his hand to her
belly and putting it flat. “He’s moving around again. Feel.”

“
She
is at that.” He smirked. They were
having the age-old argument. He wanted a little girl, she wanted a little boy,
but they didn’t truly care as long as the baby was healthy. “As soon as we
leave, I need to show you something, and ask you something too. So, no dallying
around down here. We get the okay that all is going well, find out the sex if
we can, and then we bolt. We may or may not tell anyone the results, depending
on how hard your sister is glaring at me. Deal?”

“Deal.”
Sophia chuckled. “I know that we’ll be able to tell the sex as long as your son
quits being so shy.” She had been seeing the doctor every two weeks since being
brought back. Janet was going overboard on her care to ensure that she was
going to be okay. The child was, after all, the first child born of a Guardian
and VV, as far as they knew. “Oh, Janet is ready,” she said when she saw the
door open and tugged him right along with her.

Janet
stuck her head around it and let out a breath as she rolled her eyes. She then
pinned James with a look and nodded. “Glad to see no new bruises from the
redhead. Jesus, that woman has got some seriously bottled up emotions.
Obviously, Jason needs to work harder at keeping her relaxed.”

She
stepped back and waved them inside before shutting and locking the door. “So,
how are you feeling Sophia? Any more nausea? Anything I need to be made aware
of since we last had you in here?”

“Nope,
actually I’m feeling remarkable. The only change…” Sophia blushed and said,
“Well, two changes.”
My poor James.
She grinned at him. “One is that I’m nearly insatiable when it comes to being
with James.” She felt her cheeks heat even more. “And I—” She chewed her lower
lip and sighed, seeing the look on her soul mate’s face. “I’m craving meat.
Lots of meat.”
Which has James all kinds
of happy.

Janet
stared at her in silence for a good five seconds before bursting out laughing.
It took her a minute to regain control, but she was still smirking. “Sorry, but
damn, that’s the best thing I’ve heard in too long. The first, I wouldn’t worry
about, because he certainly doesn’t seem to care.” Janet tipped her head toward
James, who was beaming at her.

“And
the second, definitely don’t worry about. Your body is going through huge changes,
Sophia. You may be a vegetarian in your regular, daily life, but your body
knows what it needs to help support and grow the life inside of you. It’s
likely a little weird, even a little icky, for you, but don’t tamp down those
cravings. Give into them in this case. You need the right balance in your diet
to ensure we don’t have to deal with serious medical issues down the road.
Don’t go overboard, mind you, but don’t beat yourself up if you have a burger
or steak here and there.”

“I eat
steak. A lot of it. I like it too.” Even now, Sophia’s mouth watered. “I keep
telling James that we’ll be able to see the sex of the baby today. So, do
whatever kind of wiggling that you have to in order to get him to turn and
flash his daddy.”

“I
definitely agree that we need to show mommy what a beautiful daughter she’ll
have soon enough,” James said. Pressing a kiss to her lips, he grinned and
squeezed her close.

“Oh,
brother,” Janet muttered. “Up on the table with you, Sophia. Let’s see if we
can’t get a peek at this kid, so you two can give up on this disagreement.”
Janet waved her over. Moving to the ultrasound machine, Janet wheeled it closer
and dug out the gel, rolling the bottle between her hands slowly.

“Sounds
good to me.” Sophia climbed on and pulled her shirt up.

Janet
passed the bottle to James, who rolled his eyes and tucked it up under his
armpit. The man had learned the fastest way to warm it. He didn’t like Sophia’s
attempts to attach to the ceiling any more than she did when cold goo landed on
her belly.

Janet
shot him a look and shook her head. She didn’t say anything. She too had
learned it was easier to give into the Guardians on the small stuff than to
argue. She pulled out the blood pressure cuff and started through the routine
checklist.

It
wasn’t a half hour later when Sophia looked dumbly at the screen, James having
sat back, hard in the seat that Janet had shoved at him. “Oh, shit,” she
whispered and looked at James. “I think we need a vacation. What do you think
about us going on vacation for, like, the next twenty or hundred or so years?”
She licked her lips. “Thoughts?”

He
nodded slowly. His eyes were practically bugging out of his head and glued to
the monitor. “Good plan,” he agreed, softly. “Somewhere never discovered, hard
to get to, and nowhere your sister would ever think to look. Fuck me,” he
breathed out. “She’s going to geld me for this.”

“Can we
not tell her?” Sophia asked, as she stared at the monitor before them.
Two. Holy. Balls. Two.
“Crap, and this
is going to send Mercury into beyond overprotective mode.” Already the man had
been crazy about ensuring that Sophia and the babe were safe. She was followed
by her protection detail of Marines, and at least one Guardian, at all times.

After
cleaning the gel off Sophia’s belly, Janet helped her to sit up. “Quit being so
dramatic, you two. What’s the worst she can do to the father of her soon-to-be
niece and nephew?”

They
both turned looks on Janet that had her laughing. “Okay, good point. You two
really should have hooked up before Jason started her self-defense and weapons
training. Not smart, not smart at all.”

“Thanks,
doc. Your advice is so helpful and really tugs at my heart,” James said,
sarcastically. “Fucking hell, we can’t tell her. We can’t tell anyone, because
they’ll tell her. I say we go with your plan, Soph. We pack up and run far, far
away from here. Maybe in twenty years, she’ll be okay with it all. Actually,
let’s make it thirty, just to be safe.”

“Here.”
Janet held out a DVD and a picture. “For the baby book I know you two have
going.”

Sophia
smiled and thanked Janet. She looked at James then the doctor. “You have to
tell Mercury, don’t you?” she asked, with a frown. “Crap, that means we have to
tell her too.”
Son of a biscuit-eating,
goat-herding, monkey’s uncle. Not good
. “Okay, I’ll tell her and warn her
that she shouldn’t even think about hurting you or being mean to you. I think
that’ll be good. Right?”

“’Cause
that worked so well the last time,” Janet muttered.

“Thanks,
doc. Again, really, your input is so very helpful here.” James got up and moved
to Sophia, stepping between her legs and slipping his arms around her. “I
should be the one to tell her. But if she punches me again, I’m fucking decking
her. Fair warning. Enough is enough. I know I shouldn’t, my mamma taught me
better, but I swear to all the gods, Soph.” He let out a growl as he hugged her
closer to him, his touch gentle.

“No,
you’re right.” Sophia wrapped her arm around his middle. She looked up at him
and grinned. “Okay, before we tell her, can we go for ice cream? Oh, and steak
and cheese nips.” She was starving. “Thank you, Janet,” she told the woman with
a nod of her head and hugged James again. “Come on, take me and feed me, Daddy?
Oh wait, you said you had something you wanted me to see?”

“Yeah,
I did. We’ll grab you a snack on the way to tide you over until I can feed you
properly. I want to show you my surprise before your sister kicks my balls into
the stratosphere. It’ll be more meaningful if I don’t sound like I’m going
through puberty again.” He helped her off the table and nodded to Janet. “Keep
this hush-hush for an hour, tops.”

“Oh, my
lips are sealed. No way in hell am I telling Vivian this news. No way am I
telling anyone this news. I much prefer not being on her hit list, thank you
very much. Now, get out of here before she decides to storm the joint.” Janet
waved them out of the room and locked the door behind them.

Sophia
looked up at James and grinned. “I’m happy.” She thought she should tell him.
“No matter what, I want you to know that I’m happy. I love you. Are you happy?”

“Absolutely,”
he said. Leaning in, he kissed her slowly, turning so he was facing her and
backed her up until a wall stopped them. “I have the most amazing woman in my
life, and she loves me. I couldn’t ask for anything more, Soph.” Another kiss,
a quick one, and he drew away. He took her hand and led her out of medical
through a back corridor she hadn’t realized even existed. Obviously, Vivian
didn’t know about it either, otherwise she’d have been in there waiting for
them.

“Oh,
this is cool.” She moved in closer to James and looked around. “There are no
markings denoting this anywhere on the maps. This is pretty amazing. I never
would have thought that there were hidden passages. I like this. A lot.” She
touched the wall and laughed. “It’s the mountain rock. How cool is that?”

“It’s
some of the original channels. No one on the staff knows about them. It’s a
safety net the Guardians have in case this place is ever compromised. I’ll show
you a few different routes, just in case the worst happens, which it never
should, but we can never be one-hundred percent sure. Right?” James made a face
and shook his head. “Sometimes, I confuse even myself,” he muttered.

At an
intersection, he paused then headed down a branch. They ended up facing a solid
wall that she soon found out was actually a sliding door, as the section in
front of them moved out of their way when he put in a code on a hidden pad.
Stepping out, they were in the regular corridors, right next to the elevators.

She
moved along with him and frowned. “What about the guardians that have turned to
the darkness. Wouldn’t they know about these corridors? Could they sneak in
using these passages?”

“We
moved all the entrances a few years ago, after…” He pressed the button for one
of the top floors and sighed. “After William. We also upped the security to
military-grade products. There are turret guns hidden behind panels over each
door, a series of lasers that if tripped coming in from the outside activates
them and the person coming in has exactly twenty seconds to put in the right
code, first try, or they get pumped full of holes.

“There’s
a number of safety features that take into account animals. It has facial
recognition software that the FBI has been panting after, actually. In its
library is every single person that works, or lives, here, as well as every
mammal, bird, and other animal in the world. Because we
are
that paranoid.”

“Oh,
wow. Well, I’m glad that you are because that means we’ll be safe here. Our
babies will be safe here. Right?” She moved in closer to James, loving the way
that he always held her.