The Marriage Clause (8 page)

“I’d have it no other way.” Gran pulled her into an embrace. “I can never forgive her for leaving you alone that day or how cruel she was to you.  But that’s my burden to bear when I meet the big man upstairs.”

“That won’t happen for a long time, you’re not leaving us for years, we need you,” India said.

“You’ve got Mikael, Honeybee,” Gran pointed out.

“And I need you and Brownie for the days he’s being a butthead,” she pointed out.

Gran laughed. “Like you can’t be as stubborn as a mule yourself. You two will be fine.”

“I love you, Gran.” India hugged her again, tight.

“Not as much as I love you, Honeybee, and I’m so very proud of you,” Gran said. “Now we need to buy baby soap to wash these so they’re all clean for the baby.”

“I’ll get some,” India promised. “I have to get changed and head to the doctor. It’s my check up, and today we get to find out the baby’s sex if they can get a clear picture.”

“It’s three to one for a girl.” Gran stood and headed toward the door. “I’ll be working on the flower pots out front. I’ll let you know when Mikael shows up.”

“Thanks, Gran,” India called as she went into the bathroom.

They had a three o’ clock appointment at Dr. Highland’s office and got there about ten minutes late. Luckily the doctors offered a twenty minute window before they cancelled the appointment. New York traffic could be everyone’s worst enemy on some days and when Mikael stuck his head out the window to yell at a yellow cab driver it had to be a bad day.

He was excited to see the baby through the sonogram. Nurse Rhonda put India through routine of weight, urine check, and baby length check. She had a glucose test to make sure she was not on the cusp of gestational diabetes, and that came back normal. Finally, they were back in the sonogram room where the same technician as before was running the equipment. After she charted the baby’s growth and took her measurements she took pictures of the baby in three and four-dimensional views for them.

She moved the wand over India’s belly. “Let’s see if we can find a gender on this little one, come on show me what I need to see.”

India looked over at Mikael who was sitting still as he intently watched the monitor. She shook her head and smiled, hoping he took a breath soon before he passed out from holding it.

“And there it is, clear as day, you’re having a girl,” the technician said with a smile.

“Yes, I knew it!” Mikael stood and did a quick fist pump. He caught himself and sat down with embarrassment on his face. “Sorry about that. I got a bit carried away.”

“We see that.” India bit her lip to keep from laughing. “I guess I owe you twenty bucks.”

“I’ll buy you a Frappuccino from Starbucks with my winnings.” He leaned down to kiss her. “We’re having a little girl.”

India nodded. “Yes we are.”

“She’s healthy and exactly where she should be at this time of your pregnancy.” The technician helped her wipe the gel off with a towel and Mikael helped her sit up.

They left with more print-outs of the baby’s face for themselves and their grandparents. True to his word, as they drove through the city, India happily drank her Frappuccino. His telephone rang and he pressed the bluetooth on his earpiece to answer it.

“Hello?” He listened for a moment before speaking again. “Yes sir, I can come back immediately after I take my fiancée home. Can I ask what this is about?”

India looked at him curiously and watched his face become a hard line of anger.

“Yes sir, I’ll be there immediately.”  He hung up the phone and stared at the traffic in front of him intently. She noticed his hands were clenched around the steering wheel.

“What’s wrong?” India asked fearfully. Did he have to be deployed again? Would he even be home for the baby’s birth?

“It seems Celeste filed a complaint against me for physical abuse and some breach of contract nonsense.” Mikael’s voice was hard.

“What?” India said outraged. “You never touched her, and what contract did you sign?”

“Nothing, and now I need to head back to Fort Hamilton to see my commanding officer,” he explained.

“I’m going with you,” India said with determination.

“You can’t, Honey. They won’t let you in the meeting and it could run for a while. Those chairs aren’t comfortable for a soldier, let alone my pregnant fiancée.” Mikael put on his left hand signal and merged into traffic. “I’ll come home as soon as it’s done. Tearing down a few walls may make me feel tons better after this.”

“I need to be there for you.” India put her hand over his as he drove. “We’re in this together no matter what.”

“It won’t be long. I know for a fact I never touched that woman in anger or hit her, and you can’t bring some kind of bullshit  ‘I was supposed to marry you but didn’t claim’ in front of the Judge Advocate General,” Mikael said. “It’s going to be a piece of cake to defend myself and prove her for the liar she is. She broke into my lockbox for goodness sake.”

“Did you report it?” India asked.

He shook his head. “No, of course not. I told her get out of my apartment and my life. I didn’t expect she was going to be a malicious bitch and try this shit.”

“It’s Celeste. We should have never put anything above her, she’s a snake, everything is below her,” India replied. “Oh, I want to smack her in the mouth for her lies.”

“Let’s talk about something else. This won’t be an issue for long, it will be taken care of,” Mikael said. “What do you think for baby names, since we’re having a girl?”

India smiled. “I have the perfect one if you want to hear it.”

Mikael glanced at her before putting his eyes back on the stop and go traffic in front of him. “Of course I want to hear the name, hit me.”

“Isabella Bronwyn-Etta Nolan,” India said. ‘I always loved the name Isabella and now the Grans can’t think we love one more than the other because their names are a hyphenated middle name for her.”

“I love it, they would never fuss to each other or us but they’d wonder why we picked one over the other,” Mikael agreed. “Isabella is a beautiful name, she’ll have a name fit for a princess.”

“Oh no, we will not be spoiling this little princess, boundaries daddy. You can’t let her win you over when she bats her eyes at you,” India teased him with the warning.

“You’re a fine one to talk, you’ll spoil her rotten too.” Mikael laughed.

“We’ll monitor each other, how does that sound?” India said.

“What we’ll do is love our baby girl and treasure her,” Mikael said huskily. “We never got that from our parents and we’re going to be better than them.”

“Gran said the same thing and damn straight we will,” she answered.

She left it at that, not wanting to bring him down again with Celeste Covington’s nonsense and the fact that she was trying to destroy his life, their lives. She wouldn’t let that happen, and if Celeste wanted a fight she was about to get one. Mikael had more people than just her in his corner. You waged war on one and all the others would rally to his defense.  Mikael wasn’t some easy mark and Celeste was about to learn that the hard way.

Chapter Seven

“I can’t believe this.” India paced the floor and rubbed her tummy. It was like baby Isabella was voicing her opinion as well. “What did she think she was going to gain by doing this?”

Her grandmother watched her with worry on her face while Brownie sat tapping her fingers angrily on her thigh. Mikael sat back and she could see the lines of worry in his face even though he was trying to play it off.  He’d brought them all together when he got home to tell them what Celeste had done. Getting a lawyer to file a complaint with the Judge Advocate General of the military, she had lodged an outrageous complaint against Mikael for the charge of adultery and demanded compensation. It could ruin his career and drop him down in rank if that happened. It pissed India off that one woman could be so vicious, and she wanted to smack Celeste silly.

“She wants money, the little trollop,” Brownie said. “And she doesn’t care who she has to run over to get it. I got a call from her today saying I could make this go away.”

“Did she mention money, Brownie?” Mikael leaned forward. “That could prove a big asset to my JAG defense lawyer.”

Brownie shook her head. “She’s much too smart for that, but the intent was clear and I recorded the call. While she never mentioned money it can show intent.”

“How did she get a lawyer to file such a ridiculous charge anyway? It’s a military court, can a private lawyer even file papers there?” Gran asked.

“He can, and even though he did it, a military lawyer will be assigned to actually run the case. Her lawyer will be there to look out for her interests,” Mikael answered. “We were never married, but she is claiming I intended to propose and you got between us and she should be compensated for that and the abuse I inflicted on her. Apparently I mentally abused her for the year we were together, and I have post traumatic stress disorder that I refused to get treated.”

“But you have had evaluations after each tour and were cleared for work,” India said. “They have records of that.”

Mikael nodded. “Yes, but it’s he said—she said, and this could put a big dent in my career. I could lose my MOS or be discharged if they even think I could possibly put the unit in harm’s way because I didn’t get treatment.”

“That sneaky ass bitch. Oh I want to hit her,” India seethed.

“You’re due in a few weeks, we’ll hit her for you, right Gran?” Brownie said. “I can still pack a punch for my age.”

Mikael shook his head. “No one will make this worse by hitting anyone, we’ll do this the right way in court and I’ll be vindicated. India please sit down, I don’t like you pacing and working yourself up.”

“I’m fine. Besides, walking is good, she is getting so heavy.” India smiled. “She’s running out of space.”

“There is one thing we have and it’s our ace in the hole,” Brownie said suddenly and everyone turned their attention to her.  “The contract, my darlings. Our contract negates hers and it’s perfectly legal.”

A slow smile spread across Gran’s face. “Yes, the contract, and they cannot say it’s not in our belief system to have betrothed you as children. It’s done all over the world.”

Brownie nodded. “I’m originally from England and this was a regular occurrence. The Amish still practice courtship and betrothal and many families still do this. We can show our contract, and heck India, you’re pregnant. Our legal document trumps her inane claim.”

“But that means you guys can’t play this slow anymore, get married already and before Isabella is born.” Gran gave a little clap.

“We were planning on it, Gran. We were just making you suffer,” India said.

“That’s not nice dear.” Gran shook a finger at her.

India walked over and took Mikael’s hand. “You two may have inadvertently saved Mikael’s career so I’m not even going to chastise you.”

“Honey you’re rocking back and forth, is your back aching again?” Mikael asked.

“It hurts sitting and hurts standing. I can’t get comfortable,” India admitted.

“How about a hot bath, then I’ll rub your back,” Mikael offered.

“That sounds good.” India smiled.

“And that is our cue to leave.” Brownie stood. “Come on Gran, let’s go do some wedding planning. Mikael, tell us what day we need to be in court and we’ll be there to testify.”

Mikael hugged both older women. “You two are the most amazing women in the world.”

“Bye-bye ladies,” India waved.

Gran came over and rubbed her belly. “Sleep well my sweet baby, India you too. Don’t stress about this and we’ll come out on top.”

India nodded. “I know. Gran and Brownie, you kick ass.”

She gave a little curtsey. “I know I do.”

Both she and Mikael laughed as the ladies descended the stairs to Gran’s part of the brownstone. The door at the base of the stairs would lock behind them so there was no need to trek down to make sure the door was secure. Mikael walked India over to the sofa and made her sit.

“I’m sorry for this, Babe. You know I didn’t expect her to be this vicious,” he said.

India nodded and teased, “There was something addictive about you she couldn’t get enough of, and that made her crazy.”

“Yeah, it’s called my wallet and Brownie’s status in the New York social life.” Mikael leaned his head back on the chair and closed his eyes.  “I hope this turns out for the best. I don’t want our baby being born to a deadbeat father.”

“Mikael Nolan, don’t you ever say that about yourself,” India said in a voice that bode no argument. “You are a great man and you will be an excellent father. If Celeste wins it doesn’t make it any less. She’ll be seen as a viper that used the courts to steal money from a family. She’d be shooting herself in the foot in that case.”

He looked over at her and smiled. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you, remember?”

“We take care of each other,” India pointed out and leaned her head on his shoulder.  “I’ve got your back and you’ve got my heart.”

“Are you ready to be Mrs. Nolan then?” Mikael asked in a gentle voice.

She leaned her head up to look at him. “I’m ready but I want to wait until after Isabella is born so she can see her mommy and daddy get married. She’ll be our little flower girl.”

He bent his head to kiss her. “I like that idea. Come on, let’s get you soaking in a nice tub and then I’ll rub your back.”

“Then we sleep and we won’t let Celeste disturb us more than she needs to. We won’t let her win,” India said firmly. “Our love is strong, and that’s going to see us through.”

Mikael stood and began to lift her into his arms.

“Hey, I’m too heavy for you to being doing that,” she protested.

“You barely gained twenty pounds, even with the baby you’re still just right in my arms,” he said and lifted her easily. “I’m taking the soon-to-be Mrs. Nolan upstairs.”

She didn’t complain, in fact she loved being held tight by him. True to his word, after her soak in the tub he rubbed her back until the pain was dulled and she was able to find a comfortable position to sleep. Even as she drifted off he rubbed her shoulders and back and whispered how much he loved her and their baby girl in her ear. He was hers, and she hated Celeste for trying to bring chaos into their world. They would win and move on, the birth of their child was coming up soon. But at that moment she would sleep snuggled close to Mikael.