Unbreakable Hearts (Broken Series #3) (3 page)

Gray

Theo
and I walked around the house, checking all the windows and doors after I laid
Charlie down in her bed. I'm pretty sure Theo was the only person who would
ever understand my paranoia.

"All
clear in here, man." He shouted from the kitchen.

"Awesome.
The rest of the house is good. God, I feel so stupid every time I do this at
night."

"Dude,
don't ever feel stupid for protecting your family." He handed me a beer
out of the fridge as I saddled up to the breakfast bar. "I'd be the same
way."

I sat
back with
a humph
, as I took a long pull off of the
cold glass bottle. "Man, I have to be honest, it's exhausting."

"But
worth it, right?"

"Absolutely.
I would do anything for my girls, and soon to be boy. So, how are you and
Hannah getting along?"

Theo's
brows twitched and I knew I had hit a touchy subject. "Things are okay, I
guess. She's been talking to and hanging out with this guy Ryan quite a bit.
I'm not sure what's going on with her."

"Honestly,
Hannah's got the itch."

"The
what?"

"This
is Hannah's longest relationship. She doesn't usually do long term, if you know
what I mean. I'm not saying she's cheating by any means. I've never known her
to be a cheater, but she tends to start pulling away when she's done. Don't get
me wrong man, I love you two together. You make Hannah a decent person to be
around for longer than an hour, but I'd just be careful."

"I've
been having her watched when she goes out." Theo dropped his head in
shame.

I
choked on the liquid flowing down my throat. "Are you serious?" I
laughed.

"I
just wanted to make sure, ya know?"

"I
get it, but don't you think our money could be better spent?"

"I
haven't been paying Jason."

"You
got Jason to do this for you?" I chuckled. "What a douche."

"He
offered." Theo let out a loud laugh.

"You
guys are crazy."

"Bennett
seems good.
She doing
okay this pregnancy?"

"She's
doing okay. I think she just worries about the worst-case scenario, ya know? I
mean, I can't blame her, but sometimes I wish she would just live in the
moment. Life's too short." Theo didn't respond with anything but a head
nod. He never weighed in on how Bennett was after the whole Raylon incident. I
couldn't blame him. If it had been my best friend, I probably wouldn't have
much to say either.

****

I
glanced at the clock on the wall behind the couch as we watched some random
movie on the TV. It was almost midnight and amazingly enough, I hadn't heard
from Bennett since her and Hannah left. I wasn't worried though. I trusted
Hannah to show Bennett a good time without getting into trouble. I just hoped
that Bennett
was
having a good time.

Theo
started to drift off to sleep a little while later and I could feel my eyes
getting heavy. I wasn't sure how long I had been out when the alarm started
blaring through the house, instantly waking Theo and I both up. We both reached
for our guns, ready for the unexpected. After disarming the alarm, we started
checking things out on the main floor. I took the backyard and kitchen, while
he checked the dining room and living room. When we met up in the foyer, we
both nodded our heads in the direction of the upstairs. I took the lead as we
climbed each step one at a time. I wanted to run straight to Charlie's room,
but I wasn't sure what awaited us upstairs.

When we
reached the top of the landing, I motioned for Theo to check Bennett’s room and
mine as I went in the direction of Charlie's room. As I reached her cracked
door, I felt a slight breeze hit my face from the open window. My face paled
and I had to catch myself on the wall next to Charlie's sleeping form in her
crib.

I
searched the entire room frantically for anything that was out of place, before
making my way over to the window. I set my gun down on the windowsill as I
closed the cracked window. When Theo came barreling into the room, gun drawn, I
let out a loud exhausted sigh.

"What's
going on?" He whispered as he glanced down at Charlie.

"Guess
I missed this window. The wind must've blown the curtains past the motion
detector. Fuck." I motioned for him to exit her room as I followed behind
him.

"It's
okay, Gray. We all make mistakes. Her room is high enough up; I honestly don't
think anyone could get to her. Plus, he's gone, bro."

"I
know, I know."

"I
think you need to get some sleep. I'm going to crash on the couch and wait for
Hannah. Why don't you go lay down. I'll send Bennett up when she gets
home."

"Sounds
good. Thanks Theo." I clapped him on the shoulder, and made my way into my
room. I was beyond exhausted and after that scare, I was dead tired as my
adrenaline dissipated. Within seconds of my head landing on my pillow, I was
out.

****

A small
warm hand slipped under my shirt, sliding up my cool skin. My eyes were still
closed. Sleep threatening to take me back under, when her hand started making
its way further south. I lifted my butt enough that she could slip her hand
down the front of my pants. I let out a strangled moan as her hand firmly
wrapped around my length.

"Does
that feel good?" She whispered just below my earlobe before taking it into
her mouth.

I
couldn't find any words to describe how she was making me feel, so I just
moaned as I rolled over, capturing her mouth with mine.

"I'm
going to say yes." She giggled.

My
hands slid up her burgeoning belly, discarding her dress on the floor. "So
beautiful."

I could
see her flush a deep red, as I took in her gorgeous body.

"Stop
staring at my fat belly."

I sat
straight up with her still straddling my lap, "I don't ever want to hear
that come out of your mouth ever again. You look amazing, pregnant or not. You
got me, woman?" I let out a loud chuckle so she would know I was trying to
make her feel better.

She
nodded her head slightly, so I started tickling her in all the spots I knew
would get her wiggling the fastest.

"Gray,
stop." She choked out between her giggling fits.

I was
just about to release her, when I felt my jeans get extremely warm.

"Um,
Button did I make you wet yourself?" I tried not to laugh, but I wasn't
doing a very good job.

She
smacked me across my chest, "No asshole, I'm pretty sure my water just
broke."

My face
paled and my jaw went slack. "Are you sure?" I stuttered.

"I'm
positive." She was quickly moving off of my lap and I followed her.

I
quickly changed my jeans and boxer briefs, and then I set out to find Bennett.
When I walked out of the closet, she stood in our bedroom doorway completely
dressed with her overnight bag in hand.

"Man,
you take forever." She laughed.

"You
head downstairs and call Hannah and Theo. I'll go grab Charlie."

I
walked into Charlie's room a second later and found myself scrambling to find
all the things that we would need for her. We didn't live close to the
hospital, so coming home every night wouldn't be an option. When I heard
laughing in the doorway, I turned quickly to find my beautiful wife laughing at
the sight in front of her.

I had
every drawer of Charlie's dresser pulled out and clothing strewn across the
floor as I sat on my hands and knees.

"Having
trouble?"

"Very
funny. No, I was just trying to... Oh screw it; I'm freaking out here. I don't
know what to grab and what not to grab."

"How
about I grab some clothes and diapers and you grab Charlie."

Oh
yeah, Charlie. Shit. "Okay, sounds good."

I stood
slowly as Bennett came strutting towards me. "Calm down love, everything
is going to be fine." She placed a soft kiss to my lips and my nerves
instantly disappeared.

I
gently grabbed Charlie out of her crib, tucking her tightly into my chest as I
wrapped her blanket around her. I didn't want to wake her just yet. It was
going to be bad enough having to wake her up when I put her in her car seat.

I heard
some hard breathing coming from behind me and found Bennett doubled over the
rocker in the corner of the room.

"Button,
are you okay?"

I knew
she could handle the contractions, but I wasn't sure how much longer we had to
get her to the hospital.

"I'm...go...good."
She let out a loud labored breath before she stood as straight as she could and
started making her way to me.

I
helped her downstairs as best as I could while holding Charlie in my other arm.
Just as we hit the bottom stairs, the front door flung wide open and a very
tired looking Hannah came frantically running through. She was quickly at
Bennett's side, helping her the rest of the way down.

I
quickly ran to grab Charlie's car seat and strap her in. "Okay, we're good
to go. You ready, baby?"

"Yup."

We all
made our way out of the house and into our cars, and off to the hospital we
went to have our precious baby boy. Life was good.

Bennett

The
pain was unbearable by the time we reached the hospital and I was ready to
strangle every single person that got in my way. Hannah and Theo took Charlie,
as Gray helped me into a wheelchair and up to labor and delivery. Lucky for us,
our doctor was on call that night so she was already at the hospital ready to
go.

"You
still doing okay?"

I knew
Gray was only concerned, but I swear to god if he asked me one more time if I
was okay, I was going to have to physically hurt him.

"Never
mind." He whispered. He must've sensed my anger.

Minutes
later, I was in a room and lying on a bed as they hooked me up to every monitor
possible. Just as quickly as we had made ourselves comfortable, a monitor
started blaring.

"What
is that?" Now I was extremely nervous.

"Tell
the doctor we need to move her to an OR immediately. There's no time." A
nurse shouted above my head.

"What's
going on?" My eyes frantically searched each person's face for an answer,
but no one seemed to care about what I was asking.

"Button,
it's going to be okay. Just try to stay calm and relaxed. Everything will be
fine."

"You
can't be certain." I whispered up at him. I could see the fear in his eyes
as mine started to flutter shut.

"Um,
nurse. Is this normal? She was just talking and now her eyes are closed. Is she
okay?"

I could
hear Gray's voice echoing through my mind, but I was suddenly very tired. I
didn't have the energy to stay awake any longer. Suddenly, I felt the bed
moving and a small breeze whipping me across the face. My eyes fluttered open a
few times, but all I could see were fast passing white walls and bright halogen
lights.

I felt
a warm hand stroking my cheek and I instantly knew it was Gray. "Hey
Button, wake up love. Just for a minute." His voice was warm and soothing.

I
nodded my head and looked up into his beautiful eyes that were staring back at
me. "Is he here yet?"

"Almost."
His hand slid into mine and a tear fell from the corner of my eye, as I waited
for the small cry of our baby boy.

"Why
isn't he crying, Gray? What's wrong?"

"Bennett,
we're going to have him go into the NICU while I finish sewing you up. It just
seems like his lungs are a little wet." The doctor seemed so sure of
herself, but I questioned every word coming out of her mouth.

I
looked over at Gray, "Go with him, please." I pleaded.

Seconds
later, Gray and my brand new baby boy disappeared through a door behind me. I
tried to keep my emotions in check, but I suddenly lost control. A million
different scenarios ran through my mind, but each one ended the same, me
without my son.

****

I
couldn't tell you what time it was when I finally came to, but I was in my own
room with a very concerned Gray pacing back and forth at the end of my bed.

"Where
is he?"

Gray
came rushing over to me. "Oh my sweet girl, you're finally awake. He's
doing okay. He's in the neonatal intensive care unit. They had to intubate him
because he wasn't breathing well on his own. They said we can go in and see him
as soon as you can feel your legs."

"I
can feel them now. Get a wheelchair."

"Bennett,
are you sure? You've only been out of surgery for about an hour and a
half."

"Gray,
get the wheelchair and take me to see my son." He nodded and left the
room.

When he
came back in, Hannah and Theo followed with Charlie, who was still sound asleep
in her car seat. I smiled at the familiar faces, but my smile quickly faded
when I took in their sullen expressions.

"Thank
you guys for being here. It means so much."

"We
wouldn't have missed this for anything." Hannah kissed my forehead and
then started stroking my hair.

"Hannah,
can you help me get into the wheelchair?"

"Um."
She seemed to look over at Gray for permission.

"I'll
do it." Gray's strong arms slid under me, effortlessly lifting me off of
the bed and into the wheelchair.

"We
will be right back." I whispered.

As we
came to the entrance of the NICU, my doctor came walking out. My doctor knew I
was a tough cookie, but she stood back in shock.

"I
can't believe you are already up and moving around."

"I
need to see my son."

She
held her head high as she responded. "Everything is going to be okay,
Bennett. Call me if you need anything."

"Thank
you." I whispered.

As we
entered the washroom of the NICU, my heart plummeted. Never in a million years
did I ever expect to be in this part of the hospital to see my brand new baby.
What should have been one of the happiest days of my life, quickly turned into
one of the worst and most
frightening.

After
we washed up, a nurse showed us into the small area where our brand new baby
boy was sound asleep. I gasped as I took in his frail and tiny body. He was
absolutely beautiful though. His head had a small tuft of dark copper colored
hair, and from what I could
tell,
he also had all ten
fingers and all ten toes.

He had
a thick tube down his throat and his tiny little body was vibrating from the
machine that was technically breathing for him. All I wanted to do was hold my
precious boy in my hands, but I was told no. The nurse made it very clear that
we could touch him, but very lightly, as to not agitate him. The doctor, that
was working, also informed me that he would have to be in here for at least a
week at this rate. My heart literally stopped beating for a good few seconds. I
could feel the life inside of me start to fade away. I dropped my head in my
hands and began to cry. Gray wrapped me tightly into his arms, trying to soothe
the ache, but nothing would make me better. Not until I got to hold my son.