Unexpected Romance (20 page)

He
couldn't sleep. Surprisingly, not from worry. Somewhere around
Paige's first birthday, he felt relaxed for the first time in his
life. He had a family, he was loved and accepted.

Including
his sister, Tonya.

Chris
frightened Corey at first, mostly because he saw himself in the young
man. But, with Chris intending to propose, with the look of love and
yes, lust, in his eyes, Corey couldn't object.

And
he'd promised Nicole he wouldn't.

Even
if it was a mistake, there was nothing he could do about it. If they
separated in the future, all he could do was support Tonya and her
child, if need be. He wouldn't leave her alone with a baby. He
imagined his mother was young and frightened after Corey was born,
and his father left.

He
wouldn't let the same fate fall on Tonya. Even if he was pissed that
she hadn't gone to school before now.

"You
can get mad at her all you want," Nicole said, after listening
to him complain for ten minutes. "It's not going to change
anything. And you are going to get tired."

"I
know, but she's going down the same path my mother did. Single
parenthood."

"Mandy
was a single parent for six years. Two of those were spent going to
school. It can be done. I think Chris is going to stick around. He's
a good guy. You don’t need to worry."

"I
know he is. If they split, he'd pay his support and see the kid for
his days. But…"

"No
buts, Corey. We don't know how it's going to turn out. Instead of
making up a story that ends badly, make up that it end in happily
ever after. That way you'll be happy."

Her
words reminded him why he loved her. No matter what was going through
his head, she had a logical answer for him. She knew how to soothe
his nerves. Not to mention the incredible sex.

There
was a flutter under his hand. He kissed her and laid down, cuddling
close to her body. He was the luckiest man in the world to have been
given the opportunity to make a life with Nicole.

Tony
set her book aside. Chris wasn't due back in until late. His mother
and sister were somewhere in town, but wouldn't be seen until
tomorrow. Thank goodness, she had finals coming up, in addition to
packing the apartment to move to the house, and shopping for items
for the new house.

Tony
was exhausted. She needed to finish reading this chapter then she'd
try to find a comfortable position to lie in. It seemed like the baby
wouldn’t be born forever and Tony was doomed to live in growing
discomfort from the weight.

She
thought about going to bed when the buzzer from the lobby rang. At
first, she thought maybe Chris arrived early and wanted to surprise
her. Too unlikely. Someone probably had the wrong apartment.

She
hit the button for the front door speaker. "Who is it?" she
said.

"Hi,
Tonya." The voice was wholly unfamiliar to her.

"Uh,
uh, yes. This is Tonya. Who is this?"

"Chris's
mother. Meredith"

What
the hell?

"Hi,
Meredith, Chris isn't home yet."

"I
know. Can I come up?"

What?
As if she'd say no. "Sure, I'm studying for my finals."

"I
won't stay long."

Did
Meredith want to gawk at the woman her son accidentally knocked up?
Tony had no choice but to push the button to allow her future
mother-in-law into the building.

Tony
stuck her papers into her binders and stacked her books on the side
table. She was grateful she decided to stack the dishwasher after she
ate instead of leaving them in favor of studying.

With
nothing else to do, she paced by the door, anxiety about this
impromptu visit churning her stomach.

The
sharp knock made her jump and she opened the door. Meredith Holt was
tall and thin. Tony forced herself to smile and greet her kindly,
while the older woman looked her up and down.

"I'm
sorry we haven’t met before," Tony said. "My school
days off never seem to coincide with Chris' schedule. We thought
after the baby, we'd get out that way…"

"Well,
I suppose if Chris paid your tuition, you'd better be studying."
Meredith walked past Tony into the house.

Tony
shut the door. Ooooookay. She followed Meredith into the apartment.
"Chris didn't pay my tuition. My brother paid for that. Well
some of it, I had some saved from my job."

Meredith
was busy looking around the apartment. Was she trying to find
something wrong?

"How
was your flight?"

"Fine.
So I saw your ring. Chris never mentioned buying you a ring."

"He
wanted to tell you when you came to visit." Tony twisted the
ring on her finger. "I told him he should before, but he
insisted on waiting."

"You're
younger than I thought you'd be. How old are you?

"I'll
be twenty-one in February."

"Really
young. And just starting college."

"I
took a couple years to decide what I wanted to do."

"And
why were you living with your brother?"

Tony
edged sideways. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"I'm
trying to figure out if you are some gold digging slut who is after
my son's money?"

Tony
felt as though someone had punched her in the gut. "Is that what
Chris thinks?"

"I
can't think of any other reason you'd allow yourself to get pregnant
with a man you barely know and not end the pregnancy. Other than
getting his money, I don't know why you'd do it."

Tony's
body went numb. She held onto the chair beside her to keep from
collapsing.

Meredith
squared her shoulders and headed for the door. As if her work here
was done.

Tony
heard the door close somewhere far away. She walked slowly to the
bedroom and stood at the door. She wanted to fall into bed and cry,
but she couldn't bear to lay on Chris's bed.

She
went to the spare room, but Corey had removed the bed and the room
was filled with baby stuff.

She
blinked back the tears that threatened. She had gotten through worse
situations than this without breaking down. She needed a plan. She
needed to get out of the apartment.

She
went back to Chris's room and pulled her bag from the closet. She
carefully took her clothes form their hangers and put them in the
bag. In the bathroom she put her basic toiletries in a bag. She could
get the rest another time.

She
picked up her keys and stared at them. Chris had purchased the car
she was currently driving. They could sort that out later, she had to
leave quickly. She couldn't face him tonight.

She
ignored the tightening in her belly as she turned off the lights and
locked the front door.

Her
stomach cramped as she got into her car. She took a couple of deep
breaths once she was sitting. Once she was at Nicole's, she could
relax. She swung her feet into the car and did up her seat belt.

A
wave of nausea hit her and she bent her head to the steering wheel.
Baby kicked at her, and her body squeezed inward again. She gripped
the steering wheel and breathed deeply until the pain subsided.

She
started the car. The drive to Nicole and Corey’s house was ten
minutes tops; Nicole would know what to do. She could focus on her
objective.

Chris
smiled as he parked his car. He frowned as he realized he was parked
where Tonya's car should be. He didn’t see it in the parking
lot.

He
left his bag on the passenger seat and ran up the stairs to the
apartment. It was dark and empty and he turned on all the lights as
he went in.

His
worry turned to fear as he found his bed empty. He turned and saw the
closet doors partially open. He flung it back and found it half
empty. A good portion of her clothes were gone.

"What
the fuck?" he said out loud.

He
pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Tonya's number. It went
to voice mail. He looked at his watch, wondering if Corey was home
and crawling into bed yet. He hadn’t seen his brother-in-law
when they got off the plane. He’d been focused about getting
home to his beloved.

Fuck
it. He hit Corey's number, it rang four times, no answer.

He
paced the apartment, trying to figure out where she could have gone
without calling him. Then he dialed Corey's cell again. He answered.
"What the hell is going on over there?" Corey demanded.

"Do
you know where Tony is?"

"She's
at the fucking hospital. Nicole called me, two minutes before you.
Tony's upset, but she won't tell Nic what's going on."

“
Is
she having contractions again?”

“
Yeah.
But she can’t stop crying. What did you do?”

Chris’s
mind went back to the morning when he called her. She sounded tired.
She was fretting over her final exams, even though she knew the
textbooks better than the instructors.

"We
talked this morning and everything was fine. I wish I knew. I'll meet
you at the hospital. We’ll figure it out there.” Chris
realized he was shaking and his eyes were blurred. "Can you pick
me up? I’m not any shape to drive."

"Sure.
Hate for something to happen to you."

Chris
poured himself a glass of orange juice from the fridge and drank it.
He wanted to grab a beer for his nerves, but he doubted showing up at
the hospital with alcohol on his breath would win him any points.

He
went down and stood in the lobby while he waited for Corey. He tried
to call Nicole, but he got her voice mail as well. She probably
wasn't allowed to use it in the hospital.

Why
hadn’t Tonya called him first? She could have left him a voice
mail. Instead, he came home to an empty apartment and half her
clothes were gone.

He
wiped away the tears as he looked at the sky. Please, let Tonya and
the baby be okay. Please, please. He didn’t ask for much in
life, but it had to give him this.

“
Will
it hurt the baby?” Tony asked the doctor, grabbing his arm.

He
looked down at her. “Of course not. We need to get you calm so
you don’t go into labor. That would be far worse.” Tony
eased her fingers off his arm. He pushed the plunger of the syringe
down and injected the sedative into her intravenous tube.

He
looked at Nicole. “It should take about ten to fifteen minutes
for her to really feel the effects.”

“
Thank
you, Doctor.”

“
Are
you okay?”

Nicole
laid her hand on her ever-expanding belly. “I’m fine.
Just round.”

He
nodded and left the room.

Tony
closed her eyes. She knew what was coming.

Nicole
leaned over. “Do you want to talk while you can?”

Tony
shook her head. She wanted the stupid sedative to kick in so she
could sleep, not think about Chris anymore. Or how much it would hurt
to be away from him. But if he was only with her out of pity and
afraid she was after his money … what relationship did they
have? What future?

She
opened her eyes when she heard a buzzing. Was Chris calling? She
tried to sit up. Nicole pinned her with a look. “It’s my
phone. You shut yours off the second time Chris called.”

Tony
laid back on the pillow. Right, she didn’t want to hear from
him. She stared the ceiling.

“
It’s
Corey.”

Tony
supposed he was on his way.

With
Chris?

Probably
not, he was probably with his mother; hoping for the worst so they
could be rid of Tony.

She
squeezed her eyes shut to ward off a new wave of tears. She thought
earlier she’d cried herself dry, but clearly not yet. Or the
fluids they were pumping into her allowed her to make new ones.

“
I’m
going to talk to Corey. He’s coming to the emergency entrance.
I want to let him know what’s going on. You might be asleep
when we get back, if we’re gone when you wake up, call us and
Corey will be here right away.”

“
Thank
you,” Tony said hoarsely.

Nicole
laid a hand on her sister-in-law’s arm and squeezed it.

Tony
smiled sadly at her. “Thank you, Nic.”

Tony
waited until Nicole left before she gave in to the new round of
crying.

Chris
paced in the lobby of the apartment building. There was a worn bench
for people waiting. He tried to sit on it twice, but he jumped up
both times and resumed pacing and trying to understand Tonya’s
actions.

Chris
spent the eternal wait, questioning every choice he’d made,
every word he’d said to Tonya.

Corey
pulled up and Chris hopped in the truck. "Thank you. I'm
flipping the fuck out, man. What did Nicole say? Did she call you
back?"