Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

KATE

T he following day, I sit up in bed feeling like total shit.

One minute, I'm fine; the next, it feels like I could fall through the floor. Dizziness and nausea have really taken hold.

Grabbing one of Jensen's books from my bedroom floor, I quickly scan the pages until I find the section on morning sickness. Self-help it is. No need to call the doctor.

The key symptoms are everything I'm feeling, including loss of appetite.

Padding through to my kitchen, I flick the coffee maker on but quickly stop it. Blah, even that makes me gag. How in the hell am I supposed to make it through the day and then to the rescheduled meeting at six p.m. with the Parkers when I feel like this? I guess they call it morning sickness for a reason, and hopefully, by the afternoon, I'll be feeling better.

I need to feel better.

A half-hour later, I've dragged my sorry ass around my apartment and made the best effort I could to get ready. I genuinely cannot bear the thought of food, so I forego my breakfast and take a few sips of water. At least Felicity will be back at work today.

Snatching up my keys, I make my way down to the parking lot and get in my car.

God, this isn't getting any better, if anything worse.

"No excuses." Violet's mantra rings over in my head.

Cranking the engine, I back out of my space and head for work, stopping at a stoplight a couple of blocks away from my office when my phone buzzes.

Then buzzes again.

Connecting it to the Bluetooth, I pick up but don't bother to check who's calling. "Hello?"

"Kate, it's Margo. Sorry about this, but the Parkers are here and waiting for their appointment. There's been a mix-up with timings." She pauses, and I hear a few clicks of a computer mouse. "You have an opening for an hour right now if you can see them?"

"I thought it would take at least two hours, given the paperwork they wanted help with."

"They're confident they can squeeze it into an hour."

The lights turn green, and I pull away, taking a left onto the street where our office is located. "Okay, I'll be there in five minutes. Get them a drink, and I can take it from there."

Margo hesitates for a second before answering. "Okay…no problem. Just take your time on the road."

"No problem, Mr. and Mrs. Parker; I can draft the pleadings as soon as possible and have everything moving forward."

My stomach rolls again.

"Thank you, Kate. We're so glad we held out to see you. I know you have a busy schedule, but you have one of the best reputations in Seattle." Mrs. Parker smiles sweetly at me.

"Thank you, I really appreciate th?—"

I throw a hand over my mouth, unable to contain the nausea any longer.

Resetting myself, I take a deep breath and go to open the door.

Another wave.

"I'm so sorry," I rush out. "I'll have Margo show you out."

Racing to the bathroom in high heels, I swing the door open but don't make it far enough when I puke straight into one of the sinks.

Then I puke again.

And again, until I'm a crumpled mess on the floor, my suit dress gathering muck. Kicking off my heels, I curl in on myself and close my eyes. The room won't stop spinning, and I know it's because I haven't eaten anything since yesterday at lunchtime when the nausea bouts began.

"Kate?!" Felicity barges through the door, dropping to her knees beside me. "Are you okay?"

"Never better," I slur.

"Come on, we need to get you up and home."

"I'm good. My day is packed. I can't miss any more appointments."

My best friend glares at me in a way that sears straight through my bones; she isn't messing around. "You're probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen, and I thought that from the moment I saw you. But right now, you look like absolute hell. I won't accept anything other than you going home and getting into bed. You're in your first trimester and have bad sickness." She wraps an arm around my waist to support me. "Trust me, I had it with Jack, and it was the worst."

"I'm good," I repeat, trying to smile and failing.

She holds out her phone to me. "Call Jensen, please."

I throw her a puzzled look. "Why?"

"Because he tried to text you, and you haven't answered in all of ten minutes, so now he's blowing up mine."

"Really?"

"Yep. He makes Jon look like a slacker."

"He's just got the first-trimester jitters."

Felicity blows out a breath and looks at me. "You really believe that? That this is just about the baby and nothing else?"

"I don't know what to believe anymore, babe."

"He's obsessed with you. He has been for a long time."

"I know. But I don't want that. I just want to co-parent and keep some independence."

"Who said being in a relationship means giving up your independence?"

I throw a hand over my mouth and hold up a finger, burping slightly.

"Lovely." She scrunches up her nose.

"Acid." I wince and then start to puke all over the floor in front of me.

My best friend rubs my back. "Yeah, it's home time now, babe."

Felicity sets a glass of water on my nightstand and then helps me into bed, pulling the duvet over me. "Thanks, Mom."

"How are you feeling now?"

"About as well as when you pulled over for me to puke on the sidewalk."

"Yeah, that wasn't a good look." She hands me the glass of water. "Try and take a few sips."

Holding the glass to my lips, I roll my eyes. "Only Jensen's baby could be this troublesome."

Giggling, she searches through her large black tote. "Here, try nibbling on some of these tonight. I know you don't feel like eating, but the most important thing is fluids, and these biscuits may help. Ginger can also help settle the stomach." She hands me the packet.

"Where the hell did you get those?"

She shrugs. "They're one of my favorite snacks. I always keep a packet on hand."

"You are Mary Poppins; you know that right?"

"Have you called Jensen back?"

"Nope. I texted him."

"And told him what exactly."

Tentatively, I nibble on the edge of the biscuit. "This isn't as bad as that chamomile crap you consume. That looks like piss, but it's actually worse."

She ignores my mindless jabbering. "Told him what?"

"I told him I was at work and busy in meetings and not to worry."

"So you didn't mention that you were texting him from a bathroom floor, covered in your own puke?"

"It's just the usual morning sickness, babe. I'll be fine tomorrow."

My stomach rolls again, and I sit back in my pillows and groan. "I hope."

"Please do not come into work tomorrow if you aren't up to it. I get that you don't want to say anything until twelve weeks, but if this carries on, then you might need to."

"I'll tell Easton after the twelve-week mark, but I'm not telling my parents. Ever."

"Hmm." My best friend comes to sit on the bed next to me. "I say rip the band-aid off and tell them ASAP."

"You've met them a couple of times, and they're only nice to you because you work with me, and you aren't direct ‘competition.' It would be pointless telling them, more trouble than it's worth." I scoff and then burp again. "It's not like they would step up and support me. And don't get me started on the way they'd treat Jensen."

Felicity knits her brows together. "Why? Yeah, he's a bit over the top, but he's a good man and will more than step up."

"A bit over the top?! Girl, you're way too conditioned by Jon."

"Okay, he's a bit more than over the top. But he's, you know, he's got…" She trails off and purses her lips together.

"He's got what?" I throw her my look reserved for do not fuck with me moments.

"Ugh, I promised him I wouldn't say anything. Only Jon knows."

"Jon knows what ?"

"You know how he was hammered at the club the night of the Stanley Cup win?"

I think back to sitting at the bar with Luna, watching him stroll off with the brunette. "The night he allegedly used a brunette to make me jealous."

She clears her throat. "Yeah, well. I followed them into the hallway when she dragged him off. He obviously went willingly, and I kind of felt like I was sticking my nose where it didn't belong, but the next thing I see is her trying to climb Jensen and him saying no."

Nausea hits me again. "He told me the morning after we slept together that he didn't touch the redhead either. It was his sister's drunk best friend or something."

She nods. "Yeah…I think you should know that when that brunette was coming onto him, he said he wasn't hooking up with anyone else because he was…" She smirks with amusement. "‘Crazy about Princess Katherine, even if she can't stand me.'"

I pick at the white lace on my duvet but don't say anything.

"I don't think he's been with anyone else in a long time, babe. I think you were his first time in a while."

"He basically said he wanted to be together when I broke the news to him about the pregnancy. He didn't freak out at all. In fact, he was totally over the top about it."

"Oh, he's over something alright. Head over heels for you. And now that you're having his baby, he's like a caveman on steroids."

I laugh. "I don't want a serious relationship. Not with anyone. I want to try co-parenting. I don't want to give every last piece of me away. A week ago, I was Kate Monroe. Today, I'm mommy-to-be and Jensen Jones' girl, if he has his way."

Felicity nods. "I can definitely relate to that from when I had my children, but babe, Jensen is nothing like Elliott. At least keep your mind open to the possibility."

I shake my head. "I'm attracted to him, but I just don't think I feel that way. We clash too much."

She rises from my bed and picks up my water glass. "Drink some more and get some rest."

I take the glass and take a few sips.

"Try not to make any finite decisions one way or another. Your entire world has just been flipped on its head."

Another wave of acid. "Yeah."

"I will say this though."

"What's that?"

Smiling knowingly, she looks down at the rings on her left hand. "There's nothing wrong with a boy obsessed."