Chapter Twenty Three

Michael

Desie has been scrubbing the kitchen counters since she and Ben got back home an hour ago. It is definitely hospital related. Ben left her with me almost as soon as they walked through the door and now I see why.

"What"s got you all worked up? The counters were clean before you started wiping them down. If you keep going we might have to replace them."

She huffs in my direction and keeps scrubbing. "Where is Seth?"

"He went with Nathan to meet with Alpha Johnson. He said they won"t be gone very long. What"s the matter, Desie?"

She tosses the sponge down on the counter and glares at it. "He sent me home."

"Who did?"

"Obi," she explains. "I was just sitting at the desk trying to get a feel for how everything runs and he kicked me out."

"I thought you had an appointment with him this morning?"

She sighs and abandons the counters to sit down at the table. "I did. Everything is fine. He said everything looks perfect and he"ll be surprised if the baby waits until next week. He said that was fine, too. I was just sitting at the desk and observing. I did intake with one patient. Just one. The way he reacted I might as well have been on the floor doing rounds."

The thing is, whether or not she wants to admit it, Desie"s inability to let what happens happen as far as her job goes is non-existent. I"m honestly surprised she wasn"t on the floor. She needs to see and experience how things go so she"ll have plenty of time to figure out how they should go. She"s always been that way.

"What did Ben say?"

She gives me the same glare she gave the sponge. "He laughed. He thought it was hilarious that I got in trouble."

"Are you in trouble?"

"No." She rolls her eyes. "But now the other nurses won"t take me seriously. I just wanted to see how they run things, Michael. That"s all. Where did Ben go, anyway? He didn"t say anything about needing to be anywhere."

I bite back a smile. "I think he went to see what Devon has going on in their garage. Were you yelling at him the whole way home?"

"I wasn"t yelling at him. I was just expressing my irritation."

I nod, still fighting back my smile. I can imagine exactly how that expression of irritation went. "Uh-huh. Well, I"m sure he won"t be long. Do you want a distraction?"

She glances up at me with a raised brow.

"You got a delivery. I believe it"s a present."

Desie isn"t necessarily spoiled, but she loves presents. Giving them, getting them, picking them, wrapping them, all of it. No matter if she"s giving or getting, presents always make her happy.

"Who is it from?"

Who the gift is from is less enjoyable for me. "Lopez."

"Lopez sent a gift? For the baby?"

"Let"s find out." I head into the living room where I left the box on the side table. It"s only about as big as my hand. I was tempted to open it myself instead of waiting for Desie, but I reminded myself that Lopez wouldn"t send her something terrible after doing so much to ensure her safety.

I put it down in front of her and sit down across from her at the table to watch her open it. She doesn"t have much trouble with the packaging and soon pulls out a small box with a simple white ribbon tied around it. She pulls the bow loose and lifts the lid from the box, then she draws a sharp breath. "Michael, this is... I don"t know if I can accept this."

"What is it? Show me."

She slowly pulls something out of the box. A gold chain with an oval-shaped pendant dangling from the bottom. She holds it out, letting it spin and setting off the sparkling jeweled accents. "It"s a locket."

She carefully opens it. It has space for four pictures. One in each side of the locket itself with an additional panel between. "This is beautiful."

"Is there a note?"

She goes back to the bigger box that it was delivered in and looks through the packaging material. She pulls out a yellow and pink rattle that looks like it could have belonged to our grandparents, a bright red knitted hat, and lastly a card that she hands to me.

"My deepest congratulations, Desir"ee. I have no doubt that you will be everything a mother should be." I read out, then fold the note back into the envelope. "I still don"t know how to react to him not being the bad guy. It"s hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that Flores was behind everything, including making Lopez miserable."

"Yeah," Desie agrees. "Yeah. I get it. Elijah wasn"t bad to me when I was there. He did what he could to protect me. But he still put you in a cage. I can forgive him for what happened because of how much good he"s tried to do, but I won"t forget what he"s capable of."

"Look at you being all cut-throat."

She rolls her eyes at me again. "Hardly. I"m just not stupid enough to forget how that separation and fear felt or his part in it. I firmly believe he"s redeemable, and I definitely think he was put through some rough things of his own; but he has plenty to make up for." She sighs. "I"m still going to text him and thank him for these gifts. They"re beautiful and I can"t wait to put pictures in this locket."

I take Desie to bed later in the night. We watched an entire documentary series on the marine life of the Northern East Coast. There was no reason for it to be as interesting as it was, but we were watching it when Seth got home and he sat on the couch and was as into it as me and Desie. Ben came home a little later, saw what was happening in the living room, and made dinner before he joined the marathon. He and Seth are still down there learning about the life cycles of goatfish.

She"s not quite asleep, but I can tell she"s drifting in that space between awake and asleep. She"s wearing one of the new nightgowns she ordered for the last stretch of her pregnancy and the weeks after the baby is born. The material is so soft, so silky, and it clings and flows in the best places. It"s emerald-green with black bows above the clips that attach to the thin straps on her shoulders. She has it in light-blue and violet, too. I love all of them, but I'm pretty sure I like the violet one the best.

I have enjoyed every stage of her pregnancy. Watching her body change has been incredible. And sexy. I am going to be very sad to see the belly go.

Desie lets out a breathy moan as I trail my palm up her stomach to cup her breast and thumb her nipple. Actual sex is out. She"s too tired and uncomfortable. But I can make her feel good before she falls completely asleep. I slide my hand back down and push my fingers between her thighs and she moans again.

She reaches down and grasps my wrist, moving so that her ass grinds against me. "Don"t stop, Michael."

"I wouldn"t dare," I purr against her neck. The scent of her is always intoxicating, but there"s an extra level of sweetness to it tonight. Sliding my fingertips over her clit, I continue to purr, urging the sound and vibration to seep into her. She"s already wound up so tight, even after only a minute or two.

"Faster," she gasps. "More, Michael."

I give her what she asks for, using quick, short strokes to push her closer and closer to the edge. "There you go, baby. Is that what you needed?"

She nods, but doesn"t say anything, pressing against my touch. Her grip on my wrist tightens and she pushes me harder against her.

"You"re almost there, Des. Just a little bit more."

She sucks in a breath, her hold on my wrist almost bruising, forcing me to keep my touch exactly where it is.

"Let me have it, baby. You"re so close."

Then, as I press her clit in a rough circle, her back arches and she groans as her orgasm shakes both of us. I roll back onto my back as she catches her breath and pull her with me so that we"re both spread out smiling up at the ceiling. We lay like that for so long that I"m sure she"s asleep, but she isn"t.

"Michael?"

"Hmm?"

"I think my water broke."