Chapter 29

Cha pter 29

Amber

The next day, I'm still walking around on cloud nine. Just remembering Rico's kiss makes my knees shake. I never felt anything like that with Adam, and it was just kissing. I can't imagine what life with Rico would be like. I'm looking forward to spending more time with him.

"Amber, Doll, you look good."

My good mood is shattered at the sound of a voice that I'd hoped I wouldn't hear for a very long time. I look up from my computer. "Hi, Adam." Surprisingly, my voice sounds strong and not as shaky as I feel. I stand to my feet. "What are you doing here?"

His eyes run over me, snagging on my belly. "I thought we agreed to get rid of it." His words are low, but I hear them just the same.

I take a calming breath. " We didn't agree to anything." He stares at me, and I stare right back. I am not going to let him intimidate me.

"Heard you were dating a hockey player." His abrupt change in topic unsettles me. "Rico Garcia," he says slowly. He puts his arms on the counter and leans over it. "Is that why he showed up at my place enraged? Were you two-timing me?"

I stare at him and refuse to rise to his bait. "No, Adam. There was only one of us that was two-timing, and it wasn't me." I cross my arms across my chest. "Why are you here?"

"What? I can't check on you and my baby?" He smiles, but it's cold.

I drop my arms as alarm runs through me. "Your baby?"

"I mean, we'll have to have paternity tests run; but I'll have my lawyers talk to you."

Panic slams through me. "What are you saying?"

He leans forward. "You're a smart girl. Put it together."

"You said to get rid of her." I bite my tongue instantly.

His eyes light up in delight. "It's a girl. Interesting. I wonder if she'll have her dad's sports' abilities." He leans back and taps the counter. "I'll be seeing you soon."

Dread coats my stomach. "What do mean?"

He cocks his head to the side. "In court. When I take you there to get full custody of my baby."

"You can't do that!"

"I can. I'm her dad. And I'm a professional hockey player. Who do you think the court is going to award custody to? A professional hockey player or a single mom who works in a..." he pauses and looks around. "Library." He smiles again, but it's anything but warm. "I'll see you soon."

I watch as he disappears and bend over as a sharp pain shoots through my middle. I grab my stomach as the pain intensifies. A sob erupts from my lips, and I can't breathe. I reach out blindly trying to find my phone. The pain tightens again, and I can't breathe. I grab my phone. "Rico?" I say with a plea as soon as he answers.

"Amber? What's wrong?"

"I—" The pain tightens on my stomach, and I cry out in pain. This is agony.

"Where are you?" he demands.

"Library," I manage to get out.

"I'm no my way. Do I need to call 911?"

I grit my teeth. "No."

"Talk to me. What's going on?"

Before I can answer, Mrs. Randolph shows up in my line of sight. "Amber?"

"I'm sorry. I can't..." I try to breathe as the pain intensifies.

"Okay, okay." She takes the phone from me. I can't even argue because I can't breathe. "Sit down." She guides me backwards until the back of my knees hit my seat. I try to sit, but the pain intensifies.

"Ahhhh." I grasp my stomach.

"Okay. Deep breaths, Amber." She puts her hand on my belly. "I can feel the contraction. Breathe deeply." I manage to suck in a little air. "Again." I'm in an awkward position. I'm not standing, but I'm also not sitting. Moving either way hurts too much. "Take another breath." I try, but I can't get any air. Suddenly, I remember what Adam said, and my breathing speeds up. The pain intensifies, and I cry out in pain. Suddenly, I feel a new presence join us. I don't know how I know it's Rico, but I just do.

"Amber."

"Rico?" My voice is a whimper.

"I'm here, Love." He steps into my vision, and I nearly cry with relief. "Baby, what's going on?" He steps close, putting a hand on my back.

"Her belly is contracting. We need to get her to relax, to ease the cramping. It's way too early for this," Mrs. Randolph says.

Her words fuel my panic, and I feel my stomach tighten unbearably. "Ahhhh."

"Amber, we need to get you to the hospital," Rico says, full of determination.

"No, she needs to relax. If she can get the contractions to stop, she'll be okay," Mrs. Randolph says.

I can tell Rico wants to argue with her, but he doesn't. "Okay, what do we do?"

"She has to relax. I don't know what that idiot said, but that's what set this off." Rico is close enough to me that I can feel him stiffen.

"What idiot?" he asks in a low voice.

I feel his gaze on my face. "Adam," I whisper.

His eyes lock on mine, and he goes very still. "Adam was here?"

My eyes squeeze shut in agony. "He's going to try to take my baby." The words come out in a cry that's a mix of pain and desperation.

"Amber, look at me." His voice is commanding, and I lift my teary gaze to his. "Is that what brought this on?"

"Yes," I whisper through the pain.

"Okay."

He turns to Mrs. Randolph. "I'm taking her home."

She doesn't even bat an eye. "Good."

"I don't know when she'll be back."

"Good," she says again.

"Rico," I gasp out, but he ignores me.

"Will you be okay on help for the time being?" he asks. They have an entire conversation without me.

"Rico," I try again.

He turns to me. "I'm going to pick you up. I'll be very gentle, but we have to get you to relax and that's not going to happen here." He steps close. I'm still in this awkward position, bent over. His arms come around me, and he lifts me. I cry out when the pain intensifies. "Sorry, Baby," he whispers. "I'm going to help you." I bury my head in his shoulder as the weight of the world comes crashing down on me. "Breathe, Baby. Breathe with me. In and out. Steady and slow. Again."

Before I know it, we're in his car. The trip to his house seems to take forever. When we finally get there, he picks me up and carries me inside. Without breaking stride, he heads back to his room and to the shower. With one hand, he turns on the shower. I expect him to put me down, but he steps right into the shower, with both of us fully clothed. "What are you doing?" I get out as warm water sprays over both of us.

"Trying to get you to relax, so you'll stop contracting," he says. It takes a while, but slowly the combination of his strong arms around me and the warm water makes the vice around my stomach begin to ease. After a little while, he leans forward. "Your face is beginning to relax. Is it beginning to lessen?" I nod, too depleted to say anything more. "Good." He turns the water off after a few more minutes and climbs out with me still in his arms. He finally sets me down on my feet after wrapping a towel around my hair. "I'm going to go get some dry clothes for you. Can you take off your wet clothes?"

I nod, and he leaves me. It's difficult to get the wet clothes off, but I finally manage. He hands clothes through the door. Minutes later, I'm dressed in another pair of his sweats and a t-shirt this time. When I step out of the bathroom, he sweeps me up into his arms. I don't argue; I'm beyond empty. He carries me into the spare room and lays me carefully on the bed. He pulls the towel off my head carefully and surprises me by brushing my hair and then braiding it.

"How do you know how to do that?" I ask wearily.

"My older sister used to force me to braid her hair."

I tuck that information away to think about at another point. Finally, he pulls the covers back and helps me inside. "Try to rest now, so your contractions will ease all the way."

Too tired to argue with him, I comply. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I fall into an exhausted sleep. When I open my eyes sometime later, I lay there for a few minutes as everything from today comes back to me. I finally get up and out of bed, even though I don't want to. When I open the door, I immediately hear voices. I pause because I'm not sure I'm in the mood to deal with people. But when I recognize Bri's voice, I head out to the living room. The conversation comes to a screeching halt when I make an appearance. I take in Aiden and Brielle and Sebastian and Stephanie. Even Gunner is here. "Amber." My sister comes over to me and wraps her arms around me and pulls me into a warm hug. I hug her in return. She pulls back and pulls her big sister expression on me. "Are you okay?"

I pull back. "I'm fine."

I look around the room until my eyes fall on Rico. His eyes soften when they meet mine, and I find myself walking towards him. He reaches out and snags my hand, pulling me down onto his lap as if this is a normal, everyday occurrence. As soon as his arms wrap around me, though, and I'm enveloped in his strength, I realize this is exactly where I want to be. "So I take it you told them about Adam," I say to him.

His eyes meet mine. "I did. It was either that or I get in my car and go track him down. I didn't think that was probably a good idea, and I figured your sister would want to know."

"Yes! I do want to know!" Bri agrees. "I can't believe he came to your work to harass you."

"It's not like he's not allowed to come near me," I mutter. I'm not sure how I feel about everybody here, in my business.

"Rico said he threatened to try to take your baby away."

And just like that, the calm I've had evaporates. But before I can say anything, Aiden jumps in. "That's not going to happen."

I turn my gaze to him at the same time Brielle does. "I mean he could," I say because it's the truth. He's my baby's father.

"Amber," Rico says, drawing my attention to him. "If you think for one minute that I'm going to let him waltz back into your life, threaten you, threaten the baby, intimidate you into thinking he's going to take away your baby, he has another thing coming to him. He forfeited any relationship with you when he chose to do what he did. He chose to forfeit his relationship with his daughter when he told you to get rid of her and said he wanted nothing to do with either of you. He's done; he has no place in your life."

"I don't think he knows that."

"He will," Rico says confidently.

"Yeah, he will," Sebastian echoes.

I look around the room. "Um, what are you planning? Why are you all here anyway?"

"We're just doing some team planning," Sebastian offers up.

"Team planning," I repeat, not buying it for a minute. And then it dawns on me. "Oh no. You guys play him soon, don't you?"