Page 33 of Blue Norther
“And the baby?” she asked.
I simply nodded. “Ourson.”
Violet was a whirlwind meantonlyfor my heart, sweeping back into my life with an intensity that would blow everything else away. She brought the cold hard truth that I’d been afraid to admit out loud all this time…I would always be desperately in love with her. No amount of time, no amount of heartbreak or ache, would change that. We were being given a second chance, and there was no way I’d ever let her walk away again.
I lifted her shirt, dying to press my lips against the safe home my son was currently curled up in. But as soon as my eyes landed on a line of bruises, all in various stages of healing, I froze.
“What the fuck are these? Someone hurt you!”
“No,” Violet laughed through her tears. Her hand dusted along the purple and green splotches. “I have to give myself an injection every day, it’s a blood thinner. I’m at a higher risk of developing blood clots, so my OB prescribed it for the duration of the pregnancy.”
“Christ. When do you do them? I didn’t pack any medicine in your bag. What do we need to do?”
“I normally do the injection in the morning. We’ll have time to go back to the cabin and get them before I have to do it tomorrow. Or, later today, now…wouldn’t it be?” She yawned. I needed to get her to bed. It had been the most insane few hours.
“Right. Okay. Bed for you and the baby. I’ll make sure your medicine is here in the morning, and I’ll help you with the injection when it’s time.”
“You don’t have to?—”
“Stop right there. It’s theleastI can do. I know you’ve been doing it all on your own…fuck, I was furious when I thoughtthere was another man walking through this with you, but I want to kick my own ass for not being there now.”
Violet placed her hand on my chest. “How could you have been?”
“Tell my fucking heart that, darlin’.”
She bit down on her bottom lip. “Okay. You can help with that in the morning.”
“Good. Let’s get you into bed.”
Violet nodded, taking my outstretched hand as I helped her up off the floor.
“I think we need to go slow,” she whispered as I pulled back the comforter for her to slide under. “I think tonight was a lot. And nothing good can come from making a decision one way or the other about things when there are a lot of emotions involved. We should…we should work towards being good parents. That’s what is most important.”
“Okay.” I bent over, pressing a kiss to her hairline.
“Colt.”
“I hear what you are saying, and although I think it’s utter and complete bullshit, I know you are tired and need sleep. So, I won’t remind you that while we work on being great parents together for our son, you and me? We’ve got a lot of great things we are going to be working on together forus.Got it?”
She smiled, her eyes closing as she let her head fall against the pillow.
“Got it.”
I walked back to the side of the bed closest to the door, and slid under the blankets. Her body was stiff as I curled around her back, my hand sliding over her belly.
“I think that might be a dangerous thing to do,” she whispered, wiggling until I realized she was waiting for me to slip my other arm under her head. As soon as I did, she sighed.
“I’m just holding onto my baby, Vi. Making sure you’re both safe. Go to sleep.”
Her body relaxed into mine, and after a few minutes, her breathing evened out. I was finally holding my whole world in my arms again. Except now, there were two of them to protect. Two of them to keep safe.
My wife was back, and I was going to be a dad.
Violet
“Vi?” Colt’s hand was on my arm, but I couldn’t comprehend why the hell he was waking me up in the middle of the night. Well, it felt like the middle of the night, at least. And once I cracked my right eye open and found that the room was still swallowed in darkness, I knew I was right.
“Hmm?” I managed to mumble back at him as my eyes tried to roll right back into my head.
