Page 14 of Cannon

Cannon’s mouth quirked up as Sparky landed a hard kick.

“Does it hurt?” he asked.

“Not unless I have a full bladder, and then it’s uncomfortable to have Sparky playing the drums on it.”

He left his hand there until a couple minutes had passed without any more kicks.

“What happened?”

“Who knows? There’ll be long periods of time where Sparky won’t be active, and then it will feel like someone’s playing soccer or maybe breakdancing in there.”

Cannon’s eyes were on her but were drifting a little closed, then he’d fight to open them again.

“Why don’t I take the trays to the kitchen, and we can turn off the TV? You look like you could use a nap.”

His eyes popped open. “I’m awake.”

“But you don’t need to be. Take a nap. I want to look at my calendar and see what’s on my schedule. I’ll be in the kitchen at the island working on my computer.”

She waited a minute to see if he said anything. When he began breathing deeper, she picked up the tray, added her bowl to it, and went to the kitchen.

If they both followed the rules, maybe they could build a little something before they revisited all the reasons he didn’t know about them creating a baby last Christmas.

Chapter Ten

Cannon groaned and cracked his eyes opened. Everything hurt. He focused on the clock. Seven a.m. If he was working at the range, he’d normally be up and headed there by now. Maybe his body was ready to get back on its normal schedule. He glanced at the pad of paper beside his bed. Jesse had made a spreadsheet and printed it off so they could fill in when he’d taken certain medicine. He had pain pills along with antibiotics. And the multivitamin with extra calcium, which Clara was positive would help him heal faster. As sweet as she’d been, especially with his grumpy ass, he wasn’t going to fight her.

He couldn’t hear anyone moving around, so he looked at the other piece of paper on his bedside table. They’d also printed off a list of who was on call. One for just hey I need someone to help me get up and one for it’s an emergency. It looked like Locks was on this morning. Oh joy. Flick had been by last night after supper after Cannon had come home. Well, his temporary homeat Jesse’s. Since Flick had been off shift, he’d taken the hours until he had needed to leave for his shift early this morning.

He wasn’t up to dealing with Locks. He’d been feeling a little off since his child had kicked against his hand.His child. He couldn’t deny now that he and Jesse had created something. Something wonderful that scared him down to the very depths of his soul. How could he, with his history, ever be anything his child needed?

Bear and Roam just seemed to know what the kids needed. He liked being around everybody’s kids, but he had to try to figure them out. Phoebe had been easy because she’d been looking at her tea set with a sad face. When he’d asked her what was wrong, she’d looked at him with those eyes that he couldn’t resist saying she didn’t have anyone to have a tea party with. He’d sat down and, for some reason, had thought of Downton Abbey and their accents. Phoebe’s face had lit up so much when he’d tried to imitate it that he had to keep it up.

Maybe he could binge the series again if it was available. He’d gotten hooked while he was running the police range. One of his employees had loved the show. When he’d watched it, he’d enjoyed the characters, especially Mr. Bates. He needed something to do because he wasn’t looking forward to just resting. He couldn’t even play the video games they enjoyed in the clubhouse because of his left arm being in a cast.

He sent the text letting Locks know he was ready to get up, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. He heard a sound from the front room. Steps came toward his door and Locks was in his doorway. He tried to decipher the look on Locks’ face, but he honestly had no clue. And he had to piss like crazy.

“I’m guessing bathroom first. Flick spent time telling us how to move you but if I do it wrong, let me know.”

Locks got the wheelchair ready and then lifted him, being careful of his chest. Once he was situated in the chair, Locks lifted the leg that was in the full cast up onto the wheelchair. Locks stood for a second, looking at the door to the bathroom.

“Umm, is it better to push you in or pull you in so we’re backed by the toilet?”

“Flick backed me in yesterday. Then I need a little help transferring to the toilet.”

Locks nodded and took the handles to turn the wheelchair around and pulled it into the bathroom.

“I bet that galls you to say. Kathryn used to say I was a bear when I was hurt. Oh my, that woman. She’d put up with a lot then blow sky high with all the pressure inside she’d pushed down.”

Locks had the brake set and Cannon lifted up, then paused for Locks to slide his shorts down. Talk about humiliating.

Locks set him down and then walked out. “Yell when you’re ready.”

Cannon took care of business, then reached back and flushed. Talk about getting up close and personal with the man who probably wanted to kill Cannon for getting Jesse pregnant. He lifted a little to tuck his dick back in and pull his shorts up.

Then he reached over and washed his hand at the sink beside the toilet. It took a little maneuvering but he did it. Then he awkwardly put toothpaste on his toothbrush and brushed his teeth. This one-handed stuff since his cast covered his hand was for the birds. Was it too soon to start counting down the days?

“Ready,” he called.

---