Page 101 of Knocked Up by my Best Friend's Brothers

“We need to go,” the paramedic tells Fisher.

“Of course. I’ll get out of your hair for now and I’ll let the Hawthornes know we’re done for tonight,” he says, then gets out of the ambulance.

“Could you give me another minute?” I ask the paramedic. “You said my vitals look fine. I feel fine. I just need to—”

“Why aren’t you already at the hospital?” River jumps in with a worried look on his face. He rushes to my side and takes my hand in his.

The paramedic rolls his eyes and continues pretending to jot something down on his clipboard, while I give River a soft smile.

“We’re just about ready to leave,” I tell him. “Are you guys okay?”

“Nothing new to us, truth be told. What happened in that apartment doesn’t even come close to what we survived in Kandahar,” he says and kisses me on the lips.

I love that he lingers before he pulls back.

“What about Teagan? How is she holding up?”

“Oh, she’s on her way to the hospital already, eager to intercept you,” he replies. “I think she’s going to pick up your Aunt Mary, too. Of course, your aunt didn’t even know you’d gone missing… Imagine her surprise tonight.”

We both laugh lightly.

“I was always a bit of a handful. I think she’s used to it,” I say. I glance at the police car holding Alexandra and ask, “What’sgoing to happen to Alexandra?”

“Life in prison,” he says. “She’ll never see the light of day again, except for one hour in the prison yard. Personally, I look forward to taking down the rest of that fucking family, too.”

“Wow, you’re really doing this, huh?”

“They blew up my ride. I loved that Escalade,” he grumbles, then kisses me again. “Now, off you go to the hospital. We’ll be right behind you; don’t worry.”

“Promise?”

He gently touches my belly and gives me a warm, loving smile. “We’re not leaving your side again. You and this little guy need us. Admit it.”

“We do need you.”

“Good, then I will see you in a little bit, my love.”

I give him a soft nod, then watch him get out of the ambulance to join his brothers and the FBI agents. This whole thing is a certifiable mess, but at least it’s over. For the first time in what feels like a lifetime, I finally feel like I can breathe again.

34

Christa

It takes a few days for things to settle, for life to resume, for the news to break, for the chaos to clear. It takes me a few days of getting lots of sleep and eating like a queen while the Hawthornes make sure I don’t miss any of my prenatal vitamins and post-incident checkups. They keep a close eye on me as we return to our kind of normal.

It will be a while before we’re due in court as witnesses against the Mancini family, but the FBI team in charge is confident they have enough to send those dirtbags away for good. It’s not enough, though. They don’t have access to everything the Mancinis hid with the help of their IT minions. Spike and I were going to work on that.

“You look sad,” Nathan says one morning as he walks into my office. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m great; I promise. Hell, I don’t think I’ve ever felt better, though my cravings are really getting out of hand.”

He chuckles as he places a cup of freshly brewed jasmine tea on my desk, then comes around to give me a loving, sweet kiss.“What was it this time?”

“Peanut butter and maple-glazed bacon on toast,” I grumble.

He pulls up a chair to sit next to me behind the desk. “That’s not so bad. The kid’s got some interesting tastes, I’ll give him that.”

“Or her,” I reply. “Unless you’re not thrilled by the prospect of having a girl?”

---