Page 26 of Love's Patient Journey
“Well,” the doctor cleared his throat, “do you want to know what you are having?” He looked up at Jenna and Ryan, smiling.
Jenna couldn’t help it; tears started falling down her cheeks. “Yes, we want to know, right, Ry?” She looked up at her husband and saw that he, too, was crying. He sniffed and rubbed at his eyes, nodding his head. The doctor moved the wand over her bump again and froze. He seemed to be studying the monitor. Jenna held her breath.
“Oh my—well, it looks like you are having a girl.” Jenna squealed with delight, causing Ryan to laugh. “And a boy,” he quickly added. Jenna and Ryan both went mute.
“Wait,” Jenna suddenly felt very confused. “How can the baby be a girl and a boy at the same time?” The doctor laughed and pointed to the screen.
“The baby isn’t both, you are having one of each—twins.” The doctor continued his examination of the babies on the monitor. Jenna felt a little woozy and very emotional. She couldn’t stop crying.
“What do I do with twins?” she asked the doctor between sobs.
“We love them.” Ryan was smiling down at her, unable to hide his own emotions. “So, I guess that we are going to be a family of five here soon.”
Well, that thought didn’t make Jenna feel any calmer. “They will outnumber us, Ryan. How can you be so calm about this?” She felt the need to get up and run out of the ER. Her world was spinning out of control, and Ryan was happy about it all. How was she going to take care of two babies and Zac all at the same time? Ryan must have seen the panic in her face because he pulled her hand to his lips and gently kissed her fingers.
“We’ll be okay, baby,” he soothed. “You aren’t alone this time. You have me, and I’m not going anywhere. We’re a team now, or have you already forgotten the vows we made to each other yesterday?”
Jenna shook her head, “No.” She knew that she wouldn’t be alone with these babies, the way that she was with Zac, but a part of her was still a little panicked.
The doctor finished up the examination. “Everything looks great. You need to take it easy for the next few days. No sleeping until tomorrow with that concussion.” He turned to Ryan, “If she does fall asleep, wake her every hour for the next 24 hours.” Ryan agreed and even let the doctor take a look at his head. Luckily, Ryan’s head was thicker than Jenna’s, and he didn’t have a concussion.
“We will keep your wife for a while, monitoring her and the babies, and then you should be able to leave, probably sometime tomorrow.” The doctor shook Ryan’s hand and was gone.
“Some honeymoon,” Jenna groaned. “I’m so sorry, Ryan.”
“For what? You didn’t do anything wrong, but we are going to find out who did this to you, and they will pay.” Ryan’s look was murderous. “I know that Mr. Ashbrook was behind this. Drew and the police are questioning the asshole who did this now. We will have some answers soon.” Ryan bent to kiss Jenna’s forehead.
“So, two babies? Well, I guess we were both right—a boy and a girl.” He smiled down at her, and for the first time all day, Jenna felt that everything was going to be all right.
“Two babies,” she smiled back up at him and closed her eyes. “Wake me in an hour,” she mumbled and fell asleep to Ryan’s sexy laugh.
Chapter 10
Jenna was chomping at the bit to get out of the hospital the next morning. Everyone had been to see her- Drew, Karlie, and even both sets of parents. They thought it best to leave Zac with a sitter. They didn’t want to scare him, seeing his mom and dad in the hospital. Dad—God Ryan couldn’t get over the fact that he was going to be Zac’s dad. The paperwork was turned in to the courts, requesting permission for Ryan to legally adopt Zac. Tom told Jenna and Ryan that there should not be any problems since Jake signed off on his paternity for Zac.
There was still no word from the police. Last Drew heard, they were still questioning the jerk. He wasn’t giving up too much, but Drew had faith in his friend at the station. He knew that they would get the asshole to talk. They just needed to make him a deal that he couldn’t refuse. Ryan wasn’t convinced that the guy would give up the Ashbrook’s that easily. They probably paid him a boatload of money to get the job done. The good news was that the guy never found what he was looking for. Zac was safe, Jenna was safe, his babies were safe, and the paperwork that Jake signed was safe and sound at the attorney’s office. Ryan knew that if this guy didn’t talk, the Ashbrook’s wouldn’tever stop coming after Zac and Jenna, and he couldn’t let that happen. He needed a backup plan, and he was pretty sure he knew who he needed to talk to.
He was able to get Jenna home by noon. As soon as she fell asleep, he gave Karlie instructions on how to wake her every hour. Jenna would be pissed when she found Karlie waking her and not Ryan, but that was something he would deal with later. Talking to Jake was Ryan’s number one priority. If he could get Jake to give up his father, he could keep Jenna and Zac safe. Jenna’s anger was just something he would have to deal with when he got back home.
He met Tom, and they both signed in to see Jake. He didn’t know how Jake would respond to having his lawyer in on the conversation, but he was taking no chances this time. They were led back to a little room; this time, they sat across the table from Jake. He was handcuffed to the table, and his lawyer was also present. Jake smiled at Ryan as he sat down. Ryan felt like decking his “old friend” but knew that would get him nothing.
“You look well, Jake.” Ryan taunted him. “I’m guessing you found yourself someone special in prison.” Tom cleared his throat and shot Ryan a stern look.
“Thanks, Ry. You look good, too. I guess fucking my wife agrees with you.” Ryan stood, ready to lunge at Jake, Tom’s hand on his arm his only warning.
“Don’t,” Tom scolded. “This is not why we came here.” Ryan sat back in his seat and smiled across the table at Jake.
“Well, here’s an update, Jake—she’s my wife now. You will never touch her or Zac again. They are both mine. I filed the paperwork to adopt Zac, thanks to your willingness to give him up.” Jakeshot Ryan a look that could have melted metal.
“I did what was right for my son. You can’t make me feel bad for giving Zac a chance.” Jake was all but shouting at Ryan now. “My son will have a better life than I did. And if that means you’re his dad, then so be it. The only thing that matters now is that my father can’t get his hands on Zac. He can’t ruin him like he did me.” Jake looked down at his handcuffs with his last statement.
Ryan knew that this was his chance, “Well, that’s the thing. Your old man is still trying to get to Zac. He hired a thug to break into Jenna’s home while we were sleeping. He’s looking for the custody papers you signed.”
Jake’s eyes were huge. “Did he take Zac?” Damn if Jake didn’t sound concerned for Zac.
“No, Zac was with family at the time.” Ryan needed to proceed cautiously; he didn’t want to spook Jake before he could get what he wanted from him.
“How badly do you want to keep Zac away from your father?” Ryan looked at Jake and, for the first time in a long time, saw the friend he used to know.
