Page 50 of The Virgin's Baby
Sucking it up, I took a tissue he offered me and dried my tears before he took my hand. He led me into the hospital room that Lucius would only have to stay in for a short while longer.
Looking at the man who now had his life back, you couldn’t tell he was on the road to recovery. The treatments had taken him down. He lay still in that bed, eyes closed, chest rising and falling in slow waves.
Ransom placed his hand on Lucius’ shoulder. “You beat it, Grandad.”
“I know.” His eyes opened, and he looked at his grandson first and then me. “You’re going to have me around for a little while longer.”
“I’m so happy that you’ll get to meet your great grandkids, Lucius.” I ran my hand over his arm. “I’m so glad they’ll get to meet you.”
“Me too.” He smiled. “I can’t wait.”
Ransom came up with an idea, “Hey, I’ll ask one of the doctors if he can bring in something so you can hear the babies’ heartbeats. That ought to inspire you to get this physical therapy thing going. I can’t wait to get you back home.”
“I can’t wait to be home.” Lucius looked at me. “Would that be okay with you if I got to hear their little heartbeats, little momma?”
I had to laugh at him calling me that. “Little momma, huh?” I nodded. “Yeah, that’ll be more than okay with me. We want you back home where you belong.”
“You’re an angel, Aspen. Has my grandson ever told you that?” he asked me.
Ransom smiled at his grandfather. “I’ve told her how much I appreciate her and how special she is to me. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“He makes me feel special, Lucius. Not to worry.” I felt the slight twinge of hunger in my belly. “I’m going to grab some breakfast. The babies are getting hungry.”
Before I could walk away, Ransom took my arm. “I’m coming with you. He needs to rest anyway.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders, turning us both back to his grandfather. “We’ll let you sleep, and we’ll pop back in after lunch to visit you.”
“Good.” Lucius closed his eyes, ready to sleep.
Ransom took me out of the room, his arm still around me. I couldn’t help it; I loved the way it felt, and I wanted Ransom to know that. I’d kept my mouth shut for too long. I wanted things to move forward.
He and I had been through a very tough time, and it looked like that time was close to being over. Life was too short to waste time on things like worrying if he would push me away when I reached out to him in a physical way.
Before I could open my mouth, Ransom kissed the top of my head and said, “God, I’m happy you’re with me. I didn’t realize how much I needed you. I’ve never had a better friend than you, Aspen.”
And there it was, the word ‘friend’.
Suddenly, I didn’t think the time was right after all. “Thank you, Ransom. You’re a pretty great friend too. I’m glad I could be here for you through all this.”
I began to wonder if the time would ever be right to tell him that I wanted more. Our relationship was blossoming, but not in the way I wanted it to. My body yearned for his. But he didn’t seem to have the same yearning I did.
Leading me to a table in the cafeteria, he sat me down. “I’ll get us something to eat. You sit down. I’m sure this has been hard on you physically. You’ve gotta keep those babies inside of you healthy.”
“Okay, thank you.” I watched him walk away, finding myself biting my lip as I looked at his butt. “Why can’t he want me the way I want him?” I muttered to myself.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and nearly jumped out of my chair. “He’s easy on the eyes, isn’t he?” One of the nurses who’d been around Lucius said.
I couldn’t exactly pinpoint why I was jealous of the woman. She was chubby, didn’t even try to fix her mousy blonde hair, but kept it in a bun at the base of her thick neck.
“I didn’t mean for anyone to overhear that,” I mumbled.
“So, you two are not a thing then,” she said as she stared at Ransom. “He’s free.”
Panic struck me. The girls I’d seen Ransom with in pictures were just like this woman; she was the kind of girl he had sex with. He didn’t have relationships with any of them, or so he’d said, but he did screw them.
I was sure this nurse just wanted to get screwed by him. She wasn’t looking for a relationship, just a piece of him. And I saw red.
“Free?” I asked. “I wouldn’t say that. I am carrying his triplets.”
“Yeah, I heard about that. You’re his surrogate.” She looked at me. “His grandfather told me.”
