"I am meeting them now?" Mike realized from her response that he should have prepared her better for the night.
"Yes," he said, reaching for her hand, "And they are going to love you."
Overwhelmed by everything going on around her, Andie followed him to the plane. It turned out meeting his best friends wasn't the hardest part of the night. In fact, they ended up being down-to-earth people who were pretty awesome in her book. It was their first night away from their new baby, so Christy was a bit teary-eyed. They couldn't stop talking about their daughter or showing pictures of her to Andie and Mike. As she sat there, she wondered if this could be her and Mike someday. From the beginning of this roller coaster, she did her best to not let her mind wander to what would happen between them long term. Sitting on the plane with two of his friends while he entertained a client made it difficult to not imagine how wonderful life would be if they fell in love.
About half-way into the flight, she felt like she needed to use the restroom. Excusing herself from the couple, she worked her way to the back of the plane where she passed Mike on the way, and he gave her a wink that made her heart melt. She was feeling better but still had some nerves over her cramping earlier. Using the bathroom didn't help matters any. She looked down and realized she was bleeding. Her heart immediately broke in two. Not knowing what to do, she just stood there in shock. Something was wrong, very wrong. She felt it in her soul and all she could think of was how bad she wanted Avery.
The tears formed in her eyes as she cleaned herself up. Hoping she could salvage her makeup, she needed to figure out what to do. This could not be happening at a worst time; here she was in a plane on her way to another country with Mike and a bunch of strangers. Her mind was racing with so many confusing thoughts. She couldn't tell him, could she? Trying to catch her breath, she heard a knock on the door.
"Andie, are you okay in there? Mike wanted me to check on you," Christy whispered.
"I'm fine, I'll... um... I'll be right out." Her voice caught, and she knew Christy could probably tell she was crying.
Christy spoke softly into the door, "Andie, let me in, okay?"
She cracked the door open and Christy took one look at her and did her best to put on a smile.
"What's going on?"
The tears started streaming down Andie's face again, "I'm bleeding." Even though she had just met Christy, there was something about having another woman there who she would understand.
Christy tried her best to hide the gasp, but it slipped through. She sat Andie down on the tiny airplane toilet and crouched down in front of her.
"Do you want me to get Mike?"
"NO! I mean, no, please, I didn't mean to shout. I don't know what to do, but I don't want to stress him out. This is a big evening for him, and I just need to get through this on my own."
"But you're not alone, you have me and Jason and Mike now. We are all here for you. Tell me exactly what's going on. Are you bleeding a lot or just spotting?"
"I think just spotting."
"Okay, that's good. Listen, I am going to help you get your makeup cleaned up. If it gets any worse at all, you must promise you will tell me. Are you in any pain?"
"No."
"See another good thing! Let's stick together and get through tonight. Mike is going to kill me for keeping this from him, but I know what it's like to not want to stress out your man during a big event." Christy hesitated, then continued to speak. "I don't think I told you, but when I went into labor, I waited about two hours before Jason found me on the floor in our apartment. He saw me in the cameras and berated me for not getting him sooner. I knew he was running tech on a mission and I didn't want to pull him away. Probably not the smartest decision, but I tell you this, so you know I understand. Our men are very important people, but they will always love us and put us first."
Andie looked up, "Thank you, I just wish I knew what to do."
"No thanks needed. Let's work on that makeup of yours. I'll shoot Bella a text so she knows what's happening. We will find you a nice seat when we get to the hotel and you can lie low until Mike goes on. As soon as it's over though, I need you to promise me we will tell him what's going on."
"Okay," Andie said. She couldn't really think clearly, so following the instructions Christy gave her was the easiest option right now.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mikekeptlookingbackat the door that separated him from Andie. She and Christy were missing for far too long. He never understood what girls did in bathrooms together, but he was getting suspicious as he looked down at his watch. There was about fifteen minutes before landing and he was eager to get this speech over, so he could start his weekend with his girl.
The client they had with them was running the event, so there was a bunch of ass-kissing involved through the entire flight. He looked up when he heard the bathroom door open and saw Christy step out. His relief was temporary, Andie looked visibly upset about something. In fact, it looked like she had been crying, and she had her hand on her belly. Then when she saw him looking, she put on the most ridiculously fake smile that he had ever seen.
He went to stand, Christy put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, "It's alright, leave her be, I've got this."
He could tell something was wrong as Christy was ushering Andie up to the front seating area of the plane where she and Jason were sitting. Their client was one of the largest contracts with their security firm. Mike ran his fingers through his hair in frustration as he listened to the client drone on about topics he couldn't pay attention to. He was between a rock and a hard place; he wanted to trust Christy. If she said she had everything handled, then she did. Thankful the jet was equipped with Wi-Fi, he grabbed his phone and messaged Andie.
Mike: You okay?
Andie: Yup.
Mike: Why don't I believe you?