Page 114 of One Unexpected Gift

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Nick was tired of lying to Skylar. He so was not okay with their situation. He missed her too much. Missed Gabriella too much. In the past nine months, he’d made seven trips to Virginia, the longest was ten days during Christmas and then another week in May.

He’d flown back in the middle of January—despite it being a busy ski season—to help her and Gabriella move into a two-bedroom home. They’d shopped for baby furniture, and he’d insisted on buying the crib and dresser, as well as all the bedding and decorations Skylar wanted for Gabriella’s room.

June and July were harder to get away, so his visits were short forty-eight hour trips. He hadn’t been there the first time Gabriella rolled over. She’d cut her first tooth and he didn’t get to see it poke its way through. By the time he was able to get away, she had two bottom teeth. Skylar had made it sound like she hadn’t crawled until he’d seen her do it when he flew down for Mother’s Day weekend, but Gabriella had moved too quickly for it to be her first time.

When she said dada to him though, shit, his heart exploded with love. She may not have realized what she was saying at first, but when she and Skylar picked him up from the airport right before Father’s Day and she reached for him saying, “Dada,” well, yeah, he broke down and cried like a pansy. And he didn’t give one shit who saw him. His baby girl recognized him and called him Dada. His world was complete.

Gabriella’s first birthday was tomorrow, and he wanted more than anything to be with her and Skylar. He hadn’t seen his girls in six weeks, but with Colby catching pneumonia and Alyssa already off for vacation, there was no way he’d be able to get a flight down to Virginia for at least another week. And only then if Colby was back up to par. He worried about bringing germs down to Skylar and Gabriella.

Another stressor was finding help. Like everyone in the area, hiring reliable employees had been a challenge. He was understaffed and overworked.

Nick checked his cell for the fourth time in the past thirty minutes. He’d left Skylar three messages and she hadn’t returned any of them. It was almost ten o’clock. He would’ve been home by now if he hadn’t been waiting to hear back from her.

The Zone was cleaned up and his staff had gone home, where he’d be too if Skylar would answer her damn phone. He worried about her. Not so much that he panicked if she didn’t answer the second he called, but they talked every night at nine thirty unless he was running late at work, or she was up with Gabriella.

Even then, they found time to let each other know. Nick began to worry but pacing his office where he daydreamed about making love to her on his desk, against the wall, in his new office chair, wasn’t helping his blood pressure any.

The headaches had been gone for six months, but he felt the dull ache of a new one coming on. Checking his cell one more time before pocketing it, he cursed and headed out. He peeled out of the parking lot and sped home.

The house was dark as always. It had been lonely and empty since the week before Thanksgiving. Skylar wouldn’t have any leave coming to her for another few months. She’d offered to fly up to Maine on a weekend off, but it was a lot more work for her to take a Friday night flight with Gabriella just to leave again Sunday afternoon.

Nick had more flexibility in his schedule and didn’t have to worry about a fussy baby on board. Right now he’d do anything to have a fussy baby in his arms. He turned off the Jeep, checked his phone again, then stormed into the house.

It was dark and quiet but he could swear he could smell them. Gabriella’s sweet baby powder smell and Skylar’s citrus lotion. He missed them so much he was not only picturing them in the house but smelling them too.

Yeah, he needed to catch a flight south ASAP. Too worried about Skylar to eat, he stripped off his sweatshirt on his way upstairs, not bothering to turn on any lights. He toed off his work boots in his bedroom and tugged off his jeans, tossing them on the bed.

“Ouch.”

“Shit!” Nick jumped backwards, tripping over his boots, and tumbled to the floor. Not before bumping his head on the bedside table. His heart thumped out of his chest and then the bedside light turned on. He covered his eyes and then lifted his hand. “Tell me I’m not dreaming.”

“You’re sprawled on the floor buck ass naked. Tell me I’m not dreaming.” Skylar sat on her knees in the middle of his bed, buck ass naked as well.

“Well, aren’t you a sight for sore eyes.” Too shocked to move, he stayed there, propped up by the wall, rubbing the bump on his head, while he took in all her beauty.

Her hair fell in soft ribbons down her front, tickling the tops of her breasts. Her beautiful, naked breasts that he no longer shared with his daughter. This, he’d learned a few weeks ago when Skylar called him crying because Gabriella bit her and then refused to nurse anymore.

While Nick was sad for Skylar’s loss, he promised her he’d make up for all the time Gabriella wouldn’t be spending on her breasts anymore.

“You scared me tonight.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to surprise you.”

“I meant earlier. I’ve been trying to reach you.”

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