Fatal Attraction (Love Kills Duet #2)

41. Forty One

Forty One

Charlotte

“ S o,” my mother said, quirking a brow as she helped herself to the small handful of French fries I hadn’t eaten. “How long have you been screwing those two detectives?”

“ June ,” Dad sharply hissed. “Seriously?”

“What?” She turned to him, blinking with a look that was far from fucking innocent. “It was just a question.”

“For fucks sake, June. Our daughter is in the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound, and that is your main concern? It isn’t any of your business nor is it mine.”

“Of course it’s our business,” Mom tiffed in response. “It’s like you said, she’s our daughter, Gary. Whoever she’s seeing is our business. After what Karl did to her, I have every right to know what—”

“No, Mom, you don’t.”

“Excuse me?” Her eyes flickered to me as she scoffed.

“You heard me. I’m a grown ass woman and who I sleep with isn’t any of your fucking business.”

She scoffed again, a plethora of emotions marring her face as she gaped heatedly into my eyes. All Dad could do was smile proudly. He reached over and grabbed one of my hands, squeezing it out of encouragement.

“Well, excuse the hell out of me for caring about you, especially after what you went through with Karl.”

Now it was my turn to scoff .

“Are you serious right now? You were never there for me when I needed you. When Karl cheated and I mentioned getting a divorce, all you cared about was how much money I was going to get out of it, and then you got mad at me because all I wanted was to keep the house.”

“That’s absurd—”

“Is it, June?” Dad spoke up then, siding with me. “Because I remember very clearly how angry you were, how you cursed our daughter to Hell and back for not doing the right thing—or in this case—for not doing what you wanted. Me? I had no choice but to side with you because if I hadn’t, I’d have never heard the end of it. In exchange, it cost me my relationship with my baby girl.”

Dad rolled his eyes as Mom began whisper-sneering obscenities. “Just tell me this,” he said, turning to me. “Do they treat you right? Are they genuinely good to you?”

“They are,” I whispered. “I love them so much. I know being with two different men is strange, but I’d give my life for them, Daddy. I know they’d do the same for me, too.”

Dad grinned, his eyes glittering. “Then that’s all I need to know. Your happiness is all I’ve ever cared about, pumpkin. I’m looking forward to meeting them both when there isn’t so much chaos going on.”

“Thank you.” I squeezed his hand, letting him know just how much his words meant to me.

Someone clearing their throat had each of us snapping our attention to the door. Carter was there, in a wheelchair, grinning big at me.

“Are you fucking my daughter too?” Mom asked out of spite.

“You know what,” I said, losing the last bit of patience I had left, my body painfully shaking. “Get out. Get the fuck out before I have security throw your ass out.”

“Charlotte,” Mom sneered.

I began shouting for security, which had Mom rushing to her feet in an instant, curling her nose at me. “I’ll be back later. ”

“June,” Dad said, halting her movement. “I want a divorce.”

My mouth dropped as Mom bristled, her shoulders coiling. Instead of speaking or refusing to look back, she fetched her keys from her purse and left.

“Uhh, should I leave?” Carter asked a bit uncomfortably.

“No,” I demanded. “Stay.” To my father, I said, “Daddy, this is Carter. He was married to my friend, Blaire. She uh…passed away recently.”

“Oh my.” Dad rose to his feet, using both hands to grasp Carter’s, shaking them. “I am so sorry for your loss. Ar-are you okay? Do you need anything, anything at all?”

“I’m fine, Sir, but thank you. I just wanted to pop in on Charlotte.”

“How are you?” I asked as Dad returned to his seat.

“I’m okay,” he replied. “Still hurting, but I’m okay.”

“What about the PTSD?”

“Dr. Giles said he’s going to start me on meds for it. It never worked the last time, so I doubt it’ll work this time.”

“PTSD?” my father questioned.

“He’s in the military, Dad.”

“Which branch?”

“Army.”

“Thank you for your service, Son.”

Carter offered him a half smile. “You’re welcome. Unfortunately, after what happened to Blaire, I’m done. I can’t go back. I’d chosen my career over my wife, and now…she’s gone.”

“I understand, Son. Either way, I still thank you for your service.”

“Thank you, Sir. That truly means a lot.” Carter turned to me and said, “How long are they keeping you?”

“I don’t know yet. The doctor came in after I’d woken up to check my vitals and hasn’t been back since. If I have to take a wild guess, I’d say no longer than two, maybe three days.”

“Lucky you. Dr. Giles wants to keep me here another week or two. ”

“I doubt it’ll be that long. Dr. Giles is a great doctor and had taken care of Karl when he’d had his car accident. He’s just trying to cover his ass. He’ll release you when he feels you’re ready.”

“Speaking of Karl,” Dad said, his brows furrowing as he faced me. “What happened with that? Last your mother and I heard, he was in jail.”

“Not anymore,” I muttered. “I know you may think very low of him, but he’s innocent, Dad. He never committed any of the crimes he was being charged with. He was framed by the man that kidnapped me.”

Three hard knocks resonated against the door, and the light in my eyes diminished in disappointment when a nurse walked in holding a small stack of papers in her hand, offering me a wobbly smile.

“Are you ready for your ultrasound?”

I shook my head, unsure if I’d heard her correctly. “I’m sorry, did you just say ultrasound?”

The sweet nurse nodded. “Yes, Ms. Greene. According to the reports here, Dr. Samson ordered you to have an ultrasound done ASAP.”

“For what?”

“Oh.” Bit by bit the smile on her face fell. “He didn’t check back in with you?”

“Nobody has been in here besides us,” my father said softly, looking just as confused as Carter and I did. “Is something wrong, ma’am?”

“No… of course not…” She froze then, her skin paling as she gaped between the three of us. “Ms. Greene, would it be okay if we spoke privately?”

“Whatever it is, just tell me. It doesn’t matter who’s in the room. You have my permission.”

She nodded, then glanced back down to the paperwork, swallowing hard. “It’s routine, of course, but before the surgery, we’d taken some blood to run a few tests. The results came back over an hour ago, so I don’t understand why he didn’t—”

“What tests are you talking about?” I swallowed around the lump in my throat as I forced myself to sit up straighter, giving her my full undivided attention. “Is-is something wrong with me?”

“According to the results, your HCG levels are quite high—triple the normal amount if I’m being precise.”

HCG levels?

Dad bellowed out a stunned gasp, covering his mouth as he blinked wide-eyed at me. My lips slowly parted, and my heart dropped like a stone in my stomach as the revelation slapped me hard, knocking the air dead out of my chest.

“I… I’m pregnant?”

“It appears so, Ms. Greene. That’s why we need to get you inside an ultrasound room ASAP. Given the anesthesia, surgery, blood transfusion, and the pain meds you’ve been given, we need to see how far along you are and check on the fetus’s condition.”

She spun on her heel and left the room long enough to push a wheelchair in. As Carter breathlessly wheeled himself out of the way, the nurse came up to me and gently reached for my forearm. Together she and my father helped me out of the bed and got me situated in the chair.

“This has to be a mistake,” I hoarsely whispered. “I-I can’t be pregnant. I-I’m on—” My words faltered then, and my eyes swelled once I remembered something crucial.

Fuck.

I was on the Depo shot. My three months were up over a month ago. I missed my appointment and had forgotten all about it!

“Oh no.” Tears instantly filled my eyes, and an uncontrollable sob burst from my throat.

“It’s going to be okay,” Carter promised. “Get checked out and we’ll figure it out. Together.”

“Would you like me to come with you?” asked my father.

“Ca-can he?” I asked, looking up at the nurse for her approval .

“I’ll make an exception,” she nodded. “But what about the baby’s father? Is he here too?”

Embarrassment lit up my cheeks. There was no way in hell I could openly admit to her that I’d been sleeping with two different men, so I settled by saying, “He was, but he had to leave for a work emergency. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”

Carter opened his mouth, thankfully not saying their names as he began offering to call them, but I shook my head and said, “No. I should be the one to do it.”

“Let’s see what’s going on first, and then you can call whoever you need to call,” said my father, who was impatiently bouncing on his heels now.

All the nurse did was smile. “That sounds like a fabulous idea.”

I couldn’t stop crying on the way to the ultrasound room. I couldn’t believe I was pregnant, that I was so irresponsibly reckless and had missed my doctor’s appointment. Did I want kids? Yes, of course I wanted to have precious little babies of my own, but not right now. I had plans; goals I wanted to fulfill before settling down and having kids. I wanted this ADA position more than anything and having a child would only hold me back from succeeding in what was possibly left of my career.

Fuck, this couldn’t be happening right now!

“Are we ready?”

The nurse paused outside the room, looking at my father first, then me. As much as I wasn’t looking forward to this, I nodded, crying harder when Dad rested a hand against my good shoulder and squeezed it, promising everything would be okay and that he’d be there for me no matter what .

As the door opened, I was gently pushed inside and greeted by a lady with black hair, blue eyes, and was dressed in black scrubs. With her assistance, I was cautiously guided out of the chair and painfully hefted up onto a makeshift bed. The technician threw a thick blanket over my lower body and then ordered me to scoot down as far as I could to the end of the bed and spread my legs as wide as possible.

Dad was beaming with excitement, rushing to pull up the closest chair he could find and plop it down next to me, his hand meeting mine a moment later.

“I’m right here, pumpkin. Just breathe and try to relax.”

That was easy for him to say. At the moment, all I could ponder over was Spike, Phoenix, and what their reactions would be once they find out. We’d never discussed having kids—hell, we hadn’t been together long enough for the thought to ever be considered. And the worst part was that between the two of them, I had no fucking clue who the father could be. Thanks to the shot, it had been an immensely long time since I had a period. What stumped me the most was that I hadn’t experienced any pregnancy symptoms either. No morning sickness, fatigue, cravings… Fucking nothing .

“I’m ready,” I said through a sniffle.

The technician nodded and carefully lifted the blanket up after squirting some petroleum jelly on a large wand. She instructed me to breathe in deeply, and I let it out once the wand was inserted. She made a few adjustments before turning to the computer, making a few little clicks here and there with the mouse.

“You’re ranging a little over six weeks gestation,” she said after a moment, pressing a button that made what sounded like white noise fill the room.

And then I heard it… Fast little thumps from a heartbeat.

I turned my head toward my father and broke down sobbing.

“Oh my goodness,” the lady said in the softest whisper, which had me jerking my head at her fast, tears clinging to my lashes.

“What?” I rasped out. “Wh-what is it? ”

“It’s no wonder your HCG levels are so high.” She paused, then turned the screen to me, revealing not one itty-bitty fetus, but another in its own separate amniotic sac. “Congratulations, Ms. Greene, you’re having fraternal twins.”

I could hardly process the information or develop any sort of reaction thanks to my dad rushing to his feet and excitingly pumping his fists in the air, a massive grin on his face.

“I’m going to be a grandpa.” He whispered it over and over, his smile unwavering. Then as he turned to me, taking in my puffy, saturated cheeks, he sat back down in his chair and cradled my face with both hands, kissing my forehead as his thumbs gently stroked my tears away. “I’m so happy for you, pumpkin.”

“I-I don’t know if I can do this, Daddy.” I weakly shook my head. “I-I’m not ready for this…”

“You’re going to do great, baby. I know it’s scary, but you have a whole support system around you who will help with whatever it is you may need.”

I nodded, knowing he meant it. “Is-uh… Are the babies okay?” I turned to the technician.

“They’re both perfect. Heartbeats are strong, and I don’t see anything going on inside your uterus to make me feel otherwise. I’ll get the word out to Dr. Samson so he can adjust your pain medication. The most important things now are to simply rest, recover, and to avoid any unnecessary stress.”

She left it and that and stood up, ripping off four small parchments from the machine. “These are for you.” She handed them over to me, and I took them, my bottom lip frantically wobbling. “Again, congratulations, Ms. Greene. I’ll let the nurse know that she can take you back to your room now.”

Dad helped me sit up and as much as I hated it, all I could do was cry as I gaped down at the pictures of my babies .

“It’s going to be okay, pumpkin.” He cupped the side of my face before leaning down to press another tender kiss to my forehead. “I promise.”