I'll Be Your Somebody (5 page)

“
Te adoro, mi esposa
,” he whispered against her mouth.

“I love you, too, Ulrich,” she replied.

He left the bed and dressed quickly.  Rosita put on his wedding dress shirt and helped him pack, stealing one of his T-shirts for later use.  He grinned at her.

“You tell youngin’ not to come before I get back,” Ulrich said to her, zipping up his bag after making sure he had everything.

“I will.”

He snorted.  “And I bet she’ll take after you and be ornery, come all early.”

Rosita grinned.  “And you’ll continue to love her…or him…”

Ulrich kissed her forehead.  “You’re giving me a daughter; I can feel it.”

They walked to the door, his rolling suitcase gripped hard in his hand.  Rosita leaned against him, breathing in his scent.  Ulrich rested his forehead against the top of her head.

“
Regrese a mi
,
mi esposo
,” she whispered, her hand above his heart.  “
Regrese a nosotros
.”

“I’ll do my very best,” Ulrich vowed.  She pulled back so he could kiss her mouth sweetly, and with a final graze of his hand against her tummy, he went down the hall.  Rosita watched him until he turned the corner, out of sight, but never out of her mind or heart.

“I’m going to kill him.”

The fact it was a calm statement and not a frantic exclamation struck fear in those who heard her.  Rosita didn’t care, though.  All she cared about was the fact their child had held up its end of the bargain for as long as it could, but Ulrich still wasn’t here.  Hell, the baby had even held on for a few extra days after the doctor’s projected due date; but still, Daddy Ulrich made no appearance.  Nevertheless, the baby wanted out, and it was taking a battering ram to Rosita’s birth canal to accomplish it.

“
Aaarrrggghhh!!
”

“You’re doing great,” Bevin assured her, taking a damp towel to Rosita’s forehead to mop up the perspiration there.

Rosita rolled her eyes and tried to take deep, relaxing breaths.  But the little terror inside her was making that nigh impossible.

“Get it out.”

“Rosa—”

“I want this
fucking
thing out me
now
!  Fuck, Ulrich!  Why the fuck isn’t he here?!”  She heard Bevin murmur excuses for her friend’s potty mouth.

“Shoot, I doubt she’ll be the worst we have today!” one nurse cracked.

Rosita smiled with vindication…right before releasing another string of filth as the next contraction attacked.

She sagged heavily against the bedding once it passed and Bevin tsked behind the mask she wore, feeding her ice chips.  “Seeing you like this makes me wonder why the hell I let myself get pregnant again…”

Rosita smirked, eyeing her friend’s slightly distended belly beneath the puke-green scrubs she wore.  “Because you’re a horny bitch for that fine-ass hubby of yours.”

Bevin’s golden eyes shone.  “You right…”

Rosita laughed a little, then she grasped Bevin’s hand.  “They’ll be back, won’t they?”

Bevin nodded.  “They better be, or we’ll be very put out.”

Rosita nodded as well, dropping her friend’s hand in favor of the guardrails as she went through another contraction.  She’d been at this for hours; she’d long stopped counting after the fourth one.  Aunt Bevie and her mother were watching Kerry in the lobby, there just in case Ulrich somehow managed to receive the message his wife was in labor.

“Damn, just somebody cut the fucker out!” Rosita growled.

“We’ll give it a few more hours before it comes to that,” her obstetrician said.  Rosita merely glared, grinding on the molars of her teeth.

She knew her body, however, and her body didn’t have a “few more hours” before it fell apart.  Rosita felt as if she were being split in halves, and
where were her gotdamn drugs
?!

Oh, yeah
…they were in that too-damn-big needle, and that thing wasn’t going anywhere near her person.

She put a hand over her face and sobbed.  She felt miserable.  Her mother had lied; this was
not
a glorious event in her life.  It hurt like a motherfucker and she didn’t want to ever go through it again.

“Oh, none of that, Rosita,
chica
, none of that…”

She snatched her hand away from her face in shock, and in pain, as another pulse ripped through her.  She got a small bit of satisfaction when, upon her vision clearing, she saw a light-caramel face screwed up in agony before her.

“
Rosa!
”

She looked down at what she gripped in her hand, realizing it was, in fact, her husband’s hand and not the guardrail that had been her friend these past umpteen hours.

“Where the
fuck
have you been?!”

Tears leaked out of his eyes, especially since she didn’t let go of his hand.  “
Rosa!
”

“Ulrich!” she cried, uncaring and unsympathetic of his pain.  It was the least he could feel after what she’d been going through thus far.

“I’m not at liberty to say…”

“That gotdamn beeper better be off too!” she warned.

Though cognizant of his agony and hers, Ulrich managed to steal a kiss from his wife’s stormy lips.  “Not allowed to bring them in here.  Tim has it in the lobby.”

“You kicked Bevin out?”

“No, she went to say hello to her husband.  He’s been gone as long as I have,
chica
.”

Yes, two long-ass months.  Because she was now living in Ulrich’s flat in Virginia Beach, her mother had come up from Orangeburg to make sure Rosita had everything in order.  And because she didn’t live far from Bevin, the other woman had been checking in almost daily just in case Rosita needed anything…and because it was finally nice to have someone up there who understood what she went through at the drop of a hat.  Granted, Bevin got along with the rest of the significant others of her husband’s SEAL Team, but she and Rosita had history going back to the single-digit years.

Rosita wanted to say something else, but there was suddenly a draft between her legs and fingers that didn’t belong to her or Ulrich prodding around.

“You’re ready to go, Rosita!” the obstetrician declared.

Ulrich grinned and kissed her forehead.  “Seems my baby waited for her daddy after all.”

Rosita just huffed. 
Bastard
.

Bevin returned just in time for the first push.  With her two best friends holding each hand, Rosita egged on her body to expel the child that had been conceived the Memorial Day Weekend prior.  It was excruciating and lasting much too long for her liking, and then suddenly…it was over.

“Ah, damn,” Ulrich breathed.  “That’s a baby!”

Rosita would’ve laughed had she had breath in her body to spare; but instead, she sagged into the pillows at her back and closed her eyes, Ulrich moving away from her while Bevin kissed her forehead.

“I’m so damn proud of you!” Bevin whispered shakily in her ear.

Rosita kept her eyes closed. “Are you crying?”

“No…”

Liar.

Rosita held Bevin’s hand in both of hers and took a few deep breaths, a smile breaking along her face when she heard her child cry for the first time.

“Everything looks good, Mrs. Brown,” the doctor said.  “A beautiful baby girl you got here.”

“Told you!” Ulrich cheered and Rosita shook her head.

“Like he knew his sperm had an X chromosome in it when he knocked me up,” she muttered, wincing a little as the nurses helped her deliver the afterbirth.

“I have an intimate connection with my swimmers,” Ulrich insisted, his voice sounding closer than before.

Rosita scrunched up her face. “You are so nasty!”

“You married me anyway,” he reminded her.

“I was under duress.”

“
Mmm-hmm
,” Ulrich grunted.  “Open your eyes and look at the beauty we created.”

Rosita did.  Her heart squeezed at the sight of Ulrich holding his tiny daughter in his big, strong arms.  The baby looked at him in wonder, and Rosita definitely concurred.

“She looks just like you, I think,” Ulrich announced in awe.

“Your mother will be pleased,” Bevin teased.

Ulrich smiled.  “I know I am.  I don’t think I’d be a very good-looking woman…”  He gave his pinky to their child and the baby slapped at it, making him laugh.  “Oh, yes, this is definitely your daughter!”

She scowled at her husband.  “Hater.”

“Nope.  I’m more in love than I ever thought possible,” he said, tearing his eyes away from the treasure in his arms to look at her.  “
Te amo mucho, esposa.  Gracias por mi hermosa hija.
”

He placed the baby on her chest.  Black eyes looked up at her curiously, and Rosita touched a trembling hand to the head of curly black hair.  The baby was closer to her shade than Ulrich’s, but she would probably end up darker than both her parents once she got older.  Nevertheless, Rosita bent forward and kissed her daughter’s crown.  “Hi, Sancha.”

“Sancha?” Ulrich asked.

“Yes, I think she looks like Sancha,” Rosita murmured, looking between her best friend and her husband.  “Sancha Neo Brown.”

“Um, that’s kind of kickass,” Ulrich noted.  “What does it mean?”

She and Bevin had discussed it at length as they poured over baby-name books, and this name felt right to Rosita’s soul.  Looking at Bevin again and seeing her nod, Rosita answered her husband’s question.  “Holy Gift.  Sancha is Spanish and Neo is from Botswana.”

“Your mother lands,” Ulrich said.

“Ours,” Rosita corrected.  “I may be Cuban, but my ancestors are African, just like yours.”

“Well, the majority of them,” Ulrich teased, kissing her forehead.  “I love the name.”

“I’m relieved,” she said sincerely.

“Girl, after all the work you put in, the least you could do was name her.”  He kissed his daughter’s temple.  “Sancha Neo, welcome to the world, baby.”

Sancha punched his nose, and her parents chuckled.

“Let me go tell the others Sancha Neo has made her debut,” Bevin said, grazing the baby’s cheek with her thumb before leaving for the waiting room.  Ulrich went to his haunches so he’d be eye level with his wife and daughter.  His large hand settled on his baby’s back and Rosita was amazed that such tenderness could come from such strength.  There was a bandage along the back of it along with some nicks on a few of his fingers.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” Rosita asked him.

He looked at her and shrugged.  “My abdomen, but you should see the other guys.”

Rosita took a deep breath and the baby squirmed on her chest.  Ulrich rubbed Sancha’s back to calm her.

“Tim’s arm is in a sling,” Ulrich said.  “But he’ll be all right.”

Rosita was sure Bevin threw an epic fit over that internally; her friend had an amazing ability to put her own feelings to the side, especially if an event wasn’t about her.  Rosita would talk to Bevin about it as soon as she got a free moment.

Sancha pitched her face forward as if inhaling her mother’s scent.  Chuckling, Ulrich picked up his daughter and curled her next to his heart.  As before, the baby rubbed her face into her father’s chest, smothering in his smell and love.

Soon a parade of guests marched in and out of the room.  Rosita greeted them all as warmly as her exhausted body would allow.  Ulrich didn’t relinquish his child, not even under threat of his mother and hers taking him over their knee.

“Ladies, I love you; but after what I just left, I need to hold this blessing close to my heart for a little while longer.”

And with that, he promptly melted everyone else’s, especially Rosita’s.

She held Tim’s free hand when he approached the bed and squeezed hard.  He grinned lopsidedly and nodded when she eyed his injury.

“Just a dislocated shoulder,” he told her, shrugging his uninjured one.  “I’ll be good as new in no time.”

“You better be.  You know how crazy Bevin gets whenever you come home with a booboo.”

Tim looked behind him, taking a gander at his wife and Ulrich cooing over his goddaughter.  “We are some lucky bastards, Ulrich and I.”  He returned his focus to her and rubbed the back of Rosita’s hand with his thumb, mindful of the IV protruding from it.  “Thanks for loving him, Rosita.”

“Thank you for loving my girl,” she returned.

He smiled softly.  “That honor is all mine, and I will never take it for granted.”

“I know you won’t,” Rosita said.  “So I just ask the next time you come back, you try to do so with fewer and less intensive injuries than this time.”

He laughed and kissed her forehead.  “
Sí, yo haré mi mejor
.”

The visitation only lasted an hour, everyone vowing to come first thing the next morning.  Rosita was able to steal a moment for herself as Ulrich walked Sancha down to the nursery upon the doctor’s orders.  The baby would be back in another thirty minutes for a feeding. 

Rosita placed her hands over her face and whispered a prayer
a
Dios
, a prayer for strength, wisdom, patience, humility, and graciousness.  She would be the best mother she possibly could for her daughter, and she would be the best wife she possibly could for her husband.

She didn’t jump when she felt hands cover hers, just tilted her face upwards when those hands pulled hers away so lips could kiss hers.

“We got this,” Ulrich declared, holding her hands to his heart.  “We got this on lock.”

“Damn straight we do,” Rosita agreed, squeezing his hands.

He smiled and sat right next to the bed, leaning his head against her shoulder and letting his exhaustion overtake him.

Her poor baby.

Kissing Ulrich’s temple briefly, Rosita followed him into dreamland with a smile on her face, knowing that instead of being seriously fucked, she was definitely, indomitably, seriously loved.