The Heart's Game (The Kelly Brothers, Book 4) (20 page)

Dì Tam waltzed into the bedroom and gave her a once-over. “You look pretty enough to be a bride.”

“Too bad I feel like a whale in this thing.” She tugged on the dress again, wondering what her aunt would do if she
accidentally
ripped the silk fabric that strained over her bump.

“That is what you get for being pregnant with another man’s child. You are very lucky that a doctor wants to marry you.”

She rolled her eyes and waddled over to the chair her aunt held out for her. The ceremony would be starting in less than thirty minutes, and she still needed to do her hair and makeup for the pictures. While her aunt fussed over her hair and arranged the traditional combs, she rubbed her stomach. The baby had been unusually still today, and worry gnawed at her gut.

Her mother joined them and cast one glance at Jenny’s feet. “You painted your nails.”

Like I could reach my toes in my condition.
Luckily, Maureen had arrived yesterday and treated her to a pre-engagement ceremony spa day. The relaxing massage and pedicure soothed her jitters and made today more bearable.

“Did his family arrive?” her mother asked before grabbing the eyeliner.

“Yes, they did.” Last night, she and Dan had dinner with his family in a private room of a local restaurant. Five of his brothers had made it. Ben had to miss the ceremony due to a game, but Hailey had come down, proudly displaying her own bump to the family. The meal was full of teasing and laughter, but by the time it ended, she felt like she was already part of the Kelly family.

It would be a very different scene today when the boisterous and laid-back Kellys met the straight-laced Vietnamese traditions of the Nguyen family. She only hoped that once the formalities were over, the reception would be just as fun as last night’s dinner had been.

Her stomach tightened again, forcing the air from her lungs. The baby wasn’t due for another month, but according to the birthing class instructor, the contractions could start at any time now.

Her mother paused and sent her a worried look. “Do you need some water?”

She shook her head. What she wouldn’t give to be wearing the loose-fitting dress she wore last night. “The baby’s just misbehaving.”

“The baby is your child.” Her mother went back to applying her makeup.

No, the baby is Mike and Jason’s, not mine
.

Jenny closed her eyes and focused on taking deep breaths. Her ultrasound two days ago looked reassuring, according to her OB. With the exception of the exposed bowel, the baby was doing fine. This was all due to nerves.

Jason popped his head in. “The guests are starting to arrive.”

Her mother added one swipe of lip gloss. “Only family inside. The rest will have to wait until the groom’s family enters.”

“Ten-four,
Má
.” Jason gave them a playful salute and went back into the living room to divert traffic.

Anxiety formed at the base of Jenny’s spine, stretching around her belly and squeezing. For the hundredth time today, she wished Dan hadn’t agreed to this ceremony. Yes, it was a peace offering to get on her mother’s good side, but she would be dreading it until it was over.

At least she’d gotten her parents to agree to let them have a quiet marriage ceremony after the baby was born.

“Stand up,” Dì Tam ordered. She stood next to Phuong and visually picked Jenny apart. “It is too bad you are pregnant.”

“Dan and I were willing to wait until after the baby was born.”

Her mother shook her head. “No, today is a lucky day.”

Jason reappeared. “Dan and his family just drove up.”

She sent him a worried look, hoping Dan and his brothers remembered all the intricacies involved from the red cloth-covered boxes containing traditional gifts to the proper order of entering the household. “Maybe I should go out there and explain things one more time.”

Her mother and aunt blocked the door. “No, stay here. We don’t want to appear to be too eager.”

“Relax, Jenny.” Jason came over and massaged her shoulders. “Dan and I have been over this a hundred times. He’s got it under control.”

The doorbell rang, and the house fell silent.

Her mother smoothed out the same pink
áo dài
Tam had brought back from Vietnam. At least it was getting some use, and it looked far better on Phuong than on her. “Your father and I must receive our guests. Do not come out until we come get you.”

From the confines of her bedroom, Jenny strained to hear the conversation outside. Her parents opened the door and greeted Dan’s family. Dan and his mother would be at the head of the procession. Maureen would ask permission of her parents for her hand, and Dan would present the first gift if they accepted, followed by each of his brothers and Paul. One of her cousins dressed in a red
áo dài
would receive each gift until they’d all been given. Only then would her parents send for her.

Heavy footsteps came down the hallway. Jenny checked her reflection, noting her flushed cheeks and full lips. She looked like a proper bride from the waist up.

Her stomach tightened again, bringing tears to her eyes this time. As soon as the ceremony was over, she needed to find a place where she could rest and rehydrate. But her parents stood in the doorway to retrieve her, so she told herself that could wait. Right now, all she wanted was to make her engagement to Dan official.

Dan’s brothers towered over her family, making them easy to spot in the crowd. They were dressed in dark suits according to tradition and stood in line behind him.

The glow in Dan’s eyes as she entered the room made her forget about her jitters. He looked at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the room, and her heart fluttered.

Just like he had at Chinese New Year, her father linked her hand with Dan’s. “We present to you our daughter, Hue, to be your bride.”

Dan squeezed her hand and followed her to the family altar, helping her down to her knees so they could pray for the ancestors’ blessing. Another contraction hit her midway through the prayers, this one more intense than the earlier ones. She bit her bottom lip to keep from gasping, but Dan noticed it.

“The baby?” he whispered

She gave him a discreet nod.

“How far apart?”

“No idea.”

“Then let’s hurry this up and get you to the hospital.” He stood and helped her up.

That was when another contraction ripped through her lower stomach. She clutched her belly, and dug her fingers into Dan’s arms. The pain lasted less than a minute, but the gush of fluid that followed made her head swim.

Her water had just broken.

Her mother and Maureen rushed to her side, hiding the puddle that was trickling down her leg and forming around her foot. “Babies always know how to make their presence known, huh?” Maureen joked.

“I told you this would be a lucky day.” Her mother wrapped her arm around Jenny’s waist and helped her through the crowd. “My granddaughter will be arriving soon.”

“I’ll go get the car.” Dan brushed by them, followed by his red-headed brother, Frank. He had the engine roaring by the time they got to the car.

Frank held the door open for them. “And here I was looking forward to getting to know your cute little cousins better,” he said with a wink.

“Franklin Scott Kelly, you will behave yourself,” his mother warned.

“But they’re so cute and dainty.”

Jenny wanted to warn Frank that her cousins just looked cute and dainty. They’d pack a mean wallop if he tried anything, followed by a not so pleasant reprimand from their fathers and brothers. But the next contraction took away her breath.

Jason and Mike’s car pulled up alongside them. “We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Mike said in his calm courtroom voice.

She nodded and turned to Maureen. All the travel and preparations for the engagement ceremony were wasted now. “I’m so sorry for this. You came all this way, and we didn’t even get to the dinner.”

“We will have time to celebrate later,” Phuong answered. “Right now, it is time for the baby. We will entertain our guests.” Then, in an uncharacteristic show of affection, she kissed Jenny’s cheek and turned to Dan. “Take care of my daughter and my granddaughter.”

Dan met her mother’s gaze and said solemnly, “I will.”

***

Dan sped through the traffic on the freeway, his gaze shifting to his silent fiancée every thirty seconds. Jenny drew in a sharp breath through her nose, held it until her face turned red, and then exhaled with a slow sigh. He glanced the clock on the dash. The contractions were about three minutes apart now. If he didn’t get her to the hospital soon, she was in danger of having the baby in the car.

And for a baby with gastroschisis, that could be dangerous. The risk of infection alone could kill it, not to mention the cold Seattle weather.

He rammed the accelerator until the speedometer teetered over seventy-five.

“Slow down, Dan. We don’t want to have an accident.”

“The HOV lane is clear.”

“And what if a cop pulls us over?”

“Then I’ll ask him if he wants to catch the baby.”

The words came out light and jovially in stark contrast to the dark panic sludging inside his gut. He’d lead the cop on a merry chase straight to Labor & Delivery before he stopped. He wasn’t going to risk anything with Jenny’s baby.

As the skyline of Bellevue appeared, Jenny closed her eyes and cradled her stomach. “I’m not ready to let go of her yet.”

Neither was he.

Even though his brain reminded him that this wasn’t his child, he was still connected to her as though she did share his DNA. He wanted to hold her, watch her take her first steps, see her off to the prom and graduation. He wanted to be her father.

But like Jenny, he’d have to let her go to her real father as soon as she was born.

He blindly reached over and held Jenny’s hand. “We’ll still be here for her. It’s not like she’s leaving us to go to a perfect stranger.”

Jenny nodded, her eyes still squeezed shut. “I know, but it’s just not the same.”

He ran his thumb over the top of her palm, knowing exactly how she felt at the moment.

***

Mike stood next to a nurse waiting with a wheelchair at the elevator that led from the parking garage straight to L&D. As soon as Dan skidded to a stop, he opened the door and helped Jenny out. “Jason’s parking the car. We called ahead and let them know we were coming.”

“Thank you.” After the adrenaline-pumping race to the hospital, she was looking forward to the slow roll to the delivery suite. “Is my OB, Dr. Davis, here? What about the perinatologist?”

“We’re getting everything in place for your baby’s arrival,” the nurse reassured her. “But first, we’re going to get you changed into a comfortable gown and see how she’s doing.”

Jenny lowered her eyes to her ruined
áo dài
. She must look like some poor creature from a horror flick.

Another contraction rolled through her uterus. She gripped the arms of the wheelchair and clamped her jaw closed. Perspiration beaded along her scalp. She refused to scream or make a spectacle of herself in front of everyone. Even though it was more painful than the time she broke her arm as a child, it would only last for a few seconds. She could get through it.

“How far apart are the contractions?” the nurse asked.

“Three minutes,” Dan answered from behind them. “And from the look of things, getting more intense.”

How did he read her as well as he did? She’d been trying so hard to keep up a brave face, to be stoic and deal with the pain through deep breathing.

But the last contraction seemed to linger in the form of an intense pressure building in her bottom. It wasn’t exactly painful, but it wasn’t comfortable either.

By the time they reached the delivery suite, Jason had joined them. The nurse looked at the crowd of men, confusion hazing her eyes. “Which one of you is the father?”

Mike stepped forward. “I am, but Dan is her fiancée.”

The confusion only deepened the lines between the nurse’s brows. “Um, well, I’m going to help her get undressed…”

“Message received loud and clear.” Jason looped his arm through Mike’s and led him toward the door. “We’ll be out in the hallway until it’s safe to come back in.”

Jenny’s legs trembled as she tried to stand. Dan steadied her as another contraction ripped through her. White-hot fire burned along the bottom of her pelvis, and the pressure intensified. As soon as she could speak, she said, “Please, can I go to the bathroom first? I feel like I need to go.”

“No!” Dan and the nurse said in unison as they forced her into the bed.

“But the pressure…”

“Don’t push.” The nurse went to the phone on the wall and asked for assistance.

Jenny’s heart swelled with panic. She turned to Dan. “What’s going on?”

“When a woman in labor feels the need to push like that, it usually means you’re fully dilated.” He brushed her sweat-damp hair out of her face. “I can’t tell you how many stories I heard during my OB rotation about babies being delivered in the bathroom.”