Unbroken (Fighter Erotic Romance #4) (5 page)

KACE.
Josh never let me have friends – male or female. Being able to have Vee as a friend and spending time with her almost every day had been an absolute blessing. Both of us enjoying our first pregnancy together had been an interesting journey to say the least. Nightly phone calls and texts to discuss newfound facts, advancements, and future plans are something I have truly looked forward to. It’s almost as if we’re in a competition to see who experiences something first.

The amount of shopping a person can do for a new baby is incredible. I have a nursery absolutely full of clothes, toys, bedding, a crib, mobiles, shoes, hats, and many other various items I have purchased on the many trips Vee and I have made together. I suppose by the time a woman has her second or third baby she becomes immune to all of the baby butterflies I get when I see something cute, but for now I’ll just enjoy them.

“I want one with the big tires, so I can jog with it,” I said as I pointed to the stroller with huge tires on the back and front.

Vee rubbed her stomach and groaned, “I’m not running anywhere. I waddle. Look at me, Kace, I’m
huge
.”

I released the stroller and turned toward Vee, “You’re so cute. And you have a little tummy. You have a long torso. I’m just short. And fat. And I can’t wait to plop this little sucker out and start playing with him.”

Vee sighed and rolled her eyes, “Six more weeks.”

“The doctor told Shane and I the other day he might want me to have him early if I don’t naturally have him by then. I’m too big. Well, the baby’s too big. He’s a little fatty,” I chuckled.

“Wouldn’t it be funny if he was born all ripped like Shane? A little bitty soft baby all cut up and covered in muscles?” Vee giggled.

As I laughed and tried to develop a mental illustration of a muscular baby, my mind quickly formed grotesque images of circus freaks and clowns. As my stomach began to grumble, I reached into my purse and fumbled through the contents.

“Want a banana?” I asked as I pulled one from my purse.

Vee shook her head and laughed, “No thanks. You’re still on those damned things? Mine’s granola. God, I can’t eat enough of that shit. Honey Bunches of O’s too – the one with the crunchy stuff in it. Maybe the crunchy stuff is granola.”

I peeled the banana and looked around the store to make sure no one was watching. I felt a little out of place devouring a banana in the store, but I was hungry and needed something to fill my empty stomach. As I quickly ate half of it, I looked at the remaining half and began to chuckle.

“So, are you and Ripp still…uhhm, you know.
Not
?” I asked as I stared at the uneaten portion of the banana.

“Fucking Ripp. He’s so weird. He thinks his cock is going to hurt the baby. I’ve explained, shown him pictures, everything. And he
still
refuses to fuck me. I swear. My only sexual satisfaction is received from watching
Magic Mike
on
loop
. Over and over. Magic Mike
is
magic you know,” she laughed.

“But I guess on the upside, Ripp’s so excited about the entire process. He falls asleep listening to my stomach,” she rolled her eyes and smiled.

“Shane pets mine. He can’t feel the baby kicking enough. After the first time he felt it, that’s all he wants to do. Well, that and prepare for the title fight. Train and rub my belly.”

“Do you guys…” Vee began to ask.

I didn’t want to make her feel any more sadly than she already felt about Ripp not having sex with her. Slowly I curled my mouth into a half-smile, and nodded my head slightly.

“Every now and again we do, but not that much. He’s still being punished for leaving,” I laughed as I reached for the stroller in front of me with my free hand.

I looked at the row of strollers as I ate the other half of the banana and tried to consider a multi-colored one, but continued to be drawn to the blue one with the bigger tires. I gripped the handle and pulled it from the rack. Shane and I were both excited about having a boy, and everything we had purchased or obtained was a shade of blue or had blue in it.

“Let’s get matching strollers, it’ll be fun,” I grinned.

Vee widened her eyes and tilted her head to the side, “We don’t know if she’s a boy or a girl, Kace. I’m not going to get a four wheel drive blue stroller and push a girl around in it.”

“You said
she
,” I smiled as I pushed the stroller back and forth on the floor.

“Did I ?” she asked.

“Uh huh. You know, don’t you?” I asked excitedly.

“No, really I don’t. If I said it, it was inadvertent. Maybe I’m hoping.”

“I’d love to have a little girl, but I wouldn’t trade my little boy for anything,” I smiled.

“Well, what do you want to do?” I asked as I pushed down on the handle and lifted the front tires from the floor.

“Well, I’ll either have to get one of the unisex ones or wait,” Vee sighed.

“Okay. Let’s wait I guess,” I said sadly as I dropped the stroller’s tires onto the floor.

Vee shook her head and pointed to the stroller as I pushed it into the empty slot beside the others, “Get yours, Kace. I can wait.”

“No, I’ll wait. I was excited for getting one, but I don’t need it. We’ll come together with the babies, it’ll be more fun that way,” I grinned.

“So…” Vee hesitated and looked down at the floor by my feet.

“What?”

She looked up attempted to hide her worried look, “Well, Shane. Is he okay now?”

I held the handle of the stroller as I considered what Shane had done, and the discussions we had after he came home. Shane is an honorable man and he is truly in love with me, but Shane had issues accepting things; accepting the fact that he is worthy as a human, a man, and a soon to be father. When I talked to the doctor about him, he told me Shane probably suffers a little bit from feeling inadequate or incompetent. Probably why he chooses to box, the doctor said. Now, since we’ve spent so much time talking, I think Shane is going to be just fine. He found a way to accept our baby not being the same as the majority of the other babies. I’m not like any other woman, and Shane isn’t like any other man. For us to have a baby like every other baby would be silly. No matter what, our little baby is going to be special.

I released the stroller and smiled. As I turned to Vee, she smiled too.

“Yes, he’s fine. He had a little incident, that’s all. It’s tough for men, I think. They’re so competitive. And you know, with him and Ripp, everything’s a contest. I’m sure you guys having a baby at the same time is kind of tough for him. Maybe kind of like a slap in the face, I don’t know,” I shrugged.

“Kace, I’m so sorry,” she breathed.

“Don’t be. Not for Shane, or the baby. Our baby will be just fine, Vee. Don’t worry. Yours will be too,” I sighed.

“I know, I’m just an emotional mess right now, you know with Ripp not having sex with me and everything. It’s hard. For some reason, I’m just horny as fuck. And now I feel like I’m fat and ugly,” her voice began to crack as she finished speaking.

“You’re not fat, and you’re beautiful. I’d fuck you, Vee,” I smiled as I reached for her shoulder.

“Awe, thanks Kace, I’d fuck you to,” she sobbed as she hugged me.

Vee was a special woman for sure. She was as nice as a person as I had ever met. In the courtroom, she was an animal. At home or in public, she was as kind and as considerate as anyone could ever be. During her first six and a half months of pregnancy she worked every day. While Shane was gone, I went to a few of her trials just to see her in action. Watching her in the courtroom proves to me women aren’t doormats. We have minds of our own, and we’re intelligent. It takes time to convince some men we’re actually equal, especially here in Texas. Vee does her share, one court case at a time. She’s been an inspiration to me through this entire process of pregnancy, and I’m sure she will be in the future. Now, having her available every day has been a true blessing.

“Do you think not working gives you too much time to think, maybe?” I asked.

As she pulled away from me arms, she wiped her face, “I suppose so. But I don’t want to work, I want to relax and make it easy on the baby.”

“Me too,” I smiled as I rubbed my belly.

“Let’s get out of here,” Vee said as she wiped her face again.

“Frozen yogurt?”

“Ooh, sounds perfect. Almost as good as sex,” she laughed.

As we walked through the store, toward the entrance, I began to feel strange. My stomach started to feel as if it was being twisted from the inside out. Deep down, I began to ache. As the pain worsened, I stopped walking and moaned.

“Are you okay?” Vee asked.

“I’m not sure, I feel weird, it’s hurting,” I groaned as we walked through the clothing aisle.

I tried to be strong and tell myself it didn’t hurt as much as it did. Truthfully, I felt as if I was going to pass out. I began to sweat as I pushed against my lower stomach and wished I could move my hands to my face and wipe my face clean. As the pain became more piercing, and worsened to a point I couldn’t take it any longer, my vision blurred.

“Kace? You’re all sweaty honey. Are you okay?” Vee whispered.

I backed against a rack of clothes and lowered myself to the floor. I opened my eyes and attempted to focus, but only saw fuzzy shapes. I felt Vee’s hand clutching mine.

“Kace? Kace?” she squealed.

I took a shallow breath and groaned in pain, “Call…”

“An ambulance…”

“Please.”

SHANE.
As I was lacing up my boots I heard screaming from inside the gym. From what little I could understand, Ripp was frantically trying to find me; hollering my name throughout the gym. With Ripp, you never knew what he might consider an emergency. Sometimes simply feeling as if he were a few minutes late for his afternoon beer was enough to get him excited. I shook my head as I heard someone explain I was in the locker room. As I heard his footsteps become increasingly closer, I stood from the bench and grabbed my hoodie from the hook on my locker.

“Dekk, come on. It’s Kace,” he screamed, motioning into the gym.

“What?” I asked; feeling a little confused on why Kace would be in the gym.

“Dekk, Vee called me, they been texting you and calling for a bit. Kace’s in the hospital and it ain’t lookin’ good. Come on, I got the Chevelle.” He hollered.

As he turned and began running for the door, I followed right behind him. Kelsey’s voice came clearly over all of the other noise in the gym as we were within a few feet of the door.

“Where the fuck you two dip-shits going?” he hollered.

“Fuck you old man,” Ripp said as he pulled the door open, “Kace’s in the hospital.”

“I’ll follow you in the truck,” Kelsey screamed.

Our feet barely touching the ground, we ran through the lot and to the Chevelle. I no more than had the door open and Ripp was revving the engine. As soon as I dropped into the passenger seat, smoke bellowed from the rear fenders as he screeched out of the lot and onto the frontage road.

“Vee said,” he paused as he snapped the gear shifter into another gear.

“She collapsed in the store. Got real hot and started crampin’. Damn, bro, this shit scares me. I just want all of this to be over with. I’m excited as hell, but,” he glanced to over his left shoulder as he merged into traffic.

“I really want to quit worrying about everything. I haven’t slept in the last month,” he paused as he quickly applied the brakes and swerved to the right.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be there in five,” he said as he downshifted two gears and maneuvered around a truck which was all but stationary in the fast lane.

As soon as he cleared the rear fender of the truck, he mashed the accelerator to the floor. As the rear tires began to spin, the car slid sideways slightly before the tires gripped the asphalt. After shifting gears twice, we were flying down the highway well in excess of 130 miles per hour.

Jesus Ripp, slow down,” I demanded.

He glanced in my direction slightly, his hand still resting on the gear shifter, “When there’s a baby being born there aren’t any speed limits, bro.”

“We need to make it there alive, Ripp,” I sighed as I watched him swerve around a small SUV.

He tilted his head my direction, grinned, and responded in typical Ripp fashion, “Dude, I got this.”

I shook my head and smiled slightly.

“Vee didn’t say anything else?” I asked.

“No not really. Vee said she ate a banana, cramped, and dropped to the floor in a puddle of sweat. Maybe a bad nanner, huh? You know you can get bad fruit, Dekk. Sure can. I ate a bad melon once, gimme the drizzlin’ shits,” he shrugged.

“Hell, I don’t know, Ripp. Maybe. Hurry the fuck up,” I said, completely frustrated at the entire idea of Kace being in the hospital.

“Just like I said, bro, I got this. Hell you couldn’t get there any quicker if you were in a fucking jet plane. I’m just glad Vee’s okay,” he slowed down, swerved through two lanes, and accelerated toward the exit.

“Shit that sounded bad, huh?” he glanced in my direction and quickly turned away.

“Not that Kace
isn’t
okay. Hell you know what I mean. Kace’s fine. I’m just glad Vee didn’t get one of those bananas.  She don’t fuck with bananas, but anyway you know what I mean bro,” he shrugged as he sped down the exit ramp.

“Hold on,” he hollered as he stomped the gas at the traffic light.

“Ripp, god damn it,” I screamed as he slid the car sideways through the intersection.

“Quit screaming, shit you’re scaring me, Dekk. That fucker was red and we’d have been waitin’ for ten minutes,” he said over his right shoulder as he shifted into the next gear.

“Three blocks, bro. Three more blocks, that’s all. I’ll just pull up to the emergency room entrance like we own that bitch. We’ll storm in the fucker like a couple of cowboys and see just what the fucks going on, huh?” he growled.

“Just get me there in one piece, Ripp.” I sighed.

As he sped into the entrance to the emergency room, and ambulance was attempting to park. With the gear shifter in one hand, and his other hand on the horn, he screeched the tires as he sped into the only safe opening right beside the ambulance.

As soon as the car stopped, he set the brake and we both jumped out and began sprinting for the door.

“Sir you can’t just leave…” a voice said from where we had parked.

Upon entering the hospital, Ripp began demanding to se Kace. As I attempted to explain who I was and what we needed in a more specific fashion, Ripp would respond
I got this, Dekk.
After five minutes of scaring everyone he came in contact with, we were finally directed down the hallway and into another subsection of the facility.

As we cleared a doorway leading into a waiting room, I heard Vee’s familiar voice shout, “Shane, she’s in there, hurry up.”

“Ripp, they won’t let you in there, stay here with me,” Vee said as she stood from her chair.

“The hell they won’t, they’ll let me in, come on,” Ripp responded rather loudly.

“Ripp, no. They won’t and it’s
private
,” she demanded as she tilted her head my direction.

“Yeah. Okay. Fuck, Dekk keep us posted, we’ll be here, huh?” he shrugged as he glanced toward Vee.

Vee nodded her head slightly.

I nodded and turned toward the entrance to the hallway. As I cleared the double doors leading into the other section of the hospital, I was met by a nurse.

“I’m Shane Dekkar. My wife…”

“Follow me, Mr. Dekkar,” she responded as she briskly walked down the hallway.

She stepped into ta room and produced a paper suit, hair net, and shoe covers, “I’m sure you’ll need to take your jacket off to get these on. Slip the covers over your boots the best you can, and put on the hair net. Be careful following me, the floor will be slick in those, okay?” she said softly.

“I can’t take off the hoodie ma’am,” I responded as I pulled the paper pants over my jeans.

“Well, you’ll need to fit that over it, then,” she responded.

As I pulled the paper coat over my hoodie, she shrugged and momentarily smiled.

“Follow me,” she said.

After a few passed doorways, we stepped into a small room. Kace lie on a bed moaning with two nurses and a doctor over her. Immediately, I felt completely helpless and afraid of what was going on.

“This is the husband,” the nurse said as we entered.

Every one continued to focus on Kace, who opened her eyes as soon as the nurse said
husband.
Standing at the side of the bed, not knowing what, if anything, I could do, I attempted to smile and speak.

“How you feeling baby?” I asked.

“It hurts, Shane. It hurts bad,” she groaned.

As Kace incoherently groaned and moaned, the doctor stepped toward me and smiled.

“Mr. Dekkar, we’ve done what we can, and I’m afraid we’re going to allow her to give birth. We’ve attempted to slow the process for a more developed and mature baby, but she’s been active for some time now,” the doctor paused.

“Active? What? What happened? What happened to cause this?” I asked.

He turned his palms up and spoke softly, “I’ll make this quick. Active labor, she’s been in
active labor
. She’s in transition now, so there’s no turning back. A normal pregnancy is approximately 40 weeks. Sometimes, labor begins prematurely, naturally. Considering the physical abuse she has seen in the past, this isn’t uncommon – for abuse victims, that is,” he hesitated and looked toward Kace as she moaned loudly.

“Uterine contractions cause the cervix to open earlier than normal, and consequently, the baby is born premature. There is certainly some additional risk associated with early birth, but she’s now at about 34 weeks or roughly 6 weeks early. There is, however, minimal risk for health problems with the child. Fortunately, research, technology and medicine have helped improve the health of premature babies. I’m sorry, we have no other option,” he sighed.

“Will. I mean should we…should everything be…?”

“Everything should be fine,” he smiled as he turned toward Kace.

“Shane!” Kace screamed.

“I said I wanted natural. But.” She scrunched her face and began to growl.

“I want an epidural,” she screamed, her head shifting back and forth, searching the room for someone to assure her they could perform the procedure.

“Honey, it’ll be okay,” the nurse said as she wiped Kace’s face.

I stepped to the side of the bed and forced a grin. Truth be known, I would be far more comfortable stepping into the ring with Tyson Brock than standing in the room with these people and witnessing Kace giving birth to a baby. As I held her hand and continued to attempt to smile, Kace moaned.

The nurse looked up from between Kace’s legs, “She’s full doctor.”

“Push,’ the nurse said as she looked down.

I held Kace’s hand as she screamed.

“Grrrrrrr….” Kace growled and huffed as her eyes went open and closed.

As she finished pushing, she opened her eyes and stared, “I hate you, Shane. I fucking hate that you did this to me. You should be laying here…”

“Here we go, let’s push. Do it with me,” the nurse said as she wiped Kace’s face.

There were far too many people in a much smaller space than I would have ever imagined for birthing a child. I began to feel cramped and claustrophobic as Kace began to push again.

“Here’s the head,” the doctor said as he looked up toward the nurse and Kace.

A combination of nerves, the people surrounding me, and a considerable amount of fear of the unknown prevented me from watching the procedure too closely. Part of me didn’t want to know anything until it was completely over.

“Push, push, push, push,” I heard them continue to say.

I looked down as I saw the doctor begin to stand, his arms and chest covered in bloody matter, “Mr. and Mrs. Dekkar, we have…”