Page 52

52

Katy

I thought getting my license would give me freedom. Unfortunately, when a psycho ex-lover is stalking your family, you get a gorgeous Viking bodyguard taking and following you everywhere. Even though we haven’t gotten anything from the stalker in over three months, everyone is still on high alert.

“Can’t I just drive to the ice cream place, and you can drive back?” I realize I’m being a whiny teenager, and I should be lucky I’ve convinced Dempsey to let me sit in the front, but I’m still blah about the entire situation.

“Sorry Miss Katy. You know the rules.”

“But who will know except us?” He gives me a side-eyed glance. “Yeah, yeah. The dash cams. I know.” I sink lower into my seat and huff. At least I get my ice cream.

“How is school going? Are you liking it?”

A few weeks ago, I asked if I could be home schooled. I’m beginning to show, and while I’m confident in my decision to bring this baby into the world, I’m not comfortable with all the questions that will come along with being a pregnant seventeen year old. Mostly, “Who’s the baby daddy?”

“It’s a lot easier than sitting in a classroom. How are you enjoying being my chauffeur?” Justin put Dempsey on guard duty full-time when I officially left school. Even though I’m never alone, whatever adult is home with me during the day is usually sleeping. It makes it quiet to get my schoolwork done quickly, but it also gets lonely. Viking Viktor keeps me company, though.

“You’re always a delight, Miss Katy.”

“Ugh. I wish you’d quit the ‘Miss’ thing. There’s no reason to be so formal.”

“Just part of being a gentleman, Miss Katy.”

I flip back on the seat, grunting my frustration.

“I wish you’d be less of a gentleman sometimes.” Crap .

“Miss Katy?”

“Um. I didn’t mean it like…THAT. Not like less of a gentleman, gentleman. Like, just less gentlemanly. Less formal. More fun. Not that you aren’t fun. Well, I actually wouldn’t know because…oh my god. Kill me now.” Leaning forward, I bury my face in my hands and hear Viktor laughing.

Of course, he’s laughing at me. I just made a fool of myself. I can feel the heat on the tips of my ears. I can’t imagine how red my face must be.

“Katy, look at me.” No Miss .

I spread my fingers apart over my eyes and turn my head, peeking at him.

“If it will make you more comfortable, I will do my best to drop the Miss.” He smiles at me, and my ears heat all over again. He rarely smiles. Not because he’s grumpy but because he takes his job extremely seriously.

“Okay.” My response is muffled, but I’m sure he understands.

Warm, thick fingers wrap around my wrist, pulling my hands away from my face. When I don’t look up, he tilts my chin with his finger to face him.

“Katy.” Why does my name sound so different without the Miss in front of it?

“Yes?”

“We’re here.” Here? “Did you decide what flavor ice cream you want?” Ice cream. We’re at the ice cream shop. Duh. His hand falls away, and I blink several times.

Get yourself together.

Man, these pregnancy hormones are no joke. Viktor chuckles at my apparent lack of brain function and grabs his door handle.

“Don’t move. I’ll get your door.” Chivalry. No. No, you idiot. He’s your bodyguard. He’s probably checking the perimeter or something. Stupid, pregnant, hormonal seventeen year old. Don’t forget that.

Viktor opens my car door and then the door to the ice cream shop for me. I wonder what we look like to the people around us. There isn’t too large of an age gap between us, but I’m obviously young, and he’s, well, a 10. A total 10.

As we stand in line waiting for our ice cream, I get a text from Spencer.

Spencer: I have a surprise for you. I sent Dempsey an address.

They’ve rotated back to nights again, so everyone’s been sleeping during the day, and I’ve been trying to do my schoolwork at the library or a coffee shop. Justin decided to go per diem, so he only works when needed. Miller has become Spencer’s official partner in the ambulance and fills in at the firehouse occasionally.

Katy: Grabbing some ice cream. I like surprises.

“Hey, Dempsey, Spencer just told me she has a surprise for me. Any idea what it is?” A small smile spreads on his cheeks, and it’s obvious he isn’t going to share whatever it is he knows. He checked his phone a few minutes before I got my text, so I assume Spencer was giving him instructions.

“Sure do.” This man is like a bank vault, and there’s no use in trying to get any information out of him.

“Hi, what can I get for you?” Finally, at the front of the line, the perky brunette smiles and asks for our orders.

“I’ll take two scoops of Butter Pecan, and she’ll have a vanilla soft-serve cone with extra rainbow sprinkles. Thank you, ma’am.”

My mouth drops. “How did you know that’s what I wanted?”

“Because it’s what you always get. Unless you look in the coolers, then you want birthday cake ice cream in a cup, also with extra rainbow sprinkles.” He knows what kind of ice cream I eat? It’s probably part of his job to notice everything. But wait…

“Butter Pecan. Really, Dempsey? Who says Pee-can? It’s Pecan.” I reach into my purse to grab my wallet, but he beats me to it. “You don’t have to pay for me.”

“It’s my pleasure, Katy.” A genuine smile lights up his face, and I think my heart stops beating. His cheeks are round and full under his beard, and even his eyes beam with the expression.

“Th-thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Pee-can is an acceptable way to pronounce the nut. I know it’s an old man’s flavor, but that’s why I order it. It reminds me of my father, who passed away five years ago.”

“Oh.” That’s all I can manage to say. I’m parentless, but it’s bettered my life. I can tell by the sadness that just eclipsed Viktor’s eyes that he had a good relationship with his father.

“Hey Katy?”

“Hmm.”

“You don’t need to call me Dempsey. My friends call me Vik.”

Is he considering me a friend? He’s offering me an olive branch to a friendship. But everyone else calls him Dempsey. Would it be weird if I started calling him Vik? I much prefer to call him Viktor.

“What if I wanted to call you Viktor?” He pauses, mouth open, hand mid-air with a spoonful of ice cream, and his eyes meet mine.

“I think I’d like that.”

? ? ? ? ?

After our ice cream, Viktor takes me to a building downtown.

“What are we doing here?” I look out the window at the tall buildings around us.

“Taking you to the address Spencer gave me.” It’s after six in the evening, and the Chicago business crowd has changed to a tourist crowd, with people milling in and out of shops and taking lots of pictures.

Viktor pulls into a parking deck and finds a space close to an elevator. It’s a generic office building connected to the garage with no clues to what we’re doing here.

“Where are we?” Viktor puts his hand on the small of my back and directs me to the elevator. Inside, he pushes the button for the eighteenth floor, and the elevator ascends. When the doors open, he turns left down the hallway before I get a chance to look at the bulletin board directory.

“You’re no fun. I can’t even look for clues.”

“Thirty seconds, and you’ll thank me for not ruining the surprise.”

He stops at a door with a sign that says “RainbowDreams” and pushes it open for me. Inside is a waiting room filled with all of my people.

“What’s going on? Where are we?” The room is decorated with posters of adorable babies and rows of chairs.

“Is this the mama we’ve been waiting for?” A blonde woman in pink scrubs stands behind a window in the waiting room with a smile on her face. “Katy?”

“Um. Yeah. I’m Katy.”

“Wonderful. I can take…” She looks around the room at Spencer and the five men surrounding us. “Okay, if you can squeeze in and don’t tell, you can all come into the room. You’re the last appointment of the day.”

Smiles radiate around the room, and I’m still clueless as to what’s going on.

“I can wait out here. The family should all go in. It will make more room.” Viktor takes a step back, and I grab his forearm and shake my head at him. He’s become a good friend over the past several weeks with all the time we’ve spent together since I’ve been out of school.

“Whatever is about to happen, you can be a part of it.” He looks down at my hand, then into my eyes. I see the look. The one he thinks no one sees when he looks at Hannah or Miles. His face softens, and his silver-blue eyes glow.

“If you wish, Katy.”

We follow the pink scrub lady to a room with a bed, a large-screen TV, and a…

“An ultrasound? Don’t I have one scheduled in a few weeks with the OB?”

“You do.” Tucker takes my hand. “But we know how excited you are to find out the sex of the baby and thought this would be a nice surprise.”

I’m in shock. I’ve been excited to find out. I know you can do an early blood test, but I declined because I wanted to find out by seeing my baby, not a word on a piece of paper.

“This is…oh my god.” A squeal comes out of me as I hop up on the table.

“Let’s find out if we’re decorating with pink or blue, Katy girl.” Axel looks more excited than I do, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

“Axel, did you forget to feed your squirrels today?” I gently grab his arm. “You’re bouncing like a kangaroo.”

He scoffs at me. “Squirrels have been fed. This is pure excitement.”

I smile and lay back on the bed and get set up. When the technician starts moving the wand around my belly, all eyes are on the large TV screen.

We listen to the heartbeat first, and the thumping fills the room. We see the tiny hands and feet, and my excitement grows.

“Let’s see if we can get this little one to show us the goods. A boy will look pretty obvious, and a girl will look like a hamburger.”

“Really?” Miller questions. “A burger?”

Axel smacks him across the chest. “Shut up and watch.”

Spencer reaches down and grabs my hand. I wonder if this is hard for her.

“It’s riiiiiiight…here.” The tech freezes the screen, and we all stare. It’s obvious what the baby is but no one makes a sound until the tech types and the letters appear across the TV. B-O-Y.

“Congratulations, Mom. You’re cooking a baby boy.”

My eyes shift to Spencer, who’s staring at the screen.

“Spencer?” She doesn’t respond to me.

“Little Miss. Let’s take a walk.” Tucker’s hand on her arm pulls her out of the trance.

“It’s a boy, Katy.” She sighs and I wonder how this affects her when she squeezes my hand. “Don’t you think we have enough penises in the house already?”

Lincoln laughs first, and I’m grateful because I’m in shock. I knew this would be hard for her, but she’s joking around, so maybe it’s not as hard as I expected.

She smiles down at me, and I know she’s okay. The machine whirs to life, and a long string of picture prints emerges from it.

“Here you go. Some trophies to take home. Congratulations again, Mom.”

“We have just enough time for dinner before some of us have to get to work.” Miller claps a hand on Viktor’s shoulder as we all file out of the ultrasound room. “Dempsey, you’re welcome to join us. I know you’re off the clock now that we’re all here, but a man needs to eat, right?”

Viktor’s eyes quickly flash to me. If I hadn’t already been looking at him, I wouldn’t have noticed.

“Sounds wonderful. Thank you. You’re welcome to call me Vik. You all are.”