“Nothing in my years in the army prepared me for having a baby,” Sam said wearily. “It’s not for pussies, that’s for sure.”
Donovan chuckled. “Think how Sophie feels.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t know how she does it. I had to make her take some downtime. She was running herself ragged trying to do everything.”
“I thought Rachel coming over was nice,” Donovan said. “I have to admit, I was a little worried about how she’d take Sophie having a baby. She was so devastated when she remembered having the miscarriage.”
Sam ran his hand over his face, wiping some of the sleep from his eyes. His younger brother’s wife had spent a year a prisoner in South America, leaving Ethan and the rest of the family to think she was dead. When they discovered she was alive, KGI had gone in with the full force of their resources and rescued her, but she’d come home missing memories of her life—and of her difficulties in her marriage to Ethan.
“I was worried too. I wouldn’t have her hurt for the world,” Sam said. “Sophie was concerned too. She was reluctant to take the baby over to Mom’s because she was worried about hurting Rachel.”
“Sophie’s a doll,” Donovan said. “You’re lucky to have her.”
Sam smiled at that. “Yeah. Damn lucky.”
“And Rachel has handled it well. She and Ethan have been doing so much better. She seems ... stronger lately. I’m seeing more and more of the Rachel we knew before she disappeared.”
The security doors opened and Sam swiveled to see Ethan walk into the war room. “Hey man,” Sam greeted. “What are you doing here?”
“I was under the impression I was on your payroll now, even if I do still draw the pussy missions,” Ethan said dryly.
“We were just talking about Rachel,” Donovan said by way of subtly reminding Ethan why he was still drawing the light-duty tasks.
“Yeah? Any reason in particular?”
“No, just remarking on how much better she seems to be doing,” Sam said. “I’ll be honest. We were worried how she’d take the new baby. I worried it would upset her. Bring back bad memories.”
Ethan shoved his hands into his pocket and rocked back on his heels. His expression was bland, but Sam could see the unease in his brother’s stance. Rachel’s miscarriage had been a catalyst for a chain of events that had led to the complete unraveling of Ethan and Rachel’s marriage. Ethan still struggled with the guilt for what his wife had gone through and what she continued to battle on a daily basis.
“I think she’d like to try to get pregnant again.”
Both Sam and Donovan exchanged surprised looks and then Sam went back to Ethan to check his reaction. He didn’t look thrilled.
“How do you feel about that?” Sam asked.
“Christ but I hate these conversations,” Ethan muttered. “She hasn’t said anything. It’s just a feeling I get. Or maybe I still just feel like a shithead and I’m projecting. Don’t you love all the new words you learn in therapy?”
Donovan chuckled. “Okay, but you didn’t answer the question. Are you guys ready for that kind of step?”
“No,” Ethan said bluntly. “She’s not ready. Damn it, she’s still so fragile. If ... if she got pregnant and miscarried again, I don’t even want to imagine how she’d react. I don’t think we can deal with that right now when she’s getting better. It’s like ... God, there are times when it’s just like old times. Before I fucked everything up. I feel like I have her back, the way she was before she forgot so much. I don’t want to do anything to mess that up. I don’t want her hurt again. I just want to protect her and make her happy.”
“That’s understandable,” Sam said. “I get it, man. I really do. I’d do a hell of lot to make Sophie happy.”
Ethan cupped his nape and glanced over at Donovan. “I didn’t come over for couples therapy. I wanted to check in on Garrett and see what the hell is going on. No one’s said jack to me beyond the fact Garrett was taking a job that Resnick asked him to take.”
Donovan provided the details while Sam stood to the side and listened in. Damn but he was tired. And if he was tired, he couldn’t imagine how wasted Sophie had to be. Her labor, despite its quick beginning, had actually gone longer than expected. And then there had been complications afterward. Not serious, but it had taken a lot out of her.
She and Charlotte were his world. And for the next few days, he was going to become even more intimately acquainted with his daughter, because her mother was going to do nothing but rest, if he had to all but tie her to the bed.
It took him a moment to realize that Ethan had asked him a question. He blinked and tuned back into the conversation. “What did you say about Rusty?”
“I talked to Sean yesterday. I wondered if he’d told you about what happened,” Ethan said, a scowl darkening his face.
“About the Winfree punk roughing Rusty up and wrecking her car? Yeah, he told us. He also told us he threatened the little prick and scared him shitless,” Sam said.
Donovan’s eyes hardened. “I want to go over there myself. I may not see eye to eye with Rusty. Hell, half the time I wonder if Mom’s lost her damn mind for taking on that project. But no little teenage bastard is going to get away with fucking with one of the family, Kelly-born or not. Any guy who goes around manhandling a teenage girl ought to have his balls removed and shoved down his throat.”
“Part of this is our fault,” Sam said evenly. “We haven’t exactly been accepting of Rusty. Most of the time, we ignore her existence. That’s created two problems. One, she doesn’t feel like she can come to us with a problem like that. Hell, if Sean hadn’t come up on her right after it happened, she probably never would have told anyone. And the little bastard probably would have went after her again and succeeded. Two, because we haven’t been accepting of her, others pick up on our disinterest. We’ve done her a disservice. Whether we approve of her or not, she’s a part of this family. She deserves our protection and she damn sure needs to feel like she can come to one of us if she’s getting grief from some asshole at school.”
Ethan sighed. “You’re right. We’ve made her an outsider despite the fact that Mom has declared her a member of the family. No matter what our feelings, everyone else needs to know that she’s one of us and no one fucks with the Kellys.”
“That deserves a hooyah,” Donovan said with a grin.
Ethan looked at him in mock horror. “Garrett would kick your ass over that. A Marine allowing a navy salute past his lips?”
“Garrett’s too busy corralling his lady to worry about me,” Donovan said with a smug grin.
Sam and Ethan looked at each other and then back at Donovan. “Okay, what’s the deal? And you better spill,” Sam threatened.
The look of unholy glee in Donovan’s eyes made Sam feel instantly sorry for Garrett before even hearing the situation. Whatever it was, he was probably already taking some heavy-duty shit from Donovan.
“Come on, give it up, Van,” Ethan said.
“Sarah Daniels has Garrett chasing his tail and not in a fun way. He’s been acting awfully strange about her. When I volunteered to take over the mission when he was home a few days ago, he damn near took my head off. He’s got that possessive caveman thing going.” Donovan looked at Ethan and smirked and then yanked his thumb in Sam’s direction. “You know, like lover boy over here got when Sophie landed in our backyard.”