Page 33 of Gunner

“I have to pop into town and get a gift for Roz and Kanan.”

Jack grinned and turned. “Baby shopping it is. I heard she had a little boy?”

Lacey was surprised as they chatted on the way to town how open Jack was. He’d admitted he and Roz had a somewhat complicated relationship because they both felt their operatives were the best. Still, with more than one of their team members being in relationships with each other, they had mostly buried the hatchet.

Lacey picked out the cutest onesie for the baby and some gorgeous pamper kits for the new mum. She’d think of something for Kanan, but she wanted the girls to have something too and bought them both a small gift.

Once back home, Jack went back to his post, blending into the tree line of her property like a phantom and Lacey wrapped the gifts with pretty paper and ribbons. She always liked wrapping presents and was sure she’d love doing it for her own family one day. Whether that would ever happen for her, she had no clue.

It had taken everything she had not to do an early pregnancy test. She just had to wait and see what happened. That didn’t stop the dread every time she went to the bathroom though which was crazy. A baby was the last she needed right now and especially given the circumstances she found herself in. Yet, she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that at this point she dreaded her period more than a positive test.

At one-twenty, Nate and Skye arrived to pick her up and Jack came over and had a hushed conversation with the man. Lacey tried to ignore it, but she was curious and wanted to know why Eidolon was so involved in her safety. She was soon distracted as they got to the hospital.

“I’ll stay out here and grab a coffee, let you girls have some time with Roz.” Nate leaned in and kissed Skye, and while it wasn’t pornographic, it was certainly not a tame kiss. Lacey felt a pang of envy steal into her heart and hated herself for it.

“Ready?”

Skye hooked her arm through Lacey’s, and she forced a smile onto her face that became genuine the second she saw Roz. She was lying in the bed, looking almost as white as a sheet, and had the most beatific smile on her face as she held her son in her arms.

Lacey knew Roz wasn’t a hugger, but she didn’t care and leaned in for a one-armed hug. “Congratulations.”

Skye did the same, and then they both peered down at the perfect little angel in Roz’s arms. He was the image of his father in every way except for his mouth, which was the same cupids bow as Roz.

“Oh, Roz, he’s precious.”

Roz looked down at her sleeping son, and the love was evident to see. “Little shit left my vagina looking like a meat grinder got hold of it, my belly is like a bowl of jelly, my boobs are like rock hard balloons sitting on my chest that leak every time I move, and I’ve never been happier.”

Lacey laughed at her words remembering Skye saying similar things if not quite so colourful about the aftereffects of birth.

“I was going to ask how you are feeling, but I guess that sums it up nicely.”

“Would you like to hold him?”

She raised a brow at the offer but immediately nodded. Roz turned and handed Deacon to her as Skye smiled and handed Roz the gifts they’d brought. Lacey was overwhelmed as the tiny bundle settled in her arms as his fingers stretched and grabbed her pinkie.

At that moment she realised how much she wanted this for herself, whether it was now or later on she wanted to be a mother. Deep down, she wanted that to be with Gunner, but she couldn’t see a way forward after what had transpired between them. Perhaps mother nature had already chosen, and a deeply hidden part of her wanted that to be the case.

She had the strangest feeling of being watched, and as she lifted her head, her eyes locked on the handsome face of the man she loved. It was the look on his face that ruined her though, tearing a hole on the seams where she’d patched her broken heart. His eyes were soft as they rested on her and Deacon and so full of grief almost but also something else she couldn’t quite contain.