First and Only: Callaghan Brothers, Book 2 (24 page)

“Yeah,” Jake said, grinning.  “Found out a few weeks ago.  Due in March.” 

Ian chuckled.  Of the seven brothers, all were either conceived in March or born in March.  It was an inside joke among them, and the reason they all had “Patrick” as a middle name.  “A real Callaghan, then.”

“Yeah.”

“Congrats, man.”

“Thanks.”

They settled into that comfortable silence again for a little while before Jake spoke again.  “Heard anything from Lex?”

Though he’d been waiting for it, Ian tensed; his hand gripped the bottle so hard it was in danger of breaking.  Ian downed the rest of his beer in one long pull before answering.  “Nope.”

“Taryn talked to her a while ago, you know, to tell her about the baby and all.” 

Ian said nothing.  What the hell was he supposed to say?  Every phone call, every letter, every email he made or sent went unanswered. 

“Funny thing was, Lex asked if Kayla had the baby yet.”

Ian’s head snapped up, his eyes like blue flames. 

“Yeah, thought that would get you,” Jake said soberly.  “Taryn was pretty stunned too.  Before she could ask Lex what the hell she was talking about, Lex apologized for asking, said it was none of her business, and hung up.”

“Why would she think Kayla was pregnant?” Ian demanded.

Jake pinned him with a hard stare.  “Yeah.  Excellent question, that.”

It was as if someone had thrown open the windows in his mind, letting cool, clean air in.  Kayla had spoken to Lexi right before she collapsed.  In the hospital, Lexi had refused to meet his eyes.  “Sweet Christ.  Lexi thinks I got Kayla pregnant.”

Jake nodded approvingly.  “That’s what Taryn thought too, so she tracked Kayla down and asked her.”  Ian almost smiled at the thought.  Taryn was as fierce and protective as any of the men.  If she thought for one second any of them had been wronged she was on it like a mama tiger.

“She
asked
, did she?” 

Nearly all of Jake’s teeth showed in the resulting grin.  “Yep.  And guess what?”

Ian didn’t have to guess.  He knew.  All of the pieces started falling into place.  “I have to talk to Lexi.”

Jake’s smile faded.  “Lexi’s gone, man.”

“Gone?”  Ian’s heart seized up and refused to beat for several interminable seconds.  “What do you mean she’s
gone
?”

“Fuck, man,” Jake cursed, immediately apologetic.  “Not like that.  Gone, as in moved out of her apartment – leased it out to some single mom or something, someone she knew from the restaurant whose husband’s MIA.  She quit her job.  Seems to have just disappeared.  Taryn’s been trying to reach her.  Her number’s been disconnected, email comes back as undeliverable.”

Ian started breathing again.  Fuck the English language and all the words that could be so devastatingly misinterpreted.  “Aidan knows where she is.”  Ian would bet his life on it.

“Most likely,” Jake agreed.  “She’s hidden well, and you don’t get that kind of cloaking without some major cash and influence.  He’s not sharing though.”  Jake paused, and Ian sensed there was more.

“What are you not telling me?”

“Word is he asked her to marry him.  She turned him down, then did her little vanishing act.”

Aidan asked Lexi to marry him? 
Son of a bitch
.  “There’s got to be a trail.” 

“Shane and Kieran have been taking turns hacking your machines, but no luck so far.”

Ian’s eyes glowed with life again.  “
I’ll
find her.”

* * *

“B
ed rest sucks.”

Aidan chuckled even as she pouted at him, her arms crossed over her chest, her amber eyes defiant.   At least they still held the signature spark, and as long as it was there, there was hope.

“So you keep telling me,” he said, sliding off his shoes and easing up on the edge of the bed so they were sitting side by side, propped up against a myriad of pillows.  It was something he found himself looking forward to everyday – just sitting here with Lexi.  Sometimes they talked.  Sometimes they watched TV.  Sometimes they did nothing at all, just enjoyed one another’s company. 

“Personally, I kind of like it.  I always know exactly where you are.”

Lexi stuck her tongue out at him, making him laugh even harder.  She did it for his benefit, he knew.  So he wouldn’t dwell on the dark circles beneath her eyes, or the paleness of her complexion. 

“So...” she said, brightening a little as she peered over him to the shopping bag he’d casually dropped alongside the bed.  “What did you bring me?”

“Who says I brought you anything?”  It was a ritual, this light bantering back and forth.

She smiled.  “Because you
always
bring me something.  You spoil me rotten, Aidan.”

“Hmm.  Maybe I should stop then.”  It was an idle threat, they both knew it.

“Yeah, you probably should.”  Aidan waited, counting off the seconds in his head until she added, “But not tonight.”  He grinned again, reaching for the bag. 

The exquisite aroma hit her the moment he began opening the air-tight seal of the container.  “Fresh baked cinnamon rolls?” she asked, her eyes glowing.  “From Antoine’s?” 

Aidan nodded as she held the rolls to her face and inhaled, her face rapturous.  He’d known women who hadn’t been as pleased with multi-carat diamonds as Lexi was with the simplest things.

“Go on.  There’s more in there.”  Lexi squealed excitedly as she picked out the remaining items.  He’d learned long ago that expensive trinkets meant little to her.  But a hand-picked flower, an Abbott and Costello DVD with a bag of buttery popcorn, fresh baked rolls from Antoine’s – they made her eyes light up like a Vegas nightscape.  He would do anything to see his best friend smile again.

“Aidan, you are truly a prince among men.”  As always, a familiar warmth spread through him at her praise.  The kiss to his cheek didn’t hurt, either. 

Lexi wasted no time in taking a big bite of a decadently gooey cinnamon roll.  “Are you sure I should be eating this?” she asked, even as she chewed. 

“Absolutely.  Why, the endorphins released by just one of Antoine’s rolls have been clinically proven to reverse the aging process.”

Lexi raised a skeptical eyebrow.  “It’s true,” he insisted, taking one for himself.  “Look it up if you don’t believe me.  Cures scurvy, too.”

Lexi laughed, holding her hand over her mouth lest any part of the delicious roll be sacrificed.  “I guess that explains why I don’t have scurvy
or
wrinkles.”

“Now you know.”

Two hours later, as the final images from
The Time of Their Lives
faded, Lexi yawned and began gathering the remnants of their little pig fest, reaching across Aidan to grab the bag to put it all in. 

“Hey, what’s that?”  She pointed to the plainly-wrapped brown package that sat upon the bedside table.

“It was delivered to the restaurant.”  Aidan handed it over to her; it was about two inches thick and approximately the same dimensions as a stack of standard 8.5 x 11 inch paper.  Lexi’s name was scrawled across the front in flowing calligraphy, the name of Aidan’s restaurant appearing in the c/o below.

Lexi turned it over curiously in her hands, her grumbling temporarily forgotten.  Aidan had already inspected it.  He knew that there was no return address, no post mark to identify from where it had come.  Lexi shook it tentatively.  “It feels like a book or something.”

“Whatever it is, someone wants to make sure you get it.  One of these was hand delivered to each of the restaurants.”

“Hand-delivered?”

“Apparently.”  He didn’t tell her that the hostesses at all three restaurants described the delivery man as exceptionally tall, dark, and handsome with striking blue eyes.  “Open it.”

With a grin that reminded him of a child on Christmas morning, Lexi tore at the paper.  “Oh.... Oh, my...”

Aidan shifted to see what she had revealed.  It was a bound manuscript, with an artist’s rendering on the front, depicting a stunning woman looking remarkably like Lexi.  Multi-colored layers of hair curling seductively around her gleaming white gown, realistic amber eyes.  In the background, hidden in the shadows, a pair of familiar blue eyes watched over the image. 
By Salienne Dulcette
was hand-scripted down in the lower right hand corner.

“Th-There’s a note,” Lexi said, her voice shaking nearly as much as her hands as she pulled the stationary from the clip and read it aloud:

A small photo was paper-clipped to the back of the note.  “Holy shit,” Lexi breathed in amazement.”

Aidan leaned over to get a better look.  The picture included a pretty, dark-haired woman with silvery eyes next to a large blonde man holding a tiny, swathed newborn.  Both looked exhausted but extremely happy.  “Do you know them?”

“Yeah... Johnny is the guy who came out to my grandmother’s house about possible renovation, and Stacey is his wife.  Holy shit, Aidan. 
Stacey Connelly is Salienne Dulcette
.”

“Who?”

“She’s a famous author.  I have all of her books.  I can’t believe I met Salienne Dulcette.”

“You know, she probably says the same thing about you.  You’re kind of famous yourself.”

Lexi ran her fingers over the cover.  “It’s not the same.  Wow, Aidan.  Look at this.  I knew Kieran was talented, but this is amazing.”

“It is uncanny,” Aidan murmured, looking at the cover as well.  “He’s captured you perfectly.  Are you going to read it?”

Lexi bit her lip and shifted a little.  She seemed to be holding her breath, then let it all out at once.  “Um, no, not right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because my water just broke.”

“Son of a bitch.”  Aidan was on his feet in a flash, hitting the speed dial on his iPhone.  A few harried comments later and he was sprinting across the room for the bag she’d had packed and ready to go months ago.

––––––––

“A
idan,” Lexi said less than an hour later, her voice groggy from the I.V.  Dressed in scrubs, he held her hand while they prepped her for the operating room.  “If anything happens –“

“Nothing is going to happen, Lex.  We’ve got everything covered.  Piece of cake.”  Aidan smiled in reassurance and tried to stay calm, but inside he was scared to death.  They’d practiced this drill over and over, but nothing could have prepared him for the reality.

“But if it does -” she insisted with gritted teeth, bracing against the pain that even with meds, was enough to crush the bones in his hand, “- promise me.”

Aidan avoided her eyes.  He knew exactly what she wanted, and God help him, he couldn’t do it.  Lexi had a special contract drawn up the day she found out she was pregnant.  One of the stipulations was that all measures be taken to save the baby, even if it meant sacrificing her own life.  Another was that should she end up on life support, it was to be discontinued after thirty days if there was no sign of improvement.  In the case of either event, Aidan would be free to contact Ian as he deemed necessary and appropriate. 

But outside of those circumstances, he was not to say a word to
anyone
.  It was a source of major contention between them.  Aidan thought Ian should know he was going to be a father.  Lexi agreed to tell him, but only after the baby was born.  Aidan understood that she had her reasons, but that didn’t mean he agreed with them.

“It’s time,” the doc said as they stopped in front of the OR.  The room was packed with specialists; they were prepared for any emergency.  “Mr. Harrison, if you would, please.”  One of the masked men gestured to Aidan.  Over the past few months they’d been stockpiling his blood.  He would be prepped to give more should it become necessary.

“Promise me, Aidan,” she said.   

“I promise.” 

She smiled drowsily.  “Thank you, Aidan.  Piece of cake.”

“Piece of cake.  I’ll be waiting for you, Lex.”

J
ake’s Irish Pub was usually crowded on a Friday night.  But when St. Patrick’s Day fell on a Friday, the place was over-the-top insane.  Every member of the Callaghan clan tended, taking care of their loyal customers and all of the honorary Irish who came out to have a good time.  It took a while, therefore, for Ian to notice the familiar face of Aidan Harrison in the crowd.

The two men locked gazes.  Ian searched the other man’s face for a clue to explain his presence, but his expression was unreadable.  Aidan pulled a legal-sized manila envelope from the inside of his coat and slid it across the bar as he leaned in to speak.  Despite the roar of the crowd, Ian heard his cryptic words as clearly as if the other man had spoken across an empty room.

“It’ll take about an hour for my private plane to refuel.” 

Before Ian could respond, Aidan was gone, swallowed up by the crowd.

Ian picked up the envelope and took a step back from the bar.  With his heart pounding in his chest, he reached in and extracted a photo of a beautiful baby boy – pink-faced and chubby, with a shock of jet black hair and piercing blue eyes.  His eyes locked on the little boy’s, and he
knew
. 

He had to lean against the back wall as his legs suddenly felt like rubber.  Reaching in, he pulled the only other item from the packet: a record of birth for Patrick Brian Kattapoulos, born January 27
^th
, weighing in at 7 pounds, 3 ounces, 21 inches long.  The mother was listed as Alexis Kattapoulos.  The father – Ian Patrick Callaghan.

Ian felt his eyes fill with tears; he had to lean over, bracing his hands on his knees as he fought for breath. 
He had a son
.