Sleeves (31 page)

Marie smiled, dipped her head down as she forced a swallow to happen, then looked back up at him, eyes sparkling with life and tears. “You are the most beautiful boy ever—always were, and I’ll love you and protect you until the day I die.”

“Are you . . . Was it difficult to . . . hurt him?” He kept gulping air between every few words.

“It about killed me to do it, but for you . . . I’d even,” she paused and shook her head, “as much as I like this woman here with you, if she tried to hurt you, she’d be dead before I could blink. I’d take her out without hesitation no matter how much it gutted me to do it. People were hurting you right and left. I couldn’t stop the people in the white coats, but I sure as hell could strike down family that refused to intercept and help you.”

“Did you l-love him?” Kel asked.

Casey’s stomach was flipping all over the place. It made no sense, so she placed a hand over her gut and tried to eat a little more. The more she ate, the sicker she was.

“I loved him with every breath in my body, but you were my responsibility. Who else was going to take care of you? David wasn’t going to do it, and once I realized that, I had to let go of him. He was gone already—dead inside. He’d already gotten to where he was barely eating or drinking anything. He was wasting away before my eyes. I told myself I did him a favor, but really I think he couldn’t stand the fact he was supposed to protect both you and I, and he couldn’t.”

“I know the feeling,” Kel said, blinking and staring at the table. “I about died when they took Casey away for a few days. If I hadn’t been with Peanut, I would’ve figure out a way to kill myself because I couldn’t stand the pain. It was unbearable.”

“Yeah, now imagine that happening regularly. Your wife being taken away randomly and barely being able to see your son. You’d hear them screaming sometimes, and were chained up like a wild animal. He was . . .”

“I get it.” He ran his hand that wasn’t hooked to Casey, through his hair. “I’m sorry you had to go through that. But what I can’t understand is why you ever volunteered to be there in the first place. What did they tell you—come to the Bahamas and sip
piña
coladas out of a coconut in the shade? I mean, what the hell could’ve possessed you to do this?” His mouth twitched, and his eyes flashed with guilt.

Casey squeezed his hand. It was better to lose the filter and get it all out, so this was good, even if he didn’t mean it to sound so harsh.

“No, Son, they told me they could fix my health problems. I had lupus, and I wasn’t supposed to ever have kids. I wanted them desperately, and when David told me he was going to do it and how much they were going to pay, it seemed like we’d be set up for life. I wanted to believe they could fix me. I wanted to live the dream. But after they paid us, we lost our freedom. Yes, my lupus was gone, but so was my life. I had no idea it would be that way.”

His lips parted as if he wanted to reply, but nothing came out of him.

“I was in the armed forces like your dad—the Air Force—only I wasn’t allowed to fly because of my disease. I was stuck with a ground job, but he and I never gave up. We figured we’d find a way to make my dream of being a pilot come true.” Marie smiled.

Was she remembering his father?

“God, he was so good-looking; really tall, dark hair and these gorgeous gray eyes. I about melted every time he spoke to me. It took a long time to get him to even notice me, and once he did, I knew I wasn’t ever going to let go.” Marie sighed. “So, when this came up, it seemed like the answer to our problems. I was told my heart and kidneys would most likely fail if I got pregnant—it would tax my body too much.”

Casey stifled a sob. She understood this woman very well. Hadn’t Casey wanted the same things? Not that she had a husband yet, but the idea of a family thrummed through her veins thicker than blood.

Out of nowhere, Casey turned green, and her stomach lurched.

She got up and flew at the ladies restroom.

The second she was in a stall, she was vomiting up every last morsel of food and drink inside her.

“Hooooohhhh,” she expelled a noxious breath out of her when her stomach stopped erupting like Mount Vesuvius.

Casey grabbed some tissue, wiped down the toilet seat in case she got any on it, then cleaned her mouth off with toilet paper as well. She flushed it all down.

When she got up and turned around, Marie was hanging back, observing her.

“I thought they’d given you the vitamins?”

“Vitamins?” Casey’s neck flexed back and her eyes scrunched. “What are you talking about? I wasn’t given any vitamins. They knocked me out, and when I came to, they injected me with some black sludgy stuff. I’m sure it was the same stuff they gave you.”

Marie nodded and her eyes moved from top to bottom of Casey’s frame. “You’re pregnant.”

“I beg your pardon?” Casey went to the sink and washed her hands.

“You heard me.” Marie stood behind her. “You can’t get sick once they give you that shit. I’ve only vomited once since they did it to me, and that was when little Kel was inside my body. You’re pregnant.”

“I can’t be. I. Don’t. Have. Any. Ov-a-ries,” Casey hissed. She wasn’t so keen on his mother in that moment.

“They most likely grew back. My lupus was gone almost right away. No more heart problems, perfect kidneys. If it can fix my damaged organs, who’s to say it didn’t repair your female issues?”

Casey blinked, pivoted on her heel and stared at this woman like she was deaf. “It’s one thing to fix something that exists, and something else entirely to grow it back. There’s no way.”

“I’m only sharing what I’ve seen—I threw up like crazy, and it started right away—practically the day I conceived, so you’ve barely started gestation. You probably engaged in unprotected sex directly after you escaped, thinking it was fine, nothing changed, and I don’t blame you.” She smiled. “But I’m telling you—they said something about the hormones compounding the morning sickness because of how much stronger everything was in my body. And with his mighty super-strength sperm, you’re really going to be sick with this one. The vitamins shot make it less intense and more bearable.” Marie patted Casey on the shoulder and left.

“Fuck no.” Casey turned back to the sink and washed her hands. Did she already clean them? She couldn’t remember.

She turned the water off, ripped a paper towel down then scowled at her stomach while she dried her hands and dropped the paper in the trash.

“You cannot be fixed,” Casey told herself.

Then a sliver of hope ran down her spine, and she knew she’d never be the same again.

Fucking know-it-all possible future-mother-in-law.

She had better be wrong.

Kel could barely handle it the other day when Casey was doubled over and cramping up like hell, feeling like she was . . .

Oh shit! She
was
pregnant!

Casey leaned her head against the wall and moaned.

Pregnant and mutant ovaries. Perfect. Kel had said he hoped her removing that IUD had sterilized him. What if it hadn’t? What was he going to say?

Her life was complete now. A kid . . . All she needed was a dog with ticks, a potted plant on the patio and the newest and best stove to cook him nightly nutritious meals.

Oh yeah, and an OB that was fine with delivering a baby fully formed at four and a half months gestation.

Chapter 15

“You better see to your girl in there,” Mom said. “She’s not doing well.”

Kel jumped out of his seat. “What did you call her?”

“Your girl. She’s yours, right?” She blinked.

“Don’t call her that. She’s not a girl, she’s a woman, and yes, she’s mine. Call her Casey.” He moved past her and ignored the hurt look on her face.

His emotions were a tangled mass of blackness. One moment he wanted to crush his mother to his chest and cry with overjoyed tears, the next he wanted to throttle her for volunteering to be a lab rat and then bringing him into the experiment.

He pushed the ladies restroom door open and Casey was gripping the counter, crying and her skin was a sickly, green color.

“You okay? Are you sick?” He brushed her hair over her shoulder and stroked her back.

“Your mom, is she . . . Did she leave?”

“She’s out at the table. I hope she chokes on her burger, honestly,” he said, chuckling. “She’s kind of making me mad that she’s trying to be nice.”

“She is nice, but she . . .” Casey turned her puffy red eyes on him. “She says I’m pregnant.”

“Yeah? And what would she know about it?”

She smacked his arm. “She says I wouldn’t be sick any other way if they made me like her. It was the only time she’s vomited in the last twenty years.” God, it was hard to wrap her mind around the fact he had aged twice as fast as a normal person and reached adulthood so quickly.

His eyes grew wide, his stomach flipped and his heart raced. “A baby?” he whispered, cupping the back of her neck with his hands.

“I th-think so . . .” She nodded and her innocent, apologetic look lanced right through him.

He dropped to his knees, pushed her tee shirt up and peppered her belly with kisses.

“Oh God,” she cried out and ran her hands through his hair. “You’re not mad?”

He dropped his head back and stared at her devastatingly beautiful face. “Mad isn’t even an emotion I own right now. Not even against my mom. She’s gonna be a grandma again!” He rose slowly, keeping his eyes on her, and beaming at this woman he loved so much his heart was swollen and achy. “Christ, woman, you wreck me in every way. I want you—always. Would you . . .” his voice cracked “. . . we haven’t known each other long, but, Case, you have to marry me. I’m lost without you, and I need you to be mine forever.”

Her eyes glistened and her top teeth slipped over her bottom lip. “Yes.”

“Yeah?” He shook her for a second.

“Of course, Kel. I’m crazy about you, and I can’t imagine ever wanting another man, not after being with you and your—”

“My wonder cock? I got you knocked up when you weren’t supposed to be fertile, and I was supposed to have my reproductive wiring broken and twisted into a licorice rope.”

She chuckled and then kissed him over and over. “Oh—but what’re we going to do if this baby grows really fast like you did? Will the pregnancy be shorter? How will we explain to everyone he’s different and why?”

“He?” His voice caught on his hitching breath. “You said
he
.”

“Another peanut to add to the gallery? He’ll fit right in with all us nuts,” she said, her eyes twinkling and bright.

“Fuck! I love you!” He picked her up around the waist and swung her around, until suddenly she beat him away and went flying at the toilet.

Shit, he was stupid. He’d made her throw up again.

“Sorrrrry,” he said sheepishly, then squatted behind her, holding her hair and still secretly rejoicing inside.

Casey was the best woman he’d ever know, and she was carrying his kid inside her.

She’d never leave him now. Never!

* * *

What now?

He groaned and tapped his toe.

“She’s sick again,” his mother told him, back at the extended stay hotel.

He really didn’t like having Mom in his room. Privacy. Hadn’t she heard of it?

But then she told Casey she panicked the moment her son was out of her sight.

He was a grown fucking man.

“You’ve got to quit jostling her. The motion triggers the vomiting,” Mom told him, barring him from the bathroom.

“Mom, move your ass. That’s my woman in there, and if she’s sick, I wanna help her.”

“No one wants their lover to watch them when they’re heaving up their breakfast.” She scowled.

Scowled? What the fuck was this?

“Move!” He pushed her arm aside and burst in the door.

Casey was sitting on the toilet, weeping.

“What’s wrong?” A chill ripped down his spine and his entire body went frosty and tight.

“I’m spotting . . . There was blood in my underwear,” Casey admitted.

“Ahhhhh! Fuck! No!” He cried out with anguished guttural sounds, picked her up in his arms, carried her to the bed and laid her down. He sat next to her, petted her hair and gave his mom a pleading look. “What do I do?” he mouthed, staring at his mother.

His Mom sat on the other side of the mattress and stroked Casey’s arm. “I spotted a lot. It might not be anything at all.”

He glared at his mother. “Why didn’t you tell her that before, and why did you tell me she was puking instead of this?”

“Shhhh . . .” Casey was clammy and pale. “Don’t fight.” Her voice was distant and weak.

“What can I do, sweetheart?” He leaned down and kissed her head. “I wanna help you somehow.”

“She probably needs to try and eat again and rest. It’s exhausting with a normal pregnancy, but this is more intense. Her body’s having violent reactions.” Mom’s eyes softened as she watched over Casey. “Poor girl. It’s rough.”