Prologue
Ben
My head is pounding as the sirens echo in the distance. They’re getting closer.
What the hell just happened?
Closing my eyes, I attempt to recount the last few minutes before the memory hits me like a truck.
Or a car for that matter.
I was driving. We were going to dinner when––
“Kate?” I croak. My desperation starts to surface as I piece together the severity of the situation.
The puff of smoke from the airbag swirls through the cabin and makes it almost impossible to see, but I have to get to her. Squinting, I open my mouth wide to pop the ringing in my ears, but it does nothing to silence the deafening sound.
“Kate?” I repeat, my panic rising as the silence begins to suffocate me. “Kate, talk to me.” As the smoke starts to dissipate, I find my wife slumped in the passenger seat, unconscious.
Coughing, I reach for her, but the seatbelt keeps me pinned in my seat. “Kate, baby, you okay?” My fingers tug at the strap against my chest, but it comes away coated with blood.
My blood.
I’m drenched in it.
The sirens grow louder before the screech of brakes grabs my attention.
“Kate, wake up, baby. You gotta wake up,” I plead. There’s so much blood.
Footsteps crunch outside the car before a bright light blinds me through the broken window.
“Ben?” the familiar voice murmurs.
Cocking my head toward the owner, I blink a few times before recognizing the stranger. “Grant?”
“Where’s the ambulance?” he yells to someone behind him. His voice is laced with an urgency that feels foreign. Grant is never scared. He’s calm and collected. Always has been for as long as I’ve known him. His head snaps back to me, and he starts to inspect the damage. But he doesn’t understand. The only thing that matters is my wife who’s unconscious in the passenger seat.
“Kate,” I cough as my head rolls forward. The darkness threatens to pull me under. Pressing my bloodstained hand to my face, I force my eyelids to stay open. “You gotta help Kate.”
His brows tug down in the middle of his forehead as he glances over to the passenger seat before the color drains from his face.
No. No, no, no!
Clearing his throat, Grant states, “We’re going to get you out of there, okay? But I’m going to need you to stay calm.”
“Fuck calm, Grant! Get her out of the car!” I struggle to break free from the restraints, but it’s no use.
“Malone!” a voice calls.
“Just a second!” Grant barks to his partner before dropping his voice low like he was trained to do in situations like this. Hell, I’m a doctor. I was trained to do the same thing. Which only terrifies me more.
“Look, Ben. You have a nasty laceration on your head. The more you move, the more you’re going to bleed, and you’ve already lost enough for one day. We can’t get to Kate right now because her door is blocked by a tree. You were T-boned. Just stay calm. The ambulance is right behind us. She’s going to be okay.”
But as the ambulance lights bounce off the crumpled metal, the truth hits me harder than the car ever could.
He’s lying.
Nothing will ever be okay again.
1
Marcy
“Aaand, that’s a wrap,” I announce with my DSLR camera in hand.
“Really?” The surprise is clear in Dylan’s voice as I filter through a few images from our photo shoot.
“Yup. See? I told you it wouldn’t be too bad.”
Rolling her eyes, Dylan grabs the skirt of her lilac-colored maternity dress and waddles over to me. “I haven’t seen the pictures yet, so I’m going to say the jury’s still out.”
“Whatever. You know I’m a magician behind the lens. Besides, you look gorgeous. I could use a Polaroid, and these would still turn out great.”
Her arms are crossed over her chest, resting on her beachball of a belly as she challenges, “I look like a whale.”
“You feel like a whale,” I correct her. “You look like a beautiful mother-to-be. There’s a difference.”
“Doesn’t feel like there’s a difference,” she grumbles, rubbing her hand along her swollen stomach. The picture on the back of my camera is a close-up taken at an angle above Dylan’s head. She’s looking down at her adorable baby bump with a secret smile that captures the audience. It perfectly showcases the love and anticipation for her new addition to the family and is exactly what I need to prove my point. With a triumphant look, I show it to Dylan.
“Wanna bet?”
Her expression softens as she admits, “Actually, that one’s pretty perfect.”
“I told ya.”
“Still doesn’t change the fact that I feel like a whale, though,” she counters.
“Aww, come on. Enjoy it. Soak it up. Savor every moment because there are some people out there who would kill to have a baby.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Give it six months. Then you can talk.”
“Har har. Very funny.”
“Speaking of which…I still cannot believe you actually went through with it.”
“Dyl––”
“I know, I know.” She waves me off. “You don’t need to defend your decision to me. I’ve heard it all before, remember? Let’s do a quick recap, shall we? You want to use your uterus before it grows cobwebs, there are a lot of amazing people out there who would make great parents but aren’t able to get pregnant, and you get a big, fat paycheck by the end of it. I’m just saying that pregnancy isn’t a walk in the park, but….” Her voice trails off as she watches my shoulders hunch.
I’ve prepared myself for this conversation, but I didn’t really expect I’d have to defend myself to Dylan. She’s one of the most accepting people I know. “I know it’s unconventional––”
“You didn’t let me finish.”
Biting my tongue, I sigh. “Go on.”
“But…if Grady and I couldn’t have kids of our own, I’d want someone like you to partner up with. Someone responsible. Someone I could trust. Someone who would treat the child like their own until I could hold that little baby in my arms.” Losing the battle against her emotions, a tear slips down her cheek and ruins the expert eye makeup she’d been wearing for the photo shoot. With a dry laugh, she wipes it away. “Gah. I’m a mess. The hormones are no joke.”
“I can only imagine,” I offer with a smile before pulling her into a hug. “Thanks for not telling me I’m crazy for doing this.”
“You are crazy,” she corrects me with a watery laugh. “And you’re thoughtful. And selfless. And totally naive about how hard it is to be pregnant,” she adds with another laugh. “But I think you're perfect for the job.”
“I kinda think so too.”
“How is the family doing? What were their names again?”
“Anthony and Sway Wright. And they’re doing great. Super excited. Super sweet about everything. Seriously, they treat me like a queen. I think we’re a great team.”