“What’s wrong with your arm?” Angie asked Kerry. “I’m glad you came now. They’re about to bring the baby up.”

“Well, I dislocated my shoulder,” Kerry explained. “They just took x-rays.”

“Ow.” Angie made a face. “The labor is mostly a blur—they’d started to take me out and down to delivery, when the explosion happened. We were actually inside the elevator, and I thought I was going to Eye of the Storm 415

give birth right there I was so scared. But somehow, the power stayed on and we just kept going down and right out the emergency entrance in the back. It was horrible. Everyone was screaming and no one knew what to do. And I was so scared, knowing you guys were all up there.”

“It was kinda rough, yeah,” Kerry replied quietly. “But we managed to dig ourselves out and get to where they could get us down.”

Angie held Kerry’s good hand and she rubbed the fingers with her thumb. “You got the folks out.”

Kerry and Dar exchanged glances. “Yes, we did,” Dar said.

“Mom told me.” Angie searched her sister’s face. “She’s pretty shook up.”

“Yeah, well. I had a run in just now with him,” Kerry told her.

“Maybe that’ll be the last one.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” Dar interjected, her brows creasing.

“When?”

“You were a little preoccupied.” Kerry gave her a faint smile. “It was before I met you in the imaging room.”

Dar scowled. “That was more important than the stupid machine.”

They turned at a rattle in the door and found a nurse there, holding a neatly wrapped bundle. “Here you go, little man. Say hi to mama.”

“A boy?” Kerry asked.

“Yes.” Angie took the bundle and cradled it, showing off her new baby. “Isn’t he sweet?” The tiny, prune faced infant burped. “I called Richard. He’s thrilled.” She and Kerry exchanged wry glances. “I tried to call Brian, but there was no answer at his place. I’ll try him again in a little while.” She glanced at the baby. “Want to hold him before he latches on to the milk bar?”

“Sure.” Kerry carefully took the baby and cradled him with her good arm. “Oh, he’s adorable.” She grinned. “What a cute nose.”

Angie smiled. “I think so.” She glanced up at Dar. “Were they taking a scan of you, Dar? Is everything okay?”

“Mostly,” the dark haired woman answered grudgingly.

“Nothing a little bed rest and chocolate won’t cure,” Kerry amended.

“Poor Dar unfortunately had to drag me around for a while and tore two muscles in her back.”

“That’s not when it happened.”

“Uh huh. Anyway,” Kerry shifted the baby and smiled, “the doctor prescribed a couple of days of rest and some painkillers. About the same thing he suggested for me.”

“You guys should go off somewhere on a vacation,” Angie advised.

“Otherwise you’ll get all tied up in that stuff you do.”

Hmm. Kerry chewed the inside of her lip, then impulsively handed off her wriggling bundle to Dar. “Here. Say hello.”

“A…bu—” Dar brought her hands up and took the baby in an instinctive gesture, then stood there staring nervously at him. “Yeah, he’s cute. Here.” She tried to hand him back, but Kerry made a show of straightening her sling. “Kerry…”


416 Melissa Good

“Just hang on there for a minute.” The green eyes blinked innocently at her.

Dar sighed, then brought the baby closer and examined him curiously. Babies weren’t her thing, generally, though she had nothing against them. This one was a fairly good size and was kicking inside his covers, probably hungry, she figured. He had a wrinkled face, with tiny, pouty lips and a bitty nose, and his head was covered in a little white hat.

He gurgled. Dar raised an eyebrow, then tentatively touched a clutching hand with one fingertip. The baby grabbed at her with surprising strength, causing the other eyebrow to raise.

Kerry watched in amused fascination. “What did you name him, Angie?”

Her sister sighed. “I haven’t yet.”

Both Dar and Kerry looked at her in surprise.

“I know, I know. Nine months, you’d figure I’d have a name already.” Angie laughed wearily. “To tell the truth, I was really expecting another girl, so I had a bunch of names picked out that wouldn’t really suit him.” She paused. “What would you name a little boy, if you had one, Dar?”

“Andrew,” both women answered together, then chuckled.

“Yeah, you got me there.” Dar unbent a little and relaxed, playing idly with the baby’s hand. “Dad would pretend not to like that, but he would.”

“Your parents seem really nice.” Angie smiled. “Your mom really helped me out last night. I hope I get a chance to thank her.” She held out her hands as Dar returned her baby to her and she cradled him. “You hungry, little man?” The baby yawned, and smacked his lips. “I guess so, huh?”

“Well, we don’t want to hold up dinner.” Kerry smiled and rubbed her sister’s arm. “We just wanted to stop by and say hello. We’re leaving to go home tomorrow.”

“Are you?” Angie looked surprised. “Is it over?”

“For now,” Dar replied. “Hopefully for good.”

Angie glanced at Kerry, whose lips tensed. “I know that was really tough for you to do, Ker. But I’m really proud of you for doing it.” The dark haired woman gazed at her newborn son for a moment, then looked back up at her sister. “I’m sorry I went along with them at the hearing.

You didn’t deserve that.”

Kerry’s eyes dropped. “Maybe not,” she murmured. “But I’m glad everyone got out of that hospital okay. I don’t think I could have lived with myself otherwise.”

“Kerry, it wasn’t your fault.” Angie frowned.

“I know.” Her sister exhaled wearily. “I know. But it doesn’t stop me from feeling the way I do, Angie, because if this whole hearing thing hadn’t happened, you’d have been home.” She looked up. “I can’t escape knowing that.”

Dar put a hand on Kerry’s shoulder in mute comfort.


Eye of the Storm 417

“Not to mention how I would have felt if anything happened to you.” Kerry turned and met Dar’s eyes.

“Well, it didn’t,” Dar said, simply. “We’re all okay, and you’ve got a cute new nephew.”

“Right,” Angie agreed quickly. “Everything turned out fine.”

Kerry regarded them both for a moment, then smiled. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I guess maybe sometimes old fashioned prayer does still work.”


Chapter

Forty-five

“DON’T MUCH SEE why a new momma needs flow’rs,” Andrew muttered to himself. “Think they’d need something more practical, like a truckload of Pampers.” He glanced around as he walked, searching for a logical place for them to have put an ex-pregnant woman. Ceci had paused downstairs, intent on picking out a bouquet, and he’d decided to do a little scouting far from the scent of daisies.

He ambled along, ducking his head into the various rooms. “Closet.

Head. Papers. Whoops.” He jerked his head back out of a waiting room, after spotting a dour figure inside. “He ain’t in no mood to be chit chatting, I don’t think.”

Andy got four or five steps further on when he heard a voice from behind him.

“Commander Roberts?”

“Lord.” The ex-SEAL gave the bulletin board a plaintive look. “And just what did I do today to deserve this?” But he turned and went to the doorway, putting one hand on the sill and peering inside. Roger Stuart was now standing, his tie slightly askew, looking back warily at him.

“Yeap?”

The two men studied each other, from worlds so vastly different, Andrew doubted they had a single common frame of reference. Stuart was perhaps ten years Andy’s senior, educated, sophisticated…

And stupider than the day was long about his damn kid. “D’jou want to cuss me out some more? ’Cause if you did, I’ve got lots better things fer me to do then listen to you vent hot air.”

“No.” The other man lifted a hand. “My people looked you up.”

Andrew grunted.

“You have quite an amazing record, Commander.”

“I just did what Uncle Sam paid me t’do, Senator,” the ex-SEAL

answered quietly.

Stuart sat down and rested his hands on his knees, not meeting Andrew’s eyes. “Well, you did the right thing yesterday. Good job.”

One of Andy’s dark eyebrows lifted. He moved into the room and took a seat next to the older man. “Wall, you did too,” he allowed, graciously. “Ah think everbody done pretty well in that there mess.”

There was an awkward silence, but Andrew didn’t see any reason to Eye of the Storm 419

break it.

“I wanted, also, to thank you for stopping and giving us a hand to get out of that room,” Roger finally said, clearly embarrassed.

A good SEAL learned to recognize an opportunity and exploit it.

Andrew had, surely, been a very good SEAL, having lived long enough to retire as one. “Hell, don’t be thanking me, Senator,” he stated.

“Kerry wasn’t leaving till she found you.” He absorbed the quick look from wary gray eyes. “And my kid wasn’t going anywhere without her, so…” He shrugged. “Ah just moved rocks.”

“Yes, well.” Roger made the words sound distasteful. “I’m sure she felt she had an obligation.”

Andrew let out a breath. “Makes me feel real comfortable knowing someone like you’s up making laws, when you don’t even know squat about your own kid.”

“Commander—” Roger replied stiffly.

“Don’t you commander me, ya twenty watt bulb.” Andrew snorted.

“What in the hell’s wrong with you, anyhow? You been wearing a necktie so damn long it cut off the flow of blood to yer brain or something?”