Cord lifted his hands in the air, not even attempting to pretend like he wasn’t. “Absolutely.”
The kitchen door swung open and Ranger stumbled into the room, his blond hair standing at odd angles and his blue eyes slightly bloodshot. “They’re all crying. I thought this was supposed to be a party.” He flopped into the nearest chair, looking like he was recovering from an all-night bender rather than co hosting a his and hers babyshower.
In a move that looked sort of like a reverse backbend, Amy pried herself from the chair and went to her husband. “Why don’t you stay in here and talk to Cord for a minute. I’ll go see what all the fuss isabout.”
Ranger scowled and shot from his seat. “You need to be sitting down.” Ranger tried to maneuver Amy into his vacated seat, but she wouldn’t have any ofit.
Shaking her head, she said, “I’m fine, I can sit on thecouch.”
“Yeah, she’s fine,” Cord said. “Healthy as a horse.” He couldn’t resist the urge to poke at his teammate’s constantworry.
“She’s not fine, she’s pregnant,” Ranger shotback.
Amy frowned. “Did you just compare me to ahorse?”
Cord’s satisfaction vanished. “Of course not. I swear, Amy, that baby’s got you hearingthings.”
And this was example number one of why Cord had no business being around pregnantfemales.
“Amy, let me get you water and a sandwich. Sit down. Cord, grab that footstool out of the pantry so she can prop up her feet.” Ranger returned to the business of fussing over his wife. At six-foot-four and about 250 pounds of pure muscle, Ranger was one of the biggest badasses in the teams, but Cord’s little redheaded cousin had him wrapped around her little pinkyfinger.
Cord didn’t bother to hide his grin as he rose from his chair to do his buddy’s bidding. Amy held up a hand, freezing everyone in their tracks. “Cord, sit. You only just started your long drive and I can see that leg is botheringyou.”
His grinfaded.
But Amy didn’t seem to notice. “Ranger, there’s no room for food in this belly and I already have to pee every five minutes as it is. Now, you stay in here and talk to Cord. You haven’t seen him in months. I can handle thewomen.”
She wrapped her hand around Ranger’s neck, pulled him down for a quick kiss and then pressed a hand to her back and slowly waddled from the room. The minute the door swung shut behind her, Ranger collapsed into the nearestchair.
As soon as Amy was out of hearing distance, Cord leaned against the back wall and straightened his leg out. “She’s gettingbossy.”
“You have no idea. It’s hell. I know she’s always uncomfortable and I can’t do a damn thing to fix it. And when her hormones get going…” Ranger shot him a meaningful look. “You’re lucky you haven’t beenhere.”
Before Cord could agree, Ranger flinched. “Shit man, sorry. I didn’tmean—”
Cord stopped him before the pity party started. “I agree one hundred percent. You look likeshit.”
The easy camaraderie they’d once shared was now forced—a thought that left a bitter taste in his mouth. Cord made his way over to the sink, grabbed a glass from the cabinet next to it and took a long drink, staring out at the swing set in the backyard. Arturo, Ranger and Amy’s adopted son, was pushing Chloe, Amy’s daughter with Shane. They played together with such ease andinnocence.
An ease that he wouldn’t have with his team again until he proved he was their equal—not some wounded has-been who neededpitying.
Cord turned to confront Ranger, but the words wouldn’t leave his throat. His friend was staring at the floor, his head lowered, his fingers woven together. “I’m scared. She thinks she’s strong, but she’s so fragile. If something happens to her…” Rangers swallowed. “Sure, she gave birth to Chloe just fine, but do you have any idea how many things can go wrong inchildbirth?”
Cord thought for a minute about teasing his teammate, but the terror on Ranger’s face had him biting his tongue. “Man, you know she’sstrong.”
“I was on Google last night until midnight,” Ranger continued like he hadn’t even heard Cord. “There’s hundreds of things that could happen. Her uterus could rupture. She could bleed out. Her heart could give out from thestrain.”
“What the hell are you doing searching the Internet for shit likethat?”
“I was just trying to be prepared. It’s what I do. You know that. If I’m prepared for any situation, it might help me handle it. It might help me protecther.”
Cord set his glass on the counter and crossed to his teammate. He grabbed a chair and dragged it across the floor, positioning it so he faced Ranger. “She is going to make it,” he said as he took a seat. “You can prepare all you want, but you torturing yourself isn’t doing anything but driving everyone around youcrazy.”
Ranger straightened and swiped a slick hand over hisface.
“I keep having thesedreams…”
Jesus, dreams were the very last thing Cord wanted to think about. His counselor kept harping on and on abouthisdreams and what they meant. He thought the whole thing was a bunch ofbull.
