I Just Can't Stop Loving You Page 6

  Shaundra’s body relaxed. “I’m fine.”

  Ichiro looked at her. She lied. She wasn’t fine. Her face was wet with perspiration and her lips were an unhealthy shade of blue.

  Shaundra bit her bottom lip again.

  Another contraction. They were coming about two minutes apart.

  A nurse came in and checked her monitor, and she wiped Shaundra’s brow. “It won’t be long now, Mrs. Yoshida.” The nurse walked away and went back to what she was doing.

  Ichiro felt so useless. His wife was in excruciating pain and he couldn’t do anything to help her.

  Ichiro walked back over the bed, but stayed a safe distance. “I’m sorry for everything.”

  Tears formed in her eyes. “I hate you,” she said. “Why did you have to cheat on me?”

  “I didn’t,” Ichiro said. “But you won’t let me explain.”

  “Get out,” she shouted.

  “Ah, don’t be this way, baby.”

  She cussed at him in Japanese.

  Ichiro’s eyes widened. Who had taught her that?

  Shaundra screamed out in pain.

  One of the monitors buzzed and then Shaundra’s eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out again.

  The doctors came running. All the monitors started going crazy.

  “Escort Mr. Yoshida out,” the doctor told one of the nurses.

  “What’s wrong?” Ichiro asked.

  “The babies are in distress,” the doctor told him. “You have to leave. I think I’m going to have to perform a Cesarean on her. The babies are too big for her to pass and are shutting down her body.”

  “Save my wife,” Ichiro cried out.

  “I’m going to try to save her and the babies, but you need to leave. I have to prepare her for surgery.”

  Ichiro turned on his heels and followed the nurse out of the delivery room.

  “Right this way, Mr. Ichiro,” the nurse told them.

  Ichiro was following her and then he got dizzy.

  “Are you all right, Mr. Ichiro?” the nurse asked.

  “No,” Ichiro said. Everything went black.

  ****

  Ichiro’s eyelids flittered open and he sat up.

  A nurse hurried over to him.

  “Where am I?” he asked, rubbing his head.

  “You’re in one of the hospital rooms.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “You passed out.”

  “What?” Ichiro asked.

  “You fainted in the hall.”

  Fainted? Me?

  “Don’t worry. This normally happens to first time fathers. I guess you got too excited.”

  “How is my wife?”

  “She’s still in surgery. Her doctor has arrived.”

  “Good.” He trusted Doctor Sou.

  The nurse helped him to his feet. “Do you think you can walk to the waiting room?”

  Ichiro nodded. He was a little lightheaded, but okay.

  “I’ll help you,” the nurse said. “You know I have all of your records.”

  “Thank you,” he said, ignoring her last statement. He didn’t want any woman flirting with him while his wife was dying on some table in the operating room.

  “I’ve always been a big fan of yours.”

  “Thank you,” he said again.

  They made it to the waiting room.

  Takumijo sprung to his feet. “What’s wrong with him?”

  “He fainted,” the nurse said.

  “I’ll take over from here,” Takumijo said, sweeping Ichiro up in his arms.

  “Put me down you big lug,” Ichiro protested. “People are staring.”

  A couple of the nurses giggled.

  Takumijo put him down on his feet and he walked to a chair and sat down.

  Cristal came over and sat down next to him. “Are you okay?”

  Ichiro nodded.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t know. Shaundra started shouting at me and then the monitors started going off and the doctor asked me to leave.”

  “She shouted at you?”

  “Yes, and cussed at me in Japanese. Did you teach her that?”

  Cristal shook her head and smiled. “No. What happened after that?”

  “One minute I was walking down the hall on the way here and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a hospital bed.”

  “Is there any news yet?”

  “No, they’re giving her a Cesarean.”

  “Why?” Harper asked, sitting down on the other side of him.

  “Because the babies are in distress. They thought she could pass the babies, but they are too big. Her doctor has arrived.”

  Cristal patted his hand. “She’ll be okay. You know she’s a trooper.”

  “I’ve never seen her so angry. I mean, she’s been mad at me before, but never like this.”

  “Did you get a chance to explain to her what happened before you left for Europe?” Satoshi asked.

  “I tried, but she wouldn’t listen. She was in so much pain, but she wouldn’t let me help her.”

  Harper patted him on the shoulder. “Men are useless in the delivery room. We’re only good for moral support.”

  “She didn’t want me there,” Ichiro said. “I know I shouldn’t have come.”

  “Well, you’re here and it will all be over soon,” Harper said.

  Yes, it will be, Ichiro thought. As soon as the babies are born and the DNA test is performed, it will all be over.

  “Hopefully she’s stop being hormonal and will be glad you’re here,” Harper continued. “She kept calling for you. I think she’s glad you’re here even though she screamed at you.”

  Ichiro shook his head. Harper hadn’t seen see the look in Shaundra’s eyes when she’d seen him.

  ****

  The doors to the waiting room opened about an hour later and Shaundra’s doctor walked in.

  Everyone rose.

  “Mr. Yoshida,” the doctor said. “Can I speak with you for a moment?”

  Satoshi’s heart beat rapidly in his chest. Something is wrong. The doctor had some kind of envelope in his hand.

  Ichiro walked over to the doctor and Satoshi saw the man pull a paper out of the envelope and hand it to Ichiro. A few minutes later, Ichiro fell to his knees crying.

  Oh, oh, bad news. Satoshi hurried over to Ichiro and helped him to his feet. “What is wrong? Has something happened to Shaundra?”

  Ichiro shook his head. “No, she’s fine.”

  “The babies?”

  “They’re fine,” the doctor said. “They’re healthy, have ten fingers and toes, and are responding well.”

  “Then what’s wrong?”

  “I’ll let Mr. Yoshida tell you. Congratulations again, Ichiro.” The doctor walked out of the room again.

  Cristal hurried over to them “Are they born yet?”

  Ichiro nodded.

  “Well, what are they? You can’t keep me in suspense.”

  Ichiro dried his eyes. “Boys,” Ichiro announced proudly. “I have two sons.” He started crying again while the others came over to congratulate him.

  Satoshi tried to glance down at the papers in Ichiro’s hand, but couldn’t read them. “Then why are you crying?”

  “It’s nothing,” Ichiro said. “I’m just so happy.”

  Satoshi shook his head. He’d lived with Ich long enough to know that something was wrong. The doctor didn’t need to pull him aside to announce the birth. That meant the doctor told him something that he didn’t want the rest of them to know.

  The door opened again and the nurse appeared. “Would you like to see your sons, Mr. Yoshida?”

  “Yes,” Ichiro said, manning up.

  “Hey, what about us?” Cristal asked.

  “I’m sorry,” the nurse said. “Family only.”

  “They are family,” Ichiro told her.

  The nurse looked them over. “Very well, but no noise.” She turned on her heels and they followed her to the nurs
ery.

  The nurse made them wait on the other side of the glass while she brought the babies to the window. She rolled both incubators over and everyone crowded around to see.

  Satoshi peered down. “They’re beautiful.”

  Cristal gasped. “Look how much they weigh. No wonder Shaundra looked like a beached whale the last time I saw her.”

  Satoshi sneered at her. “See how much weight you’ll gain when I knock you up.” He looked down at the babies again. The one on the left weighed ten pounds and his smaller brother weighed nine and a half. Both babies had a head full of jet black hair, and bronzed skin. She sighed. They were definitely going to be a couple of heart-breakers. One of the babies started to cry and then the other.

  “Oh, here we go,” Takumijo said. “They’re never going to stop now.”

  Harper chuckled. “Say goodbye to your last night of good sleep, Ichiro.”

  “I don’t know,” Masaaki said. “I think they have nice, healthy squalls. That means they will be able to carry a tune.”

  Harper looked at Masaaki.

  “What?”

  “Priming them for their debut already?”

  “Yes,” Masaaki said. “I’m a businessman.”

  One of the babies stopped crying and opened his eyes.

  Everyone went silent.

  “They’re blue,” Cristal blurted out.

  The other one opened his eyes.

  “Him too,” she said.

  Satoshi sighed. So that’s what the doctor had told Ichiro. The little bastard had ordered a paternity test. What a waste of time and money. No wonder he was crying. The babies were his. Satoshi clapped him on the shoulder. “Congratulations. I think you owe Shaundra one hell of an apology.”

  Ichiro nodded. “If she ever speaks to me again.”

  “Then you better get rid of that envelope.”

  Ichiro looked at him oddly.

  Satoshi glared at him.

  Ichiro shrugged. “Sometimes a man has to do what a man has to do.”

  Chapter Five

  I have got to be out of my mind, Tricia thought as she followed Damien through the gates of his father’s Manhattan condominium. “Are you sure we’re supposed to be here?”

  “Relax,” Damien said. “I have a key, don’t I?”

  That didn’t mean anything. He could have lifted it from his father without him knowing it. Yet, she still followed him knowing this. The condominium was huge, by New York standards, and looked very expensive. Damien took her through the lobby and to the elevator. Tricia looked around, gazing up at the security camera and down the stark white walls. The elevator arrived and they rode up to the penthouse. “This is nice,” she said as Damien opened the door and turned on the lights. Her feet sank into plush crème-colored carpeting. She knew that the Kehoes were rich, but this was just too much. She walked around admiring the fancy living room suite, the quaint kitchen, and the downstairs bathroom while Damien dashed off into another room. Picture of Damien and his brother Kevin graced the walls, desks, tables, and shelving. She stopped to study one of the pictures. “Freaky,” she said.

  Damien came up behind her and handed her a glass of red wine. “What?” he asked.

  Tricia pointed to the picture and Damien growled. “Hot.”

  Tricia nodded and she wouldn’t have thought a thing about the picture except it was a picture of her mother. “Why would your father have a picture of my mother in his apartment?”

  Damien smirked, took her hand, and led her up the stairs to another hall of rooms. He opened a door, turned on the light, and allowed her to step inside first.

  “Damn,” Tricia exclaimed. The walls, shelving, and desks were littered with photos of her mother. The bookshelves were lined with every book her mother had ever written. There were photos of her accepting awards, giving presentations, and pictures seated at her desk in the New York office writing. There were also pictures of her with some of the other writers and editors from the publishing company and several of her with Harper. “Obsess much?” Tricia asked as she walked around checking out the living shrine to her mother.

  “You haven’t seen anything yet,” Damien told her, taking her hand and leading her out of the room and into another at the end of the hall. “This is my father’s bedroom.”

  “I don’t think we should go in there,” Tricia said, hesitating and a little frightened of what she might find.

  “You have to see this,” Damien said, tugging her inside.

  Tricia gasped. Above the fireplace rested a huge painting of her mother dressed in a sexy black formal gown, wearing a super afro and seated in a high-back wicker chair. Around her neck was big gold necklace, and big gold earrings hung from her ears. Her mother had to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She looked like a Nubian goddess about to conquer a prince of Africa. The painting had been strategically placed across the room, facing Harper’s huge mahogany bed. “Hmm, I knew your father liked my mother, but I had no idea how much.” She quickly gulped down the wine.

  “He’s in love with her,” Damien said, leading her out of the room and back down the stairs to the pool area.

  “Do you think they had a fling?” Her father was still alive back then. He’d succumbed to Cancer when Tricia was a child.

  “I have no idea,” Damien said. “It’s possible.”

  Tricia sat down on one of the lounge chairs. She didn’t think her mother was the kind to cheat. But it would answer some questions, like why she dropped everything to go to Japan a couple of years ago when she didn’t like to fly. And why she looked so cozy dancing with Harper in that YouTube video.

  “Maybe we’re siblings,” Damien teased as she sat down next to her.

  She felt his lips on her neck.

  “If that’s true, don’t you think you need to get your lips off your sister’s neck?”

  Damien took the wine glass away from her and put it on a small table next to the chairs. “No,” he said, continuing down her collarbone. “We’ll just be one big happy family.”

  “Ooh,” Tricia moaned as the wine snuck up her. It made her feel warm all over. Or maybe it wasn’t the wine. Damien’s lips moved from her neck to her mouth. She didn’t remember him putting on a stereo, but vintage make-out music played softly in the background, setting the mood. Shai’s ‘If I Ever Fall in Love.’ Hmm, he has pulled out the big guns. “I thought we came here to swim,” Tricia said once he gave her time to breathe. Damien was a fantastic kisser. She must have been out of her mind to interrupt him.

  “We will,” he said. “Eventually.” He pulled her to her feet and into his arms for a dance. For a white boy, he had some smooth moves. Their bodies rocked sensually against each other and Damien kept his green eyes locked and gazing down into hers. “I’m enjoying this,” he said.

  She knew exactly what he meant. His body felt warm and comforting next to hers. Tricia ran some of her test notes over in her head to keep the lascivious thoughts out, but she failed miserably. His body had hers lit up like the night sky.

  Damien raised her chin and placed a kiss against her lips. Their dancing took on a more erotic sway as he danced her over toward the pool. “Let’s go swimming,” he suggested. He freed her from his body.

  “Where can I change into my suit?” she asked, dizzy from lust.

  Damien shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it on a lounge chair. “What do you need a suit for? We’re over eighteen.”

  Tricia’s gaze landed on his bare chest. She gulped. Oh shit. We are going to skinny dip. She continued to stare at him as he took off his pants and stood before her in a skimpy pair of briefs. He had a nice butt. Damien turned slightly and she got a good look at the front of the briefs. She bit her bottom lip and sighed. He’s packing some serious artillery.

  “Are you going to stand there gawking or are you going to join me?” Damien asked, rewarding her with a sexy smile.

  Tricia gathered her wits. She had a little more clothing to get out of than he did. She kicked out
of her shoes and wiggled out of her skirt. A cool breeze touched her bare legs and she trembled. The pool water might be heated, but the patio wasn’t. Finally, she stood before him clad only in her bra and panties. Damien trained his eyes on her and she saw the color deepen to an emerald green.

  He lifted his gaze. “I always knew you had a fantastic body with clothes, but I had no idea how stunning you would be without them.”

  Tricia blushed. Whether he was feeding her a line, she didn’t know, nor did she care. His words confused her, but she felt comfortable with him. Her mother had taught her respect herself and not to put out just for anyone she didn’t care about. The coy, demur and respectful shit wasn’t working. She wanted to be with Damien, not just spiritually, but sexually as well.

  Tricia reached behind her and unfastened the hooks of her bra. The straps slipped down her shoulders, revealing her breasts.

  Damien’s eyes widened, but he did not try to approach her. He casually slipped out of his briefs and stepped into the pool.

  Tricia gulped again, removed her panties, and followed him into the water.

  ****

  Ichiro sat on the floor in the nursery sipping a cup of tea. His eyes landed on the twin cribs that he had no part in putting together. Damn, he’d messed up royally. He should have been the one to construct the nursery, to paint the walls and to drive his pregnant wife to the hospital. He sipped the tea knowing he couldn’t do anything about the past. But he hoped to do right in the future. The only problem was he didn’t know how to convince his wife to accept his apology. Hell, he hadn’t seen her since she tried to strangle him in the delivery room. He frowned. Although he knew that she couldn’t seriously harm him, he didn’t want to anger her any more than he already had. They were both responsible for two little lives now and eventually, they would have to get together and discuss the babies’ futures. But for the present, the two of them had to name the babies.

  Satoshi and Takumijo were nice Japanese names, but he would feel bad about it if either of them became fathers and couldn’t use the names for their sons. He and Shaundra had sat down and wrote a list of possible names, but hadn’t decided since they had no clue what the sex of the babies were at that time. They had been happy back then and then shit had gone downhill quickly after that.