Expecting the SEAL’s Baby by Katie Knight

Seventeen

He wanted to make love to her again on the shore of the lake, but he restrained himself. So he toweled her off and found clothes in his bag for her to wear while hers dried. He left her to dress and rinsed out what she’d been wearing when she fell in the river and spread the items to dry. When he turned back to her, she was wearing a pair of his gym shorts that drooped past her knees and a button-down shirt, the sleeves extended well past her fingertips.

He grinned when he took in her outfit. She looked adorable.

“Do you like it?” She did a spin as if modeling for him. “Oversized clothing is the latest fashion.”

“Looks good on you.”

“I found this in the shirt pocket,” she said and held out a photograph of her, him, and Blake taken a few years back at Christmas. “I remember this night. We had a lot of fun.”

“We did.” They’d eaten at Gina and Blake’s mother’s house, and then the three of them had gone out to a Christmas party put on by one of his fellow SEALs. Jeremy had good memories of that evening, particularly of her. She’d worn a red dress that had held his attention throughout the evening. He still thought of the dance they’d shared out on the pool deck and how it had felt to be with her, smell her light floral perfume and have her close. At the time, he hadn’t allowed himself to even consider being closer. He’d have never imagined that they would be together as they were now.

“You carry it with you?” There was a touch of wonder and amusement in her voice. “That’s sweet.”

He smiled. “Lots of guys carry photos or something from home when they’re overseas.” There was always room for a sentimental item or two.

“Lots of guys don’t carry my photo,” she said as she looped her arms around his neck.

“I hope not.” He didn’t want to think about her and other guys.

“Seriously, it makes me feel special.” She kissed him then, but not in the same way as she had out in the water. Those had practically set the lake on fire. This was soft and intimate, rocking through him in a different way. Her eyes were a little unfocused when she pulled back, and he couldn’t quite read her emotions, but it was good. He didn’t doubt that. He just wished they were together under different circumstances.

“We better set up camp for the night,” he said, gently putting distance between them. “And then we can relax.” Or as close to it as he could come while on a dangerous mission in the jungle with Gina.

They spent the next half hour organizing their camp area, working together flawlessly. She was intuitive that they worked as though they had done so for years. Teamwork was essential in his world, and from what he’d seen of successful relationships, especially ones involving children, it was imperative there, too. He and Gina had that. They argued some since they were both stubborn, but things between them always worked out anyhow.

“On the menu this evening,” Gina announced after he got a fire going, “we have chicken and rice.” She held up two packaged meals.

“You’re braving a MRE tonight?” he asked. She’d been so opposed to that the previous evening.

“I’m hungry,” she admitted with a sheepish grin. “I’m willing to try anything, and it looks like my only other option is to resort to plucking bananas from the trees.”

“I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised, but I strongly suggest adding hot sauce.” He prepared the meals for them and they sat down to eat.

“What’s the plan for tomorrow?” she asked when they were done eating.

“I’m hoping for less gunfire and the chance to get closer to the stronghold. We’re not going to retrace our steps from today. They’ll be looking for us. We’ll circle around and approach from a different angle.” He’d been going over the plan in his head. “When I talked to Percy and told him about coming under fire today, he agreed with me that it means were close and we’re making someone nervous.”

“That’s good?”

“In a way.” Gunfire was never good, but it was telling. “It suggests they have something to hide.”

“Blake?”

“Possibly.” He heard the hope in her voice, and he didn’t want to damage that—but he didn’t want to falsely inflate her hopes, either. “Or the weapons they’re smuggling. Regardless, Percy reported that there’s been more movement at the coordinates. Definitely something happening there. We’ll break camp before dawn and try to reach them close to sunrise. Places like that tend to let their guard down early in the morning. They figure the danger has passed with the night.”

She settled back against him. “Maybe by this time tomorrow we’ll have Blake with us.”

Her way of thinking might be overly optimistic, but Jeremy felt that sense of hopefulness, too. He saw a possibility of clearing his name and bringing Blake home alive, but he needed to make one thing clear to her that she wasn’t going to like.

* * *

“You can only go so far with me tomorrow,” Jeremy said a moment later.

“What do you mean?” Gina pulled away from him and turned so she could see his face. Where had this come from? “I can handle myself. Haven’t I proven that?” Going in the river hadn’t been her fault. Other than that, she’d kept pace with him and thought she’d been an asset on the mission.

“You’ve been a trouper, but you don’t have the training needed for an infiltration. It has to be up to me to get Blake out.”

“Are you going all he-man on me?” She narrowed her eyes at him.

“It’s not that, Gina, but this is going to be dangerous. I can’t put you at risk. Blake would never forgive me if you were on the rescue part of the mission.”

She knew he was right, that her brother would be livid about that. He’d always been protective of her and their mother. “Maybe,” she grudgingly agreed. “But I don’t like the idea of waiting by myself in the jungle and not knowing what’s happening. I’ve got skills you might need. Medical skills.”

“Blake could be in rough shape, but I’ll bring him to you for treatment.” His argument was logical, making it impossible for her to object.

“We’re so close. So close. This could be over tomorrow.” The thought was exciting, but also scary. Tomorrow she’d know her brother’s fate one way or the other. She’d spoken with confidence earlier when she’d claimed that she could feel that he was still alive. And she stood by that, but that didn’t stop her from being frightened. The rescue part of the mission could be terribly dangerous. Jeremy and Blake would be in danger throughout all of it. She wanted so badly to be able to help them both—but would she only get in the way?

“It could be,” he said. “I want to get Blake and then make the case to clear my name.”

She wasn’t surprised that he was motivated by both things. It was only natural that a man with his pride, who’d faithfully served his country, would want his name not to be soiled. But if he succeeded in clearing his record, then what might that mean for them? A flash of worry went through her. In her mind he was retired, but would he return to the Navy if possible?

“If you’re able to do that, what happens?” She had to know but almost dreaded his response.

“I’ll go back in if they offer me my spot again,” he said without hesitation. “Life as a SEAL is all I’ve known. It’s all I’ve wanted. I wouldn’t know what to do in the civilian world.”

“Be a dad,” she said.

“Gina, I’ll be a dad either way. Plenty of the guys on the SEAL teams have families.”

That might be true, but it wasn’t her vision of their life together. Not at all. She knew more than most about the constant waiting for someone to come home. Her father—through his own choices—was rarely around even when he was on leave, but Blake himself, for all that he tried to give her and their mother his time, only came home sporadically. She didn’t want their child to miss seeing her dad for months at a time. And she couldn’t imagine being away like he would have to be. Was he really willing to miss the milestones such as first tooth and first steps? But being a SEAL was important to him, it was his dream, and she couldn’t just discount that.

“I wouldn’t want you to give up serving. I know how important it is to you, but shouldn’t you think about how you want to serve now that we have the baby to consider?” That had to change his decision, didn’t it? And she couldn’t get the image of her father leaving them when she was a kid, not that she thought Jeremy would be unfaithful. She hoped not. No, he wouldn’t, but doubts crowded in, coming at her too fast to sort through.

“It can work. I promise you.” His tone conveyed his reluctance to talk about it more. “There’s nothing to think about. We should get some rest. Tomorrow could be a tough day.”

“Sure, I am tired.” She lay down on her side on the bedroll, not bothering to undress. Jeremy settled next to her, his hand resting lightly on her hip. He didn’t try to pull her closer, probably because he felt the chill between them as much as she did.

A few minutes later, she heard his breathing change and knew he was asleep, but she lay awake, worrying about what the future held for them.