Chapter Twenty

Rick and Faith lay tangled and exhausted in her sexy satin sheets.

“We need to be careful, or we may wind up getting hurt one day,” he managed, winded.

“There are definitely worse ways to go,” Faith replied, still panting a bit. “But if we keep this up, I’ll need to start doing yoga so I’m more flexible.”

Seeing the lustful gleam in Rick’s eyes reignite at that comment, she patted his ass.

“Down boy.”

And they grinned that grin that lovers share afterward.

Rick laughed, and his guard was down, and it was out before he knew it.

“I’m so in love with you, Faith Thomas.”

She stiffened, then sat up.

“What?”

He couldn’t take it back. And he didn’t want to.

So, he went all in and pressed ahead.

“I said, I’m in love with you, Faith Thomas. Utterly and completely.”

“Um,” she stammered.

“Um?” he parroted, an eyebrow raised, waiting.

“I…I…,” she faltered. “I…”

“Too soon,” he said dejectedly. “In fairness, I’ve felt it since the very first time I saw you. But I figured you weren’t even close to ready to hear it, so I’ve tried to keep it to myself.”

Now he rolled out of her bed, embarrassed and unsure of himself.

“Maybe I’d better go.”

***

She closed her eyes and listened to her heart.

“No. Wait. Rick, just wait.”

He stopped at the foot of the bed, pants halfway up, eyes searching her face for any clues.

“I…I…,” she took a deep breath, continued. “I’m in love with you, too.”

And she felt the last chains of the anchor of hurt she’d been carrying fall away. She opened her eyes, saw the love and the joy in his shining back at her.

Now she smiled, said it again to him, more steadily this time, and she realized this heart that was meant to love her was healing hers.

Jandy had been right once again.

“I’m in love with you too, Rick Connor.”

“Really? Truly?’

“Really truly.”

***

Faith and Rick were talking logistics over pizza the week before Thanksgiving.

“Why don’t you just move in here with me?” he asked as he reached for another slice. “It makes way more sense. You said yourself your lease is up in January."

“Yeah, I know,” she admitted. “It would make more sense. I mean, I spend almost as much time here as I do there.”

Still, she hesitated. Yes, they were a couple. And yes, they’d said the “L” word.

But the townhouse was her final bastion of freedom.

Or escape hatch. Admit it. Call it what it is.

With a knowing look, Rick switched topics.

***

Six weeks later, Faith Thomas was white with shock. She hadn’t been feeling well but had attributed it to work stress and all the exertion lately.

She’d finally decided moving in with Rick was the logical choice; they had finished placing the last of her things they didn’t plan to use right away in storage, and the few remaining boxes they’d finished moving to his place the previous night. All that remained regarding the townhouse was to clean it and turn in keys.

Now she stared in disbelief at her first ever positive pregnancy test result... at the age of thirty-six.

“Oh, my God.”

“What?” Rick called from the living room.

She closed her eyes and braced against the sink.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” he asked, now in the bathroom doorway.

He noticed how pale she was and moved closer, concerned.

Without a word, she showed him.

“Whoa.”

“Yeah,” she managed. “I didn’t think I could even get pregnant. I am totally blown away right now. I don’t know how to feel about this.”

“Well, let’s figure it out together. Okay?”

He pulled her to him and hugged her tight.

***

Within a week the decision was made for them. Faith woke up around two a.m. to horrible cramping and blood everywhere.

Rick gently loaded her into the car, and they went to the emergency room.

It seemed like forever until the doctor came out to talk to him.

“Hi, Mr. Connor, I’m Dr. Davis, the surgeon,” he said.

“Surgeon? What’s going on?”

“Faith has an ectopic pregnancy, and if I don’t go in, it could rupture the fallopian tube.”

Rick was silent, eyes closed.

Dr. Davis paused for a bit to give Rick time to absorb what he was hearing. Then he continued.

“Mr. Connor, there’s more. When we did the sonogram to see what was going on, we also saw a large mass on her uterus. There’s a possibility that we may have to remove her uterus entirely, depending on what we find once we get the surgery underway.”

“Does she know this yet?"

“I just spoke with her about it all.”

“Take me to her. Please.”

Rick walked solemnly beside Dr. Davis and the doctor pointed to the exam room Faith had been put in.

“I’ll be along shortly. We’ll need to get her into surgery within the next hour or so.”

Rick opened the door the doctor had pointed to and walked into the room.

She lay on the bed, tears streaming.

“Faith,” he said gently, taking her hand and stroking her hair.

“It’s tubal, no way to save it,” she sobbed. “And he said they found a mass.”

“The doctor just filled me in.”

“Rick, I’m scared.”

“I know.”

“I was so shocked that I could even get pregnant. You know? But then it was kind of exciting, the idea of being a mom finally. And now, they may have to take everything out.”

She wiped her cheeks.

“I have to ask you, Rick. If they do have to take it all, do you still want to be with me? I won’t be able to give you children. I don’t want you to throw away that chance.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” he told her earnestly. “I want you. You’re who and what I want.”

He leaned over and kissed her very gently.

“But right now, I am much more concerned with making sure you are okay. Okay? We will deal with the rest as it comes.”

“Okay,” she sniffled, as the anesthesiologist came in to introduce herself and start the pre-op medication.

“I will be right here when you wake up. I promise.”

“Call my work for me, call Jandy too.”

“You got it. I love you, Faith.”

He held her hand and walked beside the gurney all the way to the doors leading into the surgery area. Once they closed behind her, he headed to the surgery waiting room to make some calls.