“Your call,” Nick said to his best friend.
“Okay,” Shane said after a moment. “Let’s get you up.” He and Jeremy both helped Charlie stand.
“He was gonna kill all of you. That was his plan,” Becca said out of nowhere.
Chen’s gaze swung to Becca, as did several of the other men’s. “Did he tell you how he knew to come here?”
“Just that someone in housekeeping at the hospital found one of our wedding invitations and gave it to him,” Becca said. Well, that answered some questions right there.
“He came from the basement,” Sonya said from where she hovered with her security team at the door.
“We’ll get to the bottom of it all,” Chen said. “Go home. I’ll touch base in a while.”
“What’s your plan with him?” Nick asked, giving Woodson one last glance.
“The less you know, the better.” Chen gave him a pointed look.
Nick knew he didn’t have to say anything more, so he just nodded and guided Becca toward the door. “Then let’s go home.”
CHAPTER 12
Becca felt like she was trapped in the dark at the bottom of a well. Somewhere, she knew there was a way out, but as she felt around with blind hands, she couldn’t find the ladder. She couldn’t find the light.
Despite the fact that, physically, she was functioning.
She answered questions as if by rote. She watched Shane sew up Charlie’s wound. She ate part of a piece of pizza that she didn’t taste and couldn’t finish. She let Nick change her into a pair of pajamas. She felt him touching her, but she couldn’t reach him.
She couldn’t find the ladder. She couldn’t find the light.
But then her friends threw her a rope.
They’d all been sitting around on the couches in the living room for hours, just keeping one another company, just keeping her company, when suddenly Kat shot to her feet, her hands fisted, her posture indicating she was waging some great internal debate.
And then she turned to Beckett, who was sitting with his hip resting on the back of the couch behind where she’d been. “I’m pregnant,” Kat blurted.
The whole room froze.
Beckett’s face was sculpture still. And then his eyes went wide. “Pregnant? Like . . . pregnant?”
“Pregnant like you’re going to be a daddy,” she said, her voice uncertain.
He came around the couch to her and grasped her face in his hands. And then he gave her a smile that lit up the entire room. “You’re pregnant,” he whispered, his voice absolutely reverent. One big hand dropped to her stomach. And then he wrapped her in his arms so tightly that it made Kat laugh.
“You’re happy,” she said.
“I’m terrified,” Beckett said. “But I’m also fucking ecstatic.”
The whole place erupted in laughter and cheers and words of congratulations, the energy in the room shifting like the planets had just realigned.
Light cracked through the fog clouding Becca’s heart and soul.
“I thought I told you there better not be any goddamned children,” Nick said.
Kat whirled. “Nick—”
“No, it’s okay,” Beckett said, his face going serious again.
And then Nick broke out in a deep belly laugh. “I had you. I totally had you.” He grasped Beckett’s hand and pulled him in for a back-slapping embrace. “Congratulations, man. I’m gonna be the coolest uncle ever. And you’re going to be a kick-ass dad.”
“Dude, you have no chance of being cooler than me, so give that shit up now,” Jeremy said, hugging Kat in beside him.
“You’re a fucking asshole,” Beckett said as he gave Nick a playful shove. But that million-dollar smile was back on the guy’s face again.
“You totally are,” Kat said, reaching up to hug Nick next.
Woodenly, Becca rose from the couch to offer her congratulations.
“Well, shit,” Marz said from where he stood next to Beckett. “If we’re sharing good news, and why the hell not after this day, then I have to tell you that Emilie agreed to marry me this afternoon.” He put his arm around her and kissed her on the temple. “And to be honest, I have no idea how I lasted this long without telling you.”
“We were going to share it tomorrow at the reception,” Emilie said, her voice cracking. “But I’m glad we did it now. We’ve been dying.”
The smiles on the couple’s faces were absolutely brilliant with joy. Another round of jubilation erupted.
The rope was in Becca’s hands. The light was burning off the fog.
When everyone had a chance to offer congratulations, Sara called out, “I got accepted into college at Johns Hopkins for the fall. I’m going to finish my degree.”
Jenna threw her arms around her sister’s shoulders. “Oh, that’s amazing, Sara. I’m so proud of you.”
More celebrations. More light.
Becca could tell the moment her body finally plugged back in, because suddenly she felt everything.
“I’m so happy for all of you,” she said, her voice strained. “So, so happy.”
Tears exploded out of her. Hot, racking, full-body tears. Sobs that had been stored up since the beginning of time.
Someone wrapped her in their arms and sank down to the couch with her. A hand fell on her shoulder. Another on her back. Another on her knees. Someone grasped her hand.
All she had was rope and light now, even though she couldn’t rein herself in. The tears felt like they released a poison inside her that had to be purged, so she gave herself over to them. Not that she really had a choice.
Finally, finally, she managed a deep, shuddering breath. Tears continued to leak from her eyes, but she could see enough to realize she’d literally soaked Easy with her tears. “I’m sorry,” she croaked out.
He shook his head. “Don’t you worry about a thing. I got you.”
She pressed her hand to his heart. “You’re a beautiful, beautiful soul, Easy. I’m so glad you’re in my life.”
The words visibly impacted him. He gave her hand a squeeze.
Becca turned to the others, who’d all formed a tight circle around her. “I feel that way about each and every one of you. I love you and I cherish you and you’re just . . . you’re all everything to me.” At least she wasn’t the only one crying, but she was pretty sure she saw only happy tears.
“We feel the same way about you, Becca,” Kat said from where she knelt in front of her.
“Yeah,” Marz said. “You’re da bomb. Then again, I’ve thought so since you made a MacGyver reference, so . . .” The men groaned. “What?” Marz asked.
Her heart was so, so full. But something still needed to be said. Urgency flooded through her, and she whirled to face Nick, who’d been sitting behind her, holding her and stroking her back. “I want to marry you. Tomorrow,” she said. “Just like we planned. I don’t want to wait. I don’t want to put it off another second.” The words rushed out of her. She scrubbed at her face, despite the fact that her eyes seemed set to non-stop.