Country Love

Chapter Two

"Take her to the hospital." Chelsea argued.

"She said she doesn't' have any insurance." he replied. "Please just get over here." Before Chelsea could reply Sara came back into the living room.

"Badley, I think it's too big." she said. Bradley looked at her and barely held back his laughter. The t-shirt was dragging the ground and the sleeves seemed to have swallowed her tiny arms.

"No it's not. Every princess wears a gown." he replied. Sara smiled happily.

"Oh yeah." she said her blue eyes shining.

"Is that a kid?" Chelsea asked.

"Yea." Bradley replied. "She's with the woman."

"So there is currently a woman and a child in Bradley Thompson's house? That is something I never thought I'd live to see."

"Shut-up and get over here." Bradley snapped.

"One of these damn days little brother, you're gonna talk to me like that when you need something and I'm gonna laugh in your face and tell ya to find someone else to help." Chelsea replied angrily.

"But today is not that damn day right?" he asked with a grin. Chelsea sighed and then laughed lightly.

"No today is not that day. Besides I might never see my brother with a woman and child in his house again… I can't let this opportunity pass me by." Bradley was mumbling under his breath about what a pain in the ass his sister was when he hung up and saw that Sara was glaring at him.

 "You said a bad word." she said. Bradley raised his eyebrow… He did? Hell he probably did. Not his fault. He wasn't used to having a three year old around.

"Sorry." he said. "You ready for bed?" She nodded and he led her back down the hallway to one of the spare rooms in the house. Sara jumped up on the small twin bed and looked around.

"I like this room." she said as she looked at the flower curtains and bedspreads. Bradley nodded.

"I thought you would." he said. "One of my little sisters stayed here for a while once. This was her room."

"How many sisters do you have?" Sara asked as Bradley covered her up with the quilt.

"Four." he replied.

"I wish I had a sister." she said with a sigh.

"Goodnight, princess Sara." Bradley said as he walked back to the door.

"Goodnight, Badley." she replied. He was shutting the door when she called out from the bed,

"Badley!" Bradley opened the door and peeked inside.

"What's wrong?"

"Is my mommy okay?" she asked. He nodded.

"She'll be just fine." he promised. "Now get some sleep." She nodded and he shut the door and walked back out to the living room just in time to hear the front door open and his sister walk in.

"Living room." Bradley called out and Chelsea walked in. Bradley looked at his sister and chuckled. She was in her fleecy pajamas that had moons and stars covering them. Her hair, which was the same color as his own, was pulled up in a messy ponytail and her eyes, which were also the same green as his own, had dark circles around them.

"Very professional attire there, doc." he said. She punched his arm.

"I just pulled a double shift yesterday. Not all of us are rich retired country stars that don't have a single care in the world." Then she looked at the woman on the couch.

"Is this her?" she asked. He nodded.

"I'll leave you to it. I gotta go tow her car here." he said. Chelsea nodded but he could tell she was already in doctor mode. He grabbed his truck keys off the hook by the door and walked out.

888

Chelsea was waiting in the kitchen when he got back. He sat down at the table across from her.

"Is she going to be okay?" he asked. Chelsea nodded and rubbed her face with her hands.

"I think so. She just seems to be exhausted. I cleaned her up and stuff but she's still sound asleep. You really should have taken her to the hospital and let them do a Catscan of her head."

"She seemed pretty stubborn about not wanting to go." he replied. "And I've learned from growing up with all of you that there is no point arguing with a stubborn woman."

"So an ex marine couldn't manage to get a little woman with a head injury to do what he wanted?" she asked rolling her eyes. He shook his head.

"Nope." he replied. Chelsea stood up.

"Well I'm going home and going back to bed. I have to work tomorrow." she said.

"Thanks Chels." Chelsea came around the table and kissed her brothers cheek even though she knew he'd stiffen up. Bradley, just like their father, had never been much for any form of affection growing up and she supposed that six years as a marine hadn't helped that any.

After she was gone Bradley walked out to the living room and stood over the couch looking down at the woman lying there. Chelsea had cleaned her face and had tried to clean out her hair a little too. The woman seemed to be sleeping peacefully and Bradley was struck by how pretty she was. She had a tiny upturned nose, light freckles on her cheek and long eyelashes.

Bradley grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and covered her up before walking to his room to get some sleep.