“The Heart of a Wildflower”
2013 Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Chapter 25
Elizabeth woke up to the feel of Zeb’s sensual butterfly kisses being strategically placed along the back of her shoulders. She smiled and slowly opened her eyes thinking that this had to be the most perfect way to wake up.
“Good morning,” he whispered against her bare skin.
“Don’t stop,” she pleaded and arched her neck to the side. “That feels so nice.”
“Hm, if you like this,” he said and then nipped softly at the back of her ear, “then I know something else that I can do that would make you feel even better.”
The husky tenor in his voice told Elizabeth exactly what that something he was referring to was. She lowered her lashes making every effort to be somewhat of a seductress herself, and glanced back over her shoulder at him, feigning innocence. “And what would that be Mr. Crooker?”
He arched a brow and smirked knowingly. Lying there, all bare chested with his short cropped hair sticking up in all kinds of directions, Elizabeth couldn’t help but to notice how devastatingly handsome he looked in the light of the morning sun.
“This,” he said and lifting himself up, he held himself over her and not so gently lay claim to her rosy red lips. Their mouths moved smoothly in sync with each other, their tongues rubbing sinuously together, tasting, enjoying … loving.
Elizabeth wriggled around so that she could turn over and wrapped her arms around Zeb’s neck, pulling her body so that it was flush against his. He began to work his magic, weaving a spell over Elizabeth by doing sinfully wicked things with his tongue that had her blood heating up in no time.
She lowered her hands, tracing the taut lines of his back when he lifted his head and grinned. “How was that?” he smirked.
She licked her bottom lip, still tasting him on her. “That was definitely better,” she told him on a pleasant sigh.
“Good.” Zeb sat up and using his pointer finger, he flicked her nose. “I aim to please.”
She chuckled and rolled her eyes. Zeb Crooker, forever the charmer. “Pleasing me is something that you are getting very good at, Mr. Crooker. As long as you keep this up, you won’t get any complaints from me.”
He pulled the covers down and held his hands out to her. “That’s good to know,” he said pulling her up off the bed. Zeb looked down and she noticed how his eyes began to smolder with a heat of their own. She glanced to where he was looking and saw that her tee shirt had managed to hitch up above her waist and she didn’t have any panties on. For a second she thought about teasing him, especially after the way that he woke her up; but then her stomach ruined the moment by making a very loud and very un-lady like sound.
Embarrassed, she awkwardly pulled her shirt back down and averted her gaze.
Zeb grabbed her hand again. “Come on sweetheart. Brandon and I have a surprise for you downstairs,” he remarked, pulling her up from the bed, acting like nothing happened.
While Zeb grabbed a tee from the end of the bed Elizabeth stood on her toes and stretched her back carefully. She noticed that she was still sore from yesterday but the pain was definitely lessening.
Turning around, she saw Zeb holding open her bathrobe to her. She let him help her put it on and then proceeded to let him take her hand again and lead her down the stairs.
As soon as she hit the bottom step Elizabeth caught a variety of scents all at once. She immediately recognized coffee, bacon and eggs. Her stomach once again growled loudly in response.
“Wow,” she commented when they entered the kitchen. “Something smells mighty good in here.”
Brandon was perched in a chair at the kitchen table. He was grinning from one ear to the other and Elizabeth noticed he was missing one of his front teeth. For a fleeting moment she wondered if Nicole had done something to make him lose that tooth or if it fell out naturally. He was about the right age to start to start losing his teeth.
“We wanted to surprise you,” Brandon excitedly exclaimed interrupting her troubling thoughts.
She shook her head to dispel those thoughts. They had Brandon now, not Nicole. She remembered Zeb’s promise from the night before. He said that he would protect him no matter what and she believed him. Neither of them would ever let anything bad happen to him ever again.
She glanced at all of the food spread on the counter and a wave of tenderness filled her. She gestured in the general direction of the food. “Really?” she said and looked back over at Zeb. He was pouring coffee into a mug. “You two cooked all of this for me?”
“Sure did.” He brought her the steaming mug of coffee and Elizabeth noticed how comfortable he looked in her kitchen. He was wearing flannel pajama pants and a white tee shirt, looking every inch the typical family man.
“Why don’t you have a seat?” He placed his hand at the small of her back and guided Elizabeth to the table where Brandon was sitting. Being the perfect gentleman, he pulled out her chair and waited for her to sit down. “This morning, I’m going to serve you.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Well, well, well. I think I could get used to this. I feel like a princess.”
Zeb chuckled and headed back to the counter. “That’s because you are a princess; you’re our princess.”
Brandon rested his chin in his hand and eyed Elizabeth curiously. “You mean a princess like in a real royal court? With real kings and real queens?”
“Yes,” Zeb replied, coming up behind him. He sat a plate filled to the edges in front of Elizabeth and another plate with a slightly lesser amount of food in front of Brandon. “All she needs is a crowned tiara and she’d be the most beautiful princess in the world. Don’t you think so, Brandon?”
“Oh yes,” Brandon readily agreed. “Nurse Lizzie is the most beautiful princess in the world.”
Elizabeth couldn’t do anything other than blush. Brandon was absolutely adorable- just like his father. Not wanting to get overly emotional, Elizabeth picked up her fork and dug into her scrambled eggs.
Zeb walked back over to the counter and filled his own plate. By the time that he returned to the table, a bout of nausea hit Elizabeth and she dropped her fork on the plate.
“Lizzie, sweetheart- are you okay?” Zeb sat his plate down and rested a hand on Elizabeth’s shoulder. She was looking peaked. He watched her take several deep breaths before she jumped up from the table, covered her mouth and ran from the room.
Oh god, she thought to herself, she wasn’t going to make it. Barely making it to the bathroom, she grabbed the door jamb, swung herself around the corner and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet. Just in the nick of time she raised the toilet seat and emptied what little contents she had in her stomach until she was left dry heaving.
A cool cloth touched the side of her face and she looked up. Zeb was kneeling beside her, bathing her face without saying a word. The nausea finally faded and Elizabeth started to stand.
Zeb was right there by her side and helped her to her feet. Reaching behind him, he grabbed a cup from the sink and filled it with some water for her to rinse her mouth. Moving slowly, she accepted the cup and rinsed her mouth, then splashed her face with cool water.
When she was finished, she moved to step out of the bathroom and Zeb pulled her into his arms. “Feel better?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she replied hoarsely. “It came so fast that it just caught me off guard.”
“Pregnancy is a bitch, isn’t it?” he said close to her ear.
That lifted her spirits. “Yeah, it can be, but in the end it’s all worth it.”
Pulling his head back, he looked down at her. “I think we might have scared the crap out of Brandon. I was hoping that we could sit down with him and talk today about everything that’s going on. I mean, him moving in with us and all.” He dropped his hand and protectively curved it around her flat stomach. “I had first thought that maybe we should wait to tell him about the baby until he was more comfortable with us; but after what just happened, I’m not so sure we should wait. What do you think?”
Elizabeth was still reeling from such a sweet gesture coming from this hard, alpha male standing in front of her. It even brought tears to her eyes. “Damn hormones,” she muttered while using the back of her hand to quickly wipe them away.
Zeb laughed. “I just want you to know that I love you Elizabeth, hormones and all.”
She sniffed and tried wiped her teary face again. “I love you too, you big oaf and yeah, I think you are right. We need to talk to Brandon about what’s going to be happening in his future. He’s had so much sadness in his life; I just want him to be happy.”
“I know you do, sweetheart. That’s all I want too.” Zeb took a step back and intertwined their hands, pulling her back to the living room. He stopped in front of the couch. “Why don’t you sit here and I’ll go get Brandon. I think it would be better if we had our talk in here rather than the kitchen.
She scrunched up her nose. The thought of the food in the kitchen didn’t sit particularly well with Elizabeth. “I agree,” she told him, slowly lowering her bruised body down on the couch.
Zeb wasn’t gone five minutes before returning with Brandon in his arms. “See, there she is,” he said, pointing in Elizabeth’s direction.
Brandon hid his face in Zeb’s shoulder but not before Elizabeth saw the tear stains on his cheeks.
She quickly sat up, ignoring her bodies’ painful protest. “What’s wrong?” she demanded, unable to peel her eyes from the little boy that Zeb held in his arms.
Zeb sat down on the couch beside her and maneuvered Brandon so he was seated on his lap, facing her. “He said that he got scared when you ran out of the room and thought that maybe it was something he had done. I explained to him that your stomach wasn’t happy this morning and that you had to run out because you felt sick.” He turned his attention to Brandon. “See,” he said again, “she’s feeling much better now.”
“Aw sweetie,” Elizabeth hated that haunted look on his face. Wanting to reassure him she slid closer to Brandon and cradled the side of his face with her hand. “I’m fine now. My stomach just got a little upset.”
Brandon pushed himself up and wiped at his nose on the sleeve of his shirt. He sniffed and those sad blue eyes landed on her face. “I thought I hurt your feelings,” he admitted and sniffed again. “I thought if I was bad then you might not want me to stay with you anymore.”
Elizabeth wanted to rage. How bad had his life with Nicole been? How could he think that? She would want him to stay with her no matter what. “No baby, you didn’t hurt me at all,” she rushed to reassure him. “Look at me,” she gently demanded; lifting his chin so he could see her face, “You didn’t hurt my feelings. Your surprise made me very happy this morning. My getting sick had nothing to do with you, okay?”
“Really?” he hesitated.
“Really.”
Zeb interrupted the two of them by clearing his throat. “Brandon, there is something really important that Elizabeth and I want to talk to you about.”
Brandon turned around and had to lift up his head to see Zeb. “You do?”
Zeb nodded. “Yes, we do. And it’s going to mean that you’re going to have to make a really big decision. Can you do that for me, buddy?”
Brandon fidgeted on Zeb's lap before bobbing his head up and down. “I’m a big boy, I can make big boy decisions,” he announced as if he were a grown up.
Zeb smiled. “Yes you are,” he agreed and then grew serious. “You see, Lizzie and I want very much to be your mommy and daddy. What do you think about that?”
His small blue eyes widened and Elizabeth’s hands shook. She wasn’t sure whether that was a good sign or a bad sign. She hadn’t realized until that moment how much she wanted this, wanted Brandon to accept them as his parents. She held her breath, anxiously waiting for his answer.
He pursed his lips in thought and glanced over at Elizabeth. “You really want to be my mommy?”
“Yes,” she answered him without hesitation, “I really do.”
“I never had a real mama or daddy before;" he speculated and scratched his head. “I think… I think,” he spoke and met Elizabeth’s hopeful gaze, “that it would be the best thing ever.”
She let out her breath and sighed in relief. The way that Nicole treated her son bothered Elizabeth. If the woman had been standing in front of her now, she would have gladly wrapped her fingers around her neck and squeezed the very breath from her lungs.
But the fact was; Nicole wasn’t here- Brandon was.
He was exactly where he belonged now, with his real parents- parents that loved him for the little boy that he was.
At this point with the little information they had there wasn’t much they could do about the past. All they could really do was make sure that Brandon’s future, from here on out, was filled with many, many happy memories.
“There’s more,” Zeb calmly announced and shifted Brandon so that he was looking at him. “There is a reason your mama was feeling sick this morning.” Zeb smiled knowingly at Elizabeth.
“There is?”
“Yes, there is. In about eight months’ time she’s going to have a baby. And,” he pointed at Brandon, “that baby is going to be your brother or sister. What do you think about that?”
Brandon straightened in Zeb’s lap and pointed excitedly to himself. “I’m going to be the best big brother in the whole wide world,” he proudly announced.
Elizabeth held out her arms and Brandon immediately crawled into her lap willingly. He wrapped his good arm around her neck and squeezed as hard as he could.
For once in her life, everything felt so perfectly right. The three of them together, as a family, was how it was truly meant to be. Looking over Brandon’s shoulder, she saw something in Zeb’s face that melted the last of her defenses- his love.
His love for Brandon and his love for her.
She no longer doubted what he had been telling her from the beginning, he loved her. That was a fact written all over his face.
Later that afternoon, Zeb took Elizabeth and Brandon off to the mall. They had to purchase a whole new bedroom suit for Brandon’s room since all of the other things that she had bought for him were destroyed when her car exploded.
Brandon was like one big ray of sunshine. He had yet to stop grinning since this morning, and as the day wore on he continued to open himself up more and more to Elizabeth. She wasn’t sure if it was the attention he was getting now or the fact that he felt more secure in his place with Zeb and herself. Either way, she couldn’t have been happier herself.
Two hours later, Elizabeth started feeling tired. When they walked out of the Bed, Bath and Beyond she started to feel faint. “Zeb,” she called out, leaning up against the wall, “I think I need to take a break.”
Turning around, he frowned when he noticed Elizabeth’s pale complexion. “Are you okay?” he asked, genuinely concerned.
“Yes,” she quickly assured him. “I’m just tired and my feet ache. I think I just need to sit for a bit, and then I’ll be fine.”
Zeb looked around the mall and spotted a bench across the way. “Why don’t we go over there,” he waved in that direction. “Are you sure that you’re going to be okay?” he asked again.
She sat down on the bench and let out a sigh of appreciation. It felt good to sit down. “I’m fine,” she told him again and smiled. “Why don’t you take Brandon down to the food court and get some drinks? I should be raring and ready to go by the time you get back.”
Zeb hesitated. He didn’t really want to leave Elizabeth completely alone, not after what happened yesterday. “What about I go get the drinks and Brandon stays here with you, just in case you need something,” he was quick to add.
She glanced over at Brandon before looking back up at Zeb. He wasn’t fooling her a bit. She watched him shuffle from one foot to the other. “I think that’ll be fine,” she confirmed. “We can sit here while you go and get drinks.”
Zeb knelt down on the floor. “Can you sit here with your mama until I get back?”
“Yes sir,” Brandon replied seriously. He crawled up on the bench and sat beside Elizabeth. “Don’t worry, mama,” he said patting Elizabeth’s leg. “I will take good care of you.”
Elizabeth hid her smile and covered his hand with her own. “I know you will, baby. You’re such a big boy.”
Zeb hesitated and Elizabeth whispered to him, “Go, I promise that we’ll be okay. The quicker you leave, the faster you’ll be back.”
He knew she was telling the truth but it was still hard to leave the two of them. Finally, he forced his feet to move and headed for the escalator. “I’ll be back,” he called out to them. “And please, just try to stay out of trouble.”
Brandon and Elizabeth sat on the bench for several minutes watching the people go by. Brandon sat with his back straight, looking like the perfect little gentleman. She wanted to laugh but didn’t dare for fear that she might hurt his feelings.
She was poised to ask him what he thought sounded good for dinner when her phone began to ring, halting that thought. She pulled open her purse, dug around inside of it and didn’t think to even look at the caller ID before she answered it.
“Hello,” she said as she opened the phone.
“Lizzie, please don’t hang up on me. Hear me out.” Christopher rushed out on the other line. “I need to talk to you.”
She made a sound of impatience, wishing that she had let her phone go to voicemail. Chris, after that stunt you pulled yesterday I should hang up on you right now.”
“I know, I know,” he admitted. “I acted like a total ass yesterday and I just want to apologize, Lizzie. I shouldn’t have been so bold and forced a kiss on you like that. It was my own stupidity and arrogance. Can you ever forgive me?”
Elizabeth held the phone at her ear, unable to come up with a response. She didn’t want to hear an apology right now. She was still pretty majorly pissed by his behavior both at her home with Zeb and then yesterday at the mall. It was uncalled for. She’d never once led him to believe that they could ever be more than friends.
“Lizzie, please. You have to say something. You have to forgive me,” he continued to beg. After another long minute of silence he added, “Can’t you see, Elizabeth. I need you. I need you in my life.”
“I have nothing to say to you Chris. This conversation is now over, good Bye,” she clipped and closed her phone, disconnecting it before tossing it back into her purse.
“The nerve of that man,” she muttered angrily to herself. “What makes him think that I’d forgive him over a phone call?”
She shook her head and sighed. “Men…”
“Brandon, if you ever… She glanced over to her side and stilled. The air in her lungs suddenly deflated. Panic threatened to consume her. Brandon was nowhere to be seen.
“Brandon?” she stood up and started to look up and down the mall corridor. Adrenaline started to pump fast and hard in her veins. Where could he have gone? He had been sitting there five minutes ago, now there wasn’t a single sign of Brandon anywhere.
Forgetting her purse and her bags, she started to jog down the corridor, looking in every store she passed. “Brandon! Brandon, where are you!
Brandon!” she choked hysterically, pulling herself to a halt when she didn’t see him anywhere. How could she have lost him so quickly? It had only been five minutes, five minutes, and now he was gone.
A firm hand gripped her shoulder and a scream strangled in her throat. She found herself being spun around and came face to face with and extremely worried looking Zeb. “Lizzie, what’s wrong?”
She started to fiercely shake her head and pull away at the same time. “He’s, he’s gone. I can’t find him anywhere,” she managed to stammer out pathetically. Unable to look him in the eyes she continued to search all around her for any sign of her son.
“Who?” Zeb demanded coolly. “Who can’t you find?”
Elizabeth was in a fit of hysterics. She couldn’t sit still knowing that he was out there, somewhere. He was just a five year old boy. He could be scared, lost…
“Who?” Zeb asked again, this time there was a hint of urgency in his tone.
“Brandon,” she stomped her foot and screamed. “Brandon is missing. He was there one minute, then I got a phone call and afterwards I looked beside me and he was just–just gone.”
Zeb swallowed hard and gently grabbed her by the elbow. He began to lead her calmly through the mall.
She wanted to scream at him. How could he be so calm at a time like this?
He sensed her reservations and without stopping he told her, “It’s best to remain calm, Lizzie. If you fall apart, we aren’t doing Brandon a bit of good.” He glanced back and squeezed her elbow. “We will find him,” he firmly declared. “The mall isn’t that big and he couldn’t have gone too far. He has to be around here somewhere.”
She processed that information and took a much needed breath. Nervously, she held one hand to her throat and let Zeb lead them floor by floor. Her eyes roamed in every direction–hoping, praying to catch a glimpse of Brandon. They just managed to get him back, she wasn’t ready to lose him again.
By the time they reached the third floor and her heart was thudding in her chest. “Where is he?” she anxiously asked. Elizabeth didn’t know how much more she could possibly take.
“Mama!”
Elizabeth froze at the sound of that sweet musical voice. She heard it again and unable to stand there any longer, she whipped around to see Brandon standing by the food court, happily eating ice cream. The immediate relief she felt overwhelmed her.
Dr. Mayberry stood beside him. Elizabeth rushed over to Brandon and pulled him into her the wreath of her arms she held him as tightly as she dared. “Thank God you’re okay,” she pulled back and whispered.
“I’m fine mama. Dr. Mayberry bought me ice cream,” he informed her and proceeded to lick half-eaten Popsicle he held in his hand. He then held the Popsicle up to her. “See,” he remarked as he showed her by shoving the orange Popsicle right up under her nose.
She gave him a forced smile and patted his shoulder. “I see, baby. That was very nice of Dr. Mayberry. Did you tell him thank you?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Elizabeth felt Zeb’s presence behind her and turned to hand Brandon off to him. He took his hand wordlessly and pulled him to his side.
She turned her attention to her boss. “Dr. Mayberry, I don’t know how to thank you for taking care of him.” She folded her hands in front of her and looked to the floor. “Just… thank you,” she repeated again.
Dr. Mayberry chuckled. “It was no problem, Lizzie. I saw him standing by the toy store; and when I didn’t see either of you around, I figured he may have wondered off. I brought him up here assuming that you would find us if we stayed in one place.”
Zeb came forward and held up his hand in anticipation of shaking the doctors hand. “That was good thinking Dr. Mayberry. It seems that this is the second time you’ve been a great help to us–yesterday with Lizzie, today with Brandon. As Lizzie said a second ago, we can never thank you enough. If you need anything and I mean anything don’t hesitate to call on us anytime, day or night, alright?”
“It was nothing,” he waved the praise away, “but I’ll be sure to keep your offer in mind, Zeb,” Dr. Mayberry replied cordially.
Zeb lifted Brandon into his arms and holding an empty Popsicle stick, Brandon instantly rested his head on his shoulder.
“And you, little man,” Dr. Mayberry looked pointedly at the sleepy boy. “I want you to remember what we talked about, okay?”
Brandon slowly shook his head up and down in agreement. Elizabeth noticed his wariness though and wondered if he was just that tired or was it because of something that Dr. Mayberry said. He was old school and she could imagine the lecture he would have given Brandon for running off like that. Right now, she was just thankful that he was okay.
She was more upset by the fact that on her first day as a full time mom she ended up losing her own son. Some mother I’m turning out to be, she thought agitatedly to herself.
“Stop it! Stop it right now,” Dr. Mayberry admonished. “I know what you’re thinking, Lizzie, and it’s absolutely not true. He’s just a little boy and little boys tend to get distracted. It happens all the time. Don’t you go and over think this.” He arched a gray brow. “It happens, we get over it and then we move on. Understood?”
She let out a heavy breath and reluctantly nodded her head.
“I want to hear you say it,” Dr. Mayberry instructed.
“Okay,” she replied. “I understand things happen and it wasn’t my fault,” she dutifully repeated the words he wanted to hear. Suddenly she was feeling more exhausted than ever and the strain of the past two days events showed in her expression.
Dr. Mayberry nodded in satisfaction. “I think it’s time for the two of you to take that little boy home,” Dr. Mayberry told them and then looked directly at Elizabeth. “And you, young lady, I want you especially to go home and get some much needed rest. Your eyes are rimmed in dark circles and you’re looking much paler than I would like. Yesterday was a pretty traumatizing experience. You shouldn’t be out gallivanting all over God’s green earth today anyway.” He shot Zeb a disapproving glance. “I’m surprised your beau let you out in the first place.”
Zeb had the good sense to look shamed. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have let her come out so soon. I promise I won’t make that same mistake again,” he told Dr. Mayberry, wrapping his arm around Elizabeth’s waist.
“That’s good enough for me,” Dr. Mayberry noted and smiled in satisfaction. He started to turn and leave but then stopped, glancing back over his shoulder. “Don’t forget to call and make that prenatal appointment, Lizzie. It’s best that we start monitoring you early and start talking about birthing plans.”
“I won’t forget, Dr. Mayberry. It’s at the top of my lists to do.”
Without saying another word, the doctor turned back around and strode away.
“Well, you guys heard the man,” Zeb spoke again, “it’s time to go home and put mama to bed.”
She scowled at him and grabbed Brandon’s hand. “I’m a big girl, Zeb. I can handle putting myself to bed.
“I know that, but I’m not about to flounce the good doctor’s orders.” He reached down and picked up their bags. “Besides,” he winked at her and lowered his voice so that only she could hear him, “I think putting you to bed might have its own advantages; like getting you naked, spreading you out spread eagle and ….”
Elizabeth slapped her hand over his mouth and from the rapidly rising color in her cheeks was already imagining the picture he had so vividly painted for her. “Time to go home,” she primly announced, struggling to regain her composure.
The laughter in his eyes said it all. Riding the escalator back down, Elizabeth did her best to keep a straight face. They made a quick stop by the bench to pick up the bags that Elizabeth left behind and then headed for the exit. They couldn’t get home fast enough.