Justice Falling (Falling #3)(73)

Aspen inhaled and continued bickering all the way into a shiny black limo.

Wow. This I would never get used to. My friends rode around in limos when I had never even owned a car. Public transportation had always been my mode of getting from point A to point B. Oliver spoke to the driver. “Take us to the same damn place for lunch we’ve been going all week,” he huffed.

The driver smirked and pulled out into traffic.

“So I take it you’re hungry,” Tripp said lightly.

Aspen rubbed her belly and cringed for a second. I noticed but she covered it easily. Maybe it was a twinge or her back hurting. I know in my last trimester, everything was uncomfortable. “If you must know, I am craving eggs, okay? Lots and lots of eggs with a side of crispy bacon. I have no idea why. It’s not something I usually eat.”

“I remember when I was pregnant with Tanner I ate so many pineapples I ended up with canker sores in my mouth from all the acid. It didn’t stop me. I ate through the pain. Now, I rarely eat the stuff. I’m convinced babies tell their mom’s what they need in-utero. Maybe baby Jensen needs protein?”

Oliver laughed. “I’m not sure how! She’s getting a side of beefcake every night from my hunky cowboy!”

Aspen shoved Oliver and he fell over in the seat howling with laughter.

Oliver laughed and snorted, practically spitting while trying to speak. “Hank’s been hiding at my place! Damn girl is so horny he said his dick is broken and about to fall off!”

Damn. I remember that phase, being so horny and not having a man to help me through it. Poor Hank.

“Is he complaining?” Tripp laughed. “I can’t wait to give him a ration of shit the size of AIR Bright. What man hides out from sex?”

Aspen clenched her teeth and sucked in a breath. “To be fair, I have been a little needy lately.”

“Needy! A homeless man is needy, Princess. According to the cowboy she’s hopping on pop every hour on the hour! Poor guy has to come to our house to give his baby maker a rest.” Oliver snickered and the three of us laughed. I couldn’t help it. It was pretty funny.

We made it to the restaurant and feasted on a variety of breakfast foods. Aspen had a dreamy look on her face and if it was up to me, I’d give the poor thing eggs until she’d had her fill. She looked exhausted but beautiful.

“How much time do you have left?” I asked.

“Four more weeks. Seems like an eternity.” She frowned.

I grasped her hand. “It will go by fast.”

She smiled but her smile turned into a thin line and her lips went white with tension. A soft hiss escaped her mouth. Her eyes widened and her face went deathly pale.

“What’s the matter?” I clenched her hand. She squeezed tight and then I felt something wet touch my hand as I moved closer to her.

“Um, I don’t, uh, I don’t know.” She gripped her stomach and pulled my hand to her belly. It went from slightly hard to downright tight. “I think I peed.” she whispered in my ear. I looked down and noticed the wetness along her royal blue skirt. It was much larger than a little pee.

Her hand tightened on mine and her head dropped to her chest. She breathed hard and moaned in pain.

“Oh no, Aspen. I think you’re in labor!”

The two men’s eyes flew to mine, sharing the shocked look I’m sure I had. Oliver jumped up and started dialing. Tripp and I helped her out of the booth. Oliver threw a hundred dollar bill on the table. I knew that was double what our lunch cost, but didn’t say anything as we ushered Aspen out of the building and into the limo.

“Fuck! I can’t get Hank. Where the hell is he?” Oliver tapped frantically on his phone.

Mentally, I ran through his schedule. “He’s in a meeting giving a presentation with a couple of the investors. It’s going to be a few hours. The presentation I pulled together was slated for two hours. Then they were going to spend the afternoon in the conference room going over the numbers.”

“Jesus Christ, what are we going to do?” Oliver’s eyes misted as he held Aspen’s hand. “She’s gonna break my God damned fingers!”

Oliver was not the person you wanted to handle a traumatic situation.

I pulled out my phone. “I’ll handle this.” I dialed Nate and put him on speaker phone so I could tend to Aspen while talking.

“Hey Precious--”

“Nate, I need you to do me a favor.” I cut him off.

“Just breathe. That’s a good girl. In and out slowly.” Behind me, Tripp mimicked what I’d told him to do.

“Who the f*ck is that in the background?” My alpha male heard another male voice and instantly reacted. I couldn’t stop the eye roll but secretly I loved how possessive he was of me. It made me feel special and desirable.

“It’s Tripp. We’re in Aspen’s limo…”

“Brilliant! So you’ve finally decided to talk to Tripp about being his long lost sister?” Oh Jesus! Nate can’t shut up for two damn minutes. Why the hell did I put him on speaker phone?

The entire car went completely silent except for Aspen’s low moans of pain. Ollie groaned when she mangled his hand during the next contraction. Tripp’s gaze bore into mine. I looked away, not knowing what to do or how to respond.

“What the f*ck is he talking about, Cami?”