Secrets (Codey #1) (7 page)

Chapter Nine

Mike was going crazy. His life had fallen apart looking for Casey. Three days, it had been three days before they finally received a call from her grandmother. Any minute now the old lady will come out and let him go in to see her. "Stop it, just stop it." Mike turned and glared at Lucy and Luis who kept fighting with each other. They’ve been waiting for a while now and they kept attacking each other.

"What, little Miss Elle Woods here keeps bugging me." Luis smirked at her.

"Stop calling me that. Why do you always call me that?" An angry Lucy yelled.

"Hello, didn't you see Legally Blond.” Luis shrugged. “You remind me of her with all your prissiness. All you’re missing is a little sissy rat dog to carry in a purse?"

"Well you’re nothing but a country hick."

Luis laughed at Lucy. "You better cool it with that mouth of yours. Don’t forget you’re going to be living with us country hicks when you come down for school in August.

Lucy childishly stuck her tongue out at Luis. "I never said your family were hicks. Only you."

Mike grab his head and lightly banged it on the wall. "Mike please stop that." His mother scolded.

Just then Casey’s grandmother returned. "I told her about her mother. She’s a little shaken up. She's worried about the baby since she thinks Mike is her brother. It’s your turn to unleash the last of the secrets.” It surprised Mike when the little old lady hugged him. "Good luck."

Mike turned to his parents. “Are you guys ready?" When he opened the door, Casey was standing by the window. She looked so frail and sad. He opened his arms not sure what she would do. Casey looked at him for a second then flew into his embrace. The sound of her crying made him cry too. "Don't ever leave me again. I was dying not knowing where you were. Not knowing if you and the baby where OK. I think I aged 10 years in the last three days."

She looked up at him. "Mike, you’re my brother." Her tears fell again.

"Baby, please don’t cry anymore. I’m not your brother. Walker Codey isn’t my father." Casey looked at Mike in shock. "No kidding. There wasn’t one skeleton hiding in the closet. Between our two families, we can make a whole cemetery." His laugh came out strained.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Walker Codey walked in the moment Casey ran into Mike's arms. He felt like a knife was twisting in his gut as he saw them cry over their secrets. Yet he was full of pride, as he looked at his daughter and son.

"He’s telling the truth. The day of your graduation, we told him the truth. He is not my son, but the son of my best friend. His father came back two years later, begging me to give him a chance to make a family with Mike and his mother. I stepped aside not wanting to be in their way. Even though it was killing me. I came here figuring work would make me forget. I truly don’t remember that night with your mother. I only found out when Linda called me looking for money." He raked his fingers through his hair.

“We decided to buy the house you live in. We had you move close to us with the hope that you would come to live with us. After a few months of adjusting that is. I didn’t know Linda was feeding you those lies to keep you away from me. All she wanted, was to keep getting money. That day, I sent my sons to meet the new girl. I had hopes you would bond with them and I could at least know what was going on in your life." He walk to Casey.

"All I ever wanted was to do right by you. I asked for a DNA test, but the moment I laid eyes on you. There was no question about it. You have the Codey eyes. You also have the same color hair as I do. I knew you were mine and I’ve loved you from that moment on. Can you ever forgive me?" She ran into his arms. Walker felt the tears slide from his eyes.

"I wasn’t the only one who fell in love with you. My whole family loves you. It seems Mike, more than the others. Goodness, I can't believe I'm going to be a grandfather." Casey smiled up at him and Walker knew he would work his whole life to keep that look on his little girls face.

"Hey, don't forget me. I'm going to be a grandmother too.” His wife said as she joined in the hugging.

Mike came and pulled Cassandra out of his arms. "I suggest we head back to the living room before Luis and Lucy kill each other."

"Are they still at it?" Casey asked and Mike nodded yes. Walker Codey laughed. It felt really good to laugh carefree again.

Once they were all in the living room and everyone finished hugging Cassandra. Mike turned to her as everyone took a seat. Then he got down on one knee. “Cassandra, we’ve been through good times and recently through bad. Through it all it was clear that my life is not whole without you. You are that missing part of me. The part that makes me whole. Will you Marry Me?" Walker could see all the love, worry and pain of the last few days.

"Yes Mike, we will marry you." He leaned in and kissed her abdomen. Walkers’ eyes sought out his wife’s. They knew that their children would love each other as much as they did.

THE END

Epilogue

Cassandra still couldn’t believe the beautiful house Mike and his family had built for them. It was located on the property, not far from the clubhouse. The place held so many special memories for them. Mike wanted to make sure that their little girl gets to have it as her play area. You heard correctly, Casey is having a girl and his mom and her dad couldn’t be happier.

They were married as soon as they returned to Texas in a small intimate ceremony that took place at the farm. Shortly after, school started. To Casey’s delight, Mike signed up for classes too. Part of her thought it might just be so he could keep an eye on her. Whatever the reason, she was ecstatic that they had a class together.

Lucy finally arrived and was staying at the main house. That only made things very interesting as they seem to have fallen back into their getting on each other’s nerves pattern.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Casey never heard again from the woman she called mother. Yet she still talked to her gran as much as she could. What her daughter did was not her fault.

For now, Casey was getting ready for the Christmas Eve dinner. It was being held at the main house. The whole family would be there. "Mike, are you ready?" She huffed while trying to put her shoes on.

"Let me do that for you." Mike said running to her side. That only earned him a glare.

“I can do it for myself.”

“You Mrs. Codey, are so hot when you’re angry." His words were followed by a rub to her stomach. "I don't know what it is about seeing you like this. It makes me hotter for your body."  Casey smacked his hand away.

"Keep it in your pants mister, the family’s waiting for us." It took a little longer than expected to get dressed without any help. When they finally made it to the main house, everyone was there.

She had been feeling very uncomfortable the last couple of days. “I'm not very hungry Lucy, but thank you.” Another minor contraction hit during dinner. The doctor said first labor always takes longer so Casey was trying to pretend everything was Ok.

When they went to the living room for coffee, her water broke. "Mike, can you come here please." Everyone was already in the living room but her. It was getting hard to remember the breathing technique and stay calm.

When Mike entered the dining room she was hunched over. "What the hell? Who spilled water on the floor? Casey baby, be careful. You don’t want to fall." She just straightened and smiled.

"Mike, I need you to stay calm for me. My water just broke. So I need you to drive me to the hospital."  He was wide eyed, it made her worry.

"Oh my God, oh my God. What do I do?" Casey rolled her eyes.

"Come grab my hand. Now let’s go to the car. Then you can drive me to the hospital." Well, at least helping him was taking her mind off the pain.

They made it as far as the door to the living room before he freaked. "The baby's coming! Her water broke."

When they finally made it to the hospital she was calm enough to sign in. Mike was another story. Yet she held it together until the room was ready. Once there, the contractions increased and she was ready to call it quits. With every contraction, Mike tried to hug her.

“Get away from me. This is all your fault." Her scream had him backing away in shock. The doctor came and informed her that she was only five centimeters dilated. It hurt like hell. What had she been thinking? The kid had to come out of her.

She let out a whimper of pain and heard the chair squeak. "Don't you dare come next to me, or I’ll castrate you." The glare she sent his way left no doubt. When the doctor came in again she cried. "I changed my mind. Give me the epidural. Knock me out and make the pain go away.

Everyone came to visit. Luckily, the Epidural had been done so she was feeling a hell of a lot better. "I'm sorry Mike." She reached for him.

“Baby, if I could take your place and spare you this pain. I would."

"Sure, easy for you to say. You know you can't, so that’s just an empty gesture." The doctor came in just as she shot him another glare.

He chuckled, "Mr. Codey, right now you’re the enemy. Don't take it personally." Casey felt bad for Mike, who looked sad and lost.

Yet when the contractions started to get more painful again she hated him. "I change my mind. I don't want to have this baby after all." Now the doctor started to laugh at her.

"Too late now young lady. It's time to start pushing. The contractions are going to increase in pain. I'm turning down the Epidural so the pain from the contractions will help you push." Her jaw dropped.

Mike walked over to hold her hand when they positioned her body to facilitate the pushing. "Ok young lady. Here comes a good contraction. Now push." Holy hell, she felt like she was being ripped apart.

She looked up at her husband. "I hate you Michael Codey. This is all your fault. Get away from me.” Casey pushed him away. He had no choice but to move back. After the contraction stopped she held her hands out again. "Baby, I'm so sorry. I love you, please hold my hand." The same pattern went on for over seven more pushes.

It was all worth it when they heard the cry of their baby. The doctor held up a bloody and slimy little bundle. "Congratulations, it's a girl. Mr. Codey, would you like to cut the cord."

Mike planted a kiss on her lips. "I love you so much."

She gave him a strained smile. "Mike, go make sure she's ok.”

"Okay Mrs. Codey. While they clean your baby girl. It's time to push out the placenta." Was he fucking kidding? Alas, he wasn’t and the pain was equally as bad. It felt like she pushed out another kid. Her insides literally were ripped out. How the hell did women do this more than once?

Casey could hear the baby cry as they cleaned her up. When all was finished on her part, the nurse came holding a small pink bundle. She reached out and cradled her daughter. The first thing Casey did was make sure the baby had ten fingers and toes. Not that it would matter if she didn’t.

Yet she became mesmerized with every part of the baby while she just cried. "Welcome little one. I know it was a hard trip for you, but you’re finally her.” To her surprise. The baby stopped crying and looked up at her.

"Did you decide on a name for the baby?" The Nurse asked.

“Yes, her name will be Hope." Casey had always dreamt and hoped for a family. Now she had one.

"Happy Birthday, little Miss Hope Codey." The nurse said while filling in the card on the little rollaway crib. They were taken to a private room and the baby followed in the little crib.

Casey was shown how to breastfeed the baby. Not long after, Mike came in with the whole family. They all wanted to welcome little Hope into the world.

~*~   ~*~  ~*~

40 days have passed and Mike was feeling happy. This was the night they would resume intimacy. Little Miss Hope was spending the night with her grandparents. She had them wrapped around her little finger. Everybody keeps holding her so she’s hardly ever allowed to cry. It truly is funny to see all the guys talking like babies. After kissing Hope goodnight, they headed for home. Or so Casey thought.

Mike, had other plans. He drove them to the club house. A gasp left her when he opened the door. Talk about a flash back. The whole place was lit up with candles and there were flowers everywhere. It was exactly as it had been when they first made love.

Casey just stood there in surprise. Mike walked to the radio and turned the music on. The sexy voice of Josh Turner echoed in the room. As he sang about locking the door and turning the lights down low. As the music played Mike started to sing the words to her.

They danced as he sang in her ear. When the song was over Mike carried her to the bedroom and proceeded to show her how much he truly did love her.

THE END

Well, not really. We will still visit with Mike and Casey in book two titled Rough and Ready. Time to see what Luis is made of…..

Keep reading for an excerpt.

Rough and Ready

By: Elena Moreno

Chapter 1

   The alarm rang and Luis rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Five fucking o’clock. I hate getting up this early to do chores. We have a shit load of money now.” He still didn’t agree with his father who still wanted them to work the land still. Didn’t he get that his son needed his beauty sleep? Well, it’s not like he really needs it. Luis flexed his muscles while looking in the mirror. “Yes, the ladies love this body.”

  He went into the bathroom to take a shower and made sure to massage his muscles while lathering. “I over did my workout yesterday.” While working up a lather, the image of the sexy ass platinum blond Barbie in the next room popped into his head.  

How he loved getting her mad. Just seeing those emerald green eyes of hers flash with fire was enough to make him hard. The rosy flush she gets from her anger only serves to make him wonder, if that’s what she looks like after sex. As his soapy hand traveled lower he grabbed a firm hold of his rod. Luis pictured her mouth wrapping around him and couldn’t help but to stroke up and down. After getting himself off, it was time to get dressed.  

Damn, why was he even thinking about her that way? She wasn’t even his type. The girl was just so prissy. Always has been and always will be. After getting dressed Luis went to her door and knocked, but after three knocks he just open the door and came in.

  “Wake up Lucy, it’s been five months now. When are you going to get your lazy ass up and help with morning chores?”

She uncovered her head and glared at him. “You know, you’re going to have to learn how to ride a horse too. Only way to get work done around here faster, is on a horse.” She continued to glare at him without saying a word. The chick was hopeless. Luis shook his head and left her room.  

On his way to the barn, Luis couldn’t help but think about the first time he met Lucy. They had been only 13 at the time. She had come for a week to see Casey. He remembered all the frilly things she wore every time she visited. Even when they invited her horseback riding. He had to put her with him because she refused to ride a horse alone.