Eleven

Chapter One: Breathe

Chapter One: Breathe

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

Deep breath in...shaky breath out. Oh God.

My fingers shook as I tried to fit the key into the ignition. It sounded simple, but a once thoughtless task had become an impossible hurdle I couldn't seem to clear.

As my fingers continued shaking and tears welled up in my eyes, I couldn't tell if it was from nerves or excitement. Probably both.

My blurred vision made the simpleton task even more hopeless, and I tossed my keys onto the seat beside me before bursting into tears.

It's not a bad thing, I repeated to myself as I wiped at the endless stream of tears, trying to gather even a small smidgen of strength. They'll be happy.

"Sang, you have no idea how much joy you're going to bring to nine lives when you tell them," Dr. Roberts had told me after my normal check up, when my mind had been going a mile a minute in all different directions.

It was a new chapter. A very new chapter. Something we'd been mentioning over the past year in small increments but never made a game plan for.

Kota would've wanted a plan.

That thought made my heart squeeze for the hundredth time in the last hour.

All I had managed was a wobbly smile that had made Dr. Roberts's worried eyes narrow, but I hadn't known how to react.

All Dr. Roberts had done was ask me if I had any concerns or questions about my health recently. How was I supposed to know that almost jokingly telling him previously sweet foods were starting to taste sour to me would lead to an array of blood tests and end with him telling me I'm pregnant?

Pregnant.

I had expected him to just make a joke about Luke experimenting in the kitchen again and move on to examining my ears.

He had also kindly informed me that heightened emotions and oversensitivity were other pregnancy symptoms.

That might explain why I was currently bawling like a baby in the hospital parking lot.

I wasn't sure how to deal with this. With all of my Academy training, I'd been taught how to analyze tense situations while keeping a calm facade. While I could definitely verify I was tense right now, my emotions were a blur.

But I could do this. There was nothing stopping me. I wasn't some lonely, scared fifteen year old girl anymore. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I was a happy, loved twenty-five year old...woman.

So why were my hands still shaking as hard as they were when Max jumped on me that dark, rainy night nine years ago?

Nine years.

The boys had stayed by my side, through thick and thin, for nine whole years. No matter what other people had told us, we'd stayed a family and never grew apart. I knew the only outside people who weren't shocked by it were Lily and her men.

Men. Despite Owen and Sean approaching thirty, which was mind boggling in itself, I still couldn't call any of them men. They were my boys, just like they'd always be.

Ten minutes later and with the help of some greater power, my tears had slowed down and I was able to get the key in the ignition without too much trouble. As if fate took that as a sign, my phone started ringing from the seat beside me. Quickly grabbing a take-out napkin from the console, I hastily blew my nose while fumbling for the phone.

Allowing myself one last pity sniffle, I brought the phone to my ear without bothering to check the screen, "Hello?"

"How was your appointment, love?" Owen's voice carried through the phone and I suppressed another sniffle at the warmth in it. This oversensitivity was going to be the death of me, I thought with an eyeroll.

"It went...well," I answered confidently after trying to find the appropriate word. "I'm healthy."

"I never doubted that," Owen said, a faint trace of amusement in his voice. "Sean and I will be home for lunch, and you know he'll want to hear all about it. Join us?"

"That sounds wonderful," I smiled into the phone, hoping the food wouldn't taste too sour thanks to my frazzled tastebuds. "I'll be there. And Owen?"

"Yes, Sang?" He prompted, and I could just picture his eyebrow tilting up at me not just asking out-right. Some habits were hard to break.

"Do you think we could get everyone together after lunch?" I asked hopefully, tracing the steering wheel gently with my finger.

"Today?" Owen sounded surprised. "I'm not sure if that's possible, love. North and Silas are assisting Raven at the range, and both Victor and Kota are on assignment until the morning. The others are off today, but it might be too late of notice. How does tomorrow sound?"

My stomach twisted slightly, and I knew I wouldn't last twenty-four hours without blurting it out. I was afraid I wouldn't even last two minutes.

But I needed all of the boys there.

"Please?" I asked, cringing at the desperation in my voice.

"Sang, what's wrong?" Owen's voice deepened and was laced with concern.

"Nothing is wrong," I shook my head adamantly, despite him not being able to see it. I may have my worries and concerns with how this news would go, but I could very confidently say that nothing was wrong. "It's just important, and it needs to be today."

There was a loaded pause, and the silence seemed to stretch so long I almost broke and gave Owen the news over the phone. My fingers gripped the steering wheel until every single knuckle turned white, just for some form of stability.

"Alright," Owen's voice finally sounded through the phone and I sagged with relief. "I'll make sure they're here."

"Thank you," I murmured gratefully. "It's really nothing bad. I just want everyone there."

"Then everyone will be here, Sang," Owen assured me quietly, but I could practically hear him holding himself back. "Are you sure-"

"Owen, you'll find out soon," I cut him off with a small smile. "I promise. Please don't try and get it out of me now, because you know I'll cave. Try and be patient, please."

There was another pause, and I knew Owen was weighing the importance of knowing against the promise they'd all made a long time ago to let me come to them on my own time. We knew from the start this wouldn't work if I was pushed at every turn.

"You should know by now not to doubt my patience, Miss Sorenson," Owen murmured, and my breath caught as the air in the car changed. His voice had dipped to a low, sensuous melody that my body immediately reacted to in the middle of a hospital parking lot.

"Oh, it's Miss Sorenson now, is it?" I answered back just as quietly, biting my lip with anticipation. My eyes fluttered closed on their own accord as I listened to his breathing, picturing Owen sitting ever so elegantly in his office. The idea of him using his bedroom name for me while in his suit and surrounded by work never failed to send a thrill through me.

"When you get home, maybe I'll show you just how patient I can be," his voice continued to tease me, and I could just hear the taunting, wicked smirk in it.

"Is that a threat, Mr. Blackbourne?" I asked softly, blinking as I realized just how strongly his words were affecting me. Did Dr. Roberts mention anything about being extremely aroused during the next seven months? I couldn't recall.

"It's a promise, love," Owen vowed before ending the call and cutting off any response my muddled brain might've managed to give.

I turned the key with renewed energy, anxious to get home for an entirely new reason. If I got pulled over for speeding on the way home, Owen had better come up with an inventive way to make it up to me.

A/N: αναπνέω = Breathe