Chapter Nine

Even though they weren't actively seeing each other, when she went before the judge five days later to sign the paperwork and be legally declared April's guardian, Ava happened to look around the courtroom, seeing a lot of familiar, supportive, happy faces—that included his. He wasn't looking at her, and he was sitting at the back of the room, but even just at the sight of him, something in her relaxed that had been extremely tense until she'd laid eyes on him.

And when she got home from the small party that Sheila and Jack had insisted on throwing in celebration of that momentous day, she found a bouquet of flowers for her and a stuffed teddy for April.

His note, in his hurried scrawl, just read, "Congratulations—you're going to be a fantastic mother. Love, Kurt."

But it brought her to tears that he'd been there, in that room, and had even thought to send them something.

Less than two weeks later, Ava was driving them home after having gotten together for a Saturday afternoon play date with a group of mothers she'd met—a lot of them through him. It had been a wonderful time, hosted at Kelly's place. There were six moms and eight kids, ranging from April's ten months to twenty-four or so. The kids had thoroughly enjoyed playing together, and the moms were glad for a chance to talk to other adults!

I-40 was busy for a Saturday, and she wondered where everyone was going. It wasn't usually this busy in their small burg, on a weekend, especially. April was chewing on Simba and occasionally making sounds that were almost but not quite words, at wildly varying volumes.

Suddenly, someone in a Dodge Charger—which she recognized only because Jeffrey had coveted them so—cut her off, swiping the front of her car and forcing her to drive into the concrete barrier in front of a bridge. If it hadn't been there, they might well have been dumped forty or so feet onto two lanes of equally busy traffic going south.

Her airbag deployed, saving her from serious injury, but she blacked out for a while and didn't come to until she felt someone calling to her and touching her shoulder.

"Ma'am? Ma'am, are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Ava came to slowly, and the first word out of her mouth—with no conscious thought—was, "Kurt?"

"Is Kurt your husband, ma'am?" the EMT asked as he began to examine her.

"Kurt Gilmore. Lieutenant."

"Lt. Gilmore?"

She didn't have to say anything else. The EMT called to the cop who was nearest to him, and the call went out. Some of the guys there knew what had happened to his wife, and they were worried about how he was going to react when he found out that his girlfriend had been in a car accident.

She wasn't in anywhere near as bad shape as his wife had been, but still. It was going to be traumatic for him, regardless.

Kurt was out in the city car he used, and he had the radio on out of habit. He'd heard that there was an accident on I-40 and recognized the location as being on I-40 near where Ava's exit was, but he didn't think anything of it until he heard the officer on scene describe the car that had apparently been forced to ram into a concrete barrier.

And just as he was calling that officer on the radio to get clarification, his phone rang, and it was Sheila.

He cut off whatever she was going to say, growling, "Is it Ava?"

"Yes, it is, but Kurt—"

She didn't get any further before he did a one-eighty and headed towards the scene, his heart in his throat.

His phone was blowing up, but he ignored it. It was easy to see where the accident was—the traffic on both sides was backed up, and of course, he was on the wrong side. He pulled over before the bridge, got out, and dodged his way through the cars, ran down the grassy area between the two sets of lanes, and could barely stop himself as he bore down on the car, noting how badly the hood had been crumpled and trying not to succumb to the flashbacks he was seeing behind his eyes or the crushing sense of dread he was feeling as he dashed to her car and literally threw the EMT out of the way to kneel in front of Ava.

She had a bleeding bruise on her forehead and looked as if she was in some pain.

The EMT he'd manhandled out of the way was standing behind him. "She's fine. Minor injuries, Lieutenant."

Ava's mind felt fuzzy, but as he hovered over her, white as a sheet and trembling, she reached out and grabbed his shirt with a bloody hand, crying hysterically, "April. Is April okay? Please? Is she okay?"

The EMTs had told her that the baby was fine, although the straps holding the carrier were a bit twisted and the guy in the back was having a bit of a challenge getting her out.

Knowing that there was nothing that would soothe Ava but to see for herself that April was all right, that young man, too, was bodily lifted away from his duty to be replaced by Kurt, who whipped out the smallest knife he had and cut the straps, freeing the baby. He lifted her into his arms, immediately surrounded by that wonderful new baby smell. Memories of the daughter he couldn't help slammed into him, threatening to buckle his knees, but he pushed them away in favor of bringing April to Ava.

"She's perfectly fine, honey," he said. "See? Even Simba made it through fine." He hunkered down next to her. "I'm going to be right here, where you can see me, but I'm going to let these fine, experienced gentlemen do what they need to do to help you, because without you, neither of us can be whole. I want you to let them do anything they can to help you, okay, and I'll—we'll—be right here with you the whole time."

It turned out that she had a sprained ankle and wrist, a cut that required stitches on her forehead, near her hairline, and a gash on her other arm, but other than that, she was fine.

He would not allow her to refuse a trip to the hospital, and he didn't hesitate to give her a look that let her know not to push it, either, when he knew she wanted to.

"But the expense—ambulance trips are so expensive!"

Once they got her on the stretcher, he held her hand from the car to the ambulance. "I don't want to hear it, Ava Prudence."

She gave him a small smile at that.

"The baby and I will be right behind you."

Not quite, but close enough. He had to transfer the baby bag, as well as car seat—with its straps cut—to the back of his own car. It only took him a second to repair it, though—duct tape to the rescue again. He just ran it in an X from one back corner, diagonally across April's front in either direction, then did three more horizontal strips across her. He thought it did a better job than the original straps.

And at least it would work until he could replace the seat entirely.

Then he drove like a little old lady—as he had when driving his daughter at any time—to the hospital.

So, she was in the process of being examined when he appeared in her makeshift ER room and hurried to her side. "How are you doing, honey?" he asked but didn't give her a chance to answer. "How's she doing, Doc?" He turned to the doctor, instead.

It was like old home week for him—he knew everyone there—doctors, nurses, X-ray techs—everyone.

He hugged the doctor like a brother, and the doctor looked more concerned about him than he did about Ava. "She'll be fine, Kurt. Minor injuries. Good as new in a couple weeks."

Ava saw him lean towards Kurt and ask, "You okay, man?"

And she was overjoyed to see him look at the baby, who was sitting on his arm, happy as a clam, and then wink at her as he said, "Yeah, man. I'm better than ever."

Kurt never left her side. She got a brace for her wrist, and a boot for her foot.

"Such a fashion plate I am." Ava grinned. She was still feeling as if all of this was like a dream, as if it was happening to someone else. And then something happened to sober her up very quickly.

When the doctors and nurses had left them alone to get the discharge papers together, Kurt stood. He'd been sitting next to her the entire time, never letting go of her good hand and never giving up possession of April to anyone else, either, although everyone knew him, so everyone had offered to take her from him "if he wanted.”

But he didn't, and she couldn't have been happier to hear him say that.

But when he sank down on one knee, while kissing the back of her hand and clearing his throat before looking up at her, she sobered up very quickly.

"I don't think that this is necessarily the best place to do this, and I don't have a ring to give you or anything, but I'll get you one as soon as you feel like going shopping for one. I don't want to wait another minute. I can't wait another minute. I should have done this…" he hefted April up a bit, making her giggle as he looked down at her adoringly. "… much sooner, and I should have done this much sooner, too. Ava—"

"Elizabeth," she filled in for him, finally.

Kurt grinned up at her. "Ava Elizabeth LaValley, will you do me the incredible honor of becoming my wife?"

He was a big man and he had a big voice that carried, and they could hear several loud gasps as he asked her that very particular question. She half expected that the population of the ER was going to throw open the curtain before she answered him.

She leaned forward and countered with, "Kurt—

"Elizabeth," he supplied, chuckling, and making her crack up, too.

"No! What is it?"

"Pierson, my mother's maiden name."

"Kurt Pierson Gilmore, will you do me the wonderfully unexpected but devoutly desired honor of becoming my husband?"

He stood up and leaned in to her, whispering, "Answer on the count of three. One, two, three!"

"Yes!" they both said in unison, throwing—well, putting, in her case—their arms around each other's necks and kissing wildly.

There was the sound of applause and cheers coming from behind the curtain, until his friend the doctor returned. "Can I open the curtain? There are a lot of people who would love to give you their congratulations, not the least of which is me!"

Kurt nodded, sitting on the bed next to Ava, and finally surrendering the baby to someone—her.

They were instantly surrounded by well wishers, which was just lovely, but after not too long of being congratulated and hugged and everything, he could see that Ava was looking very tired.

So, he rounded up his friend, who expedited the discharge papers and even pushed her—in the requisite wheelchair—to Kurt's car, where he wished them both well again and sent them on their way.

She was settled as comfortably as could be expected into the front seat, but he was busy fiddling with the baby and the car seat, and when she started to hear the unmistakable sound of duct tape being unwound from its spool, she had to crane her head around to see what he was doing and ended up laughing until she was nearly sick.

"I don't think that's technically kosher, you know," she said when he got behind the wheel.

"As long as we stick close to my jurisdiction, I don't think we have anything to worry about."

Kurt drove them to her house, and Ava started to get out, but he stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Stay right where you are, Ava Elizabeth," he warned.

She rolled her eyes. "I knew I was going to regret telling you that!"

"Most definitely! You stay here. Give me your keys, and I'll get whatever you want me to for you and the baby, but you're both going to stay with me during your convalescence, and after."

Ava opened her mouth to protest, but his look stopped her. "Yes, Sir."

He couldn't help but grin at that. "The perfect response. And don't worry about anything you forget; I will go and get it."

She gave him a list, and he came out burdened by boxes and bags of stuff that he put in the trunk. "I already ordered a new car seat for her that'll be here tomorrow, by the way."

"Thank you."

"Don't you dare try to pay me for it, Ava Elizabeth."

"How does one go about changing one's name?" she wondered out loud.

"You don't, my dear," he informed her, leaning over to give her a very tender kiss, "At least, not until we get married, and then you have my permission to change your last name, only."

When they got to his house, he helped her out of the car and into the living room, then hurried back to get the baby and all of her accoutrements, which she was surprised to see—when he helped her down the hallway—that he had set up in the bedroom. It was more than big enough for her pack 'n play, which he had set up on her side of the bed, and from which she was already looking out at the two of them.

"I thought you might like to have her close tonight."

Ava settled herself on the bed. "Or do you not want her to be in the same room as Hannah was?"

In answer, he left the bedroom entirely, which made her wonder if he was leaving her completely, but then he came back into the room a few minutes later, carrying something that looked like an eight by ten picture frame.

Kurt joined her on the bed, getting as close as he could to her, then handed her the picture, face up.

It was of the three of them—Maureen, Kurt, and Hannah—and as they both looked at it, he put his arm around her.

"No, I want her to use the nursery, although I already had it redone, so we'll have to redo it again." He took a deep breath. "They're gone, and I can never replace them. But I can find other love, new love, and I like to believe—especially in Maureen's case, I know without a doubt—that they would want me to do that."

He leaned his head against Ava's, saying, "Thank you for loving me through all of this, even enough to make me get help. It turned out that the biggest help was having to face almost the same thing again, but I think I'll keep seeing the therapist anyway, and I never would have done that without you."

Kurt tipped Ava's wet face up to his. "I love you, Ava Elizabeth LaValley, soon to be Gilmore."

"I love you, too, Kurt Pierson Gilmore."

The End Blushing Books Blushing Books is the oldest eBook publisher on the web. We've been running websites that publish steamy romance and erotica since 1999, and we have been selling eBooks since 2003. We have free and promotional offerings that change weekly, so please do visit us at http://www.blushingbooks.com/free.

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