Chapter 19

I didn't think staying here that long was necessary. We needed extra time to hike to our extraction site. It was getting a bit harder for me to keep up with they guys. I motioned for Hal and Carlos to follow me to a secluded area. "We should only stay here for a few hours to shower, eat and restock our packs," I explained. I didn't really want to tell them how to lead the group, but I was really anxious to get home. Something was telling me we needed to leave soon to make it in time.

"Do we need the extra time to travel?" Hal asked.

Carlos took a close look into my eyes. I was silently begging him to listen to me. We needed to leave within six hours or we'll miss our connection. He must have seen the answer. "Tell your men we leave in four hours." I was relieved.

A female soldier led me to the showers. Bobby insisted on accompanying me. She was not impressed, but I didn't really care. There wasn't any windows and only one door leading into the shower area. I secured the room before signalling Bobby. He took his position outside the door. I heard him greet Ram. My two sentinels prevented anyone from entering the room. The female soldier returned several times claiming she needed to assist me. She was becoming very annoying. Most importantly, she looked familiar, yet I don't think I've ever met her before today. Whatever... it will come to me later.

I felt much better after having a shower and changing into clean clothes. My dirty clothes were rolled into a thick plastic bag. I pulled on my pants to discover they were looser than normal. Using my belt, I set it on the last hole to tighten the waist. I lost more weight during this mission. It didn't do much other than cause my pants to pucker. I tucked my gun into the waist band of my pants, fitting it perfectly in the spot on my right hip. It fit into the gap perfectly. My pants finally felt secure on my hips.

"I'm ready to go," I whispered to Bobby. He led me back to the rest of our team in the mess tent before taking off towards the shower, Ram was close on his heels.

"Ready?" Carlos asked.

"Yes. Did you grab me some food?" I was starving and I had no patience to wait in line.

"I did," he replied as he pushed a plate heaped with food in front of me.

He pointed towards the soldiers serving the food. "They thought I haven't eaten in days." It was technically true. We haven't eaten anything sustainable in a few days. The guys in the mess tent watched me in awe as I polished off every last bite. During our training I managed to control my moaning while eating. This food was good, but definitely not moan worthy.

Cal and Hal grabbed a few more plates of food, placing them in front of Ram and Bobby when they sat down. "Prepare to leave," Carlos barked. The men pulled our packs from beneath the table, adding water and rations. I noticed Junior grab extra rations to divide between his and Bobby's packs. When I caught him slipping a few more into my pack he smiled at me.

It wasn't until a few days later when Junior confessed. Junior is a 'boob' man. The elastic bandage I used to flatten my breasts was starting to feel too tight so I stopped wearing it when it was working more like a push up bra than a sports bra. I swear the man noticed. He certainly made sure if Bobby couldn't watch me, he would. We finally made it to the extraction site. The chopper hovered while Junior jumped onto the skids and pulled himself in. He reached towards me. With my added weight and my centre of balance off, I needed help. Tank carefully lifted me and passed me to Junior.

I started piling our packs in the cargo area while the other ten men boarded. Before we could fully buckle in, the chopper banked to the left and flew towards another airfield. It took another four hours before we touched down in Florida. I exited the plane and stretched my arms over my head, pushing out my stomach to release the tightness in my back.

"Holy crap. You are pregnant," Junior whispered into my ear.

"Shhh, not here," I snapped.

"Okay, but you need to tell the others," he advised.

"I'm not pregnant." He shook his head.

"You are. Take a test when we get back," he whispered. "You're sporting a small bump."

Instead of travelling back to our home base, the Generals flew to Florida. We spent several days reciting our story to General Rogers and Palmer. I was happy we shut down another human trafficking ring. In a few years we'll be sent to shut down another one. There is always another sick bastard out there picking up where another left off. It's the same with drug and gun smugglers. Is our job ever done? We were ordered to relax for a few days before returning home.

The men wanted to visit the local bar to unwind. I was excited to finally leave the hotel room. We met everyone in the local bar. After visiting the ladies room, I saw a beautiful Latino woman practically draped over my husband. Carlos was sitting there clearly uncomfortable. "Rachel, we've been through this before," he growled, "I wasn't interested years ago and I'm not interested now."

She just didn't seem to be getting the hint. "Hey my love," I said moving around the desperate woman to sit on my husband's lap. "Did you miss me?"

"Move it bitch, I saw him first," she venomously snapped.

Carlos and I ignored her. The guys were watching us in amusement. "Our official anniversary is in a few days," I reminded him.

"We've been together for six years last month," he corrected. I heard Rachel say something about me always distracting him before stomping off to get a drink.

Tank laughed and said, "She's been after Ric for years. They met a few months after he started dating you."

"None of you touch her. My spidey sense is tingling. I think she's planning to trap herself a soldier," I pointed at each man. "She's trouble. Stay away from her if you don't want a baby," I said. Carlos started playing with my left hand. I felt him slip two rings over my knuckle. He pressed another one into the palm of my hand. It was larger than mine, so I slipped it over his finger. Now it was obvious we were married.

Bobby didn't miss our ring exchange. "Rachel may be a viper, but she will not peruse a married man," he said confidently. He told the very brief version of the story. Rachel visited her dad at work to catch him in a compromising position with his assistant. She vowed to never get involved with a married man because it gets too messy. "She'll have to believe you're married now," he said as the woman herself walked towards our table with a large drink in hand.

I was wearing the rings that used to belong to his Abuela. He was wearing his Abuelo's old wedding band. They fit perfectly as though they were made for us. "Where did you get them?" I had to ask.

"Been carrying them around for months, waiting for the perfect opportunity to place them back on your finger," he replied before kissing me. "Now everyone will know you're mine and I'm yours."

Rachel stopped short when she saw our rings. "You really are married," she sunk into the empty seat at the next table looking defeated.

"I told you many times I was already committed to another woman. You chose not to listen," Carlos firmly stated.

"I'm sorry I've been a complete bitch," she attempted a not so genuine apology. I could tell she was trying to snag one of my guys.

"It happens to the best of us," I joked. "Is that your friend at the bar? You should probably go home before you get too drunk." I wanted her to take the hint and leave.

She knocked back her drink before stumbling her way to the bar. Rachel's friend linked their arms together and led her to the parking lot. I have no idea what happened from there but her friend's brother put her in the car and drove away. Something tells me she found a new target.

"Here, have a drink," Zero pushed a daiquiri towards me.

"No thank you, Zero," I attempted to politely decline. I may partake in a sip of wine now and then, but a full drink was not going to happen. Carlos loosened his grip so I could stand up and stretch.

Zero was staring at my breasts. "Did those get bigger? Are you pregnant?" he asked.

"They have, but I seriously doubt I'm pregnant," I said hoping it was the truth.

"Will you be joining us on our next mission?" he asked.

"Of course I will, but I'll be reviewing the intel first," I repeated what Uncle Alex and General Rogers told me earlier today.

"You're still one of us?" Bobby asked. We've become close friends during this last mission.

"You bet I am," I confirmed. It will all change if Zero and Junior are correct. We very carefully selected our words. It wouldn't be wise to tip our hand by announcing who we are. Anyone listening to our conversation would think we're in the military, but not know we're specialists.

When I returned home, I took a pregnancy test which provided a positive result. Knowing what happened the last time, I decided to visit the infirmary to get a blood test to confirm. I didn't say anything to Carlos until I knew for sure. Only General Rogers was informed. He is my CO and I had to tell him even if there was a small chance I wasn't really pregnant.

Carlos and his men were sent on another mission a few weeks later. I was held back for 'collecting intel' purposes. The original sample I provided was inconclusive. After another positive pee test, another sample was taken.

My results were back while Carlos was still away. His team would be gone for the next few months. He was deployed on a mission to rescue some of our captured soldiers. I called Mama to give her and Papa the news. She was very excited for us. I had my appointment with the doctor to check my pregnancy. My baby is due on January 25, 2008. The doctor confirmed this baby was securely attached.

I was temporarily working in DC with Silvio. Rodriguez and I found a fix for the latest hacker. He was still on base in Georgia while I travelled to DC with Uncle Alex. After I installed the program, Silvio attempted to hack into it. I recorded his keystrokes to see what combination cracked into the system. Uncle Alex sent me a text to let me know Carlos and his team returned. Their mission took just over 12 weeks. I'm around 18 weeks pregnant so if I had another ultrasound, I could find out the gender. The men were holed up in a hotel until they were debriefed. I wasn't able to visit him until he was cleared.

Carlos returned from his mission a little banged up. He was excited we're finally having a baby. We went out with the guys to celebrate. I noticed he was a little more distant than normal.

"You're going to me a momma again?" Lester said without thinking. Carlos growled. "I'm sorry Beautiful, that was insensitive." He kneeled in front of me. "Please forgive me."

"I'm fine Les. This baby is firmly attached," I reassured him. The other men seemed confused by my comment. I decided to give them the story now instead of them bugging me individually later. Carlos held my hand as I mentioned the rape, pregnancy, adoption, losing the baby and joining the Army. I gave them the short version without mentioning names.

"Do you know the gender of this one?" Lester quietly asked.

"Not yet, but we should find out soon." Carlos answered. "We need to focus on our next mission, not my wife's pregnancy or her back story."

We got back to our task of celebrating. Bobby lifted me from my seat and pulled me onto his lap. A corner of Carlos' lip curled in amusement before he slammed down a blank face. Wrapping his arms around my waist, Bobby placed a hand over my abdomen, feeling a significant baby bump. Having him touch the bump didn't bother me. I got used to people invading my space during my first pregnancy.

"What are you asking? When did I get pregnant? It was just before our first mission. When did this bump appear? A few days ago I woke up and it was just... there," I answered honestly.

"Seriously? We're having a baby?" he asked to confirm.

"Yes, we're having a baby Uncle Zero," I replied before passing around the sonogram from my appointment last month.

"All of us are going to be uncles?" Zero motioned around the table.

"Everyone one of you are uncles except Ric because he's the daddy," I confirmed. I've bonded with these men during Ranger training. We've become a large extended family. With their special ops missions, they wouldn't have many opportunities to have a children. Allowing them to be honorary uncles to my baby with Carlos was the least I could do. They are my family. After all the men hugged me, they left for the night.

"It's time to tell our families," I told Carlos as he rubbed my bump. Mama and Papa already know I'm pregnant. Carlos' siblings and parents have no clue.

"I know. They aren't going to be happy we're involved with special ops," he whispered in my ear. Our families already know we're in a special division but they don't know which one. It's for their own protection.