Beloved Predator (Beloved Series #2)

Seventeen

Patrick

Ari sprawled on the sectional in our suite wearing black yoga pants and a dark grey long-sleeved shirt while I massaged her feet.  A large bowl of guacamole and a bag of tortilla chips sat on the coffee table in front of us.  The next two weeks in Toronto to attend the sentencing hearings for Mike, Carlton and James were going to be emotionally draining, so we were making the most of the calm before the emotional storm.

"I think I may have just reached pregnant woman bliss," she sighed, closing her eyes. 

She was nearly six months along, and aside from muscle aches and some anemia, she was doing well physically.  However, since she was pregnant with twins there were more risks for preterm labor and premature birth.  Our OB originally wasn't going to allow her to fly but had finally agreed to allow it so long as this was her last flight until after the babies were born.  We both fully expected she'd be put on bedrest almost as soon as we returned home.

The past couple months had been peaceful.  After the wedding, we stayed in Key West for two and a half weeks.  We walked around the island nearly every day and watched the sunrise and sunset multiple times.  Toward the end of the trip she surprised me with a snorkeling trip where I got to use my underwater camera and took some amazing pictures.

We returned to Seattle just before Christmas and had our ultrasound.  We waited patiently for the technician to tell us the gender of each baby, which proved difficult since there were two.  After nearly an hour she was finally able to confirm a girl and a boy.  The debate for the perfect name for each started almost as soon as we left the office.

Waking up Christmas morning with my arms around my pregnant wife was probably the best gift of all.  We stayed in bed until the kicking became too much, and then went to my parents' house for a day of football, food and presents.  Ari bought me a new set of cookbooks and a couple special lenses for my camera.  She'd become interested in photography, so I bought her a camera, as well as a few old video games I knew she'd been wanting. 

After spending the holiday in San Diego, Nat and Petey were back in Seattle for New Year's Eve.  We celebrated the new year, and then immediately got back to work.  Our next contract was for a firm in Seattle that started four days into the new year.  Petey took the lead on the project, both due to Ari's pregnancy and the extended trip to Toronto.  They spoke daily about the project, but he'd made it clear that he wanted her to be less of a programmer and more of a CEO.

The main reason for the trip was to attend the hearings and get some closure, but another reason was to finalize the lawsuit against CanX for fraud.  Thanks to Jacob's testimony, we learned three programmers and the CIO were involved.  I also learned one of the programmers had helped James order equipment that was used for the surveillance, all under Carlton Danvers's orders.  Ari had been mostly quiet about the lawsuit, focusing instead on the criminal cases.

We attended Mike's sentencing earlier that day.  Despite her nervousness, she calmly sat and watched him sentenced to five years in prison.  It was an extremely short sentence, but it was the best the Crown could do to secure the evidence they needed against James.  We were now relaxing in the hotel watching TV. 

"Ow!" she suddenly yelped, rubbing her stomach.  "Hey, stop it in there!"

"Kicking again?"

"Your giant Sasquatch babies are playing soccer tonight."

"All right.  Hold on a second."  I got up and went to the bedroom, returning a couple minutes later with a book.

When I returned a few moments later, her discomfort was obvious.  I sat back on the couch and placed my hand on her stomach.  "All right, you two, Mommy is really sore tonight, and all your kicking isn't helping.  So, what do you say the three of us hang out and give her a break?"