CHAPTER 148
JAX'S POV
The private hospital room in Bangkok was the best money could buy - private security, world-class medical equipment, and doctors who understood the importance of discretion. But as I sat beside Skylar's bed, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest while she slept, none of that luxury meant anything compared to the fragile life we'd almost lost.
"Any change?" Harry's voice was rough from exhaustion as he entered the room carrying coffee for all of us. We'd been taking shifts for the past eighteen hours, none of us willing to leave her alone.
"The doctor checked an hour ago. Baby's heartbeat is strong, her vitals are stable. They think she just needs rest and to stay off her feet for a few days."
"And the mission?"
I gestured toward the window, where we could see Indonesian special forces loading body bags into trucks. "Webb's dead. Lucas put three rounds center mass before the bastard could escape. The three American girls are safe, along with eight others we found in the basement levels."
Harry sat heavily in the chair on Skylar's other side, his hands shaking slightly as he reached for her fingers. "I can't believe she didn't tell us. How long do you think she knew?"
"Based on what the doctor said? Probably just found out yesterday. Which means she went into that warehouse knowing she was pregnant and chose to risk everything anyway."
"Because that's who she is," Lucas said from the doorway, his laptop bag slung over his shoulder and dark circles under his eyes. "She sees people who need saving, and everything else becomes secondary."
"Including our child," Harry said bitterly.
"Especially our child," I corrected. "Think about it - she knew that if we found out, we'd try to stop her from going after those girls. So she kept it secret to make sure the mission succeeded."
"That's not healthy, Jax. That's not how a relationship is supposed to work."
"No, it's not. But it's how Skylar works when innocent lives are at stake. The question is whether we can accept that about her or if it's going to destroy us."
Skylar stirred on the bed, her eyes fluttering open and immediately scanning the room until she found each of our faces. "The girls?" she asked, her voice hoarse.
"Safe," I said immediately. "All of them. The Americans are being flown home tomorrow, and the others are in protective custody with social services."
"And Webb?"
"Dead," Lucas said simply. "Along with most of his organization. The Indonesian authorities are calling it the most successful anti-trafficking operation in their history."
Relief flooded across her features, followed immediately by concern as her hand moved to her stomach. "The baby?"
"Fine," Harry said, his voice gentler than it had been all day. "Doctor says everything looks normal, but you need to take it easy for a while."
"We need to talk," she said, struggling to sit up despite our protests. "About what this means for us, for the mission, for everything."
"The mission is over," I said firmly. "Webb's network is destroyed, his associates are either dead or in custody, and the trafficking routes through Indonesia have been shut down."
"But there are other networks, other operations that need to be stopped..."
"Skylar." Lucas moved to sit on the edge of her bed, his expression more serious than I'd seen it since his father's trial. "You're pregnant. With our child. That changes everything."
"Does it? Because children are still being trafficked while we sit here debating what my pregnancy means for our operational capabilities."
The frustration in her voice was familiar - the same tone she'd used when we'd tried to keep her away from dangerous missions in the past. But this time felt different. This time, she wasn't just risking her own life.
"Yes, it changes everything," Harry said, his protective instincts clearly warring with his respect for her autonomy. "We can't keep operating the way we have been. Not when there's a baby to consider."
"So what are you suggesting? That I sit behind a desk while you three handle the real work? That I become some kind of mission coordinator who never sees actual field action?"
"We're suggesting that maybe it's time to consider a different approach," I said carefully. "Working with established agencies, providing consultation and training rather than direct action."
"You want us to become bureaucrats."
"We want you and the baby to be safe," Lucas said bluntly. "Everything else is negotiable."
Skylar was quiet for a long moment, her hand resting on her still-flat stomach. When she looked up at us, I could see the conflict in her eyes - the part of her that wanted to protect our child warring with the part that couldn't stand the thought of children suffering while she played it safe.
"What if we could do both?" she asked finally.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning what if we found a way to continue the work without putting the baby at risk? What if we could build something bigger than just the four of us running around the world putting out fires?"
I exchanged glances with Harry and Lucas, seeing the same mixture of hope and skepticism I was feeling. "What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking about what Webb said - about networks and connections, about how eliminating one operation just creates opportunities for others to expand." She shifted on the bed, wincing slightly but determined to continue. "What if instead of just taking down trafficking rings, we started building something to prevent them in the first place?"
"A legitimate organization," Lucas said slowly, understanding where she was going.
"A foundation. With real resources, government connections, international reach. Something that could coordinate with law enforcement agencies worldwide while also providing direct support to survivors."
"And we would run this foundation how, exactly?" Harry asked.
"Together. As a family. You'd handle security and training, Lucas would manage finances and logistics, Jax would coordinate operations and intelligence. I'd provide strategic oversight and survivor advocacy."
"From behind a desk," I pointed out.
"From wherever the work takes us. But safely. Responsibly. With our child's future in mind."
It wasn't what any of us had expected her to say. For months, I'd been preparing for her to choose the mission over our relationship, to sacrifice personal happiness for the greater good the way she'd done during William's investigation.
Instead, she was proposing something that could give us both - a way to continue fighting trafficking while building a stable life for our unconventional family.
"There's one condition," Harry said after a long pause.
"What?"
"No more secrets. No more unilateral decisions. If we're going to do this as a family, then family comes first. Always."
"Even when it means people might suffer while we debate strategy?"
"Especially then. Because if we can't trust each other, if we can't put our family first, then we'll end up destroying everything we're trying to build."
Skylar looked at each of us in turn, and I could see her weighing the promise against her instincts, her need to protect innocent people against her love for us.
"Okay," she said finally. "Family first. But that means all of us. Including the children we're going to save through this foundation."
As she drifted back to sleep, her hand still resting protectively on her stomach, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were about to embark on something even more dangerous than hunting traffickers.
We were about to try building a normal life while carrying the kind of trauma and secrets that destroyed most relationships.
But looking at the faces of the two men I'd grown to love like brothers, and the woman who'd become the center of all our worlds, I thought maybe we had a chance.
Maybe love really could be enough to overcome anything.
Even ourselves.
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