CHAPTER 171
Two weeks later, I was sitting in our living room with UN Secretary-General Chen, formally accepting the position as Director of the International Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force, when the morning sickness hit with a vengeance.
I barely made it to the bathroom before losing what little breakfast I'd managed to keep down, leaving Harry to handle the diplomatic niceties while I gripped the porcelain and tried to process what my body was telling me.
"Skylar?" Jax's voice came through the bathroom door, concerned but not surprised. "Everything okay?"
"I think I'm pregnant again," I called back, wiping my mouth and trying to calculate dates in my head.
"You think, or you know?"
"I think. But considering that I've been nauseous for three days and my period is two weeks late, it's a pretty educated guess."
The silence that followed was filled with implications. We were about to take on the most demanding positions of our careers, with international travel, high-stress situations, and security threats that would make our previous work look simple by comparison.
And I was apparently pregnant with our second child.
"Well," Jax said finally, "our timing has always been interesting."
I emerged from the bathroom to find him holding a pregnancy test he'd apparently acquired at some point during the past few days.
"You were prepared for this?"
"I was hopeful for this. There's a difference."
"Jax, we just accepted positions that will require constant travel, irregular schedules, and exposure to dangerous situations. This is literally the worst possible timing."
"Or it's exactly the right timing. Think about it - Addison will have a sibling close to her own age, and we'll have another reason to make sure the world is safe for children."
I took the pregnancy test, knowing that the result would confirm what my body had already told me. But as I waited for the lines to appear, I couldn't help but think about the complications this would create.
"The guys are going to have opinions about this," I said, gesturing toward the living room where I could hear Harry wrapping up the meeting with Secretary-General Chen.
"The guys are going to be thrilled about this. Just like last time."
"Last time we weren't about to become international targets for every trafficking organization that sees us as a threat."
"Last time we were being hunted by your psychopathic grandfather and gave birth in a collapsed building. Somehow, I think we can handle a few death threats and some irregular work schedules."
The test was positive, as I'd known it would be. But seeing the confirmation still sent a wave of complex emotions through me - joy at the thought of another child, terror at the timing, and something that might have been determination to prove that we could balance parenthood with our mission.
"How far along do you think you are?" Jax asked, studying my face.
"Based on the symptoms? Maybe six weeks. Which means I'll be showing by the time we start the new positions."
"Which means everyone will know that the Director of the International Human Trafficking Prevention Task Force is pregnant. That sends a pretty strong message about what we're fighting for."
Before I could respond, Addison came toddling into the bathroom, her wooden practice knife in one hand and a stuffed animal in the other. At eighteen months, she was walking steadily and beginning to form complete sentences, though her vocabulary was still charmingly limited.
"Mama sad?" she asked, noting my expression.
"Mama's not sad, sweetheart. Mama's just thinking about some big news."
"What news?"
I looked at Jax, seeing the hope and excitement in his eyes despite the complications this pregnancy would create. Then I looked down at our daughter, who was studying my face with the same analytical intensity that characterized everything she did.
"How would you feel about having a little brother or sister?" I asked.
"Baby?" Her face lit up with the kind of pure joy that only children could express. "Baby come home?"
"Baby will come home in about seven months. But first, we're all going to move to a new house in Geneva, and Mama and the uncles are going to have new jobs helping children around the world."
"Help babies like me?"
"Help babies and children who need protection. Yes."
Addison seemed to consider this seriously, then nodded with the gravity of someone making an important decision. "Good. Help babies."
Harry and Lucas appeared in the doorway, having obviously overheard at least part of the conversation.
"So," Lucas said carefully, "are we talking about what I think we're talking about?"
I held up the pregnancy test, watching their faces cycle through surprise, joy, concern, and finally, determination.
"Well," Harry said after a moment, "this certainly adds a new dimension to our security planning."
"Are you okay with this?" I asked, needing to hear their honest reactions before we made any final decisions about the UN position.
"Okay with expanding our family while taking on the most important work of our careers?" Lucas grinned. "It's completely insane, totally impractical, and probably the best thing that could happen to us."
"You realize this means I'll be pregnant during the first six months of the new job? Morning sickness during international conferences, maternity clothes at diplomatic functions, the whole thing?"
"I realize it means our second child will grow up knowing that their parents were actively working to make the world safer for children," Harry said. "I can't think of a better legacy to leave them."
Through the window, I could see Secretary-General Chen's motorcade pulling away from our house, the formalities of our new positions now complete. Within three months, we'd be relocated to Geneva and beginning the most challenging phase of our professional lives.
And apparently, we'd be doing it with a toddler and a newborn.
"There's something else," Lucas said, his expression shifting to something more serious. "Something the Secretary-General mentioned before you... stepped out."
"What?"
"Intelligence suggests that eliminating Henry's network created exactly the kind of power vacuum we were worried about. Three different organizations are fighting to control the trafficking routes through Eastern Europe, and they're all escalating tactics to establish dominance."
"Which means?"
"Which means children are being hurt while criminal organizations wage war against each other. The situation is getting worse, not better."
I felt the familiar pull of mission urgency, the need to act immediately to prevent innocent people from suffering. But I also felt the new life beginning to grow inside me, and the weight of responsibility for Addison's safety and development.
"How bad is it getting?" I asked.
"Bad enough that the UN is fast-tracking our deployment. They want us in Geneva within six weeks instead of three months."
"Six weeks?" Jax's voice was sharp with concern. "Skylar will barely be into her second trimester. The morning sickness, the fatigue, the security implications..."
"The dead children who won't survive if we wait for convenient timing," I said quietly.
The room fell silent as everyone processed the impossible choice we were facing. Accept the accelerated timeline and risk both my health and our family's security, or delay our deployment and let innocent people suffer while criminal organizations consolidated power.
"What do you want to do?" Harry asked.
I looked around the room at the faces of the people I loved most - Jax holding Addison, Lucas calculating tactical implications, Harry ready to support whatever decision I made.
"I want to save those children," I said. "Whatever it takes."
But even as I said the words, I wondered if this time, "whatever it takes" might finally be more than we could afford to give.
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