Page 1 of Daddy’s Fortitude

1

It was a well-known fact that Ammo hated people.

There were a select few who he tolerated. And even less who he liked. Zander was one of the few people he did like.

They’d met in the Navy before going on to work in bond recovery. That was before Zander had created his own team of people—who were basically all socially stunted or warped in some way.

Nut jobs seemed to gravitate toward Zander.

“Zander, put me down! I can walk.”

Ammo walked into the kitchen to find Zander carrying his heavily pregnant wife toward the dining table.

“No,” Zander said firmly. “You’re not to walk. You’re pregnant.”

“The doctor said I’m fine to do everything I normally do,” Keira protested.

“Oh, so you think it’s safe to parachute out of a plane, do you?” Zander countered as he stared down at his wife.

Keira glared up at him. “Of course not.”

“Well, then, you can’t do everything, can you?”

“I said I can do everything I normally do. When have you ever known me to jump out of a plane? So why would I take that up now, while I’m pregnant?”

Zander grunted as he sat her down on a chair at the table. “I don’t know. Being pregnant probably does weird things to your brain. Makes you do things you wouldn’t normally do.”

It was like the air was sucked out of the room. Ammo may not be that socially adept, but even he knew you didn’t say things like that to a pregnant woman.

“Are you saying there’s something wrong with my brain because I’m pregnant?” Keira scowled up at Zander.

“Yeah,” Honey said, putting her hands on her hips as she stood on the other side of the table. “Is that what you’re saying? That the moment we get pregnant, we can’t think for ourselves? That we’re going to do crazy things to endanger ourselves?”

Zander seemed to realize his mistake, which was amazing, because he was probably the most socially awkward of them all.

Which was saying something.

Zander glanced around as though searching for backup, but none of them were stupid. Zander was on his own in this one. Everyone here knew you didn’t cross a pregnant woman.

Especially one that had access to a weapons room. Not that Webb would let her in there. But Honey could and would get her whatever she wanted.

Zander crouched next to Keira and put his hand on her knee. “I’m sorry, Little thief. I’m just trying to keep you and the baby safe. I’m worried about you both.”

Immediately, the tension left the room.

Damn, Zander was getting good at this sort of stuff. Ammo never thought he’d see the day.

Keira’s face softened, and she took hold of his hand. “I know. I know you’re just worried. But everything is going to be fine. I’m doing really well.”

“Well, of course you are,” Zander said. “And you’re going to stay that way. I'm gonna make sure of that.”

Keira sighed. “I’m not going to walk for the rest of this pregnancy, am I?”

Yeah, Ammo could tell by the look on Zander’s face that Keira likely had another three months of being carried around.

How long had she been pregnant for anyway? It seemed like forever.

As time went on, Zander became more and more neurotic about her pregnancy.