Chapter 10

Once at the hospital, Damian made his way to the maternity ward. He figured the entire family was there and didn't seem to care that they would notice he was with Caroline Rochester. None of it mattered because his cousin could be in trouble.

He rounded the corner and stopped. He was right. All of the Hursts and the Starks were huddled in the waiting room. Dayton was holding Izzy tightly as the woman sobbed. Apparently she was taking it harder than he thought she would.

All the Hursts were sitting on one side. Well, except Jim Hurst. He was up pacing the room. Damian didn't blame him. If it were Caroline, Dani or his daughter in there, he wouldn't be able to sit down either.

During the waiting period, he was able to watch everyone closely. Everyone was paired up with his or her wives or husbands. He had missed so much being away as long as he did. At one point he was in the same circles as Britani and Alain and now he wasn't. It seemed they had all moved on in various aspects of their lives.

Caroline watched the different emotions play across Damian's face. He hadn't been this close to any of his family in eight years. Ten years really if she counted the night Emily died. He hadn't felt the need to be close to anyone as he was dealing with his grief. What he obviously didn't realize was that to get over grief all he had to do was connect with his family.

She felt his shock when she rested her head against his shoulder. No one had touched him platonically. All the women who had touched him wanted something from him. In the beginning she had only been doing what her mother said she needed to do but after Dayton, she pretty much gave up on that idea. Plus it wasn't her idea anymore. She wanted someone to love her for her and not because she liked the money.

After an hour, Derek finally emerged from the room. He rubbed his eyes tiredly and both families converged on him. Everyone was asking a million questions at the same time.

"Hey!" Jim finally announced. Everyone shut up then. Slightly annoyed, he turned back to his son-in-law. "How's Toph?"

Derek sighed. "They say it's the stress. I don't know how considering she has never been alone at the gallery but they want her off her feet for a while. If the contractions start again then they'll determine whether it's time to give birth early or not."

"I had the same problem while carrying Tophyr and Percy," Lucille said.

"It's different, Mom. You had twins. We're not sure what Tophyr's having and she won't tell us, right?" Lily said, looking directly at Derek on the last part.

He held up his hands. "I'm under orders not to say anything."

"In other words he doesn't even know," Percy replied. Everyone laughed when Derek didn't reply.

Instead Derek turned to Caroline. "Tophyr wants to see you."

Caroline looked shocked and lifted her head from Damian's shoulder. "Me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, she didn't tell me why and I usually don't argue, especially now." He smiled when she stood up. "It's room 4."

Caroline left the waiting room and went to the room he had said. There was a nurse checking Tophyr over. He nodded at her as he passed. Normally Caroline would have watched him walk away. He was tall, dark and handsome but since she had been working with Damian, she rarely looked at other men the same.

When she looked back at Tophyr, she found the other woman smiling tiredly. Caroline frowned. "What?"

Tophyr shook her head and leaned back against her pillow. "Nothing. Glad you could come in here and sorry for worrying everyone. I didn't know Derek had called everyone. I kind of wished he hadn't."

Caroline sat on the edge of the bed. "Everyone out there is your family. They're concerned for yours and the baby's well-beings. It's only natural that they'd come."

"What about you?"

She frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Why did you come?" Tophyr shifted, wincing as she did so. Caroline was quick to move and check on her. She shooed her away. "I'm fine. You never answered my question."

"You're my boss."

The younger woman waved that excuse away with a flick of her hand. "That has nothing to do with it and you know it."

Caroline smiled, amused that Tophyr was so adept at reading people. "Then tell me why I'm here."

"Because Damian asked you to come here and you've fallen hard for him. You'll do just about anything he asks because you have nothing left to lose. I know your family backed away and left you hanging out to dry. That's why you're working for me but you don't have to settle for that."

The older woman looked at the younger in shock. It was Tophyr's job to investigate the behind the scenes and she was good at it. Too good at it in Caroline's opinion.

She watched the young woman as she lay in the hospital bed with an IV taped to one hand and a monitor hooked up to her belly. Even in such a state, she was glowing. Caroline wondered if that happened to every woman. Would she glow when she was carrying a new life in her?

Those thoughts turned to Damian and she wondered if he wanted kids. He should. Then again there were some men who didn't want the whole family life. Was he one of them?

"Quit thinking so much," Tophyr said rather forcefully. She reached up and touched Caroline's forehead. "You get a line right here when you do."

"Tophyr," Caroline started timidly. The other woman tilted her head in question. "I'm in love with him."

"I know. It's all over you face when I talk about him. Does he know?" Caroline shook her head. "Well, you'll have plenty of time to tell him."

Caroline's head came up rather quickly. "What do you mean?"

Tophyr made a face. "The doctor is being rather unreasonable and doesn't want me at the gallery for a few weeks. That means you're in charge of this showing completely. You'll have to contact the caterer and the florist and have the invitations created. Most importantly you're going to have to make sure Damian gets all of his photos framed and placed."

"You're giving me control of this?"

"Yep. Izzy will help you, of course, but the entire thing falls to you."

"No pressure."

Tophyr laughed. "No pressure at all." There was a knock at the door. "Come in."

Damian stuck his head in the small crack he had made. He smiled when he saw both women relaxed then stepped in. He touched Caroline on the back before kissing Tophyr's cheek.

"Dear cousin, you have to be more careful," he admonished.

Tophyr made an even worse face. "I didn't do anything. I was dancing with Derek when I felt a sharp pain through my back. Mom told me that was the first sign of labor and we left. They said it's a combination of Braxton Hicks and dehydration."

"Still. You really freaked us all out."

"I didn't mean to."

Damian smiled as he leaned against the wall. "Who's going to take over the gallery showing?"

Tophyr smiled and her gaze slid to Caroline. The other woman looked up sharply as she sensed her boss's gaze. Tophyr flicked her eyes to Damian a couple times before she finally got it.

"I am," she said.

Damian glanced between the two of them, a look of fear on his face. "Should I be concerned?"

"If you want to live," Tophyr joked.

The oldest Stark mock shuttered then smiled at his young cousin. "You need to take better care of yourself. It's not just you anymore."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Derek tells me the same thing."

"Maybe you should listen to you husband for once."

"If I listened to my husband, we'd be flying everywhere every weekend. I don't want to do that. I'm more of a homebody."

"You always have been." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Well, we'll get out of your way. The rest of your family is antsy out in the waiting room. If any more people show up, it's going to explode."

Tophyr grimaced. "I'm going to have to kill Derek for calling you."

"He was just looking out for you."

He extended his hand to Caroline. The other woman looked at it then back at Tophyr. The younger woman made a violent gesture and Caroline took his hand. She allowed him to lead her out of the room. As soon as he did, the rest of the family flooded into the room and as usual they were all talking at once.

Damian sighed heavily as they hit the street for a cab. "I'm so glad to be out of there. Although I feel sorry for Tophyr."

Caroline nodded. "Yeah. She doesn't seem to be too happy about her family being there."

He laughed. "She isn't. Tophyr hates the way her family hovers because she's the youngest. She just fights with them."

"I bet."

Damian smiled down at her. "Why don't you just come back to my house and sleep? It's closer and I can give you the photos tomorrow before you leave."

"I don't have any clothes."

He shrugged. "You can borrow some of my sweatpants and a t-shirt. It's not a big deal. I'll be gone by eight anyway. I have to meet with my trainer."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You have a trainer?"

"How do you think I stay this in shape?" His mouth dropped open when she gave him a look. "Don't go there."

The cab pulled up and they slid in. Caroline was going to stay at his house. If that wasn't scary, she didn't know what was.