by Mary Smith
“I’m scared,” she finally spoke through the sobs.
“I’m scared too.” Shade put his forehead on hers. “We’re going to do this together.”
“You won’t leave.” She sniffled.
“I’m never leaving you. Ever.” He kissed her.
“Where’s Mikayla?” She glanced at the door as if she’d appear out of thin air.
“She’s parking the car. She’ll be here shortly.” His explanation appeased her for a moment.
Pain shot through her, and she twisted trying to make it go away. She kept breathing, hoping it would help, but it didn’t seem to at all.
The nurse came back in and needed to start an IV. Jenessa really hated IVs, but right now her pain levels were off the chart. She could not care less as long as they gave her something before they took her for the c-section.
Once it was in, Mikayla made it to her room. Jenessa felt a bit better having her and Shade with her during all of this.
“You can stop having all the fun without me.” Mikayla winked at her.
“I’m…I’m…” Jenessa stammered over her words.
“Stop. Don’t think about anything but delivering this baby,” she consoled Jenessa.
Jenessa nodded.
Several minutes later, Dr. Franklin finally came into the room, dressed in scrubs. “I hear your water broke.”
“Yes, about forty minutes ago,” Shade said.
“How’s the baby? When are you going to do the c-section?” She rushed out her questions to the doctor.
“Let’s check a few things,” Dr. Franklin said. She checked the readouts on the machines. She gave the nurse a couple of instructions then put gloves on her hands. “I’m going to see how dilated you are.”
Jenessa assumed the position as the doctor rooted around her most private of areas. She just breathed through another contraction.
“Jenessa, how long have you been having contractions?” the doctor asked while discarding the gloves.
“I haven’t felt anything until I got here,” she told her.
“No pelvic pain? No back pain?” Dr. Franklin continued her questioning.
“She has been having back pain since the middle of the night,” Shade interjected.
“She’s been having it all day,” Mikayla added.
The doctor’s face dropped, and she faced Jenessa. “We can’t do a c-section.”
Her heart fell to the floor. “Why?”
“You’re already dilated nine centimeters, Jenessa. I can feel the top of the head. You’re going to have to have a natural delivery.”
Panic hit her like a tsunami. She couldn’t breathe as she began to drown in her own fears. Gripping Shade’s shirt, she started begging him.
“Please, don’t make me. Please, Shade. I can’t do this again. I can’t handle it.”
She gasped for air but couldn’t find any in the room. All her brain was telling was the baby would die. Like Clay. She knew her heart and soul couldn’t handle losing another baby.
“Jenessa.” Dr. Franklin’s normal bubbly professional tone had left. Now, a firm, almost drill sergeant-like tone made an appearance.
Opening her eyes, she looked at her doctor.
“I promise you. I will do everything in my power to have a successful delivery. I’m going to have a crash cart ready and more nurses on standby. But you have to do your part. Look.” She pointed at the monitors. “The baby is not in distress, but you are. This might put the baby in danger. Do you understand? I need you to calm down.”
She nodded, trying to breathe normally.
“I’m going to get everyone ready. Your baby should be here soon. If you feel like you need to push before I get back hit the red button.” With those parting words, she left.
Mikayla and Shade kept trying to soothe her, but the ringing in her ears kept her from actually hearing them.
“I’m scared. I…I… can’t do this.” She forced the words out in between sobs.
Shade sat on the side of the bed cupping her face. Looking deep into her eyes, he said, “You’re the strongest person I know. Whatever happens, we’re going to do this together. You can do this. We can do this.”
She nodded, and he kissed her lips.
“Here.” Mikayla patted a cool washcloth on her forehead and then wiped away her tears. “You’re doing great, Nes. Just keep taking deep breaths.”
Nodding, Jenessa did as she said. After taking several cleansing breaths, her heart calmed slightly.
“Stay positive,” Mikayla said, still trying to keep her cooled down with the washcloth.
Jenessa kept breathing as the pain grew. Then, as if being placed in a tub of freezing cold water, every alarm went off in her body.
“I have to push. I need to push.” She felt all the blood draining from her. This was happening, but she didn’t know if she could do it.
Shade pushed the alarm and almost instantly Dr. Franklin and five nurses appeared in front of her. Everyone was hustling around the room. Nurses were putting these flimsy yellow gowns on Shade and Mikayla. A cap was placed on Jenessa’s head.
“Jenessa, bear down,” Dr. Franklin ordered.
Shade and Mikayla helped her scoot down the bed and then they practically folded her in half. At least, she felt as if they had. Pushing with every muscle she could find, her body began to react.
“Okay, relax. Take a breath,” the doctor said.
Jenessa collapsed back on the bed. Her ears were ringing again. There were numerous people staring at her, and Dr. Franklin barked out some more orders.
“One more time, Jenessa.”
Tears burned her cheeks as Shade and Mikayla pulled her tired body back into position. Both of them cheering her on, but she only had one focus.
Her baby.
She pushed and pushed until she felt the baby slide out. Looking down she saw the horror of her premonition. The baby was completely purple with the cord around the neck.
Then her world went black.
Shade
The nurse standing closest to Shade shuffled him away from Jenessa. Mikayla rushed to his side as his knees gave way at everything happening around him. She managed to get him into a chair.
“Shade, calm down.” Mikayla held him.
He couldn’t stop the tears or the sobbing coming from deep within him. Jenessa passed out as soon as the baby came out. He saw what she did. The cord around the tiny baby and then he lost it.
“Shade, stop crying and fucking listen. Don’t fucking make me slap you.” She shook his shoulders trying to get him to focus.
“What, Kay?” he snapped loudly at her.
“Shut up and listen.” She didn’t seem fazed by his outburst.
As he was about to argue, he heard it.
A baby’s cry.
Shade jumped to his feet, but Mikayla grabbed his arm. “Let the nurses work.
“Is the baby okay?” he asked them.
“She’s perfect. Just needed a little suction,” one of the nurses informed him.
“She?” Mikayla looked up at him. “It’s a girl?”
“It’s a girl,” another nurse announced and the cries grew louder.
No sweeter sound touched his ears before than his daughter’s cry.
“How’s Jenessa?” he asked Dr. Franklin.
She walked over to him. “She’s passed out but stable. The smelling salt brought her around for a few seconds, but she fell out again.”
“And the baby?” Shade pressed wanting her to reconfirm what the nurses had said.
“The cord wasn’t wrapped around tightly. Jenessa grows a long cord,” she half-joked
“She’s an overachiever,” Mikayla cracked.
“If she gets pregnant again, what can we do?” Shade asked.
“Nothing. It’s biology. However, next time we’ll do a c-section at thirty-eight weeks.” She smiled. “Your baby is healthy and loud. Which is a great sign. Jenessa should be coming around in a few minutes. I gave her something t
o perk her up. Congratulations.”
Shade kept his eyes between his daughter and wife. He desperately wanted to hold them both.
“Mr. Wooten?” the nurse called out.
“Yes?”
“Do you want to hold your daughter?”
He and Mikayla rushed over to where the beautiful baby laid. His heart stopped as his eyes landed on his daughter.
“You can pick her up,” the nurse urged. “Here.” She lifted his daughter and gently placed her into his arms.
He couldn’t express how he felt at that moment. His baby looked tiny in his arms but love filled every inch of him.
“She looks like Jenessa,” Mikayla commented peering at her niece.
“We’ll take her now.” The nurse reached for the baby and Shade immediately took a step back and Mikayla stepped in between them.
“Why?” they both asked.
The nurse softly laughed. “We need to clean her up. We’ll be right back with her.”
“You can watch from the nursery,” the other nurse added.
“I’ll go. You stay with Nes,” Mikayla volunteered.
“We’ll be back very soon,” the nurse reassured him as he handed over his baby girl.
Under his watchful, protective eyes, he studied them as they all walked out of the room. He moved over to Jenessa’s bed and wiped his face free of the tears that kept coming. He got the wet washcloth Mikayla used earlier and began wiping Jenessa’s face. Even though her makeup ran all over her face, she was still stunning. He cleaned her up then grabbed a clean washcloth and continued to pat her face.
Several minutes later, Jenessa began to stir. When she opened her eyes, they locked onto his.
“Hi,” she said softly with a small smile.
“Hey, Jen.” He grinned back.
Then, as if a light switch had been turned on in her head, she gasped and began scanning the room. “Where’s our baby?” She grabbed her stomach. “Where’s our baby?
“Listen—”
“No.” She wailed gripping his shirt. “Please don’t tell me.” She sobbed harder into his chest.
“Jen.” He pushed her off him, trying to get her to focus on his words. “Jenessa, look at me.” Now, he understood what Mikayla went through with him.
“No. No. No.” She shook her head not opening her eyes.
“She’s alive, Jen. Our daughter is fine.” He repeated himself three times before she figured out what he’d been saying.
“What?”
“Our daughter is alive. She’s perfect,” he said again.
“Wh…what?” She began looking around the room. “Where is she? Where’s our baby?”
“The nurses are cleaning her up. Kay’s with her. She’ll be back soon.”
“Is she okay? Because I saw it, Shade. I saw it wrapped around her throat.” She motioned to her own neck.
“I know. I saw it too. It wasn’t tight. She could breathe,” he explained.
Now, her tears came with a smile.
“She looks like you, and she’s loud like Mikayla.”
Jenessa laughed. “But she’s real, right? I’m not dreaming.”
Cupping her face, he kissed her lips. “She’s real. This is a dream come true. One we’ve waited for for many years.” He kissed her again. “Lay back and rest. She’ll be here soon.”
Nodding, she did as he said. But he knew she wouldn’t be able to rest until she saw their daughter.
“How are you feeling?” Shade asked her.
“Tired. Sore. But happy.” She squeezed his hand.
“I’m happy too.” He placed his lips on her knuckles.
“How are you?”
“Well, I had a breakdown on that chair and Mikayla almost slapped me to get out of it.”
“Why?”
“Because I thought the same thing you did.” He cleared the lump in his throat at the fresh memory. “I thought we lost her.”
Jenessa moved his hand up to her face, laying her forehead on it. “I think we’ve had enough pain in our lives to last five lifetimes.” She reached up and softly wiped a stray tear off his face.
Just then the door opened, and he heard Jenessa gasp as Mikayla walked in. Behind her was the nurse pushing a hospital bassinet with their daughter inside.
“I kept my eye on her the whole time. We aren’t going through some switched at birth bullshit,” Mikayla informed the room. “And the nurse here wouldn’t let me carry her.” She shot a glare over her shoulder.
“We have policies,” the nurse said. “Enjoy. We’ll be in to check on you again shortly.”
Mikayla picked up the baby making cooing sounds as she handed her to Jenessa. “Baby No Name Girl, here’s your mommy.”
Shade watched Jenessa’s face as the baby was placed in her arms. Everything they went through was for this moment. True, undeniable love filled her eyes and face as she saw their daughter.
“Oh my, she’s perfect,” Jenessa breathed. “Shade, isn’t she perfect?”
“Yes, she is.”
With Shade’s voice, their daughter’s eyes opened.
“Look at her.” Jenessa stared at her.
“She looks a lot like you,” Mikayla commented.
“Actually, she reminds me of you,” Jenessa said, glancing over to her sister.
“One thing is for sure, she doesn’t have Shade’s nose.” Mikayla smirked.
“Back off, Kay. I’ve had a couple broken noses in my life,” he told her with a friendly glare.
“I think there’s a bigger issue here than Shade’s odd shaped nose,” Mikayla said in a serious tone. “What is this beautiful baby’s name?”
Jenessa looked over to Shade with a bright smile. “Do you want to tell her?”
Shade grinned. “Mikayla Marie, please meet Kayla Marie.”
Mikayla’s face turned white. “Wait, what?”
“We decided to name her after you.” Jenessa touched her sister’s hand. We love you, and you’re the best third wheel ever.”
Tears filled Mikayla’s eyes.
When Shade and Jenessa talked about names they immediately knew they wanted to use Mikayla’s name in some form or fashion. She’d been the black sheep of the family and was always cast to the side by her parents. Shade knew Jenessa protected her as much as possible. When Shade came into the picture, he loved Mikayla instantly. He never thought of her as a third wheel. And like Jenessa, he always looked out for her.
“Thank you,” Mikayla managed to say as she fought back the tears.
“Here.” Jenessa handed her over to her.
Mikayla, like Jenessa, had nothing but love for Lil Kay. Shade was elated how his life was right now.
“Shade,” Mikayla whispered his name and nodded toward the bed.
When he looked down, his wife was fast asleep.
“I’m going to update Jarvis.” She carefully handed Lil Kay to him.
He took his daughter over to the chair and sat down. Mikayla came over, kneeling by him.
“Thank you for being the best big brother. I love you.” She kissed his cheek and left before he said anything.
He knew she wasn’t one to express herself well but understood how much he meant to her.
In the quietness, he studied his stunning daughter’s face. She did mirror her mother, and he loved it. Her sleepy pouted lips were perfect. Her chunky cheeks were pinchable.
“Lil Kay, I’m your dad,” he whispered tenderly to his daughter.
The tired baby opened her eyes briefly before closing them again.
“I’m going to love you, protect you, and give you everything.” He vowed to her.
Glancing over at his sleeping wife, he never felt so complete. He dreamt of this moment many times in his life. At one time he truly didn’t believe it would happen with his broken marriage. However, it was clear the marriage was completely fixed, and he was heading toward a happily ever after with his wife and daughter.
Be on the look out for New Hampshire Bears’ next ins
tallment.
You’ll see it in the Spring of 2020!
Thank you for all the support!
About the Author
USA Today Bestselling Author, Mary Smith, has been coming up with stories her whole life. She has written over forty romance stories involving hot sports stars, strong willed females and everything in between. When not busy writing or rooting for the Chicago Blackhawks you can find her with her nose stuck in her Kindle.
You can visit her website at: www.authormarysmith.blogspot.com
Follow her on:
Instagram: @maryms1980
Facebook: www.facebook.com/authormarysmith
Books By Author:
The Ice Series (Adult Sports Romance trilogy):
(no longer in print or ebook) Melting Away the Ice
(no longer in print or ebook) Breaking the Ice
(no longer in print or ebook) Shattering the Ice
(no longer in print or ebook) Thawing the Ice (A Novella)
A Hockey Tutor (New Adult Sports Romance)
Dart and Dash (New Adult Sports Romance)
Always Forever (New Adult Rocker Romance)
DREAM (Adult Romance Suspense)
The Matched Trilogy (Paranormal Romance Trilogy):
A Royal’s Love
A Protector’s Second Chance
A Controller’s Destiny
New Hampshire Bears Series (Adult Sports Romance)
The Muse and the Fairy Tale
The Workaholic and the Realist
The Hero and the Fat Girl
The Arrangement
The Coach and the Secret
The Captain and the Broken Girl
The Backup and the Baby
The Player and the Tattoo Artist
The Goalie and the Best Friend’s Sister
The Lush and the Angel
The Nice Guy and the Therapist
The Devoted Father and the Introvert
The Opposite Attraction
The Broken Marriage
Books with author Lindsay Paige:
A Penalty Kill Trilogy (New Adult Sports Romance):
Breakaway
Off the Ice
Game Over
Our First Christmas (A Novella)
