by JJ Ellis
“Well, what did she tell you?”
“Mean son-of-a-bitch ex. Tracking her down, beating her up.”
“All true,” Jackson said. “He is one mean piece of shit. He attacked me but the rangers scared him off before he did much damage. He is officially being looked for.”
“Well that’s good. I hope they find him before he finds her.”
“Keep her safe, Logan. She’s a pretty amazing woman.”
“I’ll do my best, cousin. Oh hey, do you have a picture of this guy. It might help if I know who I’m hiding her from.”
“Yeah, do you still have a fax machine at the store?”
“I sure do. Thanks Jack.”
“No, thank you, Logan. I’ll fax that picture right over. And by the way, I’m sorry you didn’t get any warning. Aunt Evie never returned my call.”
“It’s okay man. I don’t think she even knows how to check voicemail on her new phone.” Logan hung up and slipped down to the now empty store to get the picture and some iron pills. When he walked back into the apartment he heard Jayna calling out. He rushed into the bedroom but she was fast asleep with tears in her eyes. It must have been a nightmare. He hated to wake her up, but he wanted to do exactly as Nicoletta had instructed.
Walking to the bathroom, he filled a cup with water and went back to the bed. “Hey Sleeping Beauty, I need you to take another pill.”
“What? What kind?” she asked warily.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you. Nurse Nicoletta wants you to take iron pills.”
“Oh okay,” she murmured reaching for the pill and drink. After taking it, she handed Logan the cup and laid back down.
He turned to walk out and Jayna sat up. "Logan, I'm so sorry, but could you stay with me for a while? I..I’m scared."
“Sure,” he said, setting the cup on the nightstand. “I’ll stay with you.” He walked around to the other side of the bed and sat with his back against the headboard. Reaching over, he tucked her in and wiped the hair from her face. “Go to sleep now,” he whispered. “I’ll wake you when Nicoletta gets here.”
After a while, Logan started to get uncomfortable so he slid down to rest his head on the pillow. He allowed his eyes to close, telling himself that he would lie there for another hour or so and then head out to the couch.
Sometime later, he woke to Jayna’s screams. She was asleep but sitting up in the bed. “Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It’s okay. Lie back down.”
“Logan,” she murmured, opening her eyes. “Oh Logan!” She launched herself into his arms.
“Whoa. Hey, it’s okay.” He held her while she cried then pulled her with him to lay down. “Go back to sleep. You’re safe.”
Jayna hugged Logan tighter as she cried herself to sleep. It appeared he would be staying right where he was. Not that holding her was that big of a chore. She smelled so good and her skin was so incredibly soft. He couldn’t help but feel strange that he was physically attracted to a woman pregnant with another man’s child. The thought that he found anyone attractive scared him out of his mind. He didn’t usually find himself in situations like this. In fact he made sure to stay away from them.
Eventually he fell into a deep sleep, with Jayna still wrapped in his arms. The next time he opened his eyes, there was light coming through the blinds. He felt a strange sensation on his hand. One minute, Jayna’s belly was normal and a short time later it was hard as a rock. Oh no. He’d helped birth enough animals to know that meant she was having contractions. “Jayna.”
“Yeah,” she said sleepily.
“How are you feeling?”
Her eyes opened and met his. “I ache all over, but I feel a bit stronger. I guess maybe my body got used to sleeping in the car.”
He gently took her hand and set it on her belly. “Sleeping Beauty, you’re having contractions. It’s too early, we should get you to a hospital.”
Logan was up and pacing. “Come on. Get up. The sooner we get there, the sooner they can try to stop your labor.”
“Logan,” she said softly, with tears in her eyes. “Logan,” she cried when he didn’t respond the first time.
“Yeah, what?” he asked, turning to her. “Oh hey, don’t cry. Everything will be okay. They do great things with early babies all the time.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you. He’s not early,” she said softly. “He’s due in three days. I…I lied to you.”
Logan sat down hard on the bed and looked at her. “Why?”
Jayna took a deep breath and turned her head away. “I figured if you knew how close I was you wouldn’t let me stay.”
“Really?" he asked incredulously. “Did you think I would throw you out on the street in your condition?”
She shrugged. “You could have sent me to a hotel or the hospital or… I don’t want him to find me. He can’t find me Logan!”
“But when you give birth, you’ll have to go to the hospital.”
“But by then the baby will be here and I can take measures to keep him safe. Reginald can beat me or kill me, but he must never be allowed to hurt the baby.”
“Okay,” Logan sighed. “I understand your train of thought but…”
There was a knock at the door and he reluctantly left her side to answer it. “Oh am I glad to see you,” he told Nicoletta as he ushered her inside. “I think my friend might be going into labor. She’s contracting pretty good but not really feeling it.”
“Okay Logan. You seem nervous, just calm down. We’ll go check on her.”
When they walked into the room, Jayna was sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to get her stuff packed.
“What are you doing?” Logan asked. “You need to lie down.”
“I lied to you. I should leave. We’ll make it on our own.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” he said through gritted teeth. “You’re about to give birth and you’re safe here.”
“I’ve put you out enough,” she sobbed.
“Jayna, just lie down and let Nicoletta check you. Please. For your baby.”
“Come on sweetie,” the young nurse cut in as she helped Jayna to lie down. “You’ve got one of the Harper boys on your side. You’re one lucky woman.”
While they talked, Logan quietly walked out of the room to give them some privacy.
“Do you think you’re in labor?” Nicoletta asked.
“I don’t know,” she sighed. "I can see the contractions but I’m not feeling them.”
Nicoletta felt her stomach and checked for the baby’s position. “Do you have pain in your back?”
“From my shoulders to my hips aches and radiates into my limbs, but nothing super specific.”
The young nurse smiled. “I think you’re having back labor. Would you mind if I checked you for dilation? I brought my daddy’s bag, he’s an OB.”
Jayna looked at her with fear in her eyes. “Have you…have you ever done this before?”
“I did my clinicals in an OB/GYN office. The only reason I worked on a cruise ship was to stay away from a Harper boy.”
“Logan?” Jayna asked.
“Oh no. Playboy extraordinaire, Dylan Harper was the bane of my existence. But that’s a long story for another time.”
Nicoletta sanitized her hands, put on gloves and checked Jayna. When she was done she disposed of her gloves and told the young woman to get ready for a trip to the hospital, then left the room.
“Hey, how is she?” Logan asked when he saw his friend leave the bedroom.
“She’s tired and I think her iron is low. The food she ate yesterday seems to have helped her dizziness, but Logan, we need to get her to the hospital now. She went from 5 cm dilated to six while I was checking her and she’s starting to feel the contractions in her abdomen.”
“Oh God! Okay um… I’ll get her into the truck. Are the roads okay? Hell, it doesn’t matter, it’s just down the street. I wonder if I should pack her bag. Oh man, we’ve got to hurry.
Nicoletta was chuckli
ng at her old friend. “Logan, is this your baby? You’re acting like an expectant father.”
He stopped pacing and his jaw dropped. “Uh no…no, the baby isn’t mine. But Jesus this is all so, so…nerve-wracking!”
Just then, Jayna came out of the bedroom groaning and holding her stomach. “We need to go now,” she breathed. “Please!”
“Yeah, yeah. Come on,” Logan said, grabbing his keys and wallet and walking out the door.
A few moments later, he walked back inside. “I guess we should take the mom-to-be, huh?”
Nicoletta and Jayna both laughed at him. Logan put his jacket over her head and they all walked out of the nearly empty store as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
Nicoletta helped Logan get her through the six inches of fresh snow and into the truck before she headed to her own car with a promise to meet them at the hospital.
Chapter 4
Logan was standing in the hallway of the small maternity ward of the twenty-five bed community hospital when a woman in scrubs approached him. "Hey Daddy, there you are. You’re being asked for.”
"But I’m not…” Of course Jayna’s nurse was a new one who didn’t know who he was.
“Come on Papa, it’s time to have a baby,” she said, pulling on his arm. "Your wife is asking for you.”
Logan sighed and followed her. What in the hell was he getting himself into. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to watch a near stranger give birth.
The woman in scrubs dragged him into the room. Jayna was moaning in pain as he rushed over to her. “Hey, they said you asked for me."
“Yeah,” she panted. “I need you here with me.”
“I…I’m not sure I’m the best person to have here,” he said nervously. “You have Nicoletta.”
“She’s in a strange place, surrounded by complete strangers, Logan,” Nicoletta stressed. “You’re the only one who can make her feel safe right now.”
“Okay,” he sighed. “What do I do?”
“Just hold her hand and encourage her.”
“Okay,” he said nodding. “I can do that.”
A nurse brought him a stool to sit on. As he seated himself and took Jayna’s hand, the doctor, Nicoletta’s father Adam Ballas, walked in. “I hear we’re ready to have a baby!”
Logan sat there through the whole process, fascinated. At first he was nervous that he would see too much, but then he couldn’t help but watch when Jayna told him it was okay. He watched in awe as an eight pound four ounce little boy was pushed into the world by the beautiful, scared woman he’d taken into his home.
"Miss McIntyre, would you like to feed the baby before we take him?”
“Yes, please,” she smiled as tears of joy ran down her face.
The baby was put into her arms and the nurse helped her get him latched on. Logan looked away to give her privacy but Jayna would have none of it. After being pregnant, giving birth, and passing out in the shower, she really didn’t care who saw what anymore.
“Logan?”
“Yeah,” he said, turning back to her. The baby all snuggled up to his mother’s breast, was a captivating, beautiful scene.
“What is your middle name?”
“Wha…um, Charles. Why?” he asked, looking from the suckling baby to her eyes.
“I’d like you to meet Charles Joseph McIntyre,” she said softly.
Logan smiled at her. It felt almost hard to breathe, but it wasn’t entirely a bad feeling. He reached over and took the tiny hand of the little boy who now bore his middle name. “It’s nice to meet you Charles.” The tiny hand wrapped around his index finger and he truly did lose his breath for a brief moment. “He is so perfect,” Logan murmured.
“He is,” Jayna agreed as she switched breasts. “I can’t believe how perfect he is. Aren’t they supposed to be wrinkly and funny looking?”
Logan laughed. “Apparently not all are.”
The baby pulled away from the breast and started to cry. A nurse walked over and handed a cloth to Logan. “It looks like Daddy is the first to burp him. Put that on your shoulder.”
“But I’m not…” the baby was suddenly in his arms and he couldn’t think straight. He was mesmerized by the tiny, screaming, little human.
“Put him on your shoulder and pat his back,” the nurse explained.
He pulled out of his fog and did as the nurse had instructed him. After just a moment of patting the little back, Charles let out a burp so loud that it received a quiet round of applause from everyone in the room. “Wow, little man that was impressive, especially since your Mama’s milk hasn’t even come in yet!”
The baby stopped crying and settled into Logan’s arms again. After a few minutes, the nurse took him so they could finish checking him over.
“Have you been around children a lot?” Jayna asked.
“What? No,” he chuckled. “I have very little experience with human babies.”
“Well, you’re a natural then,” she smiled. “You’re really good with him.”
Logan didn’t quite know what to say. He wasn’t really fond of kids, but when the nurse took Charles from him, he almost felt… bereft? “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get something. What is your favorite animal?”
“Umm, eagles and moose. Why?”
“You’ll see,” he said, standing up. “I’ll be right back.”
“She’ll be in a room soon. 101 I believe,” the nurse called after him.
Logan hurried down to the tiny, volunteer-run gift shop with hopes that it was open and they had what he wanted.
Fifteen minutes later, he walked out with exactly what he’d been looking for. Heading back to the maternity area, he ran into Nicoletta and Jayna slowly walking toward room 101. “Should you be walking around already?” he asked concerned.
Nicoletta chuckled. “Once the mom can get up and pee, they let her walk around. Especially since she didn’t have an epidural.”
“Oh okay. How are you feeling, Jayna?”
She looked at him and smiled. “I’m shaky and sore, but I’m good.”
Logan knew that was true physically, but he could see the fear in her eyes. After he got her settled in he would head home and figure out what to do about that fear.
Ten minutes later, he, Jayna and Charles were alone in the room. Logan lifted the little boy carefully out of the bassinet and handed him to his mother for another feeding. “So, I know you probably don’t want to talk about this right now, but I need you to tell me everything you know about Reginald Sanders so I can try to find him before he finds you.”
“I have a file on him in the bag at your place. Everything you need to know is in there.”
Logan sensed her fear go up a notch. Just the thought of that bastard put her on edge. “You’ll be safe here Sleeping Beauty. They won’t let anyone into this wing unless they have a reason to be here. Nicoletta and I will be the only ones authorized to see you.”
“Okay,” she said, looking down at Charles. Tears were once again shining in her eyes. “This isn’t how I originally imagined this day.”
“I’m sorry. Is there anyone I can call for you?”
“Just Deb. I don’t have any family.”
“I’ll call her when I get home,” he promised. “I have something for you and Charles,” he said, picking the bag up off the floor. “This is for you.” Logan pulled a stuffed moose out of the bag. The shirt she was wearing said ‘mommy’. “And this itty bitty one is for CJ.” He pulled a smaller moose out of the bag – he had a t-shirt that said ‘baby’ on it.
“CJ?” Jayna asked as she studied the moose pair.
Logan grinned and shrugged his shoulders. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” she murmured. “I kind of like it. Do you like it, CJ?” she asked. The baby cooed and continued to eat.
Logan reached out and caressed the little guy’s soft cheek but pulled back quickly. When in the Hell did he get so touchy-feely?
CJ pulled away from the breast and refused
to go back on, so Logan took him from his mother and put him on his shoulder. He patted and rubbed while the baby squirmed and fussed. “Being stubborn, my man? Just let it out. You don’t want to get into trouble with your mama do you?” At just that moment the little guy let out a huge burp. “That’s my boy!"
Logan realized immediately what he’d said and looked down to see Jayna’s reaction. She was asleep. “Well, I guess my slip of the tongue will be our little secret,” he whispered, shifting his eyes to the baby. CJ was dozing on his shoulder. “Or just mine,” he chuckled.
He held the baby a bit longer, just enjoying the feeling of the tiny little human breathing in and out. But soon, he knew it was time to get home. Putting the baby gently in the bassinet, he briefly mourned the loss then got to work leaving a note for Jayna.
I put my number in your phone. If you need anything, just call, it doesn’t matter what time it is.
Logan
He picked up her phone, entered his number in the contacts and walked around the other side of the bed. Looking down at Jayna he smiled. His nickname for her was spot on; she was definitely a beauty. He bent down, kissed her forehead and hurried from the room. Whatever had gotten into him had better end soon. He couldn’t afford to have warm and fuzzy feelings, even for the cutest little human being he’d ever seen.
After making arrangements for the hospital bill, he headed back to his apartment to make a few calls.
***********
Following a quick stop at the local fast food joint for a to-go order, Logan arrived home. It was just past six p.m. He pulled out his phone and dialed his cousin’s number.
“Hey Logan, what’s up,” Jackson answered.
“Hey Jack, is Deb there?”
“Uh yeah, hold on a minute.”
“Hey when I’m done talking to her, get back on the line, okay?”
“Sure.”
Deb quickly picked up the line. “Hi Logan. How are you? How is Jayna?”
“That’s actually why I called. She had the baby this afternoon. A little boy, eight pounds four ounces and twenty-two inches long.”
