“Good.” Sammy heard the front door. “My next delivery is here. Talk to you soon!”
“Let me know if you need me!”
“Don’t worry. Even with you delivering today, I won’t risk a baby for lack of help.” There was a doctor in Haskell they could call as well, but Tabby was closer for emergencies. Sammy certainly would choose the right person to call if it came to that. “Love you!”
“Love you, too!”
Eight
Sammy got home after eight the next morning. Barry was waiting for her. “You all right?”
She nodded. “I’m having my secretary reschedule morning appointments. I’ll go in at one.” She was weaving on her feet. She needed sleep more than she needed anything else at that moment.
He shook his head. “I don’t know how you’re able to keep going with all this.”
“I have no choice. When Tabby is working as well, we handle things better because we work so closely together. But she’s out, too, so I’m going to have to handle it.”
“I’m worried about you. You look exhausted.”
She nodded. “I am. I’m going to grab a bowl of cereal and head back to bed. I’ll get up in time for a shower and lunch and see afternoon patients.”
“How can I help?” he asked, willing to do anything to take the fatigued look from her eyes.
“Bring me lunch at noon. I’ll eat, shower, and work. But I won’t have to cook for myself, and today, I don’t know if I can handle cooking for myself or anyone else.”
“Will do.” He leaned down and kissed her. “I’m heading to work. I will see you at noon with burgers.”
She nodded, getting herself a bowl of cereal and plopping down at the table to eat it. She rubbed her hands over her face, thankful there had been no complications in the past three deliveries. It always scared her a little to work without Tabby to back her up. Sure, she knew how to perform an emergency c-section, because she had assisted Tabby multiple times, but having a real live obstetrician ready to back her up was a safety net she didn’t like to work without.
Fifteen minutes later, she was sound asleep after a quick prayer for no deliveries for a day or two. She wasn’t sure she could handle more.
Barry had his best sales day ever. People had realized he was in town before he’d married Sammy, but it seemed after going to his wedding and getting to know him a bit, a lot more people were willing to shop in his store. There was definitely a mentality of only wanting to buy from people who were familiar in the town.
It was halfway through the morning when Bart came into the store, taking a seat beside his brother behind the desk. Barry finished ringing up his customer and turned to his brother. “Sales are really picking up.”
Bart grinned. “That’s wonderful. I am really happy for you.”
“But not for you?” Barry asked, a frown on his face.
“Well, for me, too. I talked to Bob for a while yesterday, and as soon as I’m cleared to work, I have a job in his kitchen. He’ll let me work starting at six in the evening until ten at night, so I can work in the bookstore until it closes.”
Barry wanted to jump to his feet and pump his fist, but he knew his brother wouldn’t be pleased with him for it. “Any idea when you’re going to be cleared to work?”
Bart shrugged. “This was my worst concussion yet. My mind is going to be Jell-O before too terribly long if I keep at it in the rodeo, so this is the best solution. Tabby thinks I should go to the hospital in Laramie to be checked out. She said she’s not used to working with concussions.”
“Then I’d go to Laramie. Do you need me to drive you?”
“Maybe tomorrow? That way you can have a sign in your door all day saying that you’re going to be gone. I’d hate for you to miss a ton of business because of me.”
“I appreciate that, but your health comes first,” Barry said. “I need to head home at lunch today to take lunch to Sammy. She’s had deliveries the past three nights, and she looks like she’s about to fall over.”
“What a way to honeymoon!” Bart said, shaking his head. “It must be fun to be married to a woman who knows so much about babies though, huh?”
Barry shook his head. “I wish she was a secretary or something. Then she wouldn’t always look like she was about to pass out. Oh, Tabby was one of those deliveries. She had a healthy boy.”
Bart smiled. “That’s awesome. Your wife is a superhero. She makes babies magically appear!”
“Yes, she does. She’s good at it, too.”
“Well, I’m going to go up to your apartment and go back to bed.”
Barry shook his head. “Your apartment. I’ll have the rest of my stuff cleared out this weekend. We’ll figure out rent later. Or I can take it out of your paycheck. Whatever you want.”
“Works for me.” Bart walked toward the door. “See you tomorrow. We should probably go in the morning.”
“Sounds good.” Barry would have taken Bart at any time, and he was thrilled his brother had finally agreed to go to the hospital. Hopefully he wouldn’t need to be admitted to the hospital and would just be given instructions on what to do.
After he’d gone, Barry pulled up his book on his computer. It was his first chance to write since the wedding, and he was going to take advantage of it. He needed to start taking his book home with him at night for evenings when Sammy was out delivering, but he hadn’t started yet.
He didn’t want to have to take it back and forth on a flash drive, so he did some quick research and chose a service where he could save the book onto an internet drive. That way he could write no matter what his location was.
He glanced up when the bell over the door rang and smiled as Grace, Patience, and Felicity all came in. He had met all three of them at the reception, and he knew they ran the bakery in town. “How can I help you ladies?”
“We’re just looking for books,” Felicity said. “I sure hope you’re treating my favorite midwife well, because she’s amazing and deserves to be treated like a princess, and if you don’t treat her like a princess, I might have to gather a posse to come after you and cut your toes off one by one.”
Barry blinked. Was that all one sentence? It had sure sounded like one. “I’m barely seeing her at the moment. She keeps getting called out to deliver babies.” He wasn’t worried that the woman would get to his toes. Besides, he treated his wife as a man should.
Grace walked in front of her cousin. “I heard Tabby had her baby and it went well. We’re all excited to see him.”
Patience nodded, moving next to Grace and turning her back on her sister, who had apparently lost her mind . . . again. “I’m sure it’s hard on Sammy right now with Tabby out of the picture. Tell her if there’s anything non-medical people can do, we’ll be there.”
“I’ll tell her. Thank you.” Barry was glad that the other two women weren’t quite as bizarre as Felicity. “What kind of books are you looking for?”
“Romance,” Grace said. “The kind of stuff we weren’t allowed to read when we were younger because our parents were insane. You got anything good?”
He laughed softly. “I will take you to the romance section. Sammy told me it needs help, and she’s going to help me reorganize it as soon as she has time.” He led the three women to the romances, noting that Felicity looked bigger than Tabby had. “When are you due?”
“Three more months.” Felicity turned to the side to show off her huge tummy. “I’m going to pop, huh!”
He looked noticeably shocked. “Umm . . . are you supposed to be that big?”
Patience and Grace both started laughing. “She’s having twins,” Patience explained.
“Oh! I thought she was going to have the first thirty-pound baby!”
Felicity shook her head. “Nope. My first was eight pounds. I don’t want these two to get any bigger than that!”
Barry decided not to say anything else on the subject. He was not an expert on pregnancies even though he was married to a midwife. “I’
ll let you ladies browse. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Just those flyers we’ve been promised,” Grace said.
“I’ll have them to you by Monday, I hope.” He looked at the three of them for a moment. “Who’s watching the bakery?”
“Rikki, our employee. We just took off for an hour so we could come check out the store. We’ll all work an hour late to make up for it,” Patience said.
“Ahh, then I’ll get out of your way so you can use your time off wisely.” He walked back to his computer, thinking he could write a paragraph or two.
As soon as he was sitting down, more customers came into the store. He was seriously surprised by the sheer number of people who were coming in this week as opposed to last week. Business was definitely improving.
At lunchtime, Barry picked up two burgers, taking one home to Sammy. He woke her, and she moved to the table, yawning behind her hand. “I wish this wasn’t so hard on you!”
“It goes with the job. Not a big deal.” She reached for her burger and smiled. “Thank you for bringing lunch.”
“Are you still going in this afternoon?” he asked. He wanted to add up the number of hours she’d slept, but he was afraid to.
“I need to. We rescheduled a lot of people, but there are a few patients we just can’t put off. Don’t worry. I’ve done this before, and I’m not dead!”
“I can see you’re not dead, and I’m glad. But are you sure you’re not hurting yourself by doing so much?”
She shrugged. “I won’t do any permanent damage. I promise.”
“I saw Felicity today. Is she really only six months?”
Sammy grinned and nodded. “She’s having twins, and she carries high, which makes her look huge.”
“Well, I was worried she was having a thirty-pound baby.”
“Nope, should be two seven or eight pound babies. She’s super healthy and doing great. I told her to lay off her own cookies for a bit or she’d gain too much, but she seems to have done so. It’s so hard for any woman to do well keeping her weight down while pregnant.”
“I wasn’t trying to comment on her weight. Do you think I offended her?”
Sammy shook her head. “It takes more than that to offend Felicity. The girl is crazily awesome.”
“She threatened to cut my toes off if I’m not kind to you.”
Sammy laughed. “Sounds like Felicity. Once she likes someone, they are her person forever. She would protect me from anyone or anything, whether she had the chance of being injured or not. Wait until you try her cookies. They’re like little pieces of heaven baked into a cookie.”
“I might have to stop there and buy some. They sound fabulous. Do you have a favorite kind?”
She shook her head. “Not at all, but it doesn’t matter because I love them all.”
He got to his feet. “I need to get back to the shop. I’m going to close tomorrow and take Bart to Laramie to get his head examined.” He laughed at his own joke.
She shook her head. “Let me know what the doctor says.”
“Oh! And he’s going to work for me part time and for Bob part time. He’s staying.”
Sammy jumped to her feet and threw her arms around him. “I’m so happy he’s staying.”
Barry kissed her. “I sure wish I had more time with you, because I want a real marriage, but hopefully tonight will be our night.”
She smiled. “I think I could find energy for that . . . if I got another nap.”
“I’ll plan on making supper, then. Don’t expect anything fancy, but I’ll cook while you nap.”
“You’re the best husband I’ve ever had!”
“Umm . . . you’ve been married before?”
“Not unless you count the boy I married in high school. It was a mock wedding, and my dress was beautiful . . .”
“No, I don’t count that. Not one little bit.”
“Oh, then you’re the only husband I’ve ever had.”
He kissed her softly. “Have a good afternoon.” And then he’d disappeared out the door. She was going to miss him.
She hurried off to their bedroom to change into scrubs while saying a silent prayer there would be no more deliveries that day. Or the next. Two days straight would be good. She loved what she did, but she needed sleep and some private time with her new husband. Was that too much to ask?
When she got to the clinic, her first patient was waiting. “How are you feeling, Hope?”
Hope shrugged. “This is my second pregnancy, and everything seems to be just fine. Do I really need to come in every month?”
“I think it’s best if you do.” As Sammy examined Hope Culpepper, she couldn’t help but wonder what the other woman thought of her cousin, Felicity, who was proving to be bigger than a house.
“All right. I just hate leaving Linda with all the little ones.” Hope yawned. “I do wish there was more time to sleep.”
“Me too!”
Hope grinned. “I’ve heard the full moon brought you a run on babies.”
“So many babies! And without Tabby to help.”
“How’s Tabby doing? Have they named the baby yet?”
“They’re calling him Wright after Frank Lloyd Wright. Seems a little odd to me, but that’s Arch and Tabby for you. Their entire courtship was one practical joke after another.”
“That’s true . . .” Hope shook her head. “Felicity is so proud of how huge she looks. Is she wearing any kind of padding to look bigger?”
Sammy laughed. “I don’t think she needs padding. That woman is all baby!”
“She seriously looks like she’s about to explode. Baby and guts everywhere.”
“I promise, she’s not exploding yet. She’s just big. Twins do that to a woman.”
“Well, her baby bump is more of a baby mountain, and she has months to go yet!”
“Yup. She’s going to be just fine, though, and no, there’s no padding at all.” Sammy looked at Hope. “You’re sixteen weeks. Do you want to take a peek and see what sex the baby is?”
“I thought we couldn’t do that until twenty weeks.” Hope suddenly looked a great deal more awake, and she nodded emphatically. “Karlan keeps telling me that he’s only going to be fathering boys, and since the first was a boy, I have to prove him wrong. I want a girl. Can you spritz some girl mojo onto the wand?”
“Absolutely! Lay back, and we’ll make this happen!” One of Sammy’s favorite parts of her job was doing sonograms and letting people know if they were having a boy or a girl. “I’m putting all the girl juju into this that I can!”
“You’re the best!” Hope said, lying on her back and straining to see the monitor.
Sammy went over different things, pointing out arms, legs, head . . . “I’m not seeing what I would need to see for it to be a boy, so that leaves me only one possible conclusion!”
“A girl! I’m so excited! In your face, Karlan Culpepper!”
“I’m not sure that helping you fight with your husband over the baby’s gender is part of my job description.”
“Would you print out a view of between the legs with no tail, please? I can’t wait to show him!”
Sammy laughed softly at the request, but she immediately did it, handing the printout to Hope after helping her sit up. “Now you have proof that there’s a girl on the way. Linda is going to be so happy!”
“I know! I mean, she loves little boys, but she loves little girls, too. She is going to have a whole room full of Barbies, and she’s the kind of grandma who will get down on the floor with them. Roy isn’t going to know what hit him!” Hope shook her head. “I’m so excited!”
“Well, I can’t wait to hear what Karlan says. Will you text me after you’ve told him?”
“Yes!” Hope giggled. “I’ll probably take out a skywriter.”
“Well, if you take out a skywriter, then text me before it flies over. I need to see his reaction!”
“Oh, the whole world is going to know his reaction.” Hope got
to her feet and hugged Sammy. “I’m so glad we peeked!”
“Me too!” Sammy watched as Hope hurried out of the office, thrilled with her reaction to finding out it was a girl. Experiences like that made all of the sleepless nights worth it.
The rest of the afternoon flew by, and she finally went home, sagging onto the couch. She was so tired, but she was determined to stay awake and enjoy her evening with her new husband. Could she even call him a husband yet since they hadn’t done each other? She had no idea, but what else was she going to call him?
She heard the door open, and Barry came in. “I’m making nachos. I hope you like jalapenos.”
“Love ’em! I’m just going to sit here and nap while you cook, unless you need me.”
“Oh, I need you, but not to help me make nachos. Sleep! I want you rested for later.”
Sammy closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, ignoring the sounds of him in the kitchen cooking. As long as she didn’t have to cook, she would be one happy wife.
Nine
Sammy woke up with Barry leaning over her. “Time to eat. I hope you’re hungry.”
She sat up and wiped her eyes. “Sure. Hungry.”
He shook his head. “You’re more tired than hungry. You really wipe yourself out, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “Comes with the job.”
“Come eat.” He led her to the table. “My famous nachos.”
She looked at the table. He’d browned meat and added refried beans and cheese. There were chips, and she could see tiny pieces of chopped up jalapenos. It looked good. “I can see why they’re famous.” She sat down.
“Do you want a Sprite? Or something else?”
“Sprite sounds good.” She yawned. “And water. Get me both.”
“You’re being a little high maintenance.”
“I’m sorry.” But she didn’t change what she wanted to just one. She wanted the Sprite, but she knew she needed the water. On days when she was going too much, she rarely got enough to stay properly hydrated.
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