A Baby And A Wedding

by Eckhart, Lorhainne

Brad’s brother didn’t answer right away. Emily remembered the day before the wedding that didn’t happen all those months ago, and how Neil had been the one who played with Katy. Jed had hung in the background.

  “You know I will,” he answered, rubbing his jaw and glancing at the staircase. “The kids will be fine.”

  Emily felt the pull and twinge of another contraction, which tightened suddenly, leaving her struggling for breath. It went on and on this time. Brad held her hand, but Emily couldn’t help the groan that escaped as she leaned forward.

  “Don’t fight it, Em,” he urged her. “Come on, breathe.”

  She heard him, but felt herself drowning as she held her breath, until she finally felt the wave of pain release. Then she took another breath as the ache pulsed down her thighs and finally subsided.

  “That’s pretty close, Em. I’m calling the doc.”

  Emily thought Brad sounded annoyed when he spoke; a man who’d already decided. Jed uttered something in a low voice as Brad grabbed the cordless phone in the kitchen. Emily couldn’t hear, but both brothers glanced back at her. Brad shook his head in a way that showed he was upset. He hustled to the fridge where she kept Dr. Montgomery’s card with her contact number.

  Emily listened to him dial the phone and talk to someone, right before the pain hit again. Strong and long, it took her breath away, and she clutched the arm of the chair. Then she heard Brad speaking. He was standing right beside her, holding her hand.

  “She’s having another contraction,” Brad said into the phone. “Her last was about a minute ago. Okay, we’ll meet you there.”

  He’d hung up by the time the contraction passed.

  “We’re going to the hospital now,” he said. “Dr. Montgomery is going to meet us there.”

  “I’m not going like this,” Emily protested. “I’m not decent. I need some clothes.”

  Brad headed toward the stairs at a run and shouted over his shoulders, “I’ll get your clothes. Jed, go and warm the truck, and pull it up to the door.”

  Emily closed her eyes and pressed her head against the back of the chair. This was not how she had planned the birth. This was supposed to be a joyous time. Having Brad’s baby was everything she’d dreamed of, but not being married left her with an emptiness that seemed more like a blemish on her soul.

  Chapter 9

  Brad paced the hall at Grays Harbor Community Hospital, checking his cell phone messages, and didn’t miss the frown of the OB nurse as she wandered out of Emily’s labor room. On the way to the hospital, Brad had called his lawyer twice and gotten him out of bed, only to learn that he hadn’t been able to get a judge to sign the papers yet. Emily had heard, of course, and Brad didn’t miss the pain that shadowed her eyes. He knew she wanted this marriage badly.

  “Emily’s in labor; I need that signed now,” he told Keith.

  Keith answered, “Brad, I know how bad you want this. I’ll do what I can. I’ll be burning some bridges waking up a judge, but I’ll do it for you; you know I’ll do my best.”

  Brad then listened to the only message on his phone, which was from Jed: “The kids are sleeping, and Mom, Dad and Neil are on a flight now.”

  He phoned Keith once more, but the call went to voicemail. “Keith, Emily’s really progressing. She’s already 6 centimeters. Please tell me you’ve got good news...” Brad stopped talking as he felt a tap on the shoulder.

  “Sir, turn off your cell phone or we’re going to have to ask you to leave,” said the plump, blonde nurse. She was staring at Brad in a way that was all business, so he hung up.

  He raised his hands in surrender. “All shut off, done.”

  The woman seemed satisfied and strode back to the nurses’ station while Brad went back into Emily’s room. She was alone, curled up on her side and gripping the side rail, sucked into a contraction that seemed to go on and on. She didn’t hear him come up behind her.

  “It’s okay, Em, just breathe,” he said, rubbing her back. “You’re doing great.”

  Emily seemed to relax. The monitor to which she was hooked up showed the contraction tapering off. She rolled over. The head of the bed was raised up, so she was almost sitting. Sweat dampened her forehead and her hospital gown clung to her.

  As Brad wiped her forehead with a cloth, Emily gripped his wrist. “Brad, I…”

  He leaned down and kissed her forehead. “I know, Em. It’s okay, we’ll get married right after.”

  Tears glistened Emily’s eyes. “It isn’t the same, you know.”

  Brad smiled. “I’ll make it right.” He said the words more for her benefit, but it didn’t ease the shadow of despair on her face.

  The door pushed open and a short, middle-aged woman with a tomboyish haircut and dark-rimmed glasses strode in. She was wearing tan slacks and a white shirt. “How are you doing, Emily?” asked Dr. Montgomery.

  Emily couldn’t answer. She rolled to her side as another contraction hit. Brad sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her lower back.

  “We’ll just wait until her contraction passes and then I want to examine her again,” said Dr. Montgomery.

  Brad was amazed how long the contraction lasted before it peaked and tapered off.

  Emily groaned and began to whimper. “Oh, it hurts.”

  “You’re doing great, honey,” he said, rubbing her arm that gripped the rail. He wondered for a moment if she’d bend it under the force of her grasp.

  She let out a deep breath. “Is it too late to ask for drugs?”

  “Sorry, Emily, you’ve come too far,” replied the doctor. “We only had a small window and it has now closed. You can do it. Okay, Emily, I need you to roll over on your back. I know it’s uncomfortable, but I need to examine you.”

  Brad helped Emily to move over, and then scooted down as the doctor lowered the head of the bed.

  “Okay, about seven centimeters. It won’t be too much longer.” The doctor patted her patient’s bare leg and raised the head of the bed again. “I know you’re tired Emily, but you really need to get up and walk around. Lying in bed is hard and walking can help to get the labor progressing faster. Brad, help Emily with her breathing. She needs to breathe through the contraction, not hold her breath. You’re just fighting it when you do, and it makes the pain worse.”

  Emily didn’t look at Brad, but he knew what she was doing. She was holding onto this baby and waiting for a miracle. “Brad, could you call Keith again. Maybe…”

  “Emily, you can’t hold the baby back. I’ve called him, honey. Right now let’s focus on you and the baby. Come on, get up.”

  Brad slid his arm around Emily, and helped her to the edge of the bed, where her legs dangled over the side.

  “I’ll be back to check on you,” said the doctor, slipping out of the room.

  Emily had just stood up when the door pushed open and a nurse popped her head inside. “There is a man out here by the name of Keith, who is pretty insistent to see you. Is he family?”

  Emily gripped Brad’s arm and then doubled over as another contraction hit hard.

  “Yes, get him in here,” he cried, not meaning to shout.

  Keith must have been standing right behind the nurse, as he appeared when she opened the door wider. Standing in the doorway, he grimaced when he took in Emily’s condition. He didn’t linger, but waved some papers high in the air. “Signed, sealed and filed.”

  At that moment the doctor reappeared in the doorway, behind Keith.

  As Emily felt her contraction pass, she asked, “Can we please get married now?”

  Brad glanced at Keith. “Can you get a justice of the peace in here now, and what about the marriage licence?”

  “I’ll get the hospital chaplain. I’ve the license for you here,” replied his friend, hurrying out the door.

  Emily doubled over again as another contraction hit.

  Dr. Montgomery looked concerned. “You might not have enough time,” she said. “I don’t think the baby wants to wait. Get her back in bed s
o that I can check her again.”

  Emily cried out as she held onto Brad’s hand.

  “She’s nine centimeters now,” said the doctor. “We need to get her ready to push.”

  The door opened and a skinny, young man with pimples on his forehead, who looked like he had just graduated from high school, rushed into the room, followed by Keith. The man was dressed in a dark shirt and white collar. When he took in the sight of Emily in active labor, he blushed.

  “Are you the couple who want to get married now?” he asked.

  Dr. Montgomery ripped open a package, pulled out a surgical gown and pushed up the head of the bed. A nurse entered the room and started to help the doctor prepare things.

  Emily screamed out as another contraction ripped through her, and she was becoming incoherent.

  It was then that the young minister said, “If she can’t answer, I can’t marry you.”

  Chapter 10

  Emily rocked herself in the leather glider in the living room, dressed in a lovely, dark blue gown, and holding her two-day-old baby girl. The garment buttoned up the front and was low cut, showing off her generous cleavage. Mary Haske and the family minister sat on the sofa opposite, chatting.

  Becky was in the kitchen with Rodney, setting out trays of food on the kitchen table. Brad and his brothers were outside with the kids. While Brad and Neil were dressed in dark suits, Jed was wearing a new pair of blue jeans and a blue plaid shirt. Emily wondered as she watched them through the front window if he actually owned a suit. She listened to the giggles of Katy and Trevor as they were being doted on by their uncles.

  The front door opened and the brothers burst in with the two kids, who were laughing and stomping around. Most would frown on the noise, but, when Emily and Brad had arrived home the day before, Becky told them that if they started tiptoeing around the baby and worrying about the noise they were making, they’d both be nervous wrecks, and the child would never get any sleep. Becky also said that, in general, babies found it comforting to sleep in a bustling household that was calm and peaceful. Emily had agreed. It was the child’s father who still needed convincing.

  Brad started toward Emily, but stopped when she met the deep love burning in his somber, brown eyes—for her and their child. He took her breath away, this handsome man, dressed in his Sunday best; a custom-tailored suit that hugged his rugged frame. It was no wonder that every woman who had been in church today for their baby girl’s christening had smiled in appreciation at Brad. But he was hers. Emily glanced at the solid, gold band encrusted with diamonds that sparkled every time she gazed down at it. A symbol and his token; she was his wife, and she belonged to him: Mrs. Emily Friessen.

  Their wedding was a blur, but what Emily did remember, as the labor wracked her small body with pain, was Brad grabbing the skinny minister by the shirt front and hauling him over to the bed. He told the young man that he had two choices on how he wanted to leave the hospital room: either marry them quickly and walk out, or go out on a stretcher.

  Keith had shouted a warning at Brad, but it was Dr. Montgomery who surprised everyone by saying, “If you’re smart, you’ll marry them and make it the fastest ceremony you’ve ever done. Skip to the ‘I do’ part now, and see these two properly wed before this baby appears in the next few minutes.” Then she pointed to the side of the bed and added in her husky voice, “Preacher, you can stand right there. Start talking.”

  As the doctor urged Emily’s legs up, the preacher had scurried to the side of the bed, as instructed, and flipped to a page in his book. Keith, who already had the marriage license out, along with a pen, wrote his signature as witness and handed both items to Brad. Then, as Emily screamed “I do,” Brad held the paper and pressed the pen into her hand, so that she could scribble her name.

  While Emily pushed, Brad had sat beside her and supported her back. The preacher hurried along and spoke fast, and right before the baby’s head crowned, he uttered the words, “I pronounce you man and wife.”

  Becky Ann Friessen was born at 9:22am, weighing in at seven pounds and two ounces; right after her father had pushed a diamond-encrusted gold band on her mama’s finger.

  Afterword

  Thank you so much for reading A BABY AND A WEDDING.

  If you enjoyed A BABY AND A WEDDING, then I’d love to ask you a favor and have you go back to Amazon and provide an honest review.

  Authors live and die by their reviews, so the few extra seconds it takes you to leave a review really helps us authors out.

  Although this book and all my books have been edited and proofed, editors, proofreaders and I are all human. If you spot a typo, please email me at lorhainne@lorhainneeckhart.com and let me know. Also, I would like to thank everyone who has emailed and told all their family and friends about my books. And if you’d like to know more about my other books please scroll to the next section or visit my website at www.LorhainneEckhart.com

  All the best,

  Lorhainne Eckhart

  Other Works by Lorhainne EckhartThe Forgotten Child, The Friessen Legacy Series, Book 1

  #1 Bestseller in Westerns

  If you enjoyed Walk the Right Road Series then be sure to check out Lorhainne Eckhart’s Bestselling Western Romance, The Forgotten Child

  How do you tell a man there is something wrong with his child?

  Praise for The Forgotten Child…

  Page Turner!! ... Brad is just sick with worry over losing Emily and Katy but has he lost them forever?? You definitely have to read this book to find out. I was hooked from the first page to the last. Excellent!!

  Louise Jolly, Bookaholic

  Lorhainne Eckhart is a new author to me, but she is definitely going on my list of authors' books to lookout for because she turned my world and emotions upside with this compelling, realistic story of heartache and unconditional love between a man and a woman, a man and his son, and a woman and a little boy who she quickly grows to love.

  ~BlackRaven's Reviews

  READERS FAVORITE 5-Star Review: A real page turner … with a fast moving plot. A must read!

  Reviewed by Brenda C. for Readers Favorite

  Overview:

  Emily Nelson, a courageous young mother, ends a loveless, bitter marriage and strikes out on her own. She answers an ad as a cook and live-in caregiver to a three-year-old boy on a local ranch. Ranch owner Brad Friessen hires and moves in Emily and her daughter. But Emily soon discovers something’s seriously wrong with the boy, and the reclusive, difficult man who hired her can’t see the behavior and how delayed his son is. So Emily researches until she stumbles across what she suspects are the soft signs of autism. Now she must tell him, give him hope, and help him come to terms with this neurological disorder—to take the necessary steps to get his child the help he needs.

  As their lives become intertwined, their attraction is unavoidable—a connection sparks between them. But just as they’re getting close, Brad’s estranged wife, Crystal, returns after abandoning the family two years earlier. Among the shock and confusion is one disturbing question Brad can’t shake: How does Crystal know so much of his personal business, the inner working of the ranch, and Emily’s relationship with his son?

  Crystal must’ve had a plan, as she somehow gains the upper hand, driving a wedge in the emotional bond forged between Brad, Emily, and the children. The primary focus for care and therapy of three-year-old Trevor is diverted. The lengths to which Crystal will go, the lies, the greed, just to keep what’s hers, are nothing short of cold and calculating. Emily’s forced out of the house. Brad fights to save his boy, to protect what’s his, and struggles over his greatest sacrifice—Emily, and the haunting question: Has he lost her forever?

  To download a sample or purchase The Forgotten Child simply click here.

  A Baby And A Wedding, A Friessen Legacy Short Story

  The Forgotten Child continues with a very special day.

  To download a sample or purchase A Baby And A Wedding, simply click here.
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br />   Fallen Hero, The Friessen Legacy Series

  She returned for justice. What she didn’t expect was to find love.

  To download a sample or purchase Fallen Hero simply click here.

  The Search, The Friessen Legacy Short Story

  When her husband goes missing she’s forced to call the one man she shouldn’t.

  To download a sample or purchase The Search simply click here.

  The Awakening, A Friessen Legacy Christmas Story

  Can a sexy rancher restore a young woman’s hope?

  To download a sample or purchase The Awakening simply click here.

  The Gift

  A devastating plane crash and a fathers only hope are the dreams connecting him with his son.

  To download a sample or purchase The Gift simply click here.

  A Father’s Love

  Two children struggle to survive when trapped by an angry mother bear.

  To download a sample or purchase A Father’s Love click here.

  The Choice, Walk the Right Road Series, Book 1

  Mystery, romance, and age-old evil collide in this spellbinding thriller, THE CHOICE

  One Woman...

  Marcie is crazy in love with Dan, who has been using her and promising his love in return. And she’ll do anything for him, though their relationship is fast becoming a one-way ticket to trouble. However, in a freak accident, she loses her memory, landing in the path of sexy DEA agent Sam Carre.

  Two Men...

  When an attractive stranger lands in the path of DEA agent Sam Carre, he just can’t resist helping her, even though he’s haunted by a past that gives him no peace. But as the sparks fly, so do questions of what she’s really involved in.

  And a choice that could kill her...

  This complex case pushes them both to explain the unexplainable bringing them face to face with generations-old evil and a haunting question. Sam’s forced to make a choice: Walk away from the attraction connecting them, or risk losing everything.