He glanced back toward the doors, blinked his eyes dry, and faced the boys again, nodding firmly. "That's the way it's gonna be. So if you don't like it, we all might as well step out into the parking lot right now, because I love her too much to let her marry me before she understands just how I feel. I want her to be sure. I want her to know that I'd walk barefoot over hot coals for her, baby or no baby. I want her to know that."
The angry frown vanished from Garrett's face, and even Wes had the good sense to stop glaring. In fact, their expressions turned, one by one, into looks of grudging admiration.
Chelsea smiled outright. "You'll convince her, Lash. Damn, I'm so glad she's got herself a man who loves her the way you do."
Then the boys all shifted their gazes to look past Lash, and Lash turned to see what they were focused on, and spotted a nurse who seemed to be very upset as she spoke to a doctor, who looked puzzled. The woman raised her voice a notch then, and they could all hear her.
"I don't know how, Doctor! We only left her alone for a second, and … well, we just lost her!"
Lash's heart froze in that moment. The rest of his body dissolved and he sank to his knees. "No," he whispered. "God, no, not Jessi…"
Elliot, Garrett and Wes stampeded past him, crowding the startled pair in white and demanding answers. Behind him, he could hear Chelsea crying.
And then Ben, that big, quiet, saddest of all Brands, was kneeling beside him, and dropping a big hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently. And when Lash looked up, he saw Ben's face, wet with tears. And he knew Ben had lost his own young wife, and the pain he was feeling was reflected in this man's eyes.
"Not again," Ben said softly. "God, not again."
"This can't be happening," Lash whispered.
Ben's arms enfolded him, and the two knelt there together, sobbing like a couple of kids. Lash didn't think he'd ever be able to stand on his feet again.
A shrill, piercing whistle cut through the grief in that waiting room like a fire alarm, and Lash managed to look up, toward the sound.
Jessi stood at the far end of the waiting room, clad in a hospital gown, hands on her hips. "What in the Sam Hill is everybody bawling about?" she demanded.
Lash's strength surged back into his body. He sprang to his feet and ran the length of the room, scooping her into his arms and hugging her hard, clinging to her as if he'd never let go.
He vaguely heard the nurse apologizing for her poor choice of words, and explaining that her patient was missing, not dead. By then, though, no one was really listening. Jessi's brothers were crowding around her, hugging her and Lash all at once, and Lash kind of figured they'd pretty much gotten over the idea of beating him senseless in the parking lot. For tonight, at least.
Lash set her on her feet, anxiously searching her face to be sure she was really all right.
"You really need to spend the night, Miss Brand," the doctor was saying. "You shouldn't even be on your feet right now."
And some of that joyous relief faded from Lash's heart when he heard the concern in the doc's voice. "Jessi?" Lash scooped her up again. If the doc said she shouldn't be on her feet, she damned well wasn't going to be. He held her gently. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Is it the baby? Is there—"
"The baby's fine," she told him, and he almost sank to his knees all over again in relief. Then she nodded to the doctor. "Tell him, Doc."
The man smiled. "Food poisoning. A mild case, fortunately, though I'm sure it didn't feel that way."
"It was that damned fajita," she muttered, and she let her head rest on Lash's shoulder. "But I'm glad it happened."
Garrett shook his head. "How can you be glad? Do you know what you just did to us?"
"You scared the hell out of us," Wes said.
"When that nurse said she'd lost you…" Garrett began.
"I died inside, Jessi," Lash finished. "I swear to God, I felt myself die inside."
She met his gaze, held it, and he saw new moisture in her eyes. Chelsea cleared her throat, and Jessi pulled her gaze away from Lash's. "They wanted to keep me overnight. I wanted out of here, so as soon as they weren't looking, I sneaked out to see if I could convince my big brothers to spring me." Her gaze came back to Lash's, something like wonder in her brown eyes as she reached up and ran one hand through his hair. "And I'm glad I did, because I got a front-row seat for that little speech of yours."
Lash blinked. "You did?"
She sniffed, and nodded. "Yeah, I did. You convinced me, Lash. It's really not just the baby, is it?"
"No, Jessi. It's got nothing to do with the baby. I love you, and I'd figured that out before your brothers ever told me about the baby. I was down there in Mexico, missing you with everything in me and trying to figure out how the hell to convince you to marry me. God, Jessi, I never knew I could feel this way. But I do. I swear to God, I do love you."
"Then I guess I'm gonna hafta marry myself a drifter," she said. "Because I've loved you all along. You know that, don't you, Lash?"
He shook his head in wonder. "I know it. I can't quite understand why, but I know it." Then his face split in a grin. "You're gonna marry me?"
She nodded.
He leaned forward and kissed her, gently but thoroughly.
Garrett nudged Wes with his elbow. "Looks like we just got ourselves another brother."
"Well, hell," Wes said. "I've been saying all along that he was the only man around good enough for our baby sister, haven't I?"
"No, actually, you haven't."
The two grinned foolishly. "Somebody better call Adam in New York," Elliot chirped. "He's gotta be here for this wedding."
In the corner, Ben remained silent, and reached up to wipe a single tear from his eye.
* * *
Epilogue
« ^
Jessi gripped the doctor by the front of his shirt and growled deep in her throat. "I told you, I don't like pain. Now give me something or die!"
Lash pried her hands away from the poor guy's white coat, brought them to his lips and kissed them. "Sweetheart, the doc says it's better for you to do this without drugs if you can. You can do it, can't you? Come on, now—"
"Where's my gun?"
"Oh, boy."
The doc patted him on the back. "Jessi Lynn Brand Monroe, you settle down. Drugs are no good for the baby, and I know perfectly well you don't want to hurt the baby, do you?"
She glared at him. Lash figured she probably thought the doc was lying, just to keep the drugs from her and make her suffer. Since she'd been in the third stage of labor, she seemed to have formed the opinion that every male in the place was getting some perverse pleasure from her pain.
Ben and Garrett and Elliot were all smiling at her and speaking soft, comforting words. Adam, who'd come in from New York on the first flight out when they called to tell him she was in labor, was pacing like a caged lion. In fact, there were so many Brands surrounding the bed that the doctor said they were in the way. None of them wanted to leave though, and they wouldn't, Lash thought, unless they were bodily removed.
Except Wes. He was toughing it out largely to save face, Lash thought. But he was looking decidedly queasy.
Chelsea was on her way. She'd had to drop Ethan off with a sitter before she could get here.
The pain seemed to ease, and Jessi's face relaxed. She clutched her husband's hand in hers. "We should have sold tickets to this event," she said, panting to catch her breath. "Coulda paid for college."
"It's sure standing room only."
She nodded. "Good thing you don't have lots of family here, too, isn't it?"
"My so-called family? Heck, they wouldn't let Petey and Zane out of prison just to attend a birthing, would they? Besides, they'd contaminate the place. I don't want them anywhere near you … or our baby."
"Doesn't matter," she said. "You've got all kinds of family now. In fact, you have that big crowd of relatives you never wanted."
"And I love every last one of 'em," he told her, and he
leaned over and kissed her mouth. Felt it go tight against his, felt her breaths coming faster on his lips.
"I … I can feel it … I have to push!"
"Go ahead and push, then," the doctor said.
Lash straightened, and felt his heart flip-flop. This was it. He turned to smile crookedly at Garrett, and then Elliot, and Ben, and… Hey, where was Wes?
Oh, there he was, out in the hall, back to the wall, shoulders slumped, Adam seemingly holding him up. He was white as a sheet. What was that nurse waving under his nose?
Jessi clutched Lash's hand hard enough to break the bones and grated her teeth, and Lash felt helpless and scared as he watched her battle the pain, drawing on that endless reserve of strength deep inside her to push their child into the world.
"Damn, sweetheart, I'd do it for you if I could," he told her, bathing her face with a cool cloth.
"No man could go through this and live," she said through gritted teeth.
It seemed forever … and then it seemed it had been no time at all, because the doc was lowering a pink, squirming, tiny human being into Lash's waiting arms. And Lash was looking down into the face of an angel. "A girl," he whispered, and he bent close to Jessi. "Our little girl."
Garrett, Elliot and Ben crowded close, cooing and making the most ridiculous faces and basically sounding like a bunch of lunatics.
Then the door opened, Adam coming in first, to join them at the bedside, looking alien in his suit and tie. And then Wes came in, real slow, his black eyes wide and wet. The others parted to give him a chance to meet his new niece. And he knelt beside the bed, reaching out, letting the little one grasp his forefinger.
He reached into a pocket with his free hand, and pulled out a tiny suede pouch fastened to a thong.
"What's this?" Lash asked.
"A gift from Turtle, the shaman over at the reservation," he said. He'd been learning a whole lot about his heritage, and he seemed to be gaining a peace he hadn't had before. "It's a medicine bag. Hang it in her room until she's old enough to wear it. It'll keep her safe, and happy and strong."
"That's so sweet, Wes."
He shrugged as if it were no big deal, then ran one hand down Jessi's cheek. "You did good, little sister."
"I did, didn't I?"
He nodded, then straightened, averting his face to swipe at his eyes. "Maybe we should clear out now, leave you two and your little girl alone to get acquainted."
"Thanks, Wes."
The boys each leaned down to kiss their sister, and then they left the room. Lash lowered the baby into Jessi's arms, and bent to kiss them both.
"What will we name her?" he whispered softly, stroking the soft, downy head of reddish hair.
"Maria," Jessi whispered. "After my mother."
"Maria," he said. "That's nice. And what about a middle name?"
Jessi shrugged, her big brown eyes just drinking in the sight of the baby in her arms. "You pick one."
"All right. Michele. After Chelsea's sister."
"Chelsea will like that."
Lash touched Jessi's chin, tipping her face up so that he could stare into those eyes. "I never thought I could be this happy," he told her. "But I am. Don't you ever doubt it, Jessi. I adore you."
She smiled, real slow, eyes sparkling. "Hell, drifter, I knew it before you did." And she leaned up and kissed him.
* * * * *
The Baddest Virgin in Texas Page 20
