by Milly Taiden
Ten comes out of the bathroom and says, “I loved it when you made the old man blush. . . 'We're working on it' was a cool answer. Come on, Lovey, get ready for bed. We've got work to do. ”
***
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Thank God it's Friday! I sing along as I hear the song playing on the radio when I walk by the electronics store a couple of blocks away from home. The music blasting from their speaker is so loud the baby jerked in me. Even though the sound must have been muffled by the amniotic fluid, it was enough to startle him. . . or her.
It's been a long winter and a trying one. I gave my resignation to Marc Martin in September, telling him that I was going to take a break and then open my own place. He wouldn't hear of it. He said I had to stay on and train someone else. The man's been so good to me there was no way I could refuse, so I stayed on until tonight.
My due date is February 15. I have four days to rest before pushing my third child into the world. Manhattan is packing up for a long weekend. The weather channel has announced a snowstorm. Yesterday I made sure we were stocked up for a few days without electricity. We have canned food, plenty of bottled water and candles. Tonight after I've taken my shower I'm filling up the bathtub. During this pregnancy I've had a very hard time with smells, there's no way I'm going to be caught in a place where I can't flush.
I get home and free Catherine, our live-in girl. She's spending the weekend at her boyfriend's house in Brooklyn. She needs the rest, soon she's going to be helping me juggling two kids. She rushes out the second I get in. Alexandra's all cleaned and ready for bed. I throw my coat on the sofa and settle on the floor in her room to play with her giant Duplo farm. It's a present from Alexander. He has purchased every existing animal in addition to the box set so it's more like Noah's arc than a farm. I get a kick out of watching Alexandra using the lion and the tiger to shepherd the cattle back into her corral. Every so often, when I make animal sounds, there's a burst of laughter from both of us. Nothing's more delightful than a young child's giggles. She's such a cute little girl. She has a temper though. She can be adorable one instant and horrible the next. I smile thinking that it's probably what the people working with me have been thinking for the past weeks!
“Dada!” Alexandra screams and stretches her arm out. I look up and Ten is leaning on the door frame. He's got a few snowflakes in his hair and is all flushed from the cold. He picks her up and says, “Is my little princess ready for bed?”
She protests and he teases her. I roll over to a sitting position. I'm a regular blimp. As I try to stand up, I get a strange pain that makes me stop halfway in my movement. I freeze and take a deep breath. I'm not saying anything to Ten because if I do he'll freak out and we'll spend the weekend in the emergency room getting me monitored. I try moving again. I'm fine.
I manage to get back up and get our dinner started while Ten begins to read a bed time story to Alexandra. I know one can easily turn to a dozen if you let her. When our meal is ready I call the last story, give Alexandra a kiss and go lay down on the couch. I flip through the channels and the biggest news of the night is the snowstorm. The weatherman predicts that this February, 1983, snowstorm will be one we’ll all remember. I look at the flurries through the window. It's lovely to watch the snow when you're warm and safe.
I close my eyes and when I open them again the lights are dimmed. I have a pillow under my head and a cover on my body. Ten's laying on the floor by my side reading a book.
“I'm sorry,” I say. “I wanted to spend the evening with you. We've both been so busy. I've hardly seen you for weeks. ”
“Don't worry baby I'm not going anywhere for a few days,” he point to the window and through the city lights I see that we're in the middle of some serious weather. I pull myself up and there's this weird pain again.
Ten is watching me and he notices this time.
“Are you all right?” he asks.
“Sure, I just forget that I'm so large I need to move more slowly,” I say.
“You're not large,” he says and I snort. He laughs, “Okay, you are but you're also magnificent. The last time he saw you, Jimmy said you looked like a splendid fertility goddess. ”
“Right, Laura and me, we're the two new fertility goddesses and we're going to populate the earth with little Clarks. ” I stop and realize I'm being silly. Who knows if Laura's baby is Jimmy or Steven's kid? Their life style sure is complicated. How do you work this out?
I pull myself up and walk to the corner window. The view is magnificent. Everything is pure white. There's no traffic in the street or in the avenue. A few pedestrians are walking by, probably rushing home. I realize that Oliver was supposed to be here tonight. I guess he got stuck at the hospital. He's only a dozen blocks away so he could walk back home. Probably some of the staff never showed because of the storm and he's stuck there.
The pain returns and I can hardly stand. I would feel so much safer if Oliver were here. I can't walk all those blocks to the hospital and I'm sure there are no ambulances available tonight.
“Ten,” I want to ask him to call Oliver and find out if he's coming home.
“Yes dear,” he answers without looking up. He's back in his book.
“Ten,” I call out again. The room is spinning and I have a hard time breathing. I’m in a part of the room where there’s nothing to hold on to. One more step and I’ll be by the couch. Surely I can do one more step. I try and call out again, “Ten” before all starts turning to black. “Shit he’s going to freak out,” is the last thought I have as I fade away.
When I come around, Ten's face is over mine. He's trying to look cool but I know he's panicked.
“How do you feel?” he asks.
“Fine. I think,” I go through a slow inventory of my sensations speaking out loud. “The back of my head is throbbing. Probably the result of my fall. The belly is a bit contracted but nothing painful. My legs are sticky. ”
“Yeah, your water broke,” he says with a wary voice.
“What are you not telling me?” I ask. He knows this is a normal part of childbirth, he’s seen it last time. Something else has to be bothering him.
“I don't remember it being so pink for Alexandra. ”
“Oh . . . I’m surprised you were able to notice the color on the dark floor of the court house. ”
He ignores my comment and says, “I buzzed the doorman and asked if we had a midwife in the building. He consulted with the super and said we have a nurse who's been working in a hospice for the last twenty years, an eighty year old retired orthopedic surgeon, a shrink, and a recently graduated otolaryngologist. ”
I laugh at this inventory, “The recent graduate sounds like the best bet,” I say.
“That's what I thought too but he's not home,” Ten explains.
“We're going to be fine,” I say. “Women had babies at home for centuries and. . . ”
“The mortality rates were astounding,” Ten says.
I try to joke. “You realize you're not being helpful?”
“Sorry baby, I'm so sorry. ” Ten hates being helpless.
“Did you call Oliver?”
“Of course. That's the first thing I did!”
“And?”
“He's finishing some surgery and coming over as quickly as he can. ”
“Good. He'll find a way to get here. We're going to be fine. ”
“You promise?” Ten's got tears in his eyes. “I don't know what I would do without you. ”
I pull him to me, “Stop it, silly. You're being dramatic for nothing! I'm not going anywhere. ”
I put his hand on my belly and say, “You see, no contractions. You're not allowed to panic before they’re at full force and five minutes apart. In the meantime we're going to pick a name. ”
Ten wipes his eyes and tries to play along. “You remember you only get to pick the first name because he gets James as a middle name, right?”
“Yes, I was thinking about Oliver. ”
> “What about Oliver?” Ten has never been so thick.
“Oliver, for the baby's name. ”
“Oh!” Now he gets it.
“If Oliver runs under the blizzard to come deliver this baby, I think we should call your son Oliver. ”
“Sure,” he says. But at this point he's so worried that I could suggest something as exotic as Amadeus or Archibald he would have no objection.
“I'm going to close my eyes and rest now,” I say. “I'm really tired. ”
I wake up again and all I see is the top of Oliver's head. He's got my legs bent and my knees spread out. He's got a hand into me. He's trying to ascertain the extent of the dilation.
“Hey, Doc,” I say.
“Hey, Lyv. ” He looks at me and winks. “Thank you for bailing me out, otherwise I would have been stuck in the emergency room all night. ”
“Any time,” I laugh. Only Oliver could consider my dragging him through the cold for twelve blocks as doing him a favor. “Where's Ten?”
“I sent him to kitchen and told him to boil water. ”
“What ever for?” I ask.
“To get him out of the way. ” Oliver's grinning. “That's what they always say in the cowboy movies when the woman is having a baby in the middle of nowhere. ”
I laugh again. Oliver has the strangest sense of humor.
“Tell me, Lyv, how do you feel?”
“Not bad but I'm concerned because I have no contractions. Since my water broke shouldn't the delivery process have started?” I ask.
“Not necessarily. If we were in the hospital I would just monitor you like we did for Alexandra but since we're at home I'm inducing you. ”
I notice there's an i. v. tube in my arm that is attached to a bottle hooked to one of our dining room chairs with some masking tape. Next to me there's this large first aid kit similar to the one the EMTs usually run out of the ambulances with. I'm sure it weighs a ton.
“Did you carry this for twelve blocks in the storm?” I ask.
“Nah” he says. “I have a friend who's a motocross nut, I called him up and he came to pick me up. He was so happy to have a reason to cross Manhattan at full speed tonight that he asked me to thank you for the opportunity. ”
I breathe deeply and say, “I think the contractions are starting. ”
“Good. It's the oxytocin I just gave you. It's normal. ”
I wait until the contractions subside and I ask, “Did you look at the amniotic fuid? Ten said it was bloody. ”
Oliver rolls his eyes and says, “He mopped it up with a navy blue towel so I can't tell. ” He shrugs when he adds, “but even if it was, pink is no big deal. ”
I feel a little better knowing pink can be okay. I'm exhausted. I think I like daytime deliveries better. I fall asleep between each contraction until Oliver asks me to stay awake. This is it. At the next one I'll have to push. Ten is kneeling behind me and supporting my back. He's got a wet towel and wipes my brow while whispering silly things in my ear. He says I'm so courageous he's in awe of me, that if I don't want to have other kids he'll be fine with it . . .
“Oh please shut up!” I yell as I push forward for what I hope is the last time.
But he just can't stop, “I'm sorry baby, I didn't mean to upset you. ”
Not a second too soon, the baby's out and I laugh as I hear a wail. “It's a boy,” Oliver says as he clamps the cord and then wraps the baby in a clean towel.
“Welcome home Oliver,” I say.
Both Olivers are looking at me. There's my little baby who's a few seconds old and seems to be taking in the world very seriously and then there's my sweet doctor who's taken a few seconds to register that the baby was going to be named after him.
“Oh, right. Oliver. Cool choice,” Oliver is hiding his emotion behind his professional facade but I can see he's happy.
Ten is teary eyed again and kissing my forehead. “I love you, Lyv,” he says.
“I love you too,” I answer.
Oliver puts my baby boy in my arms with the cord still attached and he’s the most handsome baby ever. I think he looks like his dad. I realize I’m probably delirious but it’s a good thing since I’m deliriously happy.
Life is so full of surprises, I never would have thought this would be what my happy ever after would look like.
***
Lisa Mayfield returns home from law school to a dead brother and a former lover she no longer recognizes. Brian Hatcher, her brother’s best friend, dropped out of the police academy. Instead of working with Lisa’s brother to bring down organized crime, he became a full-patched member of the Iron Tornadoes, an outlaw motorcycle club, the very one that may have caused her brother’s fall.
Searching for answers to how her David died, Lisa can’t ignore the attraction she still feels for Brian. The chemistry is undeniable but is there anything left of the boy she once loved or has he turned into a stone cold biker?
STONE COLD
(An Iron Tornadoes MC Romance)
See STONE COLD at:
Amazon
About Olivia Rigal
Olivia Rigal writes romance with a touch of spice. She began publishing as an Indie in 2013. Most her stories stand alone but they all happen in the same world. If you want to find out more about Lyv you could run into her in the Iron Tornadoes MC Romance novels.
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Table of Contents
Their Second Chance by Milly Taiden
Forever Sheltered by Deanna Roy
Kiss of Memory by V. M. Black
The Cowgirl Ropes A Billionaire by Cora Seton
What a Girl Wants (Rock Stars in Disguise: Rhiannon) by Blair Babylon
Beyond Love and Hate by Zoe York
Ripped by Olivia Rigal
Ready to Fall by Daisy Prescott
My First, My Last by Lacey Silks
Azure by Chrystalla Thoma
Wicked Little Sins by Holly Hood
The Royal Elite: Ahsan by Danielle Bourdon
All for Hope by Olivia Hardin
High Risk Love by S.J. Mayer
Rush by Violet Vaughn
First Taste by Mira Bailee
The Perfect Someday by Beverly Preston
St. Charles at Dusk by Sarah M. Cradit
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READY TO FALL
by Daisy Prescott
READY TO FALL
by Daisy Prescott
READY TO FALL © Daisy Prescott 2013
Tall, dark, and handsome is an understatement when it comes to John Day. With rugged good looks, his ever present plaid shirt, and a dog named Babe, John is a modern alpha male lumberjack in more ways than one.
Lurking beneath the gruff exterior and beard could be the heart of a romantic. Or is John a wolf in flannel clothing?
After his favorite neighbor rents out her cabin for the winter, John finds himself playing fireman and tour guide to Diane Watson, a beautiful brunette with her own messy past and recent battle scars.
Will he be ready to fall in love? Or will he go back to his old, flirty ways?
Hold onto your heart... and get ready to fall with John Day as he tells his story in this contemporary adult romance/romantic comedy told in male POV.
Ready to Fall is the second novel in the Modern Love Stories series. This is a spin-off from Geoducks Are for Lovers. Though the books are interconnected, isn't necessary to read that novel first.
CHAPTER ONE
A high pitched wailing entered my dream. Slowly, I shook off the warm breeze and sunshine from the catamaran and opened my eyes to my bedroom. It took a minute or two for me to determine the sound wasn’t from my dream, but coming from next door. From Maggie’s house. Her smoke detector was going off.
From where he stood on the comforter facing the window overlooking the beach, Babe’s barks drowned out
the noise. Tossing the comforter and blankets off of me, I leapt from the bed, followed by Babe, and headed downstairs. Kelly rolled over and put the pillow over her head, grumbling about it still being dark out and what the hell was wrong with me for waking her up. Ignoring her, I grabbed my jeans and thermal from the floor, and raced from the room, not bothering to zip my jeans.
I reached the door to the deck where Babe pawed to get outside. The second I opened the door, he bounded out and barked at Maggie’s cabin.
I peered through the pre-dawn gloom, but couldn’t see any flames or smoke. As far as I knew, Maggie was in Portland with whatshisface. There shouldn’t be any reason for her smoke detector to be going off. The battery could be dying, and if that was the cause for the ruckus, I’d give her an earful about changing her batteries with the time change next time I saw her.
The breeze shifted and I could smell the distinct scent of smoke coming from her cabin. Where there was smoke, there was fire.
I ran across the narrow yard separating our properties. Luckily, I knew she hid a key under a frog at the foot of her steps. Searching for the damn frog, I bent over, peering into the dark when the door to the deck flew open and slammed into the wall.
What the hell?
A petite brunette I’d never laid eyes on swung a throw blanket over her head while she attempted to chase the smoke pouring from the door.
Who the fuck is that? I stared at her. Now she ran around the living room, opening windows as the smoke detector continued to squawk its annoying beeping into the sleepy morning.
The smoke appeared to be coming from the wood stove. Miss Blanket Waver probably hadn’t opened the flue. She must not be from around here.
