by Linda Bridey
“Yes, I do,” she said.
“Then you have to believe that this baby is Jack’s because he sure does. He’s already plannin’ on takin’ it fishing whether it’s a boy or girl,” Seth said.
Sparrow laughed. “I know. He says maybe they’ll grow up to be a deputy or sheriff.”
“Wouldn’t that be somethin’?” Seth said. “I could see that happening.”
“Me, too,” Sparrow said.
Seth wiped his brow and said, “C’mon. Let’s get out of this sun and get something to drink.”
She let him lead her into his house but she was too restless to stay very long.
It had been decided that Jack and Sparrow would once again stay in the bunkhouse that used to be Seth’s so that Jack and Sparrow wouldn’t be all alone when she went into labor. Jack knew he wouldn’t be able to deliver a baby on his own, especially if there was some kind of trouble.
A new bunkhouse had been built so that Cam didn’t have to keep bunking in with Ray from time to time. Dean said they should have thought of that sooner.
As they lay in bed that night, heat lightning lit up the sky outside. They had left the door and all three windows open so they could catch whatever breeze might come along. Sparrow had fallen into a fitful slumber, but Jack couldn’t sleep. Something told him he needed to be awake.
Jack put his hand on the baby and whispered, “Anytime, little one. Anytime.”
It kicked as if hearing him and many times Jack believed it did. Around four a.m., Sparrow awoke with the first contraction. Despite the pain, she was happy. Jack kissed her temple and said, “I knew I needed to be alert.”
Sparrow looked at him as the next contraction hit. “You haven’t slept?”
“Nope, but it’s ok. I’m wide awake.” He hopped out of bed and said, “Guess I’ll let everyone know it’s that time.”
“Jack, just sit with me a little. I do not think that it’s going to be right this minute,” Sparrow said. She laughed softly.
Jack pulled a chair over and sat holding her hand. “I love you,” he said.
“I love you, too.” She kissed his hand and pressed her cheek to it.
They sat that way for almost an hour before Sparrow asked him to go get his mother.
Marcus opened the door to find Mike just ready to knock on it. “Hi,” he said. He was just leaving their apartment to go to the clinic.
“Hi. Sparrow’s having the baby,” Mike said. “They’re asking for you.”
Marcus smiled. “Ok. Let me tell your aunt and I’ll be right with you.”
As Mike sat in the parlor, Aiyana came out of her room. “I want to go with you,” she said.
“You’re gonna have to talk to your pa about that,” Mike said with a smile at his cousin.
Now twelve, Aiyana was developing into a real beauty with her black hair and gray eyes.
“Ok, I’m all set. I don’t know why they need me when they have you,” Marcus said to Mike.
“I’ve never delivered a baby,” Mike said. “What do I know about it?”
Marcus laughed. “There’s always your first.”
Mike just stared at his uncle, but Aiyana said, “I’ll do it, Pa.”
“I know you would, but you’re too young. I know you hate hearing that, but twelve is too young to deliver a baby, Aiyana. I’m sorry, honey,” Marcus said.
“Ok, Pa. But I’m not happy about it,” Aiyana said.
“Duly noted. I’ll take you to see the baby tomorrow, ok?” Marcus said.
“I know how to get there, Pa,” Aiyana said.
“Not by yourself,” Marcus said.
Her gray eyes turned stormy. “You did when you were my age.”
Marcus knew an argument was imminent and wanted to avoid it. “Aiyana, I tell you what. Let’s put this argument aside until after I get back, ok? Then you can yell at me all you want and tell me what a horrible father I am. Right now, though, I have to go help Sparrow, ok?” He gave her a grin and was pleased when she smiled back.
“Ok, but I’m not going to forget about it,” she said.
“You never do,” Marcus said. He kissed her forehead and said, “Let’s go, Mike.”
Sparrow sat back against Jack and pushed. At his uncle’s direction, Jack gently pushed down on her stomach to help the baby along. Sparrow gripped Jack’s arms and groaned in between talking to the baby. Marcus laughed every time there was a pause between contractions because he’d never heard a woman white or Indian talk to their baby during labor.
Tessa also sat with them and held Sparrow’s hand when she reached for her. Once Marcus had gotten Sparrow and Jack’s permissions, he’d told Mike that he could assist if he wanted. The boy had refused at first, but little by little he was drawn in. First he sat on the porch, but when Sparrow let out a loud groan, he moved closer to the door, and then he peeked through the doorway.
Then he came into the bunkhouse, but didn’t look at Sparrow. Then he went over to offer Sparrow his encouragement. Marcus winked at Tessa and said, “Hey, Mike, make yourself useful and give me that other tea over there.”
“Is this the one for pain?” Mike asked.
“Yep. Actually, just give it to Sparrow, ok?” he said.
Mike helped her drink it and then said, “Now what?”
“Now we wait. Everything is going fine,” Marcus said.
Sparrow wanted their baby desperately and pushed mightily when the contractions came despite the pain. Jack had been close by when Mikey and the twins were born, but he’d never actually been in the room or assisted. It was a completely new experience helping their child come into the world.
He knew that it wasn’t a common practice for men to do so, but he wouldn’t have missed it for anything. Jack encouraged, joked, bathed Sparrow’s forehead, and kept her hair away from her face. Sparrow drew strength from Jack and from the funny things he said about what was going on.
About her running conversation with their baby he said, “You know what their Indian name is gonna be? If it’s a girl, She Who Talks a Lot or He Can’t Keep Mouth Shut if it’s a boy.”
“Shut up,” she said to Jack.
“I don’t think that’s a good Indian name at all. When you tell people their name, they’ll think you’re talkin’ to them and not telling you the name,” he responded to that.
When the contractions became constant, Marcus said, “Ok, who’s ready to become parents?”
Jack raised a hand as though he were in a classroom and said, “I am.” Then he raised Sparrow’s hand and said, “She is.”
Sparrow laughed even through her loud cries of pain. By this time, Mike was fully involved and watched with fascination. With a last huge push, Daniel Michael Samuels was born. When Mike went to leave once the baby had arrived, Marcus said, “Where are you going? You don’t just get to leave now. We still have work to do.” He looked at Jack and said, “You on the other hand, go give everyone the good news.”
Jack gave Sparrow hug from the back and kissed her cheek. “I love you, beautiful. Thank you for our son.”
Tears fell from both their eyes as Jack got off the bed and helped Sparrow lay back. To his uncle and brother he said, “Hurry it up. I wanna hold our son.” Then he went out onto the porch and in typical Jack fashion shouted, “Hey, we got ourselves a boy!”
Applause and whistling greeted his announcement. Sparrow laughed and cried at the same time. Marcus shook his head and laughed.
Epilogue
Sparrow and Jack’s wedding took place in early October and was the perfect blend of Lakota and white cultures. Sparrow wore a traditional Lakota bride’s dress, while Jack wore a suit with Lakota accents. The lapels were adorned with colorful beadwork and he had opted for a necklace worn by Lakota grooms.
Jack had asked for advice on how to be a good husband and had received various tidbits. Seth had told him to just do whatever Sparrow told him to concerning the house because things would go easier if he did. Marcus said to argue a lot because making
up was fun. Luke said to just nod and say yes a lot when you were having an argument. Mitch said to never make her angry if she’s holding a gun. Owl said to keep giving her foot rubs to keep her happy.
Dean told him to forget everything that all the others had told him because it was complete bull crap. “Be kind, considerate, put her needs before yours, listen to her, and laugh a lot. Show her and tell her you love her every day and you won’t go wrong, Jack,” he said. “That’s exactly what you’ve been doing all along. Just keep doing that and you’ll be fine.”
Sparrow had received similar advice from the women in her life. Claire told her to pretend to be really interested in everything Jack said. Jamie said to not be afraid to tell him when he was wrong. Sammi said to keep a gun handy in case he gets mouthy. Maddie told her to housetrain him right away. Tessa said, “Don’t listen to them. Stand by him, even sometimes when you know he’s wrong. Men sometimes have to figure things out for themselves. Don’t hesitate to tell him how your feeling. I’ve learned over the years that I have to make myself very clear to Dean and Jack is his father’s son. Let him know how much you love him every day and everything else will fall into place.”
Little Emily Dwyer was chosen as the flower girl while Zach Bradbury served as ring bearer. They argued the whole way down the aisle because both of them had inherited the gift of gab; Emily from Joe and Zach from Abby. Even after Emily had thrown all her flower pedals and Zach had handed off the rings to Mitch, the two of them argued. And yet, they wanted to sit together instead of with their respective parents. Joe and Elliot had exchanged looks and wondered if that was a foreshadowing of things to come.
Mike had also been asked by Jack to stand up with him and looked very handsome in his suit. Dean had kept his part of the bargain and he had sat down with Jenny Cartwright’s father, Gerald and secured his permission for Mike to court Jenny. Dean guessed it hadn’t hurt that Mike told him he had plans to go to school to become a doctor. That was Mike’s first public declaration that he intended to follow in Marcus’ footsteps.
Every so often he stole a look at Jenny and smiled at her. She blushed and smiled back. Dean and Tessa watched and Dean uttered a fervent prayer that Mike would keep his promise to not make him a grandfather again for a long time.
Claire acted as Sparrow’s maid of honor, while Sadie had been asked to be her bride’s maid. Her Lakota wedding dress was splendid and she looked ethereal in it. Neither she nor Jack were nervous about becoming married; they’d been waiting for it for long enough and while they were excited, there was no anxiety involved.
Black Fox and Owl had fought over who got to give Sparrow away and Black Fox had finally said that chief trumped brave any day and the matter was settled. The tall Indian walked Sparrow down the aisle with his head held high. While Sparrow held onto his left arm, in the right he carried Danny. When they reached Jack, Black Fox gave Sparrow’s hand to Jack. Then he held Danny up, said a Lakota prayer and gave the baby to Jack, symbolically giving both of them to the young man.
Jack had insisted on Danny being included in the ceremony because they were already a family and he wanted everyone to see that. He held his son with a pride that couldn’t have been stronger if he’d been the biological father. While the vows were said, Danny gurgled right along with them as though reciting the words with them. His gurgling often sounded like chuckling, which had earned him the Lakota name of Laughing Boy.
Even as they kissed, Jack and Sparrow both held the baby and then they both kissed him, too. Danny did not like the camera flash, so once a couple had been taken, he was entrusted to Katie and D.J. while the rest of the pictures were taken. For the first time, Black Fox let his picture be taken. He was not any fonder of the camera flash than Danny, however.
Their reception was sweet and simple, which Seth said fitted them perfectly since Sparrow was sweet and Jack was simple. Mitch’s best man’s speech was moving and funny as he said, “If ever two people should be together, it’s these two. They’ve waited long enough and they’ve even already got their own future deputy.”
Jack and Sparrow were perfectly content to take Danny home that night to their little house by the creek. Like Jack’s aunt and uncle, they were eager to begin their life together as a married couple. Danny was put to bed after being sung to sleep by his mother while his father watched.
When Jack took Sparrow in his arms that night, their desire for each other was no longer denied. They had kept their vow and as they made love for the first time, passion and love blended together perfectly and their bond was further strengthened. Later that night, Sparrow woke to find that Jack had gotten up. She found him on the porch sitting on the new swing that Seth and Dean had made them.
He smiled down at her as she joined him on it. Gathering her close, he said, “You know, I used to sit here on the porch and ask the moon if you were looking up at it at the same time I was. I used to ask if you missed me as much as I missed you and if you still loved me as much as I still loved you.”
Sparrow said, “You did?”
“Yeah, I did. But it never answered me.”
“I used to do the same thing. I wondered if you’d moved on and had fallen in love with someone else. I would ask it if your heart still belonged to me because mine still belonged to you. I’d ask it why we had to be apart and when we’d be back together again.
Jack saw tears shimmer in her eyes. “Don’t cry, my little bird. We’ll always be together now.”
She nodded and leaned against him. They both turned their eyes up to the full harvest moon, but instead of asking those burning questions of it, they had only to look at each other to find the answers for which they’d waited for so long.
The End
Click here to buy the next book in this series - Westward Christmas Book 11
Synopsis:
The last time Sasha McCall had been in Dawson, she had met the dashing Dr. Ben Walker and had been instantly smitten. His dark good looks and soft Georgia accent captivated her. Now back home in Nebraska, her life is devoid of warmth and joy. Already planning to move to Dawson, Sasha receives a letter from Ben that gives her even more reason to return there. She hurries her plans along so that she can travel as soon as possible.
Unable to get the gorgeous Sasha out of his head, Ben Walker makes a daring move to find out if Sasha returns his feelings. Her beauty, bravery, and warmth are just a few of the things he admires about her. Upon receiving an answer in the affirmative from her, Ben begins exchanging letters with the woman who has captured his imagination and possibly his heart.
When she arrives in Dawson, Sasha and Ben begin a romance full of promise and passion. Their relationship deepens and they share joy like neither of them have ever experienced before. Desire and love flare during the joyous Christmas season, but a test of faith intervenes and things turn dark for the couple. Can they find the light again or are they doomed to a life of darkness.
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Copyright
© 2014 by Linda Bridey
All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, or places is purely coincidental.
First Printing, 2014
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Cover Design by Melody Simmons of eBookindiecovers
