Alex held out his hand to his daughter. “Come here, Sky. Let me hold you and your baby.”
Relief tunneled through Gray as Sky left his side, smiling like the sun itself as she rushed to her father’s side. He watched Alex embrace his daughter. Sky hugged her father gently, her face buried beside his. That hard, unreadable look on Alex’s face disappeared, and Gray saw tears in the man’s eyes. It was going to be okay. The last potential problem had been bridged and turned out to be nothing more than the four of them smiling at one another, happiness infusing the hospital room.
Balin slid her arm around his waist. “Welcome to our family, Gray.” Her eyes shone with hope. “You’ve been so good for Sky. There’s such a positive difference in her.” She squeezed him. “Thank you.”
“Your daughter, Mrs. Pascal, is so very strong. I didn’t do much at all except when she fell, picked her up. She’s the one who dusted herself off and forged ahead. She has heart.” God, did she have heart. A huge heart that wrapped itself around Gray, around those who were fortunate enough to be in Sky’s orbit whether at work, at Mo’s or with the children who came to the ranch.
“My daughter,” Balin said proudly, “is half Cheyenne. She has the people’s blood and bone. And she is strong.” And then she smiled, watching her daughter and husband continue to hug one another. “We are so proud of her. And we’re so glad she has found a man, a warrior, equal to her.”
Gray remembered that Balin’s Native American name meant “mighty warrior,” and there was no doubt in his mind that Balin had raised Sky to be strong, resilient; she had that warrior blood in her veins. All of those things had made her who she was right now, and those genes had pulled her from the edge of hell and back to being gifted with an almost normal life. Sky had him. She carried their child. They were a family. And he loved her so damn much that he couldn’t conceive of one day without waking up with Sky in his arms. Where she belonged...with him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SKY STOOD QUIETLY in the ankle-deep snow, watching Gracie bound around her den. The early-February sky above her was partly blue and partly cloudy. The valley was just digging itself out of a two-foot snowstorm from last week. She smiled at Gracie, who was now nine months old, as she came over, wagging her tail and champing. She then licked Sky’s fingers with her pink tongue. The late morning was quiet, the green of the pines scenting the air. She loved the silence broken by a melodic gurgle from a raven somewhere nearby.
“Gracie,” she said, petting the wolf’s broad, white head, “in about a week, I’m going to be giving birth to a baby girl.” She leaned down, the wolf licking her face. “I hope she has blue eyes just like yours....”
Gracie whined and nuzzled her neck and jaw with joy. Sky knew it was the way wolves greeted one another. Gracie saw her as her mother. Crystal, the black female, came trotting up, waiting her turn because Gracie was the alpha female. Chert had been sent to Canada, to another wildlife center, where he was to share a huge enclosure with a young female wolf. The hope was that they would like one another, breed and eventually have wolf pups. Crystal’s yellow eyes followed Sky as she straightened. She was just as big and healthy as Gracie. They were truly sisters, happy to have one another’s company, Sky thought as she saw Crystal champing as Sky extended her hand toward her.
The wolf whined, made chomping sounds with her mouth, showing Sky that she was being subservient as well as happily greeting her. A beta wolf in the pack was always showing its status so that the alpha wolves would not punish it for getting out of line. Sky moved carefully, her gloved hand against her swollen belly. She found her center of balance was no more, and she’d taken great care in walking out here to visit the wolves she’d help save last June.
Crystal whined, licking Sky’s fingers, her yellow eyes dancing with what Sky interpreted as happiness.
Suddenly, both wolves raised their heads, looking past Sky, their ears up and alert. Sky slowly turned, hands protective on her swollen belly. She smiled, watching Gray trudging through the snow, his hands jammed in the pockets of his black goose-down jacket. He wore that SEAL baseball hat of his. He was never without it when outdoors, and Sky felt warmth flow through her heart. Gray might be an ex-SEAL, but in his soul, he was still one. He would always be one. Her lips curved softly as she saw him meet her gaze. Lifting her hand, she waved.
“What’s the matter?” Gray called, his words turning to breathy frost as he spoke. “You have cabin fever?” He grinned and opened up the first door and then turned and locked it.
“You could say that,” Sky answered drily, moving over to allow him in the second door. “I left you a note. You must have got it.” Gray had been in town earlier helping the wranglers with a load of grain for the horses. They were almost out, and the blizzard had shut down the county for three days.
“I did.” Gray gazed down at Sky. Her cheeks were ruddy, her mouth soft, and he felt himself going hot with need. It was the look of utter happiness in her eyes that made his heart swell. All Sky had to do was smile, and Gray felt like the luckiest man on the planet. He came over and dropped a quick kiss on her smiling mouth.
Gracie came over, whining and leaping up on him, her paws smearing snow across his jacket. Gray roughed up Gracie’s ears and gave her some healthy pats. He took Gracie’s paws off him and ruffled her fur across her strong back. “How long has it been since you came out here to see them?” he asked, moving out to welcome the shyer Crystal.
Groaning, Sky said, “Far too long.”
“You got bored.”
“I hate staying in all the time, Gray. You know that.”
He chuckled and came over, sliding his arms around his wife. She looked as if she were carrying around a twenty-pound watermelon, her belly resting between them. “You could have slipped,” he said, kissing her temple. Her nose was slightly red. It was in the twenties right now. The good news was there was no cutting wind to make it even colder. Snowflakes danced and glittered in the sunlight, falling off the surrounding pine trees.
Sky snorted. “Oh, don’t start, McCoy. I was careful, very careful, coming out here.” She saw him give her a teasing grin, leaning into his strong body, his arms holding her as close as she could be under the circumstances. She sighed and absorbed him, his masculine scent, the smile in his half-closed eyes as he rocked her gently in his arms.
“Now, now,” he teased. “Lately, Mrs. McCoy, you’ve been getting to be a little crabby....”
Sky made a sound of protest. “If you were carrying this bowling ball around inside you, you’d be a little irritable, too!” And then she laughed because she knew he was trying to make her feel better. Yes, the ninth month, she’d turned testy. It was tough finding a comfortable position to sleep in. Sleep deprived, her body stretched to the max, Sky knew Gray’s patient personality had made her suffering less. Somehow, he could feel when she was uncomfortable or worried.
“True,” Gray whispered, his white breath joining hers as they laughed. She felt so good in his arms. She had bundled up well, and Gray knew she needed to get outdoors, to be in fresh air and sunshine. He couldn’t fault her. “I just wished you’d waited until I got home. I could have helped you out here.”
“It was a whim or maybe sheer desperation,” Sky admitted. “I just missed the wolves.” She watched them as they lay down near their den, panting and watching Sky and Gray. After all, they were their alpha parents in their wolf minds.
“And we’ve had one hellacious blizzard after another since Christmas,” Gray agreed, leaning down, kissing her cheek. He caught her glance. “You know what? I think you’re more beautiful now than ever before.”
Groaning, Sky muttered, “I feel ugly, Gray! Ugly!”
He grinned. “You’ll get your body back in about two weeks. I was talking about how angelic you look.” He grazed her cheek, feeling the coolness to her skin. “I see it. Don’t yo
u?”
Pushing some snow with the toe of her boot, Sky muttered, “No...not right now. I just feel...” She gave a frustrated sigh.
“Like an elephant?” Gray teased, laughing with her.
“Yes!” Sky buried her face against his jacket, feeling his hand move through her loose hair. “I miss sleeping in your arms. I’m so restless. I toss and turn. I can’t get comfortable anymore.”
“I miss that, too,” Gray rasped. “And I miss loving you...” He leaned down, claiming her pouty lips, hearing her moan with need, her gloved hand curving around his neck for a moment. Sex had gone off the table at six months. Gray took it in stride. He looked forward to the time when they could sleep in one another’s arms again, and he could love her, hear those sighs and sounds of pleasure spilling out of her soft lips once again.
“I’ll be so glad when this is over,” she griped, easing away and getting her feet under her again.
Gray nodded. “I couldn’t do it,” he admitted, giving her a proud look. He skimmed her brow, erasing the small frown. “Your strength amazes me.” And it did. The past six months had been a major change in Sky’s PTSD symptoms. At first, she’d reluctantly followed his suggestions of resting and doing things she only really wanted to do. Her work ethic had had to be reined in. And Gray had been right because as a quiet and new rhythm of life established around them and inside her, Sky made swift progress. Now she was calm in a way he’d never seen before. And lighter. Happier.
“Next lifetime,” she grumped, “I’m coming back as a man.”
Gray chuckled. “This will be all over soon, baby.” He met her mutinous look. “Have you settled on a name yet?”
They’d tossed a lot of them around, but none seemed to strike Sky. Gray didn’t care what his daughter would be called. All he wanted was a safe delivery for Sky and a healthy baby girl.
Sighing, Sky said, “I’m not sure.... I’m still waffling. I think it’s my hormones.”
“Can’t disagree with those wild woman hormones of yours.”
“I’m wild all right. Wild about getting this baby girl of ours born and out of me.” She gently patted her belly.
Gray kissed her brow. “You’re going to be one incredible mother. You know that?” There was no question because Sky was maternal and nurturing by personality.
In the past six months, she’d had only two nightmares. Just two. It was an amazing change, and Gray was glad for Sky’s sake. Whether it was the pregnancy, their marriage or something else, he didn’t know. But Sky was healing at a phenomenal rate. He saw it in large and small ways every day.
He was sure when her parents came and visited them at Christmas, joining the Mason family for a huge holiday celebration at the main ranch house, had helped, too. The wound between Alex Pascal and his daughter was closing and healing. In part, Gray knew it was due to the strong love they’d always had before the incident occurred.
PTSD could tear a family apart in so many ways. It was a lethal, invisible and toxic disease created by war, by abuse and trauma. And Gray had watched it and how it had affected Sky and her family. Now he was once again relieved that Sky’s father had the courage to confront his own combat horror, too. He’d gone to see Jordana McPherson and was stunned that his anxiety was gone. To Gray, he looked like a man who had just been set free from a prison that’d held him for half his life.
“Let’s go in?” he asked, meeting her eyes.
“I’m getting a little chilled,” Sky admitted, slipping beneath his arm, absorbing his closeness, his always protective demeanor.
“I’ll make you hot chocolate. With all the marshmallows you want.” Gray raised his brows, watching her respond to his care.
“I’d like that.” Sky walked through the two gates, waiting for Gray outside the compound. The two wolves got up, going over to the cyclone fence, watching them, wagging their tails in a friendly fashion.
“If you’re good,” Gray teased, sliding his arm around her shoulders, “I’ll even add a little whipped cream to it.” He knew Sky was watching her weight, but she also loved rich hot chocolate, too. Today she deserved something to make her happy, to draw her out of her cranky disposition. “Well?”
“Sounds good,” she whispered, leaning her head against his shoulder as he moved them slowly down the snowy path between the trees. “I love you so much, Gray.”
Her words caressed his heart, made him feel strong and good for her sake. He squeezed her gently, leaning down and kissing her temple. “I love you, too, baby. Every day is better than the last...”
* * *
ON FEBRUARY 14, Valentine’s Day, little ginger-haired Emma Jordana McCoy was born at home. She slipped out of her mother and into Gray’s awaiting, gloved hands with two midwives and Jordana McPherson in attendance. Just like her mother, who had had her at home, Sky had wanted to have her baby without hospital walls surrounding her. The day and a half of labor had been worth every second as Sky had watched the expression on Gray’s face as his daughter quickly slipped into his large, awaiting hands. The warmth in his eyes, the softening of the line of his mouth, the look of awe as he lifted his tiny, red, wrinkled daughter up for Sky to see for the first time, had made her cry with joy.
And when Cindy, the primary midwife, had cleaned squalling Emma up, bundled her in a new soft pink blanket that Sky had knit for her, Sky felt a surge of euphoria race through her. She forgot the excrutiating pain of childbirth and stared at her baby. Emma was nestled into her arms for the first time, her red face all scrunched up with cries, and she relaxed as Sky began to coo softly to her. In moments, with the help of the midwife, she sat in her bed with lots of pillows behind her back, watching her daughter latch hungrily on to her swollen, milk-filled nipple.
It was then that Gray came to her side, that look of wonder still in his eyes as he sat down and faced her. Their hips touched, and he smiled into Sky’s exhausted eyes. “You did it,” he whispered.
“It was worth it,” Sky whispered, her voice trembling as she met his gaze. But when Gray reached out, barely touching the light smattering of ginger-colored hair across his daughter’s tiny head, she saw tears in his eyes. Tears of happiness. He skimmed her damp, mussed strands of hair so tenderly.
Gray eased upward, leaned over Sky, kissing her for a long, long time, letting her know just how much he loved her. And then Gray placed a kiss on his daughter’s tiny brow.
“She’s a hungry little thing,” he murmured, grinning as he watched Emma suckle strongly on her mother’s nipple.
Cindy came over, hands on her hips, grinning. “How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” Sky murmured. “Like I could sleep for two weeks solid.”
Cindy grinned. “Ain’t gonna happen, New Mama. You and Gray are gonna be up every two to three hours. The good news is you can bring Emma to your bed, feed her, and then Gray can take her to the bassinet beside your bed. Breast-feeding really cuts down time to mix formula, warm a bottle and all that.”
Gray gave Sky a teasing look. “She’s really hungry.”
“I would be if I’d been stuck in me for nine months.”
Everyone laughed. Cindy came over and helped move Emma to her other breast and get the baby to suckle on the other nipple. “Okay, you’re good to go. Jordana has already examined you and given you a thumbs-up, so the three of us are outta here.”
“Thanks,” Sky said, giving Cindy a look of gratefulness for her help.
“I’ll drop in tomorrow and see how you’re doing. In the late afternoon.”
The room fell silent except for the suckling sound of Emma gorging herself.
Gray exchanged a look with Sky. “What can I do for you?” he asked, reaching out and sliding his hand briefly over her left arm that held Emma.
“I’d give anything to get a hot shower,” she muttered wearily.
“When Emma’s done, I’ll put her in the bassinet and then get it ready for you. All right?”
“That sounds wonderful. Thank you...” Sky swore she’d never seen Gray as soft-looking as right now. His emotions were clear for her to read, and that stunned her. Gray was no less touched by Emma’s birth than she was, she realized. The way he looked at his new baby daughter drove tears into her eyes for a moment. Fighting them back, Sky closed her eyes and wearily leaned back against the pillows. There was a special pleasure in feeding her daughter, and Sky couldn’t think beyond the wriggling, hand-waving baby in her arms. Something soul-deep whispered to her as she almost drifted off into a light sleep that Emma could continue to help heal her. That one day, her trauma would be a memory without an emotional gut-punch behind it. Love had a funny way of doing that, Sky thought, feeling herself drift a little more toward sleep.
Gray’s love had been her bulwark. He’d laid the foundation, the boundaries, to help her get on her feet again. And then, carrying Emma, feeling the profound love flooding her all the time, Sky had felt so much of the inner darkness dissolve because love was light. And light dissolved darkness, no matter what kind it was.
Gray moved to her left side. She vaguely felt his strong arm slide beneath hers to help cradle and hold Emma in place. His body felt so good against her bruised, beaten-up one. Strong. Steady. And when Gray eased his other arm behind her neck, coaxing her to lean fully against him, Sky melted into his embrace, trusting him. Always trusting Gray because he’d never not been there for her. Now he was here for her and their beautiful baby daughter. As a whisper of a weary sigh escaped her parting lips, she felt his warm, moist breath across her brow.
“Go to sleep, baby. I’ve got you and Emma,” Gray rasped, kissing her hairline. He felt Sky surrender, so exhausted and in need of a safe harbor for herself. It was easy to have Sky in his arms, his left arm beneath hers, supporting their active little daughter, who drank even while her mother slept. The feelings moving through Gray were profound, anchoring, and he felt his heart expand so much he thought it might pop out of his chest.
Wolf Haven Page 32
