by Liz Isaacson
“She’s in labor,” Tripp said. “At least I think she is.”
“I am,” Ivory said, groaning as another contraction hit her. At least Tripp thought that was what was happening. She held her very pregnant belly with both hands and bent forward, a terrible, painful sound coming from her mouth. It wasn’t loud and screechy, and that only made the low sound of pain that much more terrifying for him.
“I’ll be there in twenty,” Liam said. “Leave if you have to. Ollie won’t know the difference.”
“He has a bag in his closet,” Tripp said. “It’s been packed for a few days.”
“Got it.”
Tripp hung up and circled the bed to kneel in front of his wife. His beautiful, lovely wife who’d been carrying their child for nine months. “How long was that?”
“Not very long,” she said.
He reached up and wiped her hair off her forehead. “I’ll start timing now.” He got the stopwatch on his phone going, and he added, “Do you need a drink?”
“I need to get dressed,” she said. “I’m not going to the hospital in an oversized T-shirt with the state of Arkansas printed on it.”
He grinned at her. “We’re having a baby.”
“I’m having a baby,” she said, though she smiled at him too.
“I love you,” Tripp said. And he did. So much. He’d watched her deal with various discomforts over the past nine months, from the nausea and throwing up, to heartburn so bad she’d chew gum until her jaw ached. Then she’d just suck on it. Anything to keep the stomach acid down.
She’d said she’d never had that with Oliver, so she’d been convinced she was having a girl. But the doctor told them they were having another boy, and she’d started calling him Mister Fussy, because she literally got heartburn when she ate cucumbers or something simple like toast.
“Liam said twenty minutes,” Tripp said, steadying her as she got to her feet. Those, along with her ankles, had been swollen for three weeks, and Tripp had realized the pure sacrifice women went through when they had children. And he was so, so grateful, because he wanted to be a dad so bad.
Yes, he was Oliver’s father, but this was different. This child was his, had come from part of him.
Ivory had laid out some clothes to wear to the hospital, and Tripp stayed right by her side as she changed out of her oversized T-shirt. Then he quickly changed out of his basketball shorts and T, just in time to hear Ivory say, “Here comes another one.”
He looked at his phone. Five and a half minutes since the last one. He hurried out of the closet to find her in the armchair near the window in their bedroom, her teeth gritted. “How long?” she asked.
“Five minutes and thirty-four seconds,” he said. “I’m timing the contraction. Tell me when it’s over.” He arrived in front of her a moment before she cried out, and everything inside of him wanted to take this pain from her.
Ivory had told him she didn’t want him to tell her how awesome she was. Or that she could do this. “I know I can do this,” she’d told him. But he wasn’t prepared for how much birthing a baby would demand of her.
The pain seemed to roll through her for a long time, and he knew the moment it released. He looked at his phone, suddenly unable to do math. He had an advanced computer science degree, and he couldn’t subtract in that moment.
“Thirty-four seconds,” he said.
“Getting close,” she said.
“We’re leaving at four minutes, thirty seconds,” he said. “And the moment you hit forty-five seconds.”
“Tripp,” she said.
“It takes thirteen minutes to get to the hospital,” he said, a bit of hysteria entering his voice. “That’s three contractions on the way there.” He sat on the bed to put on his shoes, then he left her in the recliner to get his wallet, keys, and jacket.
He ran outside to start the truck, and he hurried back inside to grab the bag she’d packed. She had baby clothes, diapers, slippers for herself, as well as clothes for herself to wear home. Tripp was actually glad Ivory had given birth before, because he had no idea what to do.
She’d put peppermints in the bag, and gum, as well as a spare phone charger, her tablet, and a pair of headphones. She was the most prepared person he knew, and as he tossed the bag in the back seat, his heart filled and filled and filled.
“Thank you, Lord,” he said, tipping his head back and looking up. “Please help this delivery to go well. Bless my wife.” His throat closed then, and an alarm went off on his phone. Five minutes had passed since the last contraction.
He almost ran back inside. The moment he arrived in the bedroom, Ivory smiled up at him, her chin a little wobbly. “My water just broke.”
“Let’s go.” They didn’t have to wait for contractions anymore, and Tripp’s heart zig-zagged through his whole body. He took her hand and helped her up, keeping her steady as they walked through their house. He’d known it was a large house, but it felt like a hike to the truck.
He’d just put her in the passenger seat when she groaned and leaned forward. He closed her door and headed around the tailgate just as Liam pulled up. His heart raced, and he was so grateful for his family.
After backing out of the garage, he rolled down his window and Liam leaned in. “Going?”
“Her water broke,” Tripp said, and Ivory didn’t look over at all. “She’s contracting every five minutes. Oliver’s asleep.”
“I’ll pack him up and take good care of him.” Liam saluted against his cowboy hat, which was a ridiculous thing to wear at three o’clock in the morning. But Tripp loved his brother with his whole heart as he finished backing out and got the truck headed for the hospital.
Thirteen minutes there.
Then they’d check-in, and someone with more experience than him would be able to take care of Ivory.
“I don’t remember it being so painful,” she said, panting. “Mister Fussy is not going to be an easy child.”
Tripp wanted to laugh, but he was too nervous. “Almost there,” he said, though they’d just left. He drove as fast as he dared, actually glad it was the middle of the night, because there was no traffic.
He wanted to call his mother, because she’d want to know, and maybe she’d be able to come help. Ivory’s parents lived in Kentucky, and she barely spoke to them. But it was the middle of the night, and Liam would put the news on the family text string at a decent hour.
Ivory had two more contractions on the way to the hospital, and by the time Tripp pulled up to the emergency entrance, his nerves buzzed and frayed.
“Here we go,” he said, opening her door and helping her down from the truck. He couldn’t remember if he’d taken the keys out of the ignition or not. A quick glance said he hadn’t. “Let me get you a wheelchair.” He left her leaning against the truck as he ran inside and grabbed the chair.
With her sitting, he gathered his keys and the bag from the back seat, and then he pushed his wife into the hospital to have their baby.
“Tripp,” she said as he went past the emergency entrance. They needed to get to labor and delivery, and he knew right where it was, thanks to a hospital tour Ivory had given him a month ago.
But she sounded a touch panicked, and he slowed. “What?”
“I’m bleeding a lot,” she said, her voice growing weaker by the word.
He looked down into her lap, which was wet with blood. He swung her around as gently as he could while still doing it quickly and strode into the emergency room. “I need help,” he said when he didn’t find anyone at the intake desk.
“Tripp,” Ivory said again, only a moment before she passed out.
“Ivory!” He darted in front of her and caught her so she wouldn’t slump out of the chair. “I need help!” he yelled again, and thankfully, two nurses came out of the nearby door. “She’s in labor,” he said. “Her water broke, and we came. She’s bleeding a lot and she just passed out.”
The nurses took over from there, and Tripp had no choice but t
o back up and let them help Ivory. He followed them through the doors that led to the back, answering the questions one of the nurses threw at him.
Tears filled his eyes, and he had no idea what to do with them. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d cried, but as he watched more people gather around Ivory, get her from the chair to the bed, and call for a doctor.
“Is she okay?” he asked.
“Sir,” someone said. “You should wait—"
“That’s my wife,” he said. “And she was fine two minutes ago. She’s in labor, and I am not leaving her.” He glared at the woman.
“Who’s your OB?” she asked.
“Doctor Linda Tribear.”
“We’ll call her. Try to stay out of the way.” She gave Tripp a quick smile and ducked out of the room. Tripp couldn’t look away from Ivory, and he hated how pale her face was and how she still hadn’t woken up.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Skyler woke when his phone rang, instantly annoyed. It was far too dark for him to be awake, and when he saw Liam’s name on the screen, he almost didn’t answer the call. Then he realized that it was far too early for his phone to even be ringing, which meant Liam had called three times in the span of ten minutes, deactivating the nighttime silent mode on his phone.
“Liam?” he asked, sitting up and reaching to snap on a light. “What’s going on?”
“Ivory is in labor,” he said. “And she passed out before they could get to labor and delivery. We’re doing a family prayer in five minutes, if you’d like to join in.”
“Yeah, sure,” Skyler said, though he couldn’t remember the last time he’d prayed. Maybe when he’d gone to Three Rivers for Wyatt’s wedding, as he needed the extra strength to deal with his large, loud family.
“How’s the baby?”
“We don’t know anything yet,” Liam said. “Tripp called, and he was pretty freaked out. I told him I’d take care of telling everyone.”
Skyler nodded, though Liam wasn’t there to see. He swung his feet over the edge of the bed, thinking through his day. He’d told his family he wanted to stay in Amarillo for the summer to “get ahead in his classes.”
But he hadn’t enrolled in any summer classes. He didn’t need a job, and Skyler had taken to sleeping late, playing video games for a while when he woke up, walking the city, and hanging out with his friends in the evening.
He didn’t particularly enjoy his life, and in truth, he was bored out of his mind. But he hadn’t been a good mechanic. And now he wasn’t a good student.
No, that wasn’t true. When he was in school, he was a good student. He learned the material, did his assignments, and got good grades.
But it was all very boring, and he couldn’t imagine himself actually becoming an accountant.
The only reason he hadn’t dropped out completely and run for the Pacific coast was because he knew he could return to Seven Sons Ranch and be the accountant there. No suits. No ladder-climbing. Just mindless number pushing while wearing a cowboy hat, eating Jeremiah’s food, and riding horses.
“What else can I do?”
“Just pray,” Liam said. “We have Oliver, and he’s asleep. We’re not telling him anything until there’s something to tell.”
“Should I come home?”
Home.
What an odd word.
Three Rivers definitely wasn’t his home, but his entire family lived there now, and even he could admit that he missed his momma.
“That’s up to you,” Liam said. “Momma’s calling, Sky. Love you, brother. Talk later.” The line ended, and Skyler was left with the anxious voice of Liam in his ears.
He knew his brother loved him.
“Love you too, brother,” he said, wondering when he’d become the Walker brother clothed in black sheepskin.
The call to go home and be with his brothers filled him, and he got up and got in the shower. Thirty minutes later, he had a bag packed and in the back of his truck. His headlights cut a path through the darkness on the highway, and he was the only vehicle on the lonely road between Amarillo and Three Rivers.
To keep himself awake, he rolled the window halfway down and put the radio on loud. Still, it didn’t drown out his thoughts.
He’d taken a giggling girl to Wyatt’s wedding, and when Rhett had asked if Skyler was seeing her, he’d just laughed. “No,” he said. “We’re just friends.”
And barely that. He could tolerate Fiona most of the time, and that made her a safe bet to take to his celebrity brother’s wedding. He certainly couldn’t show up alone. Then he’d be like Micah, wearing a drawn-down face and throwing moon eyes at Simone Foster for the entire wedding.
No, thank you.
Skyler sighed, because he was so tired of thinking about his life, his future. He felt it had a giant crack down the middle of it, and the woman who’d wielded the hammer didn’t even know it.
Shayla Davis.
He automatically wondered where she was, and if she’d latched on to another poor sucker with a big bank account. The familiar feelings of foolishness and anger came with thoughts of Shayla, and he shoved everything away.
Not only had Shayla broken his heart into a million pieces and taken it with her when she’d left Dallas, but she’d taken his pride, thousands of his dollars, and his truck.
She claimed he’d bought her the truck, which if someone were to get technical, he had. So he hadn’t tried to get it back. The money was cash, and there was no way to prove it was his. The pride and every ounce of love he had to give were gone permanently, and while Skyler had admitted defeat with the mechanic shop, he didn’t know how to give up being human.
At the hospital in Three Rivers, he found every one of his brothers, as well as his parents, in the waiting room just outside of labor and delivery. He, of course, was the last to arrive, and he said, “Hey, everyone,” as he stepped off the elevator.
“Sky.” His mother sounded relieved, and she was already crying when she stepped into him and hugged him tightly.
“Hey, Momma.” He clung to her too, because he did love his mother, and he didn’t want to disappoint her. And if he didn’t want to do that, upsetting or showing his father he wasn’t the man he could be was downright devastating to Skyler.
“What’s going on?” he asked as his mom released him.
Daddy drew him into a hug too, patting him on the back before just holding him tight. “Thanks for coming. It means a lot to your mother.”
Skyler leaned his forehead against his father’s for a moment, and then stepped back, feeling more loved than he had in a long time. And he knew that while he wore the black sheepskin, it was just a costume. He wasn’t really the black sheep of the Walker brothers. He belonged with them, and they’d be there for him no matter what.
Jeremiah stood with his wife, Whitney, who was also nine months pregnant. She looked scared out of her mind and like she’d been crying, and Skyler’s emotions surged.
“Is she…I mean, someone say something.” Skyler looked at Liam, who came toward him with the same anxiety on his face that filled every particle of air in the room.
“They stabilized her and moved her up here, but she hasn’t woken up. They’re doing a C-section right now, and Tripp is with her.”
Skyler knew what the words meant, and he knew why everyone was concerned. “She needs to wake up, right?”
“It’s concerning that she hasn’t,” Liam said, drawing Skyler into a hug too. His chest vibrated, and he closed his eyes to keep the burning tears from gathering too deeply. He did not want to cry in this room with all these tough cowboys.
No, Skyler much preferred to weep when he was alone, preferably in the shower so the tears would wash away with the spray.
“They’re giving her blood, because apparently she lost a lot, and they think the placenta might have separated prematurely, causing a lot of internal bleeding.”
Someone sniffed, and Skyler nearly lost his composure. It didn’t help that the moment Liam
released him, another brother took his place, until Skyler had hugged them all, even the sisters-in-law.
There were enough places to sit, but only a couple of people actually took a seat. Skyler couldn’t contain himself to a chair, and he wandered over to the huge fish tank built into the wall. He felt a lot like the fish—swimming around in a foreign place, wondering what the point of his life was.
He closed his eyes, and did something he hadn’t done in such a long time. He prayed.
Honestly, truly prayed for Ivory’s health, the well-being of their baby, and for Tripp, who had left a huge hole in their family by not being there to greet Skyler.
It wasn’t long before a nurse came out into the waiting room and said, “Walker family?”
“Right here,” at least four people said.
“Oh, there are a lot of you.” She smiled. “Tripp said there would be.” She drew in a deep breath. “We delivered the baby just fine, and he’s healthy and crying. Tripp’s with him.” She looked around at all of them. “We’re getting everything finished up with Ivory, and she’s got her normal level of blood back.”
“Is she awake?” someone asked, and Skyler reached for the hand closest to him. It was Micah’s, and his brother squeezed hard.
“I’m sorry,” the nurse said. “She hasn’t woken yet. We have the best working with her, and I’ll make sure you’re updated.” With that, she turned and went back through a door that led into the maternity ward.
The air seemed to leave the room with her.
Ivory had to wake up. She just had to.
Skyler didn’t know her well—he didn’t know any of his brother’s wives very well. But it was enough that they loved one of his brothers. They belonged to the family, and that meant nothing could happen to them that wouldn’t devastate Skyler.
“Now what?” Wyatt asked.
“Now we wait some more,” Micah said, dropping Skyler’s hand and moving over to a couch with Simone Foster. They didn’t touch or even look at one another, and Skyler’s heart bled for his youngest brother too. He knew how much Micah liked Simone, as Micah had confided in Skyler and texted him often.
