by Quinn, Taryn
Three men paced outside. Her brothers. Beckett, the eldest one I knew the least, was smoking a cigarette as he paced. A motorcycle helmet was clutched in his other hand like an extension of him. And quite possibly a pseudo club.
A shout from inside made us both pick up the pace.
“Go in there at your own risk.” Hayes held up a flask, then took a long drink. The fact that he swayed a little freaked me out. Firstly, Hayes had the tolerance of an eighty-seven-year-old career drinker with an eighteen-year-old liver, so that was alarming in its own right. And second, he wasn’t one to imbibe in the middle of the day.
“Magic, you’re doing amazing.” Ian’s voice floated out into the rain.
“Shove your amazing up your ass!” Zoe screeched.
I turned to Ivy, backing up a few steps. She spun me back around, put both hands on my back, and shoved me forward. “Nope. In you go.”
“I don’t—”
“You do need to go inside. All the way, there you go.”
The barn doors were wide open and there was a section along the back draped in a rainbow of colored sheets. Wall-sized canvases peeked from the sheets. Her studio?
Well, if that didn’t suit them, I wasn’t sure what did.
In the middle of it was Zoe and another woman who reminded me of a darker-haired version of her. A little more wizened, less frazzled than the mother-to-be, and holding a cup of ice chips.
It was a fucking stage.
Well, the bed area looked like one anyway. Okay, technically it was more like a dais with the three stairs to reach the wide pallet of blankets and pillows. Music, full of chimes and chants, filled the air and Ian was wearing about three different religions worth of medallions on his person.
Were those linen pants?
He looked like he was getting ready to go on vacation, for feck’s sake. What the sweet Jesus?
“There you are, mate.” Ian’s false cheer was strained around his eyes and his smile was a little manic. He tucked a sweaty lock of lightning-colored hair behind Zoe’s ear. “She’s doing amazing.”
“If you say amazing one more time, I’m going to rip your lips off your face.”
“See?” The smile cracked a little. “Last time she said she was going to rip my—” He glanced at Zoe’s mother. “Well, it was an unmentionable part of my anatomy.”
“It was the part that got me in this state!” Zoe seethed as another contraction hit her. She grabbed for Ian’s hand and raked her nails down his arm. “I hate you so much right now.”
“Okay, Zoe, just breathe slowly.” The soothing voice of a third woman in the room seemed to instantly calm Zoe. Where Zoe was rounded with the end-stages of pregnancy and her hair was a wild mass of braids and curls, the other woman had sharp features and black hair shorn close to her skull. She wore scrubs like a true medical professional, which was soothing for me.
Not that it was of importance at this juncture, but it felt less like they were going to break out the crystals and start chanting to a goddess. Maybe Ian would be. He looked as if he’d escaped from the new age store and taken a side trip to Hawaii.
Zoe suddenly collapsed back against the pillows propped up behind her.
The woman in the scrubs checked under the sheet and I slammed my eyes shut. “There we go. Your contractions are getting closer.”
“Ya think.” Zoe grabbed a handful of ice chips and shoved them in her mouth and crunched loudly.
The woman just laughed. “Not too long now. Just take a breather.”
Ian kissed Zoe’s forehead. “I love you so much.”
“I’m going to murder you in your sleep.”
Ian sat on the edge of her bed and wrapped his arm around her. “It’s our love language.”
Zoe shoved him off and he fell onto the floor. “Go away for a few minutes.”
He popped back up, but instead of looking wounded—emotionally or otherwise—he kissed her again. This time, Zoe leaned in for a moment before pushing him away. “I love you too. Maybe. Just give me a second.”
Ian nodded. “Right. I’ll be right there.”
“I’m sure you will be.” Zoe leaned back into the pillows, holding her mother’s hand.
Ian rushed down the stairs and gave me a chest-cracking hug. “Thanks for coming, man. I’m so glad you’re here. Simon, Margo, and Raine are coming out on the next flight. They weren’t supposed to fly out until this weekend but the baby had other plans.”
I hugged him back. “You seem to have things under control here.” Sort of. My back was either still wet from the rain or slick with sweat for my friend. Or my future on display right before my eyes like a friggin’ play on a stage.
“She’s amazing. Anna got here a few hours ago and she’s kept us from killing one another. The first hour of labor was cake. This last one,” he glanced over his shoulder at Zoe who seemed to be sleeping, “Christ, I’m freaking out here.” He held out a shaking hand.
Impulsively, I gripped his hand to stabilize it. “Impatient much? I hear it takes a little while for a baby to come.” I tried not to look at Zoe and her setup. She was fully hidden from prying eyes, but it was still way too intimate for my taste.
I wasn’t sure how all this stuff worked yet. I only had movies to go by and I was the first to know that Hollywood took some liberties there. And I hadn’t gotten to this chapter in the baby book.
At all.
In fact, for my own sanity, I kept skipping the bad pages. The ones that explained complications and side effects because that rabbit hole was scary and I knew I’d never return with my psyche intact.
At least not yet.
I needed the sweet and wondrous part.
This was not the sweet and wondrous part going on right now.
Zoe made a seething groan. Ian turned to go to her, but my Ivy grabbed his wrist.
“Let me take a turn.”
Ian gave her a grateful smile. “She’s ready to kill me, but I don’t know what else to do for her.”
Ivy patted his chest. “You’re doing it. Just by being here, I promise.”
Ian’s eyes got a suspicious sheen and he only nodded. The fact that Ian was speechless told me volumes about his fear. The man never shut up.
“Thanks for coming, man.”
“Of course. I’m not sure what I can do or if Zoe wants me here…”
“She wants to burn the entire world at the moment. My fiancée is a scary one for sure. But such a warrior.”
I glanced over Ian’s shoulder to the two women huddled together. Ivy had her hand wrapped around Zoe’s as they both laughed through the contraction.
Laughed.
Dear God. The black spots forming in my vision weren’t from a stroke, right?
Ian punched me lightly in the gut. “Breathe, mate.”
I blew out a slow breath. “That’s my future right there.”
“It sure is. It’s beautiful and terrifying.”
“Fuckbeast!” Zoe’s shout filled the rafters.
“Right, I better get up there.”
“I’ll be right here.”
Ian gripped my upper arm. “Thanks. Really.” He ran back to the mother of his impending child.
The next hour was more of the same. Furtive glances from Zoe’s brothers outside who hovered but wouldn’t come into the barn. I paced while Ivy took turns with Ian sitting beside Zoe.
The storm raged outside. Rain slashed at the roof and thunder rolled ominously.
“Okay, Zoe it’s time to give me the goods, all right?” Anna’s voice was calm and sure. The only calm one in the room at that point.
Ian was stationed behind Zoe now, supporting her as contraction after contraction zapped all of her energy. Suddenly, Zoe slumped in his arms and Ian tried to lift her back to a seated position. “Magic? We’re almost there, love.” His panicked expression made me cross my metaphorical line and move into the birthing area.
Anna moved quickly, coming to check on Zoe. Anna checked her stats, lifted her
eyelids, and checked the small machine set up beside her bed. She moved quickly and efficiently back to where the sheet was draped over Zoe. She ripped it back and I staggered back out of the way.
“Zoe?” Her mother rushed forward; her voice shrill. “What’s wrong?”
“Just her blood pressure dropped. She’s fine. No internal hemorrhaging or anything. Everything’s… There we go. Welcome back, Zoe.”
Zoe’s eyelids fluttered open. “Ian?”
“Here, love. I’m right here.”
Ivy came up next to me, her fingers lacing with mine.
“Scared us a little, Zoe. How about we not do that again?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Just a little fainting.”
She dragged Ian down to meet her eyes by his hair. “If you tell my brothers, I will kill you.”
“You mean kiss me.” The color returned to Ian’s face. He touched his forehead to hers. “And don’t you fucking go anywhere. I need you. This baby needs you.”
She nodded. “I’m not. I swear, I’m okay. Just tired.”
Anna kept looking at the monitor beside the bed, but the frown lines around her eyes eased. “Okay, I need you to give me deep, even breaths and push.”
I closed my eyes against the savagery. Ivy wrapped her arms around me.
And we waited while Zoe pushed and pushed.
Suddenly, there was an almighty cry then the shriek of a baby and relieved laughter.
“There we go.” Ivy sighed and smiled up at me. “Perfect and howling like the very best baby ever.”
“He’s perfect.” Ian’s shocked and tear-filled eyes met mine for a moment before he turned back to his girl and his little one like they were his entire world. “You’re perfect, Magic.”
I backed out of the room. I needed air.
There was too much emotion and chaos in there. From laughter to tears, the voices were now bright and full of love.
Zoe’s brothers and father pushed by me to get in as I fought the tide of testosterone to get out. Guilt sat on my shoulders, but I still needed air.
“Rory?” She chased me out the door into the clearing. The rain had stopped. Sun was bleeding into the violent storm clouds racing out of the area to the next town. “You’re leaving at the best part. Isn’t he beautiful?” Her voice was filled with wonder and light. Much like the room full of people I’d had to escape. “I mean, I only got a little glimpse, but that part’s not for us. It’s for them.”
“I just need a minute.” All I could keep seeing was Zoe going limp. How wrong it could have gone. “That was a lot to take in. This isn’t my kind of scene.”
“Well, you better get used to it.” The teasing glint drained out of her voice. “It’s going to be your scene in about five months.” She pushed by me and hurried toward the copse of trees heavy with new baby apples.
Even the trees were ready to give birth, for God’s sake.
I quickly followed her. Christ, I’d stepped in it. Would I ever learn to shut my stupid mouth? “Ivy, wait.”
She was stalking away from me at an alarming rate.
I grabbed her hand and stopped her. “I’m just freaking out a little, all right? This is why I don’t let people in.” If I let them in, I could lose them.
I could lose her to some freak medical emergency.
She gripped the front of my shirt. “I know this whole letting people get closer to you thing is going to take some time to get used to, but he’s your best friend. You need to get back into that barn and congratulate him.”
“Of course I am. I just don’t want to.”
“Why the hell not?”
“You know why not.” I’d explained my past to her and I thought she’d understood.
“I get it. You had a friend betray you once. But hey, guess what? You did the same to me.”
“I did not.” My stomach bottomed out.
“You didn’t cheat, but you left. And to be honest, I didn’t know if you had a woman in every damn city from here to Los Angeles. We barely know one another.”
“We’re fixing that. And I didn’t. There’s only ever been you.”
Flashes of Zoe losing all her color and collapsing in Ian’s arms played like a reel on a loop. How the hell was I going to be enough for Ivy? I wasn’t equipped for that kind of loss.
Not of Ivy.
“Yeah, except did you forget the part where you went near radio silent on me in the middle of the scariest time of my life?”
Finally, the reel snapped and stopped. Panic for what could happen superimposed itself on the woman before me. That I could lose her because I couldn’t face this fucking fear. I took a step toward her, but she held up a hand.
“No, you got a chance to say your peace. Now here’s mine.”
Her hair was falling out of its messy braid and was curling in the humidity that was quickly replacing the storm. Whatever makeup she’d been wearing had been washed away. Even in her anger, she was so goddamn beautiful it hurt me to my bones knowing I’d almost lost her.
And still could.
“I don’t know anything for sure, but I’m here, Rory. I’m trusting that you won’t hurt me again. That what you said on that beach today was true.”
Her voice wobbled and I couldn’t stay away from her. I twisted my fingers around hers, holding tight. “It was. I swear it. I want this. I want us.” I pressed our tangled hands to her belly. “Both of you.”
“I want to believe you.”
“I just…” I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and blew out a slow breath. Letting her see everything was the only way to keep her. And God, I wanted that more than the breath in my body. “I watched that one split second where Ian almost lost her and I just…” I cupped her face. “I can’t lose you. I can’t. I love you too much.”
“What?” Her huge brown eyes locked with mine. “What did you say?”
“I love you, Ivy Rose. So fucking much. I know it doesn’t make sense. But I’m not wrong here, right? You feel it too? I know I have no right to ask—”
She went on her toes and slammed her mouth over mine, then jerked back. “You love me?”
“I do, yes.” I wrapped her in my arms. The echo chamber that used to be my chest suddenly filled as she laughed. Tears blurred her perfect eyes and I frowned. “That’s good, right?”
“So good. I love you too.”
“Oh, thank God. I’d wait for it if necessary. For the right to have a woman like you love me—”
“Rory, stop. You’re everything I want. You’re a complete pain in my ass sometimes, but I love you. I do.”
“Thanks, I think.”
She laughed and dashed away the tears. “It happened so fast. I was afraid that it was too fast.”
“You? I’m the one who thought I was literally going mad, a ghrá.”
“You keep saying that. What does it mean?”
“It’s Irish.”
“I figured.” She drilled her finger into my chest. “What does it mean?”
“My love.”
“Oh.” Her eyes filled again. “You’ve been saying it to me for so long and I didn’t even know.” She fisted my shirt. “You did it on purpose.”
I laughed. “Maybe a little. It kept popping out, no matter how hard I tried to tell myself that I didn’t need you. I didn’t need the complications of love. Work was such a haven for me.”
“You mean a place to hide.”
I tipped my forehead to hers. “Yes, I suppose it was. But there’s no hiding now.”
“Because of the baby?” Her voice sounded uncertain.
“No, the baby is just a bonus. It’s always been about you, Ivy. Always will be. Now it’s all just going a bit faster. We Irish know how to do the baby thing once we get going.”
“Is that right?”
I cupped her little bump where my entire future was growing. “This little one is a blessing and simply put our lives on fast forward. We would have gotten here no matter what. I believe that wi
th my whole heart.”
“You really know how to say the right thing when you get out of your own way, Rory Ferguson.”
“Words are my thing, my sweet ginger fairy.” I bent down to kiss her. In the dappled sunlight, there was nothing but her minty scent and soft mouth meeting mine. I slipped my hands under her sweater to get to her curves.
She pushed me back to get the sweater up and off of her. “My sweater is glorious and I don’t really want to take it off, but I’m sweltering.”
“I’ll be sure to let my ma know.” I drew her deeper into the trees and out of view of the people who seemed to be materializing by the dozen.
It seemed like there was quite the party forming now that the baby had made his arrival.
“Actually, maybe you better tell yourself. When I take you to meet my family.”
Her dark eyes widened as she tied the sweater around her waist. I leaned down to take her mouth again, but she wasn’t responding. “Meet your…” She pushed me back. “Me?”
“Well, you are carrying their grandchild. I’m pretty sure they need to at least meet you. And to be honest, I’d already planned on asking you to come to Malahide with me.”
“Malahide?” she repeated.
I nodded and stared at her mouth, my thumbs drawing little circles along the sides of her breasts. “Where I’m from.” I nibbled on her lower lip. “A little town just outside of Dublin.”
“I can’t think when you do that.”
“Good.” I covered her mouth, our tongues tangling. The craziness of the day, the euphoria of her saying she loved me back, the months in which I hadn’t touched her—they all coalesced until we were wild for one another.
I lifted her leg up so I could get closer to her. To fit my aching length against the softness I craved.
“I’d really like that,” she said against my mouth.
“What? Me inside you again? Me too,” I said as I nipped her lower lip.
“No.”
“No?” I drew back a little, though my hips still undulated against her.
She dug her fingernails into my belly. “Yes. I mean all of that, yes, God, it’s been so long. I mean, I want to go to Ireland and meet your family.”
“Oh, right. Of course. My ma is dying to meet you. Think we can talk about that later though? Talking about my mother while I’m trying to get into your pants is confusing and hurts my head.”
