Carson did, too. Totally a sucker for the women in his life. Not that I was much better because I was taking Delaney to my aunt and uncle’s even though I wanted her in bed and resting. I blame this shit on my dad. It’s his fault for raising us the way he did. And it wasn’t just the lessons about women that he’d told us, it was the example he’d lived. Lily Lenox was the best kind of spoiled.
“When we get there, you’re sitting down and relaxing,” I demanded.
“Thank you, honey.” She stopped in front of me, hitching her purse over her shoulder and rolled up on her toes to kiss me.
* * *
It was a good thing my aunt and uncle lived on the outskirts of town and had plenty of land surrounding them because there was a crush of cars in the front of their house. One of the reasons we’d opted for the majority of our get-togethers to happen here. Everyone else except Jackson lived in a development and the amount of cars that would line the streets was obnoxious.
I helped Delaney out of my truck and stopped her before she could get around me.
“You look beautiful,” I told her as I pulled her into my arms. “Love seeing you in a dress.”
“Thank you.”
I knew my woman was smiling even if I couldn’t see her face. I could hear it and that made it even better because me not seeing it, meant she was where she belonged—tucked close with her cheek to my chest.
Just like the last time we were here, the backyard was packed. Only this time there was a table piled high with presents.
“Goddamn, I never get that many presents for my birthday,” I grumbled to my dad who’d met us as soon as we’d cleared the back door.
“Swear that gives me flashbacks to you two boys countin’ your Christmas presents.”
Ethan and Jasper were making their way to us and my brother looked happy, Jasper looked happier.
“Hey, brother, Happy Birthday.” I grabbed him in for a hug and pounded his back. “You look better than you sounded last night.”
“Lots to be happy about.”
“Honor agree on a C-section?”
“Fuck no. As long as the doctor says Hudson’s okay, she’s in it for the long haul.”
Jasper was eyeing Delaney and they were sharing a secret smile, but before I could ask what it was about, my brother spoke again, “Hey, come with me a minute, I wanna show you something.”
I turned to Laney, gave her a kiss on her cheek, and reminded her. “Sit and relax.”
“Aye, aye, Lieutenant.”
“Don’t be cute. You’re overdoing it.”
“I’ll sit down in just a minute,” she acquiesced and I narrowed my eyes. “Seriously, honey. Go with your brother. I’m fine.”
I kissed her forehead and turned to my brother. He wasted no time walking across the backyard over to the pond.
“Everything okay?” I asked when he stopped.
“Everything’s perfect.”
“Then why are you acting all weird?”
“Me? Weird? I’m not being weird.”
“Now you totally are. What the hell?”
Ethan didn’t speak, instead he tipped his head, motioning behind me, and my breath caught.
No. That wasn’t right, my heart stopped and I was dizzy.
Jasper was walking Delaney toward me. My dad was right behind them with Emily and my mom on either side of him, and behind them was the rest of our family.
All smiling the same secret smile.
The crowd parted and circled around me and I understood.
Christ. We’d talked about this. I wanted to get married now, she wanted a big wedding after the baby. I gave in and agreed to give her whatever she wanted.
The same Justice of the Peace who had married Tuesday and Jackson stepped around and stopped to face my family.
“Who gives this woman, Delaney Lillian Walker to marry Carter McGrath Lenox?” he asked.
“With great pleasure, her mother…” Jasper cleared his throat and Laney beamed up at her father. “…and I do.”
Jasper took a step forward, bringing Delaney that much closer to where I wanted her and he reached out his hand. I took it in a firm shake but he didn’t release mine as he took Laney’s hand and placed it over ours.
“There’s no greater gift a man could give than his trust,” I told Jasper. “Thank you for trusting me with her.”
Jasper’s hand fell away, leaving only Delaney’s in mine.
“Today we’re gathered for another celebration. One I’ve been told was a long time in the making.” There were a few chuckles and he continued. “Delaney informed me this was a surprise and she has a few words she’d like to say.”
“Surprise, honey,” she whispered and locked eyes with me.
“Best surprise ever, Laney baby.”
“We’d agreed to wait and have a big wedding,” she informed the crowd of something they already knew. “But I know that wasn’t what Carter wanted. As a matter of fact he wanted to fly to Vegas and go through a drive-thru wedding chapel but I knew pretty much everyone would lose their minds so I shut that down.”
“Good call,” my brother interrupted, and everyone laughed.
“And the more I thought about it the more I came to understand I didn’t want a big wedding, I didn’t want the flowers, and all the other trappings. All I wanted was Carter. Then I thought about our life together. Every memory centers around family. And those memories were made here, or my parents’ house, at Uncle Levi and Aunt Blake’s, or Lily and Shane’s.”
I couldn’t ever remember hearing Delaney call my dad by his real name. She often called him Uncle Lenox or Lenox, and maybe a time or two Carter, but never Shane.
“It was then, as I was shifting through the past, I realized that there was only one place for this new memory, for our future together to start, and that was where it began. That’s why I choose here, in Uncle Clark and Aunt Reagan’s backyard. This was the exact place I fell in love with Carter. I’d thought it was when I first kissed him at the beach. Or the first time butterflies hit my belly when I looked at him, but it wasn’t. It was here, sitting by this pond. Ethan and Jackson had been teasing me and I was crying. Carter came over and sat down next to me and asked me if I wanted him to beat them up. I was so mad I said yes.” Laney stopped and smiled. “He stood right up and marched over to them and next thing I knew they were rollin’ in the dirt. Carter got in so much trouble and I felt horrible.”
Damn, I’d forgotten all about that. My brother was being a little shit making fun of her because she couldn’t throw a football. We were young, maybe eight and five. I couldn’t believe she remembered that.
“Anyway, Lily and Shane made him sit in the extra bedroom until they were ready to leave and I snuck in there to tell him how sorry I was I’d gotten him grounded. He just smiled at me and said, I’d do anything for you, Laney. You’re my best girl. Of course, at the time I thought best girl meant best friend. It would take me nearly twenty years to fully understand what he meant by those words, even if he’d showed me often enough what he’d meant.
“Carter, you are my best everything. My best days, my best nights, my best memories, my best dream, and I am at my best when you are by my side. You made me some promises when you asked me to marry you. Today, I want to give you mine.”
Delaney reached into a hidden pocket in her dress and came back with a titanium band. She lifted our hands, untangled them, and kissed my palm. I couldn’t take it, my eyes drifted closed and a rush of emotion overwhelmed me.
She was killing me.
“I promise I’m gonna love you the rest of my life. I’m gonna love our kids and be the best mom I can be. I promise to go on as many dates with you as you want to take me on. I promise I’m gonna fill our life with so much beauty you’ll never regret making my dreams come true.”
Sweet Jesus, she remembered.
“I want you to know, I’d do it all over again. The long way, the detours, the roadblocks, I’d do them all again. Every heartache, e
very smile, every goodbye. There is no journey I wouldn’t take as long as it led me to right here, right now, marrying the only man I’ve ever dreamed about. The only man I’ve ever loved. You truly are my one and only in every way.”
Laney stopped and looked over at the Justice of the Peace.
“Do you, Delaney Walker take Carter Lenox to be your husband? Do you vow to stand faithfully beside him during all of life’s ups and downs?”
“I do,” she answered and slid her band onto my finger.
I glanced down at the black titanium ring and thought it was perfect. Strong, resilient, it would never bend. It was us.
Unbreakable.
“Do you, Carter Lenox take Delaney Walker to be your wife? Do you vow to stand faithfully beside her during all of life’s ups and downs?”
“Absolutely.”
I’d never been more sure about anything in my whole damn life.
“Laney baby?” I called. Her eyes came to mine, shining with so much happiness I forgot what I was going to say so instead I simply told her, “You’ll always be my best girl.”
There was no denying from top to toe my woman was stunning. But nothing compared to her beautiful soul. It shone so bright, her light so warm, so captivating. Once she had you in her snare, your only prayer was that she’d never let you go.
“It is my great honor to finally present to you, Carter and Delaney Lenox.”
I didn’t wait nor did I need permission to kiss my wife.
I swooped in and took her mouth in a kiss that was probably too indecent considering the company, but I paid no mind, and swept my tongue into her mouth. She moaned, and I didn’t stop until I heard a scream that made my blood run cold.
34
Carter
“Oh, God! I’m sorry,” Honor panted.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan was by her side in a flash.
“I tried to wait.” She was still panting and was in obvious pain. “I tried to hold off. But…”
“But what? What’s happening?”
“Daddy? Mom peed herself,” Carson whispered, but as usual my niece’s whisper was more like a conversational tone.
“Shit.”
Jackson rushed through the crush of people and took over.
“How far apart are your contractions?”
“About three minutes, I think.”
“Three minutes?” Ethan shouted.
“When did they start?” Jackson continued.
“About five this morning. They were every fifteen minutes and not painful. But they’re…oh, sweet Jesus H.” Honor doubled over holding her stomach. “Painful,” she grunted. And finally through gritted teeth. “Painful now.”
“Ethan, call 911. Aunt Reagan, lots of blankets and towels. Bring them to the kitchen.”
My aunt Reagan took off running across her yard, Ethan looked like he was going to throw up any second, and the rest of my family looked concerned.
“Haven’t delivered a baby in a while, don’t break my streak,” Jackson joked and Honor scowled.
“Jack,” Honor growled. “That’s not—”
“Come on, let’s get you to the house,” Jackson cut her off.
“ETA is fifteen minutes on the ambulance,” Ethan announced.
Jackson scowled and remained quiet, helping my brother walk a very unhappy Honor toward the house.
“What’s that look?”
“Pal, I don’t think you have fifteen minutes.”
“Jesus Christ,” Ethan muttered.
“Daddy!”
“Ethan!”
His glower at my mom said it all, he was in no mood to be scowled.
“Is this really happening?” Laney whispered as we followed behind my brother.
The rest of the family had taken off either to help my aunt gather what she needed or to go wait in the front to gratuitously flag down the ambulance.
“Just to say, baby, you wait too long and pull that shit, I will not be happy.”
“It’s my fault. She knew, I told her last night that I was surprising you. She didn’t wanna miss us getting married.”
“I don’t care if the Pope was in town passin’ out golden tickets to the pearly gates. The second you feel a twinge we’re at the hospital and you’re getting an epidural.”
Just then Honor let out a bloodcurdling scream that had my ears ringing.
“But I don’t want an epidural.”
“Baby, there is no way I can handle seeing you like that.”
And for emphasis I threw my arm out and pointed at Honor bent over and crying.
“But, honey, that’s beautiful. Her body’s doing what it’s supposed to do. That’s part of having a baby.”
“Beautiful or not, I will lose my ever-loving mind to watch you in that much pain.”
“We’ll see.” Laney smiled. “You’ll be so happy that your son’s almost here you’ll be fine.”
Was she crazy? I’d never be so excited about anything not to care that Laney looked and sounded like she’d been possessed by the devil.
“Right. Look at Ethan, Delaney. He look all fired up about Honor getting ready to give birth on his aunt’s kitchen floor?”
“Well, no, not about that part. But you’ll see. When Hudson’s here he’ll forget all about this part.”
I highly doubted she was right. I knew I’d be having nightmares about this for the rest of my life.
Jackson and Ethan had gotten Honor in the house when I heard her cry out again. What I did not hear was sirens.
Good Christ, she was gonna have my nephew in the kitchen and I couldn’t help it, I busted out laughing. Of course this was how it was going to happen. It was fitting, today on Ethan’s birthday, the day I married Laney, the place we’d spent so much of our childhood.
How many times had Nick, Jackson, Ethan, and I raced into that very kitchen to get a drink or something to eat before we went back outside? Bet my brother would’ve never guessed that all these years later his wife would give birth on the very floor he’d spilt his chocolate milk.
By the time we gotten into the house Ethan had Honor on the floor, a thick mat of blankets under her and thankfully her legs were pointed in the opposite direction and we were looking at Honor upside down.
Jackson was at her side, Ethan on the business end of the baby stuff, and Laney went to her other side. Everyone else but my mom was out of the house.
“What do you need, brother?” I asked.
“A goddamn ambo,” he growled.
“Other than that?”
“She said she’s hot, can you wet these with cold water?” He held out a stack of washcloths.
I took them without looking and had just turned on the water when Honor cried out.
“That was under a minute,” Jackson announced.
“Honor, Sweetness, do not push. Breathe through the contraction,” my brother coaxed.
“Don’t push,” she grunted. “Have you lost your goddamned mind? I have to push, Ethan. I can feel it.”
“I know you do. Just please try.”
I handed the wet cloths to Laney and hurried to move, wanting no part of watching my sister-in-law. I made my way to my mom and pulled her into my arms.
“She’s having my grandson on Reagan’s kitchen floor,” my mom muttered.
“Yeah, she is.”
“Figures.”
I chuckled again and kissed my mom’s head. “I was thinking the same thing,” I admitted.
“That one lasted seventy-two seconds,” Jackson told Ethan. “What’s it look like down there?”
Down there?
Holy shit.
“Baby’s crowning,” Ethan answered.
My mom sucked in a breath and I watched Jackson—if it was possible he seemed to relax even more.
“All right, Honor, listen to me, you have to breathe. Laney, help her. Not fast and shallow, deep breaths, yeah. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Take over, Delaney, I’m gonna help Ethan.”
“Go
t it. Honor, honey, I’ll do it with it you.” Delaney had a wet rag on Honor’s forehead and I could see her grimacing in pain from Honor’s death grip on her hand. “He’s gonna be here any minute, breathe with me.”
Laney was taking care of Honor and Jackson was talking my brother off the ledge he was currently teetering on.
“Here’s another one,” Jackson announced as Honor started to scream. “You’re gonna have to do it, Ethan. You remember how?”
Do what? What was my brother gonna have to do?
“Laney, grab her under her leg and pull it wide,” Ethan said. “Jack, you got the other one. Sweetness, you’re gonna push through this contraction. You’re doing good, Honor. Take a deep breath and push.”
Push? What the fuck happened to not pushing and waiting for the ambulance? That sounded like a better idea.
I would swear it on a stack of bibles, that Honor’s shout shook the house. I didn’t know if she was pushing or auditioning for Fright Fest but good God it didn’t sound good.
“Good job, Sweetness. Just relax until the next one. Carter,” my brother snapped.
“What do you need?”
“Sit behind Honor. Her next contraction you’re gonna pick up her shoulders and let her rest against you so she can push.”
“Copy that.”
I did as he asked and Laney and Jackson shifted so my legs had room on either side of Honor, and not even a minute later Honor was crying out. I lifted her, slid in behind her, and had her back to my chest. She was almost fully sitting and Ethan was praising her, Jackson was holding her leg, and Laney was still holding a washcloth to her forehead.
“Give me a big push, Honor. Breathe and push as hard as you can,” Ethan demanded.
Every muscle in Honor’s body coiled tight and she bared down and this time with no sound she pushed.
“Head’s out,” Ethan announced but did not look up from what he was doing. “You’re doing great.”
“Let him ease out, E,” Jackson reminded Ethan.
“There you go, Honor. He’s coming, Sweetness. One shoulder’s out. Almost…little push.”
Suddenly the wailing cry of my nephew filled the room and Honor’s body sagged against mine. Laney and Jackson eased her feet to the floor, and even though my brother hadn’t looked up from his son yet, I could see tears dripping off his chin.
Adoring Delaney: The Next Generation Page 25
