Page 11 of Rancher's Pride

“I think so, Jake. Sorry, Doctor Gordon in this situation, I suppose. I–I’m nervous, I’m rambling. Oh god tell me to shut up.” She closed her eyes and shook her head.

“It’s okay, Nora, what’s happening?”

“I see the top of the head.”

“All right, let’s have a baby. Fallon, when you have another contraction, you need to push.” Jake’s voice was the calm I needed. I’d known him forever and I suppose it made me feel better that even if he couldn’t be here, he was guiding us.

Another contraction grabbed me, and I leaned intoit. “Don’t forget to breathe, Fallon.” The doctor said as the contraction continued. “When it’s over, stop pushing.” I gasped and flopped back on the bed, taking big gulps of air.

“Nora?” Mom asked as she looked from me to the woman delivering my baby that I’d met only hours ago.

“Heads out,” she blurted. “Push Fallon, come on. Nash, get that towel ready,” Nora said as she grabbed the bulb syringe.

Nash let go of my hand, and I wanted to tell him to get back here. He took his place beside Nora and almost as quickly as the contraction stopped, another started.

I was tired. I wanted this to be over. Flopping back on the pillow, I didn’t want to push through another contraction. “Toots, get at it. This baby’s almost here. You can do it. I’ve seen you do harder things, lets go,” Nash said a little forcefully, and he sounded stressed. Opening my eyes, I saw him focused on me and it gave me the extra boost I needed to push again.

Shifting on the bed, I sat up a little more, grabbed my knees, and pushed. “Come on, Fallon push. That’s it, keep going, Fallon.” His voice is now calm, but he still never looked away from me.

“It’s a girl, Fallon. You’ve got another little girl,” Nora said, tears filling her eyes, and she handed the baby to Nash.

“Why isn’t she breathing?” Nash said, turning white again.

“Give her a minute, rub her back, Nash.” The doctor said. I watched, body tensed, as the big man held my little girl with more care and attention than I’d ever seen from anyone. A piercing cry rang out, and I relaxed and looked at Mom.

She smoothed my hair back from my forehead, tears streaming down her face and a smile that filled my soul with more peace than I’d had in years. “Nora, take me off speaker and I’ll walk you through what you need to do now.”

Nash wrapped up the baby as best as he could and slowly came back to my side, as if he was carrying the most precious thing in the world to him. A man who hadn’t been around a lot of babies cradled her head like he’d done this every day.

“She’s beautiful, just like you,” he whispered as he handed her over to me. I looked at the baby in my arms and thought back to Josie’s birth. Andrew hadn’t even bothered to show up. We’d been separated and I couldn’t get ahold of him when the time came, so I delivered her alone with the help of a wonderful nurse who never left me, even when her shift was over.

This time, only people that loved me surrounded me and I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be here. Mom wiped a tear that had fallen. “Thank you for letting me be here for this. I’m so glad you’re home.” She kissed my head and looked at the baby.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nash leave the room and close the door quietly. Suddenly, I felt alone,even with Mom and Nora by my side. My rock had left me.

Nora was in the corner of the room talking to Doctor Gordon. Mom had taken the baby from me and my eyes grew heavy and I gave into sleep for a few moments.

“Fallon, Doc said you need to nurse. I’m so sorry to wake you,” Nora said sweetly before sitting on the side of the bed.

“It’s okay, I know the drill.” Shifting in the bed, I sat up and took the baby from Mom. Nora had the insight to give me a nightgown that opened down the front so it was easy to maneuver. “We’ll have to get some formula to have on hand. If this goes as badly as it did with Josie, we’re going to need it.”

“I’ll send Phil out to get some.” My mom said as she moved to the other room to make her call.

“She realizes it’s the middle of the night. Nothing’s going to be open, and who’s Phil?”

Nora looked up from the “Phil is a friend of The Five. That’s what I’ve taken to calling the guys. It’s easier than saying everyone’s names.” Nora rolled her eyes and continued. “He’s been seeing your mom, but if you breathe a word of it, I will deny it and say it was hallucinations after delivery.” She made the zip your lips motion before looking over her shoulder to see where Mom was. “As far as where he’s finding some, I don’t have a clue. He’s a friend of them for a reason. He’s as secretive about things as they are.”

“You’ll get used to it.” I shrugged as I positioned the baby to nurse. “They’d be gone for days or weeks at a time and come home as if they’d been here ten minutes ago. Beat up, bruised, but it was ranch business as usual, with no discussions of where they were or why they looked like hell.” I shook my head and thought back to those days. “I finally got Nash to admit they were a private security team for hire, but that was all I’d ever gotten, and trust me, I tried multiple times.”

Nora’s eyes narrowed, and I recognized the plan hatching in them. She was going to get the truth out of Kipp. I might not know her at all, but I could see how she thought. My brother had his work cut out for him with her. I couldn’t have imagined a more perfect match for him.

“We’ll have to work on that again now that there’s two of us to crack them.” We laughed, and it felt wonderful to feel the camaraderie.

I looked down at the newborn at my breast, and a sense of wonder and dread filled me. Would this all turn out like last time?

CHAPTER NINE

NASH

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