Page 18 of Unexpected Sweetheart
Getting the pen ready for her as fast as I can, I prepare the tools I’ll need then go into the paddock and drive her back toward the barn. The poor girl is uncomfortable and obviously doesn’t understand what’s happening to her, so she doesn’t make it easy. And since I’m trying not to spook the other heifers who haven’t given birth yet, this takes a bit of finessing. I’m feeling out of my depth. It’s been so long since I had to intervene in a birth that I’m nervous as hell.
“What can I do to help?” I hear an urgent voice over my shoulder, just as I get the heifer—who Lorelei named Mary since she thought it was terrible they didn’t all have individual identities—into the pen so she can’t move about.
Turning, my eyes lock with Lorelei’s, the tension between us is still present, but pushed to the side over concern for Mary. “She’s having trouble,” I say as I slide an examination glove on my hand. “You ever pulled a calf?”
She shakes her head as she gives me a wan smile. “You know I haven’t.”
“Come and hold her tail. You’re about to learn real fast.”
Lorelei pushes her sleeves up as she rushes to the left side of the pen and takes hold of Mary’s tail so I can see what’s stopping her from pushing this calf out naturally. After an internal exam, I manage to wrap my hand around a rather large hoof, telling me this calf is a little on the large side. And since Mary has never done this before, she’s struggling to get this big boy out.
“OK. The calf is in the right position, but we’re gonna have to give Mary here a hand,” I say, collecting the chain I need to loop around the calf’s hoof.
“You’re calling her Mary?” Lorelei smiles as I meet her eyes and shrug.
“I figure if I’m gonna get up this close in her business, we should probably be on a first name basis.”
“How gentlemanly of you.”
I smirk before I ready myself to pull while Mary pushes. “This is gonna get real messy, heiress. I hope you’re not squeamish.”
“I’m OK. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.” There’s an intensity in her eyes that somehow gives me the confidence I needed to ground myself, knowing that in this moment, I’m doing God’s work.
“When she pushes, I’m gonna pull,” I say, readying myself for that next contraction. It’s no mean feat, and I have to put my entire body weight into the effort, but after a couple of pulls, we get feet and a snout, before the rest of the head emerges and we’re met with eyes, ears, and shoulders. Lorelei follows my instructions and doesn’t even hesitate when I tell her to remove some of the mucus from the calf’s nose and mouth. I’m seriously proud.
“Come on, Mary. You can do it,” she coaches.
“Almost there,” I call out, digging my heels into the ground as we get lodged at the hips before Mary gives one last almighty push, and the calf falls free. Lorelei doesn’t even pause before she’s on the ground with me, giving the calf a rubdown until it kicks and twists, its chest rising and falling rapidly as it tries to orient itself in this new world.
“You did it! Mary did it!” Lorelei cheers, tears in her eyes as she smiles at me.
“Wedid it,” I say, my heart swelling with every moment my eyes drink her in. “I don’t think I could have done this alone.”
Her lips press together in a wobbly grin as she gives me a shrug. “We make a great team.”
“We sure do.”
Collecting the tools, we let Mary out of the narrow birthing pen and into the main maternity pen to give her time to bond with her calf, closing them in before we clean ourselves up then stay close to watch the process and make sure the calf can latch on to feed.
“Got a name for this one?” I ask while Lorelei watches Mary cleaning her calf with awe in her eyes.
“I was thinking Ryan junior since he’s obviously stubborn.” She tilts her head to the side and grins at me as the calf moves in for his first feed. “But the more I watch him, the more I realize he wasn’t being stubborn at all. He really wants to be here, but he was just caught in his old life and needed some help finding his way to the new one.”
“Are we still talking about the calf here?”
She turns to me and smiles. “Maybe.”
“I’m proud of you, heiress.”
Her smile beams. “Maybe you should start calling me Queen of the Ranch. It has a better ring to it.”
I can’t help but grin. “You really wanna be queen of all this messy work?”
“We just brought a life into this world, Ryan. I call thatamazingwork. The kind God would be proud of.”
Somehow, she humbles me with her words. “Guess I’m all right at this rancher title, after all.”
She reaches out and nudges my shoulder. “You’re agreatrancher. And I know you struggle with all your daddy dropped at your feet when he died, but you’ve done an amazing job. He’d be proud. I know he would.”
