Page 19 of Seeking Vengeance
“Why am I not surprised?” Michael muttered. As Maggie gasped for breath, he gently placed his hands along her belly. “That’s a big one,” he said as another intense contraction tore through her. With his big body blocking her from view, he slipped his hand beneath the cotton dress she wore and gave a tight smile. “You do like to test me, don’t you, baby?”
She clenched her teeth, stubbornly refusing to cry out against the pain that was ripping her apart from the inside. “Wasn’t … bad … till … now. Had … time.”
“Well, sweetheart, we’re out of time. This baby is coming now—and I mean, right now. Look at me, Maggie. Look at me.” He waited until her eyes met his. “Breathe. Don’t push, no matter how much you want to, got it?”
She nodded, her face growing paler by the second as she fought against her body’s natural need to push.
Michael looked over his shoulder at the staff awaiting his orders. “After this one, we get her into the first open room in the ER. We’re not going to make it up to OB.”
* * *
Sean pacedthe waiting room with the others, who’d been arriving nonstop as the news spread. They’d already received word that Maggie had delivered within minutes of their timely arrival—a strapping baby boy at ten pounds, six ounces—and were anxiously awaiting further information. They had yet to speak with Michael. He’d insisted that both Maggie and the baby undergo thorough examinations afterward under his watchful eye and was unwilling to compromise.
A somewhat-harried-looking nurse came in finally and told them that Maggie and the baby were being relocated to the sixth-floor maternity ward and would be able to have visitors shortly. The relief on the nurse’s face was apparent.
Within the hour, they were fighting back their grins as they neared the room en masse. Maggie’s voice was clearly audible in the hallway.
“But why not?” Maggie was saying, exhaustion coloring her voice. “I’m fine; the baby’s fine.”
“Maggie,” Michael’s voice responded patiently, “it’s just one night, just as a precaution.”
“It’s ridiculous—that’s what it is,” she answered.
“This from the woman who almost gave birth in a car because she was too damn stubborn to get to the hospital like a reasonable woman.”
“It’s a natural process, Michael. Women were having babies thousands of years before modern medical centers. It wasn’t uncommon for women to give birth in the fields and get right back to work.”
“You don’t work in the fields, Maggie. And this is not the Middle Ages.”
“We’ve been here nearlythree hoursalready. Please, Michael, take us home.”
Maggie’s total and complete dislike of hospitals and the medical community in general—her husband excluded—was well-known, so her pleas surprised no one. Several of them chuckled, though all were wise enough to wipe the grins off their faces the moment they caught a glimpse of Michael warning them to not, under any circumstances, encourage her.
Michael beamed proudly as they entered, effectively silencing any more pleas from Maggie—at least temporarily. “Come and see our son, Ryan.”
One by one, they took turns admiring the latest family addition. With a shock of black hair and intense blue eyes barely visible through his half-open lids, there was no doubt as to which side of the family he took after.
“Jesus, Mick, he looks just like you.”
“He’s a Callaghan, no doubt,” said Taryn with a mischievous glint in her eye. “But really, if you’re going by looks alone, any one of you could be the father.”
That drew a chorus of laughs. Taryn knew, as they all did, that the bond between a Callaghan and hiscroiewas unbreakable.
“It must be Michael’s,” Maggie teased, “because he’s definitely taking after his father. All the nurses are already falling all over him. They just can’t seem to keep their hands off him.” Her eyes twinkled fiercely. “I just might need to take someone out soon if it continues.”
“I’ve got your back, sister.” Taryn winked.
Michael shot her a look, but nothing could diminish the pure joy on his face.
CHAPTER SIX
Agood hour later, Sean made his way down to the lobby, the grin still on his face. Maggie had let each of them hold the baby; he still couldn’t get over how small the boy had been in his large hands even though everyone insisted that a ten-and-a-half-pound baby was considered big. Michael had boasted proudly that his son dwarfed the other newborns for the entire five minutes he was in the nursery before Maggie insisted he be returned to her side.
Sean chuckled again. Maggie was quite possibly the sweetest, most openhearted woman he knew, but she was ferocity personified when it came to protecting her family. A slight twinge had him absently rubbing his chest. Michael was a lucky son of a bitch.
A casual glance toward the coffee shop had him doing a double take. Nicki sat in a booth at the far end, head down, looking as if she was about to do a header into the cup of coffee that sat in front of her. At least, he thought it was Nicki.
Sean’s steps slowed. He instinctively kept out of her direct line of sight, but she never once looked over his way. Yes, that was definitely Nicki. He would recognize that delicate, feminine profile anywhere. Every curve, every line was already etched in his memory. His hands twitched and flexed, doing a little remembering of their own. Like how they’d felt against her smooth, toned thighs as she straddled his lap and clutched at his shoulders. And how fucking hard it had been to keep them there when there were so many other places they wanted to be on that gorgeous body.
