Never Say Never: Gravel Hill Boys Book Two

59. Madison

My body was being rippedin two, and I could no longer hold back. I grunted long and loud. Heavy footsteps pounded from the back porch, followed by what sounded like a ton of bricks falling next to my head. The pain was too great. I couldn’t get a read on what was real and what was imagined.

“Baby, baby. Tell me what’s happening.”

Ian’s hands were like ice. I was shivering, but I felt the warmth from the fire on my face and upper body. Up was down; hot was cold.

“Deep breath.” Ian inhaled loudly. “C’mon. You can do it. Breathe in.”

I breathed in.

“Good girl. I think it’s time to start our panting breaths. Do you remember?”

“No,” I cried. I didn’t remember anything. It didn’t matter that we’d missed the last two classes. I’d already forgotten all of it.

Ian’s hand wrapped around mine as he kneeled beside me. “Open your eyes and do what I do.” He took another deep breath and then began to pant in a hee-hee-hoo pattern that we’d practiced once or twice on the plane, but that I’d never committed to memory.

“Come on. Look at me.” He led me through the breathing, keeping it going until my contraction ended. I slumped back against the pillows.

“That was a long one.”

“It was,” he said, grabbing a couple logs and adding them to the flames. “It won’t be too long now.”

The level of reassurance he exhibited, especially after his earlier freak out, was calming. I trusted him; I had to. After making sure I was okay, Ian slipped into the kitchen and washed his hands. The water wasn’t flowing like it usually did, but at least we were still getting water. He turned the heat back on under the large pot of water and then carried the towels with the items he’d sterilized earlier into the living room. Then he sat down on the coffee table and faced me.

“EMS is on its way, but I’m going to get everything ready just in case our baby decides she can’t wait, okay?” Smiling down at me, he smoothed my hair away from my face. “She’s in such a hurry, I assume she takes after you.”

At that, I laughed. “Probably. If she took after you, she’d be late.”

“No doubt. I’m pretty chill.”

“I can be chill.”

“No you can’t. That word’s not in your vocabulary.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Now it’s time for you to tell me things. Okay?”

“Sure. It’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“Good answer. Favorite ice cream?”

“Pistachio.”

“Favorite vacation spot?”

“Our villa on Lake Como.” My belly tightened and the pain crept up from the bottom.

“C’mon, Mads, nice cleansing breath,” Ian said, not missing a beat.

I watched and did what he did, filling my lungs, and then as the pain gripped me, he began the patterned breathing and I did it right along with him. I closed my eyes. “I’m so tired.”

“I know baby. You’re doing great. So great. Just stay with me. Okay? You got this.”

He took a deep, cleansing breath so I did the same.

“Favorite guilty pleasure?” he asked.

“Burger King whopper.”

He laughed so hard he snorted. “No fucking way. The girl who hates carbs eats Whoppers? Besides, you said you never ate at McDonald’s. I’m to believe you eat at Burger King?”

“Rarely, but yes.” My belly tightened. “Next question.”

I didn’t miss the concerned look on his face. I was no expert, but I was pretty sure our Little Satsuma was ready for her debut. Before Ian could speak, I let out an unholy sound, followed by the declaration that I needed to push.

“Okay. Hang on,” he said, jumping up. While I gritted my teeth through another contraction, trying but failing to do the late stage breathing Ian wanted me to, he pushed the coffee table back. When the contraction ended, and after we took a cleansing breath, Ian gently tugged off my leggings and panties. He tucked the edge of the shower curtain under my hips, followed by a large bath towel, letting both trail over the edge of the sofa and onto the floor. Then he carefully maneuvered my legs so that I was sitting up with my back against the back of the sofa and my legs down in front of me. He pulled the coffee table close again and covered the edge with a folded blanket, then placed the arches of my feet against the edge of the table with him sitting between my feet.

“I’m scared.”

“I know, darlin’,” he said, covering my legs with yet another blanket, “but just focus on your breathing, and when the time comes, you push, okay? Let me worry about everything else.”

I nodded, unsure of how that was going to work, but I didn’t have a choice. This uptight, type A, control freak was going to deliver a baby into the hands of a rockstar playboy with commitment issues.

Honestly, other than my OB-GYN, there was no one else I wanted to be here with me at this moment.

Two more contractions hit, one right after the other, and the urge to push grew stronger. I gritted my teeth and growled out another harsh, painful contraction. “I need to push,” I cried, gasping for air, but still trying to hold back.

Ian flicked on the camp lantern and set it beside him on the table. The light was harsh after hours in the near dark, and I had to close my eyes against the brightness. He tugged me forward, jammed cushions behind my back, and brought my hands down to the backs of my legs, just above my knees.

“Next contraction, if you feel like you can’t keep from pushing, I want you to use your hands on the backs of your legs to pull yourself up and then I want you to push with all your might. Okay?”

“Oh, God,” I cried. “It’s happening already.”

“We’re almost there, baby. You got this.”

I grabbed my legs and pulled myself forward and pushed as hard as I could. The contraction faded, and I fell back. Huffing and gasping for air.

Ian’s eyes were filled with determination and compassion. I gave everything over to him to handle. Another contraction began on a wave, crashing over me as I gripped and pushed and gasped.

“Jesus, I see the head, darlin’. You’re doing so good. So good.” His voice cracked. I couldn’t answer. I may have nodded.

“Again,” I grunted, getting into position, facing down the worst pain of my life.

“The head’s out,” Ian cried. “Just a couple more pushes, darlin’. You’ve got this.”

I don’t know how many more contractions there were. One? Two? Five? I’d somehow moved on to another plane before I heard a sound that brought me tumbling back to earth.

Lusty and loud, the cry of a newborn spiraled around us.

My eyes flew open as Ian cradled a wet, squirmy baby in his arms. Tears ran unchecked down his face as he looked up at me. “We have a daughter.”

Gently, he ran a towel over her tiny body. I tugged up my sweatshirt, and when she was as clean as he could get her, he set her gently onto my chest so that we could be skin to skin. Drawing her upward, I gave her my breast, and being a brilliant little thing—of course—she attempted to nurse.

Ian covered us with a blanket he’d had warming by the fire, tucking it under my back and swaddling the baby against me. He pressed his forehead against mine, and I ran my hand along the side of his face.

“I love you, Ian,” I said. “I love you so very, very much.”

A sob burst from somewhere deep inside him. And he buried his face against my neck. “I love you too,” he cried. “I’ve wanted to tell you for so long.” He cupped my face between his big, calloused hands and kissed me, punctuating each I love you with another kiss.

Then he placed the sweetest kiss atop our daughter’s head.

“I love you too, my Little Satsuma.”