Chapter 27
Helena was not prepared for what was happening.
She thought she’d be good in a crisis. And she was, to an extent.
She handled salting the sidewalk and using a shovel to try to break up the ice.
But the middle-aged woman with the flame thrower attached to the front of her Hummer was just the beginning.
Sophie and Nash appeared on a dog sled pulled by Bridget’s police dogs who were having the time of their lives in harness.
Reagan and Carter showed up with her sister, Riley, on a sled being pulled by a team of horses.
Matt, Riley’s husband, locked the jail up tight and was pacing, waiting for them to arrive.
It took a while for Helena to realize Jace’s wife, Stella, was in labor too since she was helping the firefighters organize who had which exam room while Jace worked to put together two makeshift rooms since he only had three exam rooms.
Walker arrived last. He used some SEAL-type contraption to cross-country ski his wife, Layne, into the hospital.
Helena had been charged with crowd control, which she thought was a joke.
But it wasn’t. Now all the women were well into labor and somehow people were showing up.
Their parents, their siblings, and she didn’t want to describe the scary moment Aniyah slid her car right up onto the sidewalk to help the Rose sisters into the doctor’s office.
Poppy and Zinnia had set up a tote board in reception to display the current odds on delivery and bets were flying.
Jace was running from room to room, tag-teaming with Dr. Ava.
Someone turned on music. Someone brought the Rose sisters' tea—“someone” being the Rose sisters. A party started and Helena didn’t know what to do with people trying to get the edge on last-minute bets.
She put her fingers to her lips and let out the sharp whistle she used for hailing cabs. The lobby fell quiet.
“No one will pass this point, period. I won’t take the bribes, so stop asking,” Helena said, holding out her hand to stop the wave of people trying to peek back into the exam hall to hear the first sound of a baby’s cry.
Nolan walked out of the hall and all the protests died. Everyone leaned forward as if listening for a baby’s cry, but none could be heard. “What is it?” Helena asked him.
Nolan smiled at her and gave her a kiss right there in front of everyone.
“Just wanted to give you a kiss before I deliver this baby.” Then he winked at her and sauntered back into the room where he was looking out for Sophie.
The crowd groaned and then the bets changed from babies to wedding dates real fast.
“What’s that?” Aniyah asked, pointing across the street.
Everyone turned and saw three men crossing the street armed with guns. Pam had melted a lot of the ice, and now it was covered with over a foot of snow after the hours of hanging out at the clinic, so the men were more easily able to walk.
“They’re not messing up my daughter’s delivery,” Annie, Sophie’s mom, said in a tone that sent chills down Helena’s back.
“Now, honey,” her husband, Cade, tried to calm her, but that did not work as Annie pulled out two knives.
Cy growled. Both of his twin daughters, Riley and Reagan, were in labor.
Miles, his older brother, joined him. Miles’s daughter, Layne, was in the back with Flint.
But they were too late. The mothers were already out the door.
Two quick throws of her knives and Annie had two of the men down while the other moms tackled the remaining man and were currently beating the crap out of him.
“Don’t worry, sugars,” Aniyah told the husbands. “You’re still GILFs. Just not badass GILFs since your wives are the badasses right now.”
There was a low growling scream and the mothers’ heads perked up outside. In an instant, they were running back inside. Talon, Lucas, and DeAndre took over arresting the men.
“Is that my baby?” Annie asked, reaching for her friend’s hand as Dani nodded. Annie’s eyes never left the hallway. A moment later, there was one more scream and then the sound of a baby crying.
Tears and cheers filled the waiting room. Soon there were more sounds of babies crying. Everyone was waiting to hear how the mothers and babies were doing. The Rose sisters and Marcy Davies were particularly distressed that there weren’t any nurses there they could bribe to get insider information.
Matt and Carter were the first out. Reagan and Riley, like the twins they were, delivered at the same time and both had girls. Carter and Reagan named their daughter, Quinella, which was a type of bet in racing and were going to call her Ella. Then Matt and Riley named their daughter, Adira.
Dr. Jace was the next out, smiling so proudly down at his daughter, Daphne. Walker was next out with his new baby boy, Keaton. Last came Nash with his new son, Troy.
Helena looked around the room filled with so much love as the snow fell outside.
It moved her. She’d never seen anything like this.
This is what it meant by ‘takes a village.’ This town was here for each other.
For the ups and the downs. For no other reason except love.
Helena knew there were pockets of New York City like this, she’d just never seen them.
Her grandparents told her stories of their village in Greece that had been like this.
However, experiencing it firsthand and being included in it changed something fundamental in Helena.
Once she became part of this village, she didn’t want to leave.
Nolan strode out later and wrapped her up in a hug and kissed her hard and deep in front of everyone. “That was amazing,” he whispered against her temple as he hugged her to him. “I delivered my friends’ baby.”
Helena was pretty sure she ovulated right there at the awe and love in his voice.
A vision hit her so strongly she rocked against him as if her whole world had been rocked.
It was them, married and having a baby. The look on Nolan’s face .
. . Helena blinked and looked up at the joy and wonder on his face in the present and swallowed hard.
She looked around the room and felt it. The thoughts that had kept her up all night were gone. She had her answer and her answer was here in Keeneston. “I love you, Nolan. I’m so proud of you!”
“I love you too, my little hellion. Did I hear there were more men apprehended?”
“Yeah, snow and ice did them in again. And the grandmothers.”
Nolan laughed and hugged her tight again.
Dr. Ava flitted from room to room with Dr. Jace doing newborn and mother checks while the party continued.
It was early the next morning when everyone headed home.
Pam was driving the new families one at a time in her Hummer.
The snow was deep, but luckily the second round of ice had not come.
Instead, Keeneston was a winter wonderland.
“I can take you back to the bed and breakfast,” Nolan told her as he yawned. “I’m hoping to get a couple of hours' sleep before more calls come in.”
Helena was about to say yes when she got a text. Just one word, SNOW!
She smiled and shook her head. “I think I’ll grab a ride to Desert Sun Farm. Our guests have woken up and are seeing snow for the first time ever.”
“Bridget and Ahmed can give you a ride,” Nolan said, catching Ahmed’s eye. “I’ll call you in a little bit. Try to get some rest.”
“You too,” Helena told him before kissing him goodbye. She wouldn’t get any rest. She knew she had too much to do today to put things in motion. And, according to the text she just got, the DNA test results were back.
Helena was dressed for a New York winter. She had a stylish coat that was warm, but was more pretty than practical. She had boots, again, more pretty than practical. And her cashmere gloves were soft, but nothing to prevent the cold when making snowballs.
However, that didn’t stop her from packing a snowball, darting from behind Kori’s SUV, and throwing a snowball at Kuol. The entire security center had emptied out into the snow after the group from South Sudan had run out without them and were currently involved in an epic snowball fight.
Lamya, Abu, Kuol, Fiza, and Nafisa were smiling, exclaiming at the cold, and laughing so hard that every guard was pulled into the snow. Many of them, being new to their posting in Keeneston, had never seen snow either.
Ahmed’s dog, Remi, was also involved in the snowball fight.
She was barking excitedly as she leaped into the air to try to catch the snowballs.
She’d growl at them when they exploded in her mouth.
That started a competition between Remi and the other Vizsla, Breeze, who was a companion to Lamya and her group.
Helena packed another ball, stood, and took a direct hit from Lamya right in the chest. Helena dramatically put her hand on her head and fell to the ground.
Lamya was laughing so hard, she didn’t see Helena sit back up and throw the snowball at her.
But, Breeze did. Breeze snagged the snowball right before it took Lamya out.
“You threw a snowball at me!” Lamya accused.
“You bet I did!” Helena rolled, grabbed another one, and threw it even as they both were laughing so hard that the dogs leaped on them to join in the fun.
An hour later, everyone dragged themselves back inside the center, half frozen, wet, and happy.
Helena changed into extra clothes Abby Davies had stored there and pulled up the email from the DNA test. She opened it, but she already knew the answer.
There it was in black and white. Abu and Lamya were Okot and Anma Ismail’s children and heirs to their fortune.
“I take it the tests came back.” Lamya took a seat next to her and glanced at the phone.
Helena turned it so Lamya could read it. She let out a long breath and nodded. “Okay. So, the first thing we need to do is find out who we can trust on the board and who we can’t. I have an idea about that, but you might not like it.”