Chapter 9
Sydney followed the noise, the cries of pain speeding her step until she found Tessa in the primary bedroom. The woman clutched the footboard of the bed with one hand, the other cradling her extended belly. She had her head down and was weeping and screaming in turn.
“Tessa, it’s Dr. Jeremiah.” Sydney stepped into view, but Tessa barely acknowledged her presence. “I need you to take a deep breath and let me check you over.”
“This is not happening,” Tessa insisted between gasps. “I don’t want to have the baby now.”
“Let me take a look,” Sydney insisted, her nerves crawling as Tessa continued to wail.
Unfortunately, this was no false alarm.
“You’re well into labour,” Sydney assured Tessa. “But you still have a ways to go. The best thing is if you can keep moving a bit. Have you called an ambulance?”
“I’m not calling an ambulance. This happened before,” Tessa told her. “And then it stopped. I’m not leaving home. Danny will be here soon, and then it’ll all be okay.”
“Glad to know your husband’s on his way, but I’m calling the ambulance,” Sydney began.
“No,” Tessa shouted. “I won’t go in it.”
“That’s your right, but my choice is to have medical backup.” Sydney tried not to cringe as another contraction hit and Tessa’s volume went back up past ten. “I’ll be right back.”
She was gone for all of twenty seconds, cutting the call to 911 short after she’d given the necessary information.
“Breathe,” Sydney instructed again, having finally herded Tessa into the kitchen to set up camp.
Another quick check, and Sydney changed her mind about the time frame. This was looking as if delivery was only minutes, not hours, away. “You know, it’s a rare baby who actually arrives on their due date.”
“Not due yet,” Tessa complained for the umpteenth time. “Danny would never have gone away if we knew the baby was coming.”
“This is why prenatal care is important,” Sydney snuck in, just on the off chance this was baby number one. Its future brothers or sisters might have a better chance of not being such a surprise. “Let’s keep you as comfortable as possible until the ambulance arrives.”
Tessa gritted her teeth together. “I’m not having the baby until Danny gets here.”
Good luck with that one. “Right now, you’re not in charge. The baby is, and that’s a good thing.”
Tessa began another nerve-racking scream that set Sydney’s hair standing on end. Somehow she smiled and talked the woman through the contraction, but the ambulance could not get there soon enough.
Everything was going well. At least that’s what she kept telling herself.
Yet every single class that Sydney had ever taken about the things that could go wrong before birth, during birth, and after birth flashed through her mind like some twisted medical horror flick.
This is why I am never ever doing this myself, the parts inside of Sydney’s brain reminded her sternly.
Another contraction faded, and in the modest silence of Tessa’s panting moans, the distant sound of a siren cut through the air.
Which is when Tessa gripped Sydney’s arm tight enough to cut off the circulation, her fingernails digging in. “Oh my God. Something’s wrong.”
Sydney shut down the panic and took a quick check. “You’re fully dilated. If you want to push, now is the time.”
Tears poured down Tessa’s cheeks. “I want Danny.”
Me too, Sydney thought.
A few more twists and Tessa was in position, squatting beside the kitchen table. “He’ll be here as soon as he can,” Sydney reassured her. “Now when the next contraction hits, it’s time to push. Hold onto the chair,” she ordered, moving from gentle encouragement into straight-up bullheaded dictator.
The baby beat the ambulance by a half-dozen siren wails.
Miraculously, Danny arrived a few seconds later.
Sydney was still checking vitals and clearing the baby’s airway when Danny burst in.
She barely had time to hand off instructions to the EMT before Tessa collapsed into his arms, his presence finally turning Tessa’s screams into a good old crying jag.
Sydney stayed until the EMTs gave the all-clear for Tessa and the baby to remain at home under Denny’s supervision. The new family promised to head into the doctor’s office the next day for a well-baby checkup.
Sydney’s ears were still ringing as she got into the truck and followed the ambulance back to the highway. It turned north, and she headed south, the adrenaline flooding her system slowly wearing off.
She pulled off the highway on the first side road that was safe and moderately private. She barely made it out of the truck before she lost what remained of her lunch.
A few minutes later, she stood on shaky legs, wiped her mouth, then made her way to the back. She dropped the tailgate, once again climbing on board and looking out over the scenery to calm her nerves.
“I hate this feeling so much.” She didn’t even sound like herself, her voice creaky and hollow.
Her hands were unsteady as she lifted her water bottle and forced down more liquids. Her muscles trembled, nerves jangling like elastics pulled too tight.
No use fighting it any longer. Sydney wiggled farther back into the truck bed. She curled her arms around her legs, rested her forehead against her knees, then let the tears come.
It wasn’t always this bad, delivering a baby.
She’d assisted with the arrival of Petra’s niece, and while the fear factor had still been high because of everything that could go wrong, there’d been a steadying link between Zack and Julia.
A joyful connection that flowed into the room and lifted them all up.
Things still could have gone wrong in a flash. Like things had gone wrong for Sydney’s friend back when she was still in school.
She cried until her ribs ached then wiped the tears from her cheeks and stared out over the rolling foothills. Sitting there in the quiet, nothing but the occasional bird song or the rustle of leaves to keep her company, she felt completely alone.
The inside of her head liked the relief from Tessa’s caterwauling, but inside her heart, she ached.
At the edge of the tree line, a small furry body appeared, followed by another.
Rare to see them out in the daytime, the coyotes moved swiftly and surely from one side of the clearing to the other.
It was a small pack, five in total, but they looked healthy, alert—watching each other’s backs without question.
The longer Sydney watched, the more she realized everyone seemed to be telling her the same thing. It was time to ask for help.
Oh, she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel, but in moments like today? When she knew damn well what was wrong, yet had no idea how to fix it—
And while she knew to the core of her being that both Tansy and Petra were there for her, they weren’t who she wanted right now.
They’d touched on the edges of it the night they’d done the silly speed dating.
She needed Declan’s calm and his anger, and she knew that she’d get both. He’d listen without interruption, and then he’d be as righteously furious at the world as she was, and she needed that.
There was no solving some problems, but right now she needed not to hold the burden by herself.
Sydney hauled out her phone and once again tried to make contact.
For the second time that day she got sent to voice mail, but this wasn’t something she was going to explain to a recorded device.
“Hi, Deck. Just wanted to let you know I’m safely headed back to Heart Falls. Hope to track you down, so I’ll be swinging by High Water in a bit.”
She left it at that then sat for another fifteen minutes, staring at the sunshine reflecting off the distant mountain peaks. Just looking out at the world that was so much bigger than her and letting herself feel small.
She didn’t have all the answers, and maybe she didn’t need to. Not if she was finally ready to stop carrying everything alone.
For once, Declan had a solid sleep, unexpected because he was still worried about High Water and still tied up in knots over Sydney. And there hadn’t been a chance for the two of them to do much more than offer a passing hello since their interruption a few days earlier.
Still, refreshed and relaxed, he’d gone into the house and found five-year-old Jeffrey up and ready to talk the ear off anyone who would listen.
“Me and Daddy and Papa are going to the zoo. And there’s going to be roaring lions and bears who grrrrr and I get to see snakes.” Jeffrey caught hold of Declan’s sleeve, and shook it as if making sure Declan had a firm grasp of all the details. “Snakes and spiders and monkeys.”
“This sounds like an important trip,” Declan responded evenly. “Do they have any horses?”
Jeffrey opened his mouth as if to answer then closed it. He frowned, little boy confusion all over his face. “Do they have horses?” he asked.
“They might have wild horses. You should go ask your daddy,” Declan offered without a hint of guilt at the evil suggestion.
Jeffrey didn’t take the bait. Instead of running off to jump on his new parents’ bed and wake them up, Jeffrey climbed into Declan’s lap and proceeded to list all of the animals that he did know were at the zoo, including, eyes widening, “Zebras!”
It was the sweetest thing. Declan was grateful to have the kid around, adding his enthusiasm and joy to their days.
He liked kids well enough, but it was kind of nice that he got to enjoy his brothers’ newfound families as an uncle to people with personalities rather than having to deal with the squawking new-arrival type.
If his siblings did end up with babies, he’d be the best uncle possible, but the teeny, easily breakable ones had never really been his thing. He liked them Jeffrey’s age and older.
Declan interrupted Jeffrey’s ramblings to get him a glass of juice and pour himself a cup of coffee. He was flipping French toast while Jeffrey kept up a mile-a-minute monologue when Jake and Tansy showed up in the kitchen.