Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
TUCKER
“I’m so fucking glad you’re here,” I grumble into Darby’s ear before kissing her forehead.
“I’m sorry I turned the phone off,” she says. “I knew I wasn’t on call, and my sisters were with me, and—”
“You don’t have to explain anything, Duchess. I’m just relieved that you’re here now.”
I turn to find all my siblings and my dad giving us little looks, all with smiles on their faces.
I know they like Darby, but this might be the first time, aside from that night at the bar, that I’ve staked my claim on her in public like this, and everyone better get used to it because this is just the beginning.
“Where’s Chad?” Darby asks Ava, who just shrugs a shoulder.
“He’s in Missoula for a case for the next few days. I’ll text him updates.”
I still don’t like that guy. He’s not good enough for my sister.
“Blake!” Ava rushes over to where Blake just walked through the doors that lead to the delivery rooms. My brother-in-law looks nervous and excited and proud. “How is she? Is she okay? What’s happening?”
“She’s gorgeous and perfect,” Blake replies and pats Ava on the shoulder. “I told you all that you didn’t have to come so early. We’re probably in for a long day.”
Blake’s all doctor as he looks at each of us, relaying what’s going on.
My stomach’s in knots and has been since Blake called me earlier.
My little sister is having a baby, and I know that medical advances have come a long way, but childbirth is still dangerous and painful, and damn it, she’s mine.
I want to protect her from anything that could hurt her, and I can’t when it comes to this.
It makes me feel powerless, and I fucking hate that.
“We’ll be here for the long haul,” Easton assures Blake. “Don’t worry about us.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” Brooks, Blake’s oldest brother, agrees.
Darby squeezes my hand in hers, and Blake turns to Ava.
“She’s asking for you, Darby and Juliet. She’ll want you to stay for the whole thing, Ava, but she says she needs a minute with all her girls.”
“Me?” Darby asks, looking stunned. “But—”
“Come on, the woman in labor gets whatever she wants,” Ava says, taking Darby’s free hand and pulling her away. Darby blinks up at me and then follows Ava down the hallway toward the delivery rooms.
“Everything is normal so far,” Blake assures us. “I don’t like that she’s several weeks early, but it’s not dangerously early.”
“Three weeks isn’t terrible,” Blake’s mom reminds him as she rubs a circle on his back. “She’s going to be fantastic. They both are.”
Blake stays with us while Harper takes her time with the girls. Part of me wonders what they’re saying, and then I realize that I likely don’t want to know. As long as it’s helping Harper, she can have whatever she wants, just like Ava said.
Xander’s in Denver, about to take the ice for an afternoon game, otherwise he’d be on a plane home.
The season is almost over for him. In fact, today might be the last game, depending on if they win or lose, because they’re at the end of playoffs.
Either they’ll move on to the finals after today or they’ll be done for the season.
Someone turned the game on the TV in the waiting room, and the team should take the ice any minute.
“Did someone call Xander?” Brooks asks me as he comes to stand next to me.
“Yeah, I spoke to him about an hour ago,” I tell him. “How are you and Jules doing? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
My friend’s face softens. His face only softens when he thinks of his wife.
“We’re great. She’s pregnant. We haven’t really announced it, but I think she’s in there telling the girls now, so the cat’s out of the bag.”
“Congratulations.” I clap him on the shoulder, truly happy for my friend. I know that Brooks waited a long damn time for Jules to come back into his life, and I’m glad they found their way back to each other. “We’ll be here in this waiting room for you guys soon, then.”
“The hospital is going to get sick of all of us,” he agrees. “Maybe Connor will just build them a bigger maternity wing, since we’re all having so many babies.”
I smirk, but he might not be wrong. Connor is his little sister’s husband, who just happens to be a billionaire. Billie’s due with their first child any day now.
I glance over at the TV and see that the hockey game has started. Dad and Easton, along with several of the Blackwell clan, are watching, and then the doors open and Darby and Juliet come out, wiping tears from their cheeks.
“What’s wrong, Wildfire?” Brooks asks his wife.
“Nothing, we’re happy,” she says and smiles over at Blake. “She’s asking for you.”
“I’ll keep everyone updated,” Blake says as he hurries back to his wife.
Darby immediately walks into my arms and hugs me close, her face pressed to my chest.
“You okay, beautiful girl?”
“I’m great. Harper is so fucking amazing.
Everything is fine in there. I know you’re worried.
” She pats her hand over my heart and smiles up at me.
Christ, she’s the sweetest thing. “She was monitoring things at home, but then her water broke, so Blake insisted she come in here. There won’t be a baby for a long while.
Her spirits are good, and she seems happy.
Ava will stay with her until after the baby comes. ”
I nod, not surprised in the least that Harper wants Ava by her side through her delivery. My sisters have been attached at the hip since they were kids.
We settle in to chat with friends and catch snippets of the game, waiting for any news about Harper and the baby.
Dani rushes into the waiting room a short time later and lets out a big sigh as she hugs Darby, and Bridger joins us, immediately pulling his wife in his arms. “Sorry it took me so long to get here, I had to get the kids situated with Holden and Millie because the babysitter had other plans. Bryce is at that age where he doesn’t want to leave my sight, and I was already gone for most of the afternoon.
So he wasn’t happy, but Holden took them out to show them the horses, and all is well. ”
Bridger kisses his wife tenderly. “I missed you this afternoon too.”
Over the next hour, Darby and I move around the room, chatting with friends and family, and I love how comfortable she is among this crowd.
Of course, she told me that the Blackwell Ranch was her safe haven, so it only makes sense that she fits in so well with their family.
They are her family. Beckett teases her like a brother would, and Darby has no qualms about laying her hand on Billie’s round belly to feel the baby kick.
These are her people.
Not only is she here for me and Harper, but she’s here for Blake, too, and I fucking love that.
Suddenly, Ava comes through the doors, tears streaming down her sweet face and every hair on my body stands on end.
“Harper has to go in for an emergency C-section,” she says with a sniff.
“Everything was totally fine, and we were joking and I was painting her toenails and Blake was talking with her doctor because he’s totally a control freak in that room, but then the baby’s heart started to slow, and they think the cord is wrapped around her neck, so they’re taking them back now. ”
Ava walks right into Dad’s arms, crying.
“Hey, shh,” Dad says, rubbing her back. “She’s going to be fine, baby. This is a precaution.”
“It’s fucking scary,” Ava wails and buries her face in Dad’s chest.
Darby’s hand finds mine. She’s been standing with me since the moment she got here, as though she just knows that I need her with me. Because I do.
“Did they say anything else?” I ask Ava, who shakes her head.
“No, they told me to come out here to wait, and Blake tried to make me think that he’s not freaked out, but he totally is. I could see it in his eyes that he’s worried.”
“Of course he is,” Darby says. “That’s his wife. Even though he’s a doctor, I’m sure that all the training goes out the window when it’s your own wife and baby. But it’s going to be okay.”
Darby turns her gorgeous face up to me.
“They’re going to be okay, Hotshot.”
I nod, but my stomach is in knots as I pull my free hand down my face. I won’t breathe easy until my sister is through this surgery and that baby is here safely.
I glance up at the TV to catch the score and see how Xander’s doing. He’s on the ice and has the puck, passes it, then it’s passed back to him, and he takes a hit in the boards.
Ouch.
He breaks out of that but gets hit again, and the room goes quiet around me as I watch three men from the opposing team surround my brother. His teammates pull two of them off, and the last one is punching Xander, who’s fighting back.
But then, he goes down to the ice, and I hold my breath.
“Get up,” I mutter beneath my breath. Every muscle in my body is tight and every second feels like an eternity as Xander lies there, not moving.
The game stops, the piece of shit that was fighting him is pulled away, and the medics skate out to him, and the broadcast goes to a commercial.
“Fuck,” Easton growls next to me.
I glance at Dad, who’s swaying side to side, Ava still in his arms, staring at the TV as if he can will it to switch back to the game so he can see that his boy is okay. His face is paler than usual, his jaw grinding.
“He’s had worse,” Ava says, rubbing her hand up and down Dad’s arm.
Dad only nods.
Finally, the game is back, but the medics are still with Xander on the ice, and my heart drops.
Fuck.
This isn’t good. He’s not moving, but they’re talking to him, so I take that as a good sign that he’s conscious.
My phone pings, and when I look down, I see Zack’s name. He went back to LA this morning.
Z: Don’t freak out. He’ll be okay.
Yeah, my best friend knows me.
Me: It doesn’t look good right now. Also, Harper’s having the baby as I type this. C-section. That’s all I know.
The three dots bounce.
Z: Shit. Okay, they’re both okay. I shouldn’t have come back to LA so soon.
Me: I’ll keep you posted. If your mom needs anything, just call me.
“They’re getting him up,” Darby says quietly, and I turn my attention back to the TV.
Xander’s on his feet, but he’s not skating under his own power, and one foot is raised, as if his leg is hurt. He waves at the crowd, who are all on their feet applauding, and fuck I wish I knew how bad it is.
My sister is being cut open right now, and my brother is hurt, and there isn’t anything I can do to help either of them.
Darby’s hand rubs up and down my spine, but it doesn’t take away the frustration that moves through me.
A nurse comes through the doors, and she’s smiling, so that makes some of the tension leave my shoulders.
“Dr. Blackwell didn’t want to leave Harper, so he asked me to come update you. Both mama and baby are perfectly healthy. We’re getting Harper settled, and as soon as they’re all back in the room, they can start having visitors. Let’s start with just two at a time for tonight, okay?”
“Thank you,” Dad says.
“It’s my pleasure. They want to tell you all of the fun things themselves, but as you know, it’s a girl. And she’s just beautiful.”
She smiles at all of us again and then leaves.
I can feel Darby’s eyes on me, and when I glance down at her, I see the worry there.
“I’m fine, sweetheart.”
Her eyes narrow, but she doesn’t argue. She might be the only person here who sees through the calm exterior to the torment going in inside me.
In the short time we’ve been together, she’s come to know me better than anyone.