Father. Just hearing the word attached to his name made him giddy. Over the course of less than seventy-two hours he had gone from ignorant bachelor to finding out about his child, and now he was so close to actually meeting it.
Laura almost buckled with the next one. “Ah! Fuck!” She white-knuckled the back of the black leather sofa in the waiting room. When she could walk again, she hurried to her birth room to get undressed before the next one came.
Mason looked around at what appeared to be a room in a bed and breakfast. “Where’s the doctor? Shouldn’t someone be by to administer an epidural or something?” The hardwood furniture and cozy quilts offered nothing that felt like it should be part of a birth. “Is this place even sterile?”
“Yes, it’s clean. There is no doctor and no epidural. There’s also no surgeon, Pitocin, and hopefully no episiotomy,” Laura answered. She grunted and curled her fingers into the bedspread.
“Ann! What exactly do you need me to do?” Mason asked. He felt impotent and totally useless.
“What you can do is rub her back when she’s experiencing a contraction. Hold her hand if she needs you to. Just touch her as long as she wants to be touched, and support her. It helps a ton.” Ann hustled to shut the water in the tub off.
“Help me get my shoes off, Mase.” Laura couldn’t reach her laces.
As Mason was untying, the midwife returned to help Laura into the tub.
***
For the next several hours, the hot water was refreshed countless times, and Mason felt totally lost: he was in a situation where he couldn’t call the shots or force the outcome. It had to happen naturally. He was incredibly proud of Laura, though. She appeared to have slipped into a trance and just breathed through her pain.
Ann reached into the tub with a gloved hand and felt between Laura’s legs. “Oh! You want to come feel this, Mason? The head is crowning.”
He cautiously approached the tub and put on a glove. He sank his hand in and touched the top of a fuzzy little head. He stared at the midwife in awe.
“In a couple of pushes, we will have a new little miracle. Laura, you are doing so well.” She patted Laura on the shoulder. The gesture didn’t even disturb her, she was so in the zone.
She did reach for Mason’s hand and grunted as her last effort pushed the baby out into the waiting hands of the midwife.
“It’s a girl!” Ann announced.
Chapter Fifty Six
Lying back in the warm, dry bed, Laura put her daughter to her breast. “We have a little girl!” She kept repeating the words, but somehow they still didn’t feel real.
“What should we call her?” Mason asked. He hadn’t the slightest idea.
“Winnie. Winnie Joan Decker. How does that sound?” Laura gazed up at Mason through sleepy eyes.
“I think that sounds perfect.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I also wanted to give you this.” He turned to rummage around in his overnight bag. He pulled out the small teal box. “Laura, we’ve known each other since we were kids. I have been in love with you since the day we met in the tenth grade.” He pulled the lid out and turned the velvet box out into his hand. “I’ve messed up, but I have never stopped loving you.”
Mason flipped the lid back to present Laura with a 1.25-carat, cushion cut, white and pink diamond ring. “You are perfect for me. I know we’ve tried this before, but I want it to stick this time. Will you marry me, Laura?”
Laura’s jaw dropped. She had never seen such a beautiful piece of jewelry in her life. She looked up into Mason’s pale blue eyes, with tears in her own, and nodded. She smiled like an idiot and shouted, “Yes! Of course I will!”
She held out her shaking left hand for Mason to slide it on and immediately pulled him in for a kiss. Laura had her little family and, finally, her happy ending.
~ End ~
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BILLIONAIRES IN LOVE (Vol.1)
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Billionaires In Love (Vol. 2): 5 Books Billionaire Romance Bundle Page 94