* * * *
Deuce stomped into the house, dropping the bundles of food by the door before brushing the snow off his heavy coat and pulling it from his body.
“Gracie!” he called out, hanging up his coat and hat before pulling off his boots.
He turned and saw that the fireplace was burning brightly with enough logs to keep the fire going for a while. He saw the rumpled quilt on the recliner and smiled. He wished he had been able to sit with his mate while she sat in front of the fireplace. She had probably gotten up to go and lie down in their bed.
He reset the house alarm then picked up the groceries and carried them into the kitchen, emptying the sacks and quickly putting the food away. Turning, he walked out of the kitchen and headed toward the stairs. He was looking forward to climbing into bed with Gracie and resting beside her as she slept.
The scream that echoed through the house made his heart stop beating for a split second before his instincts kicked in. He raced up the stairs three at a time to rush into their bedroom.
“Gracie!” he yelled when he found the bedroom empty.
“Deuce! Help me!” she screamed from the bathroom.
He ran to the bathroom, slamming the door open and rushing to the shower stall. He slid the glass door open and knelt down beside his wife.
“Gracie, are you already pushing?” he asked her calmly, reaching out to touch her shoulder lightly.
“Deuce, I can’t do this. Help me!”
“Baby, we’ll do this together,” he promised her softly. “Let me just wash my hands. I’ll be right back, honey.”
Gracie nodded as she looked at him, her eyes wide with fear and pain. Deuce turned and ripped his shirt off as he walked toward the sink. Opening the medicine cabinet above it, he took out a small pair of scissors and a container of dental floss. He pulled a large, clean bath towel from below the sink and set it on the counter, putting the scissors and dental floss on top of it. He turned on the hot water and grabbed the disinfectant soap, lathering his hands quickly and rinsing them off. Taking all the items with him, he walked back to Gracie and knelt down beside her.
“Gracie, I need to check to see if the baby’s head is crowning,” he told her calmly.
Gracie nodded once, panting as another pain pulled all the ability to speak from her. Deuce reached beneath her and gently placed his hand at her core, feeling the bulge of the baby’s head as it was beginning to crown.
“Gracie, I can feel our daughter’s head,” he told her calmly. “On the next contraction, I need you to bear down and push with all your strength, honey.”
“It hurts,” she muttered, tears falling from the corner of her eyes as the pain and her fear overwhelmed her.
“I know, sweetheart,” he told her gently. “You can do this. Concentrate on pushing our baby out of your body. Come on, honey, push as hard as you can. Hold on to my arms. Pull on them and push.”
Gracie reached out and gripped his biceps, squeezing tightly as she bore down and pushed with every bit of strength she had. The slight pressure Deuce’s hand put on their baby’s head helped her to focus. She felt his strength as he helped her to guide their baby into the world. Taking another deep breath, she bore down and pushed again, groaning with the effort and the pain as she felt their baby’s head emerge.
“Good job, Gracie,” he told her softly, supporting their baby’s head gently as he reached beneath her with his other hand and slid his fingers inside of her to help her ease their baby’s shoulders out. “Take another breath and push again. Once the shoulders are out, she’ll slide right out. Trust me, honey.”
“James,” Gracie moaned, taking another deep breath and pushing with all that she was.
Deuce eased the baby’s shoulders from his mate’s body, holding her tiny body gently as it slipped out in a gush of fluid and blood. Gracie moaned with relief, looking down at their daughter as Deuce placed her against her body. The baby began crying immediately, protesting the sudden loss of the warmth of her mother’s womb. Gracie held her tightly against her chest with one arm, keeping her grip on Deuce’s arm with her other hand. The warm water cascaded over both of them, rinsing the blood and mucus from their tiny daughter.
“She’s beautiful, Gracie,” Deuce told her softly, leaning forward and kissing their daughter’s cheek before pulling back and kissing Gracie’s forehead lightly. “Thank you, Mate.”
Gracie nodded and pulled the baby up so she could kiss her soft cheek. She smiled at the way the baby immediately turned into her face and sucked on her chin.
“She’s already hungry,” Gracie told him, looking up at him and smiling. “Look how much she looks like you, Deuce.”
Deuce smiled at his daughter, unable to express the joy and love he felt at that moment. She was so small and so new. She was their miracle.
Gracie watched as Deuce pulled out a length of dental floss and snapped it off then tied it around the umbilical cord close to their daughter’s belly. He snapped off another length of floss and tied it close to the first piece. Reaching for the small scissors, he cut the cord, making sure that no blood leaked from the cord at his daughter’s belly.
“Gracie, you have to push again and expel the afterbirth,” he told her softly.
Gracie nodded and took another breath, pushing again. Deuce helped ease the afterbirth from her body, placing it aside in the bottom of the shower, before carefully rinsing her. He ran his hands lightly over their daughter, brushing aside any remaining blood and mucus. Once he was satisfied that both his daughter and his wife were fully cleaned, he reached up and touched Gracie’s cheek lightly.
“I’m going to help you stand, honey,” he told her quietly. “Then I’m going to wrap you both in bath towels and carry you to our bed.”
“Okay,” Gracie whispered, worried when she felt her body beginning to shake. “I can’t stop shaking, Deuce.”
“I know, honey. That’s normal. You’ll feel better once we get you dry and settled.”
He stood slowly, bringing Gracie and their daughter up with him. Gracie held their daughter tightly against her chest, keeping her safe while Deuce helped her to step out of the shower. He reached for the large bath towel and wrapped both of them in the soft warmth of it. He slid his hands beneath Gracie’s knees and lifted her into his arms and carried them into their bedroom. He stood Gracie beside their bed briefly as he reached out and tugged at the blankets and sheets so that they were pulled down to the bottom of the bed. Reaching out to lift her in his arms once again, he settled his mate in the center of the bed, his heart filled with awe as he saw the way their baby daughter cuddled against Gracie’s chest.
“I’ll be right back, sweetheart,” he told her calmly, waiting for her nod of consent before turning and going back into the bathroom.
When he returned, he was naked, and he was carrying more towels. He walked over to the bed and used one of the towels to wrap around Gracie’s head to soak up the water from her hair. Gently peeling back the towel that surrounded Gracie and their baby, he took their daughter from her arms and began to wipe her dry and clean every inch of her thoroughly.
The baby’s cries of protest made him smile. Her color was good and so was her breathing. Once she was cleaned completely, he wrapped her in a clean towel and handed her back to Gracie.
Gracie held her daughter tightly against her chest, never taking her eyes off her as Deuce wiped down her body and placed a smaller towel between her legs, pressing it tightly against her core. He covered her body with the clean bath towel before leaving her to go to her bureau.
When he came back to her and gently dressed her in the warm flannel pajamas she had planned on bringing with her to the hospital, she realized how amazing this man was. He made sure she was dry and warm, pulling the wet towel from her hair and brushing it gently.
“I’ll dry your hair in just a minute, honey,” he told her, kissing her lips lightly before getting up from the bed and walking into the nursery.
He came back q
uickly, handing Gracie a diaper and a pink bunting to wrap their baby in. He smiled as he sat beside his mate and watched her dress their daughter. Their baby was not happy at all. Her cries of protest were strong and loud.
“I think our daughter wants to nurse, honey,” he told Gracie, love filling him at the beautiful smile that she gifted him with as she looked up at him.
Gracie unbuttoned her pajama top and brought their daughter to her breast. She rooted immediately, whimpering slightly before she latched on and sucked voraciously.
“Absolutely beautiful,” Deuce whispered, reaching out to touch his daughter’s face as she nursed at Gracie’s breast. “You did a good job, Gracie,” he complimented her.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, James,” Gracie told him honestly. “Thank you.”
Deuce nodded. “We make a good team, Mate.”
“Yes,” Gracie agreed. “We do.”
* * * *
Gracie sat in the rocking chair that sat beside Gia’s crib. She sang softly to her daughter as she nursed contentedly at her breast. It had been a wonderful three months watching their daughter grow. Deuce had been true to his word—always sharing in everything about their baby’s life.
He held their daughter constantly. He talked to her and sang to her. Gracie often found him telling her all about the life on the ranch and the animals she would help him take care of as if she were an adult and understood every word. The funny thing was, when Gia looked up at him, her beautiful, blue eyes were wide with wonder as she listened to her father’s deep voice. She held onto him tightly, either holding his finger or his hair, and she listened intently. She was as smitten with her daddy almost as much as her daddy was smitten with her.
It was when Gracie had overheard Deuce telling their daughter how much he loved her that Gracie cried at the tenderness that this wonderful, strong man showed to both her and their daughter daily. Her fears still remained in the back of her mind, but she would never be uncertain that having this child with her mate was the right thing to do.
She touched her daughter’s cheek gently, humming softly as Gia nursed. The feelings of complete contentment and love that filled her made her understand that this was what her future was meant to hold. The love for her mate and the love for their children were exactly what the Great Spirit intended for her to have. She would never doubt her future again.
Deuce chose that moment to come into the nursery. He stood in the doorway quietly for a moment as he watched Gracie nurse their baby. Was there ever a more beautiful sight?
He walked toward them and knelt before the rocking chair, leaning in to kiss Gracie’s lips before settling against her shoulder, wrapping his arms around both her and their daughter. Gracie giggled softly as he continued to kiss her neck.
“James, did you want a son?” she asked him suddenly.
“No,” he told her immediately. “I wanted a baby that was healthy. I didn’t care about the gender.”
“Me, too,” she whispered.
“Whenever you’re ready for another baby, I’ll do my best to make one just as beautiful as our little Gia.” He looked up at her and smiled, winking boldly. “Just say the word, honey.”
Gracie laughed and reached up to touch his face gently. “You are one sexy cowboy, you know that, Deuce McKade?”
Deuce smiled and leaned forward to kiss her lips lightly before pulling back to look down at his daughter. He couldn’t believe that he was actually a father. Sometimes he would stand beside her crib and watch her, just to make sure that she was real.
“Gia, your daddy is an amazing man,” Gracie told their daughter softly. “He’s gentle and loving.” She looked at Deuce and winked. “But you’re going to have to get used to the fact that your daddy has a lot of rules.”
Deuce grinned at her, wondering where she was going with this. “Do you have a problem with my rules, Gracie Lee?” he asked her gently.
Gracie thought about it for a moment then shook her head. “No. I don’t,” she admitted.
“Good. Because there’s one more rule we have to set in place.”
“Another rule?”
“Yes. Rule number five.”
“And just what is rule number five?”
“Rule number five is that you have to tell me and show me that you love me. All the time.”
Gracie laughed softly. She reached up and gently caressed her mate’s face, smiling when he turned into her hand to kiss her palm lightly. She ran the pad of her thumb across the sexy stubble on his cheek, love and need filling her at the feel of his warmth. His beautiful, blue eyes looked at her with deep love.
He reached out and took his daughter from Gracie and gathered her in his arms. Standing carefully and settling her against his shoulder, he gently patted her back as he walked her toward the crib with the beautifully etched teddy bear that reminded Deuce of his Gracie. When Gia let out a soft burp and snuggled against him, falling asleep almost immediately, he smiled and hugged her to his chest tenderly. He knew he should set her down in her crib, but he couldn’t release her from his arms just yet.
Gracie stood and walked over to her mate, coming up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and laying her head against his back. She fell into his rhythm as he swayed from side to side and closed her eyes in complete contentment as he crooned to their baby girl. When he finally leaned forward and settled the sleeping infant in the crib, covering her gently with the pastel pink blanket that Gracie had crocheted, she remained silent as he spoke the words that he spoke over their baby every night since she had been born.
“Gia, your mother and I love you so much, honey. We’re so happy that you belong to us.”
He leaned forward and touched her head gently, brushing aside her black curls and caressing her soft cheek with the back of his finger. His daughter was a McKade, through and through.
He turned and looked at the woman who had given him such a beautiful gift and was filled with the urge to love her. Reaching out, he lifted his mate into his arms and carried her out of the nursery and into their bedroom, not stopping until he placed the love of his life in the middle of the bed. He followed her down, covering her body with his, loving the fact that Gracie embraced him and pulled him tightly against her.
“Do you have any idea how happy you make me, James?” Gracie asked him softly.
“I know it’s not nearly as happy as you make me, sweetheart,” he whispered, lowering his mouth to kiss her tenderly.
Gracie sighed against his lips, loving every moment they shared. She had never in her life thought she would ever find such peace and such happiness as she had found with this wonderful man.
He was gentle. He was kind. He was loving. He was a giving mate and an amazing father. She adored him beyond reason.
Yes, he could be stubborn. Yes, he could be controlling. Yes, he had a hell of a lot of rules! But those rules had helped her to trust and understand. Because of him, she no longer feared her gift or questioned her worth.
“Rule number five, Gracie.”
His deep voice pulled her out of her musings. Smiling up at him, she touched his face gently before running her hand down his arm to place her hand trustingly within his.
Rule number five was one rule that she was going to absolutely enjoy following. She was going to love spending the rest of her life loving and touching Deuce.
THE END
WWW.LYNNETTEBERNARD.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lynnette Bernard is a fan of Broadway, the ocean, science fiction, romance, music, movies, books, and babies. She has two babies of her own that were the perfect children, who have turned out to be outstanding adults. She is a staunch advocate of “happily ever after” and changes the endings of any movie that she sees or book that she reads that doesn’t follow that rule. She has the hots for cowboys, shifters, vampires, and really nice guys and lives her fantasies about them through her writings. The cowboys of Colorado will always hold a special place in her heart.
/> E-mail her at [email protected].
For all titles by Lynnette Bernard, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/lynnette-bernard
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
About the Author
Touching Deuce [Cowboy Mates, Psychic Connections 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 36