Into the Dark

by T A. McKay

  “I love you Niamh.”

  Epilogue

  Mason

  I’m in so much pain. I don't think I have felt anything as painful as this, but I can’t do anything about it, there is no way to make it stop but I wish it would. I’m almost on my knees when I can’t take it anymore and I cry out.

  “Niamh, baby. You need to let my hand go, you’re gonna break my fingers.” It comes out louder than I planned and the whole room goes quiet.

  “Your hand hurts? Your fucking hand? Do you not realise I’m pushing your child out through a hole that it shouldn’t fit? But bless, I will let go of your hand.” Bill had warned me about the demon that may take over my beautiful wife during labour, but I hadn’t believed him. Thankfully the labour has been quite quick, or so I have been told by the midwife. Going into the fifth hour of watching Niamh in pain and it feels like it’s been days. She lets go of my hand and I can tell another contraction hits. I rush over to her side and give her my hand back, I will man up and pray she doesn’t break it.

  “That’s it, Niamh. One last time, push as hard as you can. Chin on your chest and push, let’s get this baby out.” I tighten my hand in her grip and try to give her as much strength from me as possible as the midwife gives her instructions. I feel helpless as I see her struggle to give me the greatest gift anyone could give me. My child. We don't know if it’s a boy or a girl yet, deciding that we wanted a surprise after nearly losing it. Niamh grunts next to me with the effort of pushing, I move forward and lean my head against hers, talking into her ear.

  “I love you baby. You’re doing so well, I have never seen anyone as strong as you. You’re nearly there, keep going.” I hear the sob from her, but she never loses her focus and at that moment, I realise I have never been more in love with her.

  “Ok, Niamh. I need you to stop pushing. Just pant. The head is out and on the next contraction we’re going to have this baby.” I look down. I have tried to avoid it so far but now I have to look and that’s when I get my first look at my baby. I’m instantly in love, but extremely grossed out. I look at Niamh and I know I must have tears on my eyes as my vision goes blurry. Another contraction hit’s and she leans forward, pain showing on her face.

  “Niamh, this time I need you to push but gently. Try and control the pressure, we don't need much and the baby will be here.” I take the cool cloth from the bedside table and wipe it across the back of her neck and over her forehead.

  “That’s it, a few more minutes and you will be holding the miracle you made in your arms. You can do this baby, just one more push.” I feel her grip tighten as she pushes one last time. I’m concentrating so much on her that it takes me a few moments to realise that I hear crying, I turn as the midwife brings the baby up and lays it on Niamh's chest. My breathing starts to come fast as I look at my wife holding my child. I’m a dad. Oh my god, I’m a dad. Niamh looks at me and there is so much love in her eyes at the moment I don't think I have ever seen her look so beautiful. She looks tired, sweaty but so content, my whole life is now these two people in front of me.

  “Come and say hello to your daughter, daddy.” Daughter? I have a daughter. Niamh holds her hand out to me and I take it, thankful to have her strength at this moment so I can move. I never imagined that when this moment came that I would feel lost, but the love that has hit me has left me not sure what to do, I have never had this experience before. Pure and utter unconditional love. I look down into the arms of my wife and take a look at my daughter for the first time. She is just perfect. She has a headful of thick and dark hair, I’ve never seen a newborn with so much hair. She looks so much like her mummy and I love that, Niamh is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen so having our daughter look like her is a blessing. I kiss Niamh on the head and she tilts her head up, giving me access to her lips. I take them in a loving kiss.

  “I love you, Niamh. Thank you, she is perfect.”

  The midwife comes over and takes our daughter from her mum to get her all wrapped up. Niamh looks more tired than I have ever seen her, but she looks happy. She is officially my hero today, I never could have gone through what she just did.

  “How do you feel? I can’t believe you just did that, you amaze me baby.” A small tired laugh comes from her, but she grips my hand tighter.

  “We have one more job to do, Daddy, and I think it’s the most important one. But I want you to do it alone, I want to give this to you.” I must have a look of confusion on my face because she laughs at me again.

  “You need to give our daughter a name, but please nothing stupid ... and no stripper names.” She wants me to name our daughter? She’s trusting me with that? I can feel emotion building inside me again and I take a deep breath, fighting back the tears. This woman amazes me every single day.

  “You want me to name her? Seriously, you would trust me with that?” She takes my hand in both of hers and brings it to her heart.

  “Mason, I trust you with this, my heart and that’s the most important thing I have. Just look into her eyes and see what she tells you. She will let you know what she is called.” The midwife brings back our little bundle wrapped up tightly in a pink blanket.

  “Does daddy want a hold?” I hold out my arms and let the midwife pass me my daughter. I look down at the perfect bundle in my arms. She really is perfect, her skin is pink and blemish free, and her lips are pouting slightly as she lets out a little sigh. Her dark hair sit’s against her forehead, almost reaching her eyebrows. She is a little mini Niamh, there is nothing of me in her, or so I think until she opens her eyes. Her eyes are all mine. They are bright blue but surrounded by dark lashes, making them stand out against her pale pink skin. The feeling of love towards her is overwhelming, and I know that I will do anything in my power to make her life perfect. She will be safe and be loved, if I can’t offer her anything else those things will be guaranteed.

  “Well, little one, I suppose you do need a name, don't you? Why don't you tell daddy what it is, it would make things so much easier.” I place my finger into her tiny little hand and she grabs hold tightly. I look at Niamh and see she has tears in her eyes watching us both, I understand the emotion she’s feeling and smile at her.

  “Pick a name already, I need to know what we’re calling her. Make a decision.” I look down at my daughter and I try to clear my mind of everything except her name, and then it comes to me. It’s perfect for her, and I think Niamh will love it too. So it’s decided, and now it’s time to officially name my daughter. I kiss her little tiny nose and take in her scent, she smells of baby and a faint trace of Niamh’s perfume. I smile letting the feelings settle in my heart.

  “Welcome to the world, Quinn McIntyre.”

  THE END

  Continue reading for a sneak peek at the next in the Into The Series, Into The Fire.

  Remember all future work is subject to editing and change.

  Into The Fire

  Prologue

  Noah

  “You spin the bottle, whoever it lands on you have to kiss. Come on Madison it’s not that hard to understand.” I know I'm being a dick, but I just can’t help it. I brought my best friend Madison to this party to try and get her to make some new friends. It seems to be working too well though since all my friends have been offering to keep her company. I didn’t ever think I would have a problem with that, she is my best friend and that's all, but when Drew made his way over to her my stomach starting churning and I got a really weird feeling. I still don’t know why I’m feeling like this, I’m came here with Rhu and she’s made it clear that I won’t be going straight home tonight. Yes I'm a player, but I'm a good-looking guy and I'm going to make the most of it. I only have a year left of high school, and I want to make memories that will last forever.

  Watching Madison get close to Drew is killing me, I keep telling myself its because I'm looking out for her, I don’t want her to get hurt by him. I know the kind of guy he is, he’s me! We don’t do relationships, or not ones that are based
one feelings. It’s all about how far we can get with a girl, and if she doesn’t put out we move on. Simple. Him talking to Madison is bugging me… big time.

  We’re all sitting on the floor in Joe’s dining room with an empty beer bottle in the middle of the circle. Madison looks nervous to be here, but she should relax, I'm not going to let anything happen to her. Rhu is currently nibbling on my ear and whispering that I don’t need a bottle to get what I want from her. I know I should be really turned on and ready to leave with her, but all she is doing is annoying me. I move my head away from her and look at Madison sitting biting her nails. She always does that when she is trying to hide how nervous she is, she wants to fit in here.

  “Are you going to be able to handle this?” She looks at me with those beautiful blue eyes and I feel myself melt a little. What the fuck is happening? I don’t look at her like that, she’s my friend, nothing more!

  “I'm fine, Noah. It’s just a game.” The guys sitting around her smile and wink at each other. I swear if any of them touch her I’m going to rip them apart. She is too good for this sort of thing, too sweet, too innocent. I know for a fact she hasn’t ever kissed a boy, but I don’t know why. She is beautiful. Her red hair is long and straight down her back, and the little freckles she has on her nose are the cutest damn thing. I met Madison when we both started high school, we were paired together for a science project. She is so smart that I thought she would do all the work for me, but I soon found out that it wasn’t going to work like that. I sat back in my chair and told her that if she needed me I would be taking a nap. The next thing I knew I opened my eyes and she was gone, and the experiment we were working on was foaming all over the desk. There was nothing I could do, I had no idea what she had done before she left the class, so I just had to stand there and watch as the foam continued to grow all over the lab floor. That little trick got us both detention, but it was totally worth it. I realised that day that Madison was different than any other girl I had ever met and more male than a lot of the guys I knew. She didn’t get into all that girly drama, and she dressed casual and comfortable, not dressed up with half her body hanging out.

  When I turned up at her house tonight to give her a lift to the party and saw what she was wearing I about dropped to the floor. The skirt was modest reaching to just above her knee, but it flared out around her, giving the illusion you could see much higher up her thighs that you could. The top covered everything on the front, but it left her back bare all the way down, making it clear she wasn’t wearing a bra. For the first time in my life I wanted to kiss my best friend, I wanted to pin her to her front door and run my hand up the inside of her leg.

  I shake my head trying to dislodge the thoughts that are running through my head, they’re not good thoughts, and they aren’t ones I need to have. I look over and its Cam’s turn to spin the bottle and I pray it doesn’t land on her. He spins it, and I hold my breath. It starts to slow and points at Rhu. Thank fuck. She looks at me as Cam moves across the circle towards her. I shrug my shoulders at her, not caring who she kisses.

  “You know the rules, Rhu. Everyone in the circle is fair game.” I wonder if I will be saying this if it lands on Madison. As I watch, Cam and Rhu make out I realise that I feel nothing. There is no jealousy or anger. They split apart and return to their places in the circle, Rhu rubbing herself against my arm. Madison is next to spin, she leans over the bottle slowly, and I see her take a deep breath and close her eyes as she spins it. She moves back to her space, I don’t think she has breathed yet, and I know how she feels, I’m holding my breath right along with her. The bottle slows, and I feel the breath being punched from my gut. The bottle is pointing at me! Shit! I don’t know if I'm more nervous or happy. Neither of us makes a move towards the circle, its like neither of us know what exactly what to do.

  “Hurry it along children. It shouldn’t take this long to kiss someone.” I look to the side and see Greig smiling at me. He really is a dick. I move across the circle until I'm kneeling in front of Madison.

  “Hi.” I whisper to her. I see her blush and I wonder what’s going through her mind right now. When my last girlfriend had broken up with me, she told me that Madison was in love with me, I’d laughed at her but I always wondered in the back of my head if she had been right. Looking into Madison’s eyes now, I would like to think she was.

  “Hi.” She whispers back at me, in a voice I'm sure only I can hear. I reach my hand up and place it on the side of her jaw. I see her breath hitch and her eyes close as I make contact. What the hell? Could she honestly have feelings for me? I lower my head and connect my lips to hers. As the connection is made I feel like my lips have been zapped by an electrical current. I have kissed my fair share of girls in my seventeen years, but nothing has ever felt like this. I press closer to her, using my tongue to lick at her lips as she opens for me. When her lips part she lets moan out from between her soft lips and I lose control, not caring who’s watching. My hand moves back to grip her hair tightly, opening her more to me as my other hand grabs her waist pulling her towards me. She moves her hands up to grab my hair, like she’s trying to keep me where I am, little does she know that nothing on this Earth would make me move from where I am just now. With tongues doing battle together and our bodies touching intimately in all the best places, I think I have died and gone to heaven.

  I start to notice the whoops coming from around us, sounds then start making their way slowly back to me as I realise what I have just done. Everyone always questioned our friendship, not believing that a guy and girl could be friends without anything else happening, and now I have just made them think it even more. I don’t turn to look at them, I only have eyes for her, for my best friend who I just kissed with everything I have. She is looking at me with glazed over eyes and puffy lips. I stare at her lips for a moment, knowing I made them look like that. I need to get out of here. I need to take her somewhere where we can be alone. I reach out and take her hand, which she gives me without any protest. Kissing her on the tip of her nose and smiling I whisper to her.

  “Let's get out of here, baby.” She lets me easily pull her from the floor before we leave the party behind.

  As I leave the party, I have one thought in my mind. I think I just lost my heart to my best friend.

  Acknowledgements

  There have been so many people who have helped bring this book to you. There were time when I wanted to delete the whole thing but they never let me, in fact they threatened bodily harm! I think I will mention them all here but if I have forgotten you then please let me know, and authors mind is like the Bermuda triangle!

  Lucii Book-lover Grubb ~ You took my words and my hate of commas and made my book work! People can finally take a breath when reading. Lol I swear I will learn…but I did warn you! I loved hearing that I made you laugh and that you loved the characters…it made some bad days good.

  Laura Scranage ~ You read Mason and loved him! Sorting out my typos was just an added bonus! I know you hate Niamh, but I hope you learn to love her one day. Your love for Mason is bordering on obsession, but I can handle that!