“Just hold me,” she whispered. “Just be here.”
Yale was scared. He put his arms around her and held her close. “Give me the pain. Let me do it for you.”
Sam forced a smile. “If I could have, I would have called you hours ago.” She was even able to laugh at her joke.
What spirit his wife had! What would he do if he lost her?
The midwife ordered Sam to push. Yale whispered the command in her ear.
“I’m so tired,” Sam said.
“I know, darling, but just one push more. It’ll soon be over. You’ll see.” He hid his own fear behind false bravado.
“Yes…it…will…be…fine,” Sam muttered, building her strength for another push.
“Everything you have, Samantha,” Yale said. “Give it all that is in you.”
She looked at him as if to say she had nothing left, but then he felt her body tense as she pressed down hard, holding her breath at the same time.
“It’s coming! It’s coming!” the midwife shouted.
“It’s coming,” Yale translated. Samantha had been learning Tamil, but it was still a difficult language for her.
She laughed, the sound almost giddy. “One more push, right?”
At the same moment, the midwife ordered, “One more push!”
“Right,” Yale agreed.
Her gaze on him, Samantha summoned a reserve of strength and made one last push.
The midwife gave a shout.
Yale turned just in time to watch the baby’s head emerge. “It’s coming, Sam. It’s coming!”
A small body slid out of his wife. It was amazing. He came to his feet to look closer. The midwife was talking excitedly in Tamil. She was exclaiming over how big the baby was.
Then, to his surprise, she thrust Yale’s son into his hands, the cord still attached, and began rubbing the baby down with soft cloths.
The baby gasped with a startled jerk and then its mouth opened and out came a loud, healthy wail. Samantha began laughing and crying.
“We did it, Yale! We did it!”
He couldn’t answer. He was witnessing a miracle. As he tilted the babe, his eyes opened. They were large, blue, and a bit unfocused—and then the baby blinked and looked directly at him.
Father and son took the measure of each other.
Yale couldn’t speak. As he looked into his son’s eyes, he had the impression he could see his own father in them. And his father’s father, and so on and so forth until the beginning of time…and he knew then, in that moment, that his own father had forgiven him for all his failings as a son.
Because now Yale understood a father’s love.
The midwife cut the cord and tied it off. She was still speaking and working on Samantha, but Yale didn’t pay attention to her words.
He sat down on the edge of the bed, holding his precious son with both hands. “He recognizes me, Sam. Right off from the first breath, he knows me.”
She placed her hand on his arm. “Of course he does. You are his father.”
Suddenly, the world was a better place. For this child in his hands, he would slay dragons. He’d protect him, and love him, and cherish him. He would teach him to be a man…
Yale leaned over and kissed his wife. “Thank you.”
She laughed tiredly. “You had something to do with it.”
“Ah, Sam, my life was nothing before you.”
She blushed and it pleased him that he had touched her. “Wrap the baby up in the quilt the women sent from Sproule, will you?” she asked.
He did as she’d requested. When the colorful quilt had arrived several weeks ago, along with a note from Squire Biggers and Vicar Newell and the village ladies congratulating them on the impending baby, Yale had laughed. Who needed a quilt in the tropics?
And yet right now, it seemed the perfect thing to wrap his son in.
Samantha reached for the baby and placed him to her breast. Their son latched on and suckled immediately. She gave a soft, happy sigh.
Yale stretched out on the bed beside her. He slipped his arm beneath his wife’s head and watched, fascinated by this moment between mother and child. Reaching out with one finger, he traced his son’s long fingers curled up in a fist. Nothing had ever felt as soft as this newborn skin.
“He’s perfect,” Samantha whispered.
“Aye, he is,” Yale answered. “After all, he has my nose.”
The two of them laughed.
“What shall we name him?” Samantha asked.
“How about after our fathers?”
“Barrett Leland?”
“It’s a good name.”
“Yes, a good name to go with Carderock.” She smiled up at him and he caught his breath.
“You’ve never been more beautiful to me than at this moment,” he said.
“Oh, Yale.” She rested her head in the crook of his arm.
For the first time in his life, Yale felt content, complete. There would probably be more struggles in his future, but wherever he was, whatever he did, he knew he would be the victor. Life held meaning. Life was good.
“Because of you,” he whispered to Samantha. “All because of you.”
About the Author
Romantic Times magazine claims Cathy Maxwell is “…an author who understands the human heart and whose stories touch our souls.” To that end, she spends hours sitting in front of her computer wondering, “Why do people fall in love?” The question remains for her the great mystery of life and the secret to happiness.
She lives in Midlothian, Virginia, with her three children and her husband, Kevin, who drives her crazy in all the very best ways.
Fans can find Cathy’s web page at: www.booktalk.com/cmaxwell
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Books by
Cathy Maxwell
TEMPTATION OF A PROPER GOVERNESS
THE SEDUCTION OF AN ENGLISH LADY
ADVENTURES OF A SCOTTISH HEIRESS
THE WEDDING WAGER
THE LADY IS TEMPTED
THE MARRIAGE CONTRACT
A SCANDALOUS MARRIAGE
MARRIED IN HASTE
BECAUSE OF YOU
WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE
FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN
YOU AND NO OTHER
TREASURED VOWS
ALL THINGS BEAUTIFUL
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BECAUSE OF YOU. Copyright © 2006 by Cathy Maxwell. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Sony Reader November 2006 ISBN 0-06-121249-0
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
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Table of Contents
Cover
Contents
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
Epilogue
About the Author
Other Books by Cathy Maxwell
Copyright
About the Publisher
Because of You Page 27