They all crowded into Lacy's room, but it was Adam who was brave enough to approach the bed. He crouched beside it, leaning his elbows on the mattress.
Lacy lay against the pillows, her face flushed from her recent exertions. Damp hair clung to her cheeks and sweat beaded on her upper lip.
Adam thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
Hesitantly, his gaze dropped to the bundle she held in the crook of her arm.
"Takola told us it was a girl,” he said in a hushed voice filled with fatherly awe.
Lacy tilted her face up to look at him, a question in her eyes. “She did? She told you?"
Adam smiled and brushed his finger across the golden hair on top of the tiny head. The baby seemed to sense his presence; she squirmed and yawned. Adam's eyes widened at the sight of his daughter's tiny mouth. He continued to stare in amazement at this tiny human being he and Lacy had created together.
Belatedly, he remembered Lacy's question. “Yes, she told us. She also said you were fine?” He turned it into a question, pulling his gaze from the baby to look at his wife. His woman.
"Yes, I'm fine.” She sighed, her eyes taking on a dreamy look. “Tired, happy, and fine. Thank you, Adam Logan."
"Thank you, Lacy Lynn Logan, for this beautiful daughter.” Adam stroked Lacy's cheek with a loving hand. “Susannah?” If it had been a boy, they were going to name it Colt; and for a girl, Susannah, after his mother.
Lacy nodded, rubbing her face against the coarse hair on his arm. She closed her eyes in contentment. “Susannah, and the next one will be Colt."
Suddenly, Adam was pushed aside. Rusty glowered at him. “It's my turn, you sappy goat. I want to look at my great granddaughter."
"And I want to look at my new sister,” Ben announced, shouldering his way between the two men.
Susannah opened her blue eyes and blinked, then shook her fist in the air as if she were admonishing her admirers for fighting.
Ben's jaw fell to his chest. His eyes grew round as he pointed and exclaimed, “She's just like Grandpa!"
Laughter echoed around the room. Adam looked at Lacy and their eyes met, held. Simultaneously, they mouthed the words ‘I love you'.
A Word about the Author...
Surrounded by loving friends and family, Sheridon Smythe lives in central Arkansas with her own hero, three dogs and a stubborn horse named Dusty. She submitted her first book at the age of eighteen, but it took twenty-two years (take heart, aspiring writers!) to sell her first novel. Now, with more than seventeen books under her belt, she hasn't stopped since. When she isn't writing or reading, she loves spending time with her family, her horse and her grandchildren.
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