by Ginna Gray
"Sweet Jesus," Reilly whispered.
"Dammit, Tess! Why didn't you say something? When did the pains start? How far apart are they now?
"It ... it hasn't been long. Just about... forty-five minutes," Tess panted weakly. "They started after we left the interstate."
Ryan bit out a vicious curse.
"But the last two were only— Oh! Oh! Oh my goodness!"
The terrified cry sent an icy trickle down Ryan's spine. His gaze shot back to the mirror. "What? What? Dammit, Tess, answer me!"
She seemed incapable of speech. Her stunned gaze locked with his in the mirror, staring back at him like a terrified rabbit, her eyes enormous in her pale face. "I... my water broke."
"Holy hell!" Reilly groaned, but Ryan didn't hear him.
He felt his heart skip. Terror had him by the throat. He could barely breathe.
He had to do something. But what? He couldn't think.
Then Tess whimpered, and the tiny sound galvanized him into action.
"Get back there and help her," he yelled at his brother. "I don't think she'll make it to the hospital."
"Me!" Reilly yelped. "I can't do that! I don't know anything about delivering a baby!"
"One of us has to do it."
"Well, it sure as hell isn't going to be me. Hey! What're you doing? You can't pull off in this driving rain! Somebody'll plow right into the back of us!"
"All right then ..."
" Wha... Man, are you crazy!"
Ignoring his brother's outburst, Ryan turned on the emergency flashing lights and brought the Cherokee to a stop in the middle of the highway. "Here. You drive."
He unfastened his safety belt, twisted around and squeezed between the bucket seats.
"Holy— Watch it, will ya," Reilly growled when Ryan's foot almost caught him in the head. Behind them, horns blared and a few cars began to pull cautiously around them. Reilly quickly shifted over into the driver's seat and buckled up.
"All right, all right, we're going. Jeez, give us a break," he muttered, casting a disgusted glance in the mirror at the line of stopped cars. "We got an emergency here, for Pete's sake." He put the vehicle in gear and stepped on the gas so hard that the tires spun. Within seconds they had caught up to the traffic ahead.
"Oh, Ryan—!" Tess grabbed his arm the instant he joined her.
"Easy. Take it easy, honey. We'll get through this. First I'm going to help you into the back. Then I'll lower this seat so you'll have room to lie down. Okay?"
"0-okay."
The cramped quarters made movement difficult for Tess. In the end it proved easier for Ryan to simply pick her up in his arms and lift her over the back of the seat. He had barely climbed over after her when another hard contraction hit.
Scooting on his knees, Ryan got behind her and supported her back against his chest. "Take shallow breaths, Tess. The way we practiced. C'mon, you know how to do it. That's it. That's it. Breathe. Breathe. Atta girl."
When the pain ebbed, Ryan set to work like a madman. He ordered Reilly to turn on the dome light, and with frantic haste he shoved all the luggage to one side and to the rear. Then he lowered the back of the rear seat and gave silent thanks that the surface of the resulting cargo bed was covered with a thick carpet. Reaching into the front, he snatched up the newspaper he had brought with him that morning and spread it over most of the back. Then he eased Tess down onto it.
When she was stretched out on her back, he took her hand and squeezed it gently. " Honey, I know this is awkward and embarrassing, but.. .I'm going to have to take off your panties. Will you help me?"
Tess closed her eyes and gave a distressed moan, but she nodded.
"Good girl," Ryan said, and when he slid his hands up under her billowing tent dress, she lifted her hips.
"How's it going back there?"
At that instant Tess clutched her belly and cried out.
"Ah, jeez," Reilly moaned. "I had to ask."
Kneeling between Tess's knees, Ryan placed his hand on her abdomen. His eyes widened when he felt the rippling movement against his palm. "Easy honey. Easy. Go with it. Remember what we learned in class."
Tess's gaze met his. Her eyes were wide with apprehension but she choked back the moan that was building in her throat and nodded gamely. She began to pant, making desperate little hee-heeing sounds.
When the pain subsided, Ryan squeezed her hand. "You did great, Tess. Just great."
"Uh.. .l don't know much about these things," Reilly put in. "But wasn't that a little quick?"
Ryan checked his watch. "Yeah. The contractions are down to less than four minutes apart."
"Ah, man." Reilly shook his fist at the line of cars ahead. "Can't you people go any faster, dammit!"
"My guess is it wouldn't matter if we had a clear road and a police escort. You still wouldn't be able to get us to the hospital in time. This baby wants to be born now.''
"Jeez, man. Did you have to tell me that?"
"Ry-Ryan. In my hospital bag...there's a small bottle of alcohol, and...and some manicure scissors. And some moist towelettes, too."
"Right." Ryan scrambled on his knees to the rear of the vehicle and opened the overnight bag. He rummaged through the contents with no regard whatsoever for their neatness and located the items. He also discovered a nightgown trimmed in eyelet lace that had a narrow pink satin ribbon running through it. Ryan stripped the ribbon from the eyelet and put it into his pocket. Slinging the gown over his shoulder, he picked up the other items and hurried back to Tess.
When he took up his position between her knees again another hard contraction was building. He glanced at his watch and frowned. Two minutes.
Fear clawed at Ryan when he glanced up at Tess's face. She was drenched in sweat. Her bright hair was darkened with it and plastered to her scalp. Arms raised above her head, she gripped the strap across the back of the front passenger seat and pulled and strained, writhing from side to side. Pain ravaged her lovely face. Her eyes and jaws were clamped shut but tiny sounds of distress came out with every breath.
"Concentrate on your breathing, Tess. C'mon, honey. Take short, quick breaths through your mouth."
The pain had caught her in its grip. Ryan wasn't even sure that she had heard him. Her moans quickly built into a hoarse scream that tore from her throat and her back arched off the cargo bed as her belly tightened into a tortuous hard bait.
"Don't fight it, Tess," he instructed when the agonized sound faded away. ''Pant with the pains and relax in between. C'mon, honey. Don't tell me we went through all those lessons for nothing.''
His feeble attempt at humor brought a wan smile to her lips as she sagged with exhaustion.
When the next pain hit a minute later, Tess tried, but toward the end her breathless pant dissolved into a high, keening wail that made the hair on the back of Ryan's neck stand on end and drew a string of frightened curses from his brother.
Three more contractions came in rapid succession before Ryan cried out, "I can see the head!" He looked up at Tess and grinned. "It won't be long now."
The undulating contractions were coming so close together that Tess had only scant seconds of respite in between.
"You're doing fine, sweetheart. Just fine. Okay, here comes another one. You're going to have to push now, Tess. Push! Push!"
Tess gulped in air and strained with all her might as the wrenching pain twisted her insides. Her face turned an alarming purple-red with the effort. She dug her heels in and pushed, and pulled at the strap above her head—so hard she ripped one end of it right out of the upholstery.
Reilly glanced over his shoulder and paled.
Ryan's gaze went to that dangling strap, still held in her grasp. Her knuckles were bone white and the tendons in her neck, shoulders and arms stood out like taut wires.
He stared and swallowed hard. Jesus!
Gritting his teeth, Ryan forced his gaze back to the birth area, and his eyes widened in delight. "Here it comes! The baby's coming!"
He sucked in his breath. "Oh, man...this is really something," he murmured as the head emerged.
"You're doing terrific, Tess. Just a Httle more. There, that's it. That's it. Oh, sweet heaven," he murmured in an awed voice as he caught the slippery newborn in his hands.
He stared at the tiny flailing scrap of humanity cradled in his palms. Emotion filled him. It swelled in his chest and thickened his throat. He looked up at Tess, his heart so full he could barely speak.
"Well, little mother, you have a daughter." His deep voice was rough and scratchy with emotion, not quite steady. "A beautiful little daughter."
"A daughter," Tess repeated dreamily. Tears of relief rolled from the corners of her eyes. Her face glowed with such profound warmth and feeling, the painful band around Ryan's chest tightened even more. "Is she all right?"
"Oh, yeah." He looked down at the infant again and swallowed hard. "I'd say she's about as right as they come."
The baby choked, then squalled lustily.
"One thing is certain. She's got a healthy set of lungs," came Reilly's quip from the front seat, breaking the spell, and they all chuckled in relief.
However, a few seconds later when Ryan had dealt with the cord and laid the infant on her mother's stomach, all the suffocating emotions came rushing back and he found himself blinking back tears.
Tess lifted her head wearily to look at the baby and touched the tiny quivering chin with one finger. "Oh, Ryan. She's so perfect."
Before he could agree, her face contorted again. Ryan bent quickly.
The contraction was mercifully brief. "There. That's it." He wrapped the afterbirth in the newspaper. Looking up at Tess, he smiled. "Feel better now?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid this will have to be sacrificed to the cause," he said, holding up her nightgown. Without waiting for her consent, he used the manicure scissors to make two small cuts in the bottom edge of the soft batiste and with quick, efficient movements, he ripped the garment neatly in two.
The baby howled and squirmed on her mother's tummy. Ryan lifted her carefully and cleaned her as best he could with the moist towelettes, which made her squall all the louder.
"Holy COW, Hoss. What're you doing back there? Killing the kid?"
Ignoring his brother, Ryan wrapped the shivering, squirming, squalling babe in half of the gown, and laid her in her mother's arms. She quieted at once, the howls turning into a series of tiny squeaks and grunts.
"Oh, Ryan." Tess's voice quivered. She looked up with a beaming smile. Joy and wonder lit her face and her eyes brimmed with such love and pride it brought a pain to his chest and made his throat close up again. "Look at her. Isn't she beautiful?"
"Yeah," he managed in a rough voice. "She looks like you."
Tess barely heard him. She was too enthralled. Folding back the edges of the soft cloth, she inspected tiny fingers and toes, the scrawny, flailing legs and arms, ran a fingertip down the velvety skin. When she discovered the pink satin ribbon Ryan had used to tie off the cord, she flashed him another smile. The baby made a mewling sound and rooted against her. Cuddling her close, Tess nuzzled the pale peach fuzz on her daughter's head and tenderly kissed the pulsing soft spot.
She was so entranced, she barely noticed when Ryan pressed the pad he had made of the other half of the nightgown between her legs and pulled her dress down.
Ryan leaned over mother and daughter. "How'ie you doing?" He touched the starlike hand waving above the swaddling. His heart bumped when the tiny fingers clamped around his callused forefinger with a surprising grip, and his gaze met Tess's.
Her face was pale with exhaustion but joy sparkled in her eyes—joy she invited him to share. "Oh, Ryan. I have a daughter. A beautiful, perfect little daughter." She stroked the rosebud mouth. "I can't believe it."
" What're you going to name her?"
"Molly. Molly Clare Benson."
"It suits her." He stroked his thumb over the tips of the matchstick fingers, marveling at the minuscule nails, and struggled with the sweet pain that swelled his heart.
They were both so intent on the baby, neither noticed that Reilly had brought the Cherokee to a stop outside the hospital emergency room. When he tore open the door and bailed out of the vehicle as though it were on firee, they were both surprised.
Within seconds a swarm of orderlies and nurses descended on them. Tess, with Molly in her arms, was gently lifted from the back of the Cherokee and placed on a gur-ney. Ryan walked beside her, holding her hand, but once they were inside, he was not allowed to go beyond the admitting desk.
"You'll have to stay here, sir, and fill out the papers while your wife and daughter are being examined," one of the nurses ordered brusquely.
Ryan felt a queer sensation in his chest.
"Oh, but he's not-''
"That's all right, Tess. I'll take care of it."
She reached out to him again, and when Ryan took her hand, she said softly, "Thank you, Ryan. For everything."
The impatient staff began wheeling Tess and Molly away. Feeling useless and anxious and strangely bereft, he watched until they disappeared through the double doors at the end of the hall.
Chapter 7
"Tess?"
"I think she's asleep," Reilly whispered.
She lay still in the hospital bed, one arm resting on the pillow beside her cheek, the other draped across her waist on top of the covers. Her bright hair glittered under the bedside light, a swath of flame against the sterile white pillowcase. She looked exhausted, but her faint smile was one of utter peace.
"I think you're right," Ryan agreed, and found himself battling a sharp stab of disappointment.
Tess's eyelids fluttered open. "Ryan? Is that you?" Sleepy fatigue slurred her voice and made it husky.
"Yeah, it's me." He stepped closer to the bed and took her hand. "How do you feel?"
"Like I had a baby in the back of a moving truck."
"I'll bet," Ryan said with a wry grin.
"Hey. I'm here, too, you know. Aren't you going to say hello to me?"
Smiling sleepily, Tess held out her other hand. "Hi, Reilly. Sorry. I didn't see you standing there."
"Ah, well. That's okay." He glanced across the bed at his twin, and his mouth twitched. Ryan's eyes had not left Tess since they entered the room. "I understand."
Her sleepy gaze went back to Ryan. "Molly? Is she all right?"
"She's fine. We just saw her in the nursery. They put her in an incubator just to be safe, but the doctor assured us that she's fit as a fiddle. No problems at all."
"May I see her?"
"When you've rested. You just had a baby, remenber."
She chuckled weakly. "Right now, it's kind of hard to forget." Her eyes started to droop, then they popped back open. "Oh. Did you have any trouble admitting—"
"Everything's fine. Don't worry. I found your insurance card in your wallet. Other than the usual aggravation of endless paperwork, that got you and Molly checked in without much fuss."
"Thank you, Ryan. You've...been..." A huge yawn cut her off, and when it ended, she grimaced. "Sorry. They gave me a shot for pain and it's making me drowsy."
"Cmon, Hoss," Reilly whispered. "We'd better go and let her get some rest."
Ryan shot his brother a dark look. "I'm not leaving until she's asleep."
He hated to leave her at all. If he had his way, he'd stay right there all night, but that battle-ax in the nurses' station down the hall had already warned them to keep the visit short. She looked capable of throwing them out bodily if they disobeyed.
"I'd say she already is."
Reilly nodded toward the bed, and Ryan saw that Tess's eyes were closed and her breathing was deep and slow. He sighed and released her hand, tucking it beneath the cover. When he had adjusted the blanket more snugly around her shoulders, he touched her cheek and whispered, "I'll be back."
❧
Sitting propped up in the bed the next morning, Tess gazed out the window at the softly pa
ttering rain, the tail end of Homer. One of the nurses had told her that after hitting Houston, the hurricane had veered in a more eastward direction, staying roughly parallel to the coast.
In an abstract sort of way, Tess wondered if her apartment had been damaged, but she was too happy at the moment to worry about it. Not even the gray skies could dampen her spirits.
She had been awakened at six, when a nurse had brought Molly to her for her first feeding. The feel of that rosebud mouth tugging at her breast had been the most profoundly beautiful and moving experience of her life. The rush of love Tess had felt for her child had been almost painful.
The door pushed open, and she looked around in time to see Ryan walk in. She became immediately and excruciatingly self-conscious. Beneath the covers, she felt her body heat up.
Last night the urgency of the situation had nullified modesty and inhibitions. She had simply been too grateful that Ryan had been there to deliver her baby. She still was. Only now that the crisis had passed, she was filled with embarrassment.
When she thought of the incredible intimacy of that harrowing half hour, the things he had done for her, she wanted to squirm. If she hadn't been so sore, she would have.
She had only a muzzy recollection of Ryan visiting her the night before, but this morning she had woken with a clear head, and she had been dreading this meeting ever since. She wanted to run and hide, but that was impossible, so she hid her humiliation behind a cheery facade.
"Ryan! My goodness. You're up early."
He frowned at her overbright tone. "I thought you might be feeling lonely. But if I'm too early I can come back later."
"No. No. This is fine. Really." She had to face him sometime so she might as well get it over with. Postponing the inevitable wouldn't help.
His appearance had rattled her so, she had not noticed until that moment that in one hand he carried a vase filled with an enormous bouquet of yellow roses and in the other a fuzzy teddy bear.
"These are for you and Molly. I hope you like roses." He set the flowers on her bedside table and handed her the stuffed animal.