Baby By Christmas (The McIntyre Men Book 5)

by Maggie Shayne

  Adam’s angry expression rapidly turned shocked. “You told her who he is? You wouldn’t even tell me. I could have helped. You didn’t have to bring her into this.” His voice was laced with pain and anger.

  Allie felt responsible. Her head was throbbing and she felt her stomach clench. Stress. She was supposed to be avoiding it. “Please don’t fight. This is my fault.”

  Allie heard the door and she turned around to see Logan, a worried look on his face.

  Riley gaped. Then she looked at Allie again. “I guess you didn’t need my help after all.”

  Logan looked confused and Allie felt like the world was dissolving around her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Adam demanded. He aimed his angry look at Allie.

  “Leave her alone.” Logan’s voice was deep and a little bit dangerous.

  “Come on, Allie. Isn’t it time we got everything out in the open?” Adam said.

  Logan stepped in front of her. “Yeah, Adam. It’s long past time.”

  Allie’s head felt like it was going to explode, it was throbbing so hard. She closed her eyes just as a strong pain squeezed her abdomen.

  “I’m the baby’s father, Adam.”

  Adam’s face turned from angry to completely blank. “That’s… not possible. You met a week ago. How is that—”

  Logan shook his head. “Allie was the girl I met before we deployed. I didn’t know she was your sister until the airport.”

  Adam’s hands fell to his sides. “You slept with my sister? And you stayed under the same roof as me this whole time and lied to me about it?”

  He lunged at Logan a second before Allie squeezed her eyes shut. Logan pushed Allie backwards a step before the punch landed. She grabbed the split rail fence that bordered the parking lot, and then she forgot all about their stupid fighting, because her abdomen suddenly clenched so tight it felt as if she was a dish cloth being wrung out.

  Adam socked Logan in the jaw, knocked him flat, then went down with him. Allie closed her eyes tight, but could still hear them scuffling around on the ground. Punches landed with ugly thuds. Riley cursed like a sailor at both of them.

  When the pain let up enough that she could open her eyes, Allie saw that Logan’s lip was bleeding and Adam’s eye was bruising. She opened her mouth and yelled “Stop!”

  Riley grabbed Adam’s shoulder and pulled him away from Logan. Adam shook off her hand.

  Allie felt like a vice grip was being tightened around her abdomen. She gripped the railing waiting for it to end, but the pain only grew stronger. And then she heard Logan’s voice. “Allie, are you all right?” He was at her side, one hand holding her elbow and the other around her waist.

  She couldn’t answer for a minute, but soon the pain started to ease and she could breathe again. She felt something warm trickling down her legs.

  “No. I’m not all right. I’m in labor.” She blinked a few times and looked at Logan. There was an expression of pure terror on his face.

  “Someone call an ambulance!” Logan said.

  Allie looked from Adam to Riley. Her ex-sister-in-law had gone white and she was pulling her cell phone out of her purse. She gave Allie a watery smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Don’t panic. It’s going to be okay.” Her hand shook as she held the phone to her ear.

  Another contraction tore through Allie’s body, worse than the one before. “Logan, I’m scared,” she whispered. “I think something’s wrong.”

  * * *

  The drive to the hospital in Tucker Lake dragged by. Logan raced behind the ambulance, where Doc Sophie, who’d been at The Long Branch, was riding with Allie. He was driving Allie’s car and trying to figure out exactly what had gone wrong.

  The doc wouldn’t let him ride with Allie in the ambulance. She said she needed room to work, but every second apart from Allie brought another nightmare image. Something terrible could be happening to her, or the baby, or both of them, and his panic was so intense he wasn’t sure he’d be able to breathe if he didn’t see her soon.

  Adam and Riley had climbed into the car with him. They were speaking low in the back seat. He wasn’t listening. He couldn’t care less what they had to say, the idiots, causing Allie all that stress when she was supposed to be avoiding it.

  When he finally reached Tucker Lake General, he saw Doc Sophie and the EMTs, running through the ER doors with Allie on a stretcher.

  He pulled to a stop beside a no parking sign, left the keys in the switch and jumped out of the car. Let Adam park the damn thing. Then he got out and ran through those doors, but didn’t see her when he got inside.

  The hospital was quiet. He didn’t know where they had taken her or which way to go or who to ask for help. He stood there for a second, feeling helpless and scared. He hadn’t felt that way since he was a kid, and he didn’t like it.

  He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Adam and Riley running toward him. “Where is she?” Adam asked.

  “I don’t know,” Logan said.

  Riley rolled her eyes at both of them and hurried past them to the nurse’s desk.

  “We’re looking for Alexis Wakeland. She just came in by ambulance.”

  “Are you family?” the nurse asked.

  “I’m family, Adam said pushing his way toward the desk.

  “We’re all family,” Riley said. “Can you tell us what’s happening?”

  She punched some keys on her computer and examined the screen. “She’s not in the system yet. Wait right here. I’ll see what I can find out.”

  Logan stared at the woman for all of thirty seconds before he gave up on that idea. He looked up and down the hall until he saw a map with arrows pointing to different areas. Labor and Delivery, third floor.

  He took off in the direction of the elevator, refusing to wait another minute.

  “Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Adam asked, grabbing his arm.

  “I’m going to find Allie. I need to know she’s all right.”

  “You need to stay away from her. You need to get as far away from this hospital as you can before I lose the faltering hold I’ve got on my temper.” Adam grabbed his arm, refusing to let him go any farther.

  “Adam, I love you like a brother, but I’m going to find Allie, and I don’t really care right now if I go with you or through you, I’m going.”

  “Then hurry the hell up,” Riley said from behind them. “Adam, I swear to God, if you stop him from being with her right now, your sister will never forgive you. And neither will I.” There was something in Riley’s voice. Something that made it soft and shaky, but fierce.

  Adam let go of Logan’s shoulder all at once. He held his hand out to Riley for a brief second, but she shot a withering glare in his direction and he gave a nod. “Okay.”

  Logan hit the button for the elevator impatiently. “I’m sorry, Adam. I wanted to tell you the second I saw her, but I needed time to convince her we could do this.”

  “Do what, exactly? Just what the hell is going on between you and my sister? You barely know each other. What is this, a fling?”

  “Not if I have anything to say about it.” The elevator doors opened and all three of them crowded through. Logan jabbed the button for the third floor repeatedly until the doors slid closed.

  “You love her?”

  “Yeah,” Logan said as the elevator climbed. “I do.”

  When the elevator doors slid open, Doc Sophie stood on the other side.

  “I was just coming to find you. They’ve taken Allie to surgery.”

  “Surgery?” Logan thought he was going to vomit. “Surgery, why? What’s wrong?

  “They’re doing a C-section. Look, it’s gonna be okay. It’s not as scary as it sounds.”

  Logan looked around helplessly. He didn’t know what to do or how he could help. He just wanted to make it better. To fix whatever was wrong. Riley put a hand on his arm.

  “She shouldn’t be alone. Especially if…” Riley’s voice trailed off. He di
dn’t like that if. The way her voice wavered made his heart pick up speed. “You should be with her.”

  “Will they let me do that?” Logan asked.

  “That’s why I was coming to find you,” Sophie said. “Follow me. We’ll scrub in together.” She turned and headed down the hall.

  “Take care of her,” Adam said.

  Logan didn’t have time to reply. He hurried after Doc Sophie, unable to speak or think or do much else except follow her down a hallway and into a room. “Wash your hands, arms to the elbows, and put on everything in that pile. Over your clothes. You wouldn’t believe what happens when I forget to tell new fathers that.”

  That word nearly froze him in the spot. Father. He shook himself out of it long enough to follow her directions, donning a set of scrubs, a mask, a poufy hat, and shoe covers.

  The doc did the same and then they were hurrying through another set of doors. Once he saw Allie, looking small and afraid in a sterile operating room, he forgot everything else. Tears were streaming down her face and before he even knew he had moved, he was standing next to her, holding her hand and wiping those tears from her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Allie. I’m so, so sorry. But I’m here now, and I’m not leaving you again.” He said the words, even though he knew they weren’t true. He knew he would have to leave and he knew it was gonna hurt like hell when he did.

  She closed her eyes. She knew it, too.

  “It’s time to begin, folks,” the doctor said. “I hope you’ve got a name picked out because you’re about to be parents.”

  Allie squeezed his hand and Logan tried not to look at what the doctor was doing on the other side of the sterile barricade at Allie’s middle. He could see everything reflected in the mirrored light over the bed and it was enough to scare the life out of him. He tried to stare at Allie’s face instead. But soon he heard a soft strangled cry and he forgot that he was trying not to look. His eyes flew to the other side of the sheet and he caught sight of a beautiful pink-faced baby with a mass of black curls.

  He wanted to jump and cheer and cry all at the same time. But then he felt Allie’s hand slacken and fall out of his grasp. He tore his eyes away from their baby to look at her suddenly pale face. From the other side of the curtain he heard a flurry of activity and suddenly Doc Sophie was pulling him out of the room.

  “I’m not leaving. I can’t leave.”

  Logan felt helpless and terrified. Allie had become the most important thing in his world. He couldn’t imagine a life without her.

  Sophie gave him a firm shove. “The doctors need room to work. You can’t help Allie right now, but your daughter needs you.”

  “My daughter?”

  “Congratulations, Logan. It’s a girl. You’re a daddy.”

  * * *

  Logan stood in a small, white room, pacing back and forth and waiting. He was trying to replay the events in his head. It didn’t make sense to him. One minute Allie had seemed perfectly fine. She was upset, but she was okay. The next she had looked pale and weak and he couldn’t get that image out of his mind. He didn’t like picturing her like that. Didn’t like seeing that image and imagining what might be going on now, but sitting in the empty hospital room, that was all he could do.

  The door opened and he jumped up. Sophie wheeled a clear plastic bin into the room. It looked like something you would wash dishes in, but there, lying in the middle of the bassinet, was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. She was tiny and pink and fragile…with dark blue eyes in her elfin face.

  “Have you heard anything?” He asked the question without taking his eyes off the baby. “How is Allie?”

  “They just finished up. There was some unexpected bleeding. She lost a lot of blood. She’s weak, but she’s going to be all right.”

  A surge of relief washed over Logan. It was so strong he sank into the chair behind him unable to support the weight of it.

  “I need to see her.”

  “It’ll be a while.”

  Like hell, Logan thought.

  “This isn’t the time to be stubborn and pig headed.” Doc Sophie seemed to be reading his thoughts. “She needs her rest. She’s been through a lot. Besides, there’s someone right here who needs some quality time with you.” She picked up the newborn. “Do you want to hold her?”

  “I…I’ve never held a baby this small before. Will I hurt her?”

  “All new fathers ask that question. You’ll be an expert in no time.” She placed the baby in Logan’s arms, showing him without words, how to cradle her properly.

  He held her in his arms, his impossible small baby girl. He looked down at that face, and knew that nothing in his life was ever going to be the same again. Not ever.

  He was in the same spot, still staring at that beautiful face ten minutes later when Adam entered the room.

  “I’m not sure if you’re ready for this,” Adam said softly. “But we have a swarm of Wakelands in the waiting room waiting for a chance to meet the newest member of the family.”

  “Do they know…about Allie and me?”

  “I gave them the condensed version.”

  “So, are you all gonna run me out of town on a rail?”

  “That depends. Are you planning on sticking around to be part of this little girl’s life?”

  “For as long as your sister will have me.”

  “Then I think we’ll be persuaded to take it easy on you. In the spirit of Christmas and all. Hell, even mean old Uncle Adam can’t be mad when he’s looking at that beautiful face.”

  “That’s my girl,” Logan said. “Not even a day old and she’s already making miracles happen.”

  * * *

  Chapter Thirteen

  * * *

  Christmas Day

  Allie woke up feeling groggy and tired and sore. She felt worse than she’d ever felt in her life. Her mouth was dry, her head was pounding, and her entire body seemed to hurt. Her brain felt fuzzy and she couldn’t seem to force her eyes to open.

  Since her eyes refused to cooperate, she tried to focus on her other senses. She could smell antiseptic and she could hear voices. She focused on words, and waited for her body to catch up with her brain. Some of the fog began to clear and she was able to identify a voice. Logan’s voice. The sound made her heart skip a beat. And then she remembered, and croaked, “My baby…”

  She pried her eyes open and even the soft, dim light made them burn. She moaned.

  “Allie?” He was beside her on the bed, perched on the edge and holding her hand. “There’s so much I have to tell you, Allie.”

  She opened her eyes, staring as he slowly came into focus, and she wondered why she felt like crying. Their secret was out. Adam knew. Riley knew. Angie knew. And now it would just be a matter of time until Logan left and she was on her own.

  He grabbed the pink plastic cup of ice water that was on the adjustable table by the bed and held it to her lips. She took a cool sip and felt the water soothe her parched throat.

  Then Logan turned around and when he faced her again, he held their tiny baby in his arms. Their child.

  “A girl,” he said. “She’s perfect and as beautiful as her mother.”

  Her daughter was wrapped in a pink blanket and wore a funny little striped hat, so all Allie could see was her pink face and one tiny fist that had escaped. Logan cradled her in his arms as if she was made of crystal, and his smile when he looked at the baby made her heart feel ten times its normal size. Tears welled in her eyes, tears of sheer joy.

  He placed the baby in Allie’s arms, settling himself beside her to help her hold on.

  Love, that’s what was filling her heart so much. More love than she’d ever felt before. More love than she even knew existed.

  “We need a name for this little girl. I’ve been calling her peanut for the last few hours, but your mother didn’t seem to approve of it as a long-term option.”

  “Mom’s here?”

  “Of course. The whole Wakeland Clan turn
ed out.”

  “And…they know? About us?”

  Logan smiled. “Oh yeah. I’m starting to think this was your plan all along. Wait until you’re out of commission, so I have to confront an angry mob of Wakelands all on my own. It’s a good thing I love you or I’m not sure I’d be so understanding.”

  Allie’s head was swimming. Whether from the after effects of the anesthesia or his declaration of love, she couldn’t be sure.

  “You love me?”

  He looked into her eyes then, and all the playful humor was gone. “I love you so much I can’t stand it. You’ve gotta marry me, Allie. It’ll kill me if you don’t.”

  She gazed at their daughter and sniffled. “We barely know each other.”

  “I know your middle name is Mae and your favorite color is green. And you listen to every singer who’s ever won The Voice. I know you start hanging Christmas lights the day after Halloween and that would drive me crazy if you were anyone else, but for you I’d climb on the roof in August and hang enough lights to make the house visible from space. I do know you. I might not know all there is to know about you yet, but I want to. I want to spend the rest of my life discovering everything about you, and making you happy. And raising our baby in your magical hometown. Together.”

  “But… but…” Tears were choking her, and she managed to tear her eyes from the baby and stare into his.

  “But I have to leave. I know. It’s going to be the hardest thing I’ve ever done, leaving you and our baby, but I’m coming back to you. For the first time, I have something to come back for. I have a home. A family. A crazy small town where everybody knows everybody else’s business. A home. And I have you. I’ll always come back to you. I love you.”

  Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I love you, too, Logan. I tried not to, but I love you to the moon and back.”

  Logan leaned down and kissed her, their baby daughter snuggled between them.

  “Is that a yes?” he asked, his eyes so unsure, so afraid, that it touched her to her soul.