Page 51 of Bride for Keeps

She glanced at Mrs. McArthur, waiting for something a little more scathing. But Mrs. McArthur tried to smile. At least, that’s what Sierrathoughtthe older woman’s mouth was doing.

“Congratulations. I’m very pleased. My first grandchild. How exciting.”

Sierra didn’t think Mrs. McArthur seemedexcited, but she was trying to be civil, which was a first. Maybe it was the hormones, maybe it was just the sheer joy of the whole night and being able to come through all that ugliness to be here in this moment of perfect happiness, but she reached out and gave Mrs. McArthur a quick hug.

When she released Mrs. McArthur, the couple quickly moved off and toward the table of refreshments. Sierra turned to Carter.

“Did that just happen? You hugged my mother.”

“She seemed to need it.”

He shook his head, then lowered his mouth to hers. “Fair warning. I’m about to ruin your makeup.”

“Hm. I guess I’ll allow it.” And she let the man she loved kiss her in front of their friends and family, with their child growing in her stomach. If perfect days existed, she’d found hers, and she’d remember it forever.

*

November 2016

“It’s going tobe all right.”

Sierra shook her head. “It isn’t. Because it isn’t possible. It’s not going to come out. It’s not.”

“She’ll be out soon enough,” Carter soothed. “Just breathe.” Outside he was calm, cool. A doctor who knew how these things went.

Underneath his shirt he was sweating and a little afraid Sierra was right, even though as a doctor he knew it wasn’t physically possible. Their babywouldcome out. He held Sierra’s hand as she pushed through another contraction. His heart couldn’t seem to beat normally and he felt a little light-headed.

He’d never expected the whole experience to be overwhelming considering he had at least some experience on the medical side of things. But it was something else to watch your wife struggle. To hurt. Mixed in with the smells and the sounds and he didn’t know how she hadn’t passed out.

How he hadn’t.

“She isn’t coming out. This won’t work. I can’t do it,” Sierra moaned in a rush of breath after another long push. She looked absolutely miserable in the hospital bed, her hair pulled back, her face red and sweaty. She’d had an epidural but it hadn’t seemed to take away the pain like it was supposed to, and now it was too late to fix that.

“Youcando it,” Carter assured her. He squeezed her hand and wiped the sweat off her face and prayed like hell that she would actually do it because this was agony.

If he admitted to her thathefelt agony, he was pretty sure she’d manage to physically harm him even in the midst of labor.

She shook her head, but with the next contraction she took a deep breath and pushed and moaned. Carter felt helpless next to her, but he held on to her and said any encouraging word he could think of.

“We’re almost there,” the doctor assured Sierra. “Just another push or two.”

“I can’t. I can’t.”

“Come on, baby. One more good push and then we’ll get to meet her and decide on that name.”

Sierra let out a breath that sounded more like a sob, which nearly cut Carter in half. They were never doing this again. It was too awful.

“That’s it, that’s it,” the doctor urged. In a moment that was something like a blur, there was suddenly the odd little wail of a baby. The doctor pulled out the wriggling mass and immediately put her to Sierra’s stomach.

They both looked down at the wrinkly little thing, still messy. He’d seen this, done this as the doctor putting the baby on the mother, but that didn’t prepare him for seeinghisdaughter.

“Look at her,” Sierra whispered, stroking a hand down her cheek. “She’s real.”

“And tiny.”

“And perfect.” Sierra looked up at him, tears in her eyes. “I know we had two names picked out, but I came up with a third last night.”

“What’s that?” Carter asked idly, looking down athis daughteron his wife’s chest. His. Theirs.

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