Page 81 of Reclaimed (Hostage Rescue Team)

“The head’s out!” the doctor told her. “Just one more good push, Summer, and the baby will be out.”

Come on, baby, she told it, bearing down for one last push. They didn’t know the sex, had wanted it to be a surprise at the end of all this. After everything they’d been through, they just wanted a healthy baby.

She dimly heard Adam’s low voice in her ear murmuring words of comfort and encouragement, clung to them and his strength while she bore down for the final time.

Her entire body shook, her teeth bared and eyes squeezed shut. A roar of agony and desperation exploded from her throat.

She felt the baby slip free.

The pain stopped instantly. Summer opened her eyes and scrambled up onto her elbows, heart pounding as she stared between her legs. There was no crying. Why wasn’t the baby crying?

“It’s a boy,” the doctor announced with a smile.

He wassmiling. A smile must mean everything was okay, right?

Summer heard his words but was too busy worrying about why he wasn’t crying yet. Then the doctor suctioned the baby’s little mouth and an outraged cry filled the room, his little legs and arms flailing.

The doctor looked up at Adam with a smile and Summer felt the relief flood through her. “You want to cut the cord, dad?”

Adam was at the foot of the bed in an instant, and cut the umbilical cord. By the time it was done Summer already had her arms out, reaching for her son. She took the baby from the doctor and automatically cradled him to her chest.

She stared down at him, fought away the images from last time that filtered into her brain and drank in the sight of her son. His skin was pink, not red, and he was much bigger than A.J. had been. His little eyes opened a tiny bit. He seemed to be trying to focus on her face.

A wave of pure love washed over her, so powerful it took her breath away. She blinked to hold back the sheen of tears that flooded her eyes. “Hi, Sam,” she whispered to him. He was a tiny miracle, entrusted to her and Adam.

A nurse injected something into her thigh but she barely felt the sting, all of her attention focused on her precious newborn son.

Adam moved in behind her and bolstered her so that her back was to his chest. She leaned back into his embrace and looked up at him, exhausted but thrilled, and found him gazing down at her with tears in his eyes. “You did it,” he whispered. “And he’s perfect.”

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Adam couldn’t take his eyes off his son as a nurse took him to be weighed and checked over. He followed them, watched everything with an eagle eye. He’d thought he was prepared for the birth and what to expect, but the truth was, nothing could prepare you for something like that.

Seeing Summer suffer that way had been damn hard, especially since there was jack he could do to help her. Now he understood what she must have gone through the first time, alone, knowing that even when she did give birth there would be no happy ending. But she’d done amazingly well and now little Sam was here and he could hardly believe it.

His wife was so damn brave and amazing.

He smiled when the weight appeared on the digital scale, snapped a picture. “Seven pounds, three ounces,” he called out to Summer. She didn’t answer, occupied with the doctor, delivering the placenta.

When the nurse was finished checking Sam over and wrapped him in a blanket, she handed him to Adam. For a moment he was terrified of dropping or hurting him, which was stupid because he’d held Libby—Liberty Raven Bauer—Bauer and Zoe’s daughter, plenty of times over the past few months.

But this washischild, and it was completely different.

A huge lump formed in his chest when she placed the little bundle in his arms. Jesus, he was tiny. “Hey, little dude,” Adam whispered roughly, all choked up as he stood there cradling his little son. It felt surreal, the enormity of his responsibility as a parent hitting him hard. “Happy birthday.”

Summer was sitting up again, a soft smile on her face when he crossed back to her. He sat one hip on the edge of the bed and eased the baby into her arms.

She cradled him to her chest so naturally, her expression so full of maternal love and pride she was practically glowing. One of the nurses took pictures of them with Adam’s phone but he barely noticed her, too caught up in the moment with his little family.

“He really is perfect,” Summer breathed, stroking a fingertip down the side of his little cheek.

Adam wrapped his arm around her and pressed a kiss to her sweaty temple. “You were amazing.” But God, he was just so glad everything had turned out okay and that she wasn’t hurting anymore.

She let out a dry laugh. “I’ve never been in that much pain in my life, but it was worth it.” She bent to place a gentle kiss on Sam’s forehead. “You were so worth it, little man.”

The doctor finished tending to Summer and then a nurse encouraged her to try and feed Sam. After that, they told her she could have a shower. Adam steadied her as she gingerly eased her way over to the edge of the bed. “Want me to help you?”

She grimaced as she shifted and handed the baby to him. “No, I’ll be okay. Can you take him out to show my family? I know they’re dying out there.”

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