Page 91 of Bargain with the Irish Devil

Finally, she looks me in the eye. “Really?”

“Really. We can plan all we want, and then life happens, and we have to roll with it and adjust.”

Relieved she holds her arms out to me. I hold her and rock her until she falls asleep.

Miranda

I’m so fucking grateful for Declan. I don’t know what I would do without him. All day he’s been the rock I needed to cling to in order to stay standing. From him refusing to allow me to go to the hospital by myself in the ambulance to the way he has held my hand and stared down the nurses and another doctor who had come into my room. It shouldn’t crack me up the way everyone is afraid of him. But it does. Unless he’s looking at me, he doesn’t smile in the slightest. Gone is all his usual charm.

A knock on the door is followed by Colm entering with the small carryon suitcase that I packed for myself a few weeks ago for when the baby came, and another I know is Declan’s, as well as boxes of food from Dominic’s.

Shaking my head, I look to Declan. “You can go home. I’m fine.”

That damn eyebrow. “You are not fine. And it’s only home because you’re there.”

I sigh and give in and ask him if he can hold me again. Without a word, he does, and I cling to him. I fall asleep to the pounding of his heart beneath my ear.

When I come awake, I find Declan on the chair beside my bed. It’s a horrible chair. There’s no way he’s comfortable on it, yet it’s where he plans on sleeping for the next few days until our son is here and safe.

I don’t know what in the world I did to deserve this man, but I’ll keep doing everything I can to keep him. Although I barely stir, his head comes up. “Are you all right? Do you need a nurse?”

Reaching for him, I shake my head. “Can you please sleep with me?”

Nodding, he gets into bed with me. My back is to his, and one large hand is resting on my chest, holding me tight. There are a dozen questions I haveanda hundred fears that cling to me. All of them want out, but none make it past my lips. In Declan’s arms nothing can hurt me.

Over the next few days, my love for Declan expands in a way that I never thought it would. I’m not allowed to think. He finds a traveling chess set and a pack of playing cards in the hospital gift store and taught me to play chess and poker. His pride at me almost beating him at chess had me catching my breath. After a few hours of regular poker, he decided to show me how to cheat and complimented me on how well I learned both.

His willingness to be whatever I needed astounded me. There was a long-running sitcom that’s now reruns. When we saw it we shared we both enjoyed it. Declan came up with a way of keeping our minds on anything but what was going on. We talked about what was happening in our life when we first saw the episode. Because it was so old we both saw episodes at different times. And it was a fun way of learning about this amazing man I’m lucky enough to call my husband.

The subject I thought would be the hardest came out to be easiest. We hadn’t decided on a name. Declan figured he would leave it up to me, since he didn’t have a preference. I felt a little overwhelmed by the thought of being the sole person to decide our son’s name he’d be stuck with for life.

“There’s no name at all that sounds good to you? He’s going to be here in a few hours. We have to pick something.”

One shoulder goes up. “I hadn’t thought of it. My father couldn’t wait for me to have a son, though. He wanted me to have a son just like me. He’d laugh, and it felt like he was cursing me.”

Shaking my head, I laugh at the idea. “Your father knew you too well. I think. All this fuss does have me scared for the future. Your father’s name, it was Killian—right?”

A nod. “It was. It’s a more commonname in Ireland.”

“What does it mean?” I wonder aloud.

“Little warriorwas the one my da loved the most, and his father did too.”

I consider the name. “I think I like Killian. What do you think?”

Blue is soft. “Are you sure? I like Samuel, too.”

Of course, he knows my father’s name. A name I had considered. “I thought about it, but he doesn’t feel like a Sam. It’s too solid and boring for this one.”

“I like it.” He nods.

It was hell when after the cesarian, they rushed the baby away to check him and, if needed, put him into an incubator. Declan doesn’t leave my side from the moment I’m wheeled into surgery or after when I’m taken back into the room. I’m getting antsy when my doctor comes in with another doctor at her side.

“This is Nicholas Chu and he’s going to take over care for baby Killian. On my end, everything is good. It’sgreat. I’m going to let Dr. Chu give the report on Killian.” She nods to the doctor.”

“Hello, I will say I think everything is looking very good for baby Killian. His lungs aren’t as bad as I feared they would be. Good job to Dr. Sherman forgetting the steroids going. His APGAR is great. Really, he’s a little undersized but still impressive at seven pounds, three ounces, and at twenty inches—I’m happy. He is going to need time in the incubator until he can keep his temperature even without any help. All of his numbers look sogood A few weeks in the incubator and he should be ready to go home.”

“When can I see him?” I plead.

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