Page 37 of Storm Bound
Thankfully, the birth proved easy, and soon enough, a little bundle of joy—with male bits—came into this world alive and kicking. And screeching.
Adam held the baby out and asked Mr. Bates if he wanted to cut the umbilical cord. He did it with closed eyes, bless his heart. And then he placed the baby boy on Hazel’s chest for their skin-to-skin contact.
“You’re amazing, Hazel. You did a great job,” he said as he stepped up next to her.
She thanked him, and Adam beamed.
I got to work cleaning up after him, and once I was done, Adam took the baby off Hazel and showed me how to clean him and wrap him up in a blanket.
I could watch him take care of babies all day long. It was an adorable side to him, and what was more adorable was that he was showing me of his own volition.
“Just how many times have you done this? I thought you were a physician in Chicago.”
Adam looked at me with an affectionate radiance and shrugged.
“Family physician. And I’ve done it more than enough times,” he said, and I all but swooned with the mix of innocence and pride in his tone.
After wrapping the boy, he spent some time talking to the new parents, offering them advice and reassurance. Then he retrieved a leaflet from his bag and gave it to them.
“I used to give these to my patients in Chicago. Everything on it applies, and my private number is still the same, so if you need anything whatsoever, give me a call or shoot me a message,” he said.
“We should get going,” I said, checking the time on my phone. My signal was already gone, and we barely had enough time to make it back home as it was before the bulk of the storm was upon us.
“You should stay,” Mr. Bates said. “It’s too late. You don’t want to get caught in the brunt of Ana.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but Adam beat me to it.
“Oh no. Don’t worry. We couldn’t,” he said and shook both their hands again.
Once we were out the door and back inside the car—we had to fight with the doors to get them shut—I turned the engine on, but Adam was looking at me with the biggest puppy eyes, and a knot formed in my throat from how much I craved him right here and now.
“Excellent job, my boy,” I told him, and his body seemed to relax.
I, on the other hand, was getting increasingly worried we wouldn’t make it back in time. We only had to make it back to the practice at least. It was all boarded up and ready for the hit.
I reversed back onto the country road, and once I got us on the path for the way home, I all but stepped on the gas, the pounding rain making my windshield look as though we were in a car wash.
“I don’t think we’re gonna make it,” I said, trying to keep the worry from showing in my tone, but as much as I liked being a dom and comforting my subs, it was a little too much to handle in the middle of a tropical storm.
Adam fidgeted, and I hated myself for showing panic. He was trusting me to be calm and collected. So I took a deep breath and became what he needed me to be.
“Can you go on your GPS app and check any locations nearby. The signal may be gone, but you should be able to check the map,” I said.
Adam nodded and grabbed his phone. He stared at his map, but he looked even more horrified.
Of course. He doesn’t know the area yet, Charlie. What an idiot you are.
“It’s okay. We’ll make it. I’ll get us to safety,” I tried to reassure him as the wind picked up speed and the sky darkened even more. Branches and other debris were being tossed about and littering the road in front of us.
Adam watched out the window, and I was just about to tell him to close his eyes when they opened wide instead.
“Wait. That’s my house,” he shouted as we raced past a building.
I looked in the side-view mirror and did a U-turn before I even thought twice about it.
We would make it after all.
I brought the pickup to a halt right in front of the porch and told him to get us inside.
