Page 459 of Hell Hath No Fury
He whipped around and deadpanned, “Never, my love.”
It delighted Duke to no end any time I was in pain, not because I was in pain, but because it was just about the only time I would “lose my ever-blessed shit,” as he would put it. I rarely cursed and wasn’t easily ruffled, but a good toe stubbing in the middle of the night could give me the mouth of a drunken sailor in an instant. As much as he loved me for being his angel, Duke loved to see my devilish side slip out from time to time.
“It’s time to push now, Mrs. Hill,” Dr. Belmont said through his surgical mask. “Deep breath in. That’s it. Now push.”
Passing the head and shoulders of a human body through your own is an experience not unlike having a New York city taxicab that had been parked inside you for nine months, decide to back out suddenly. I pushed a total of six times, and with each one came a torrent of increasingly horrible obscenities hurled at Dr. Belmont, my wonderful husband, and even the poor nurse.
“It’s a boy,” Dr. Belmont said, presenting my beautiful son to the world for the first time.
“Wait, what?” I panted out. “Are you sure? Make sure. I specifically demanded a girl.”
I looked over to see Duke beaming. Tears streaming down his face.
“He’s got a dick any man would be proud of, baby,” Duke said with a chuckle. “He’s definitely all boy.”
I sighed, suddenly realizing another boy meant I’d always be queen, and that made me stupidly happy. The nurses gently cleaned the baby up before swaddling him and placing him in my arms.
“He’s so beautiful, Pearly,” Duke said before leaning down to kiss me. “Look at our boy. Look what you did, baby.”
“What are we going to call him?”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about that,” he said, stroking his beard. “What do you think about Hayes?”
“After your father?” I asked shocked at what I’d just heard. In fact, I was glad I was already in a hospital bed, as I thought I might faint from the shock.
“No, after Isaac Hayes,” he joked.
“I think I would have expected that before you wanting to name our son after a man you hate.”
“I think that’s it, Pearl. I don’t want to hate my father anymore. I don’t want to hold bitterness inside my heart anymore, and I don’t think I could if our son shared the same name as him.” Duke placed his hand gently on the baby’s head.
“If naming him Hayes helps to heal your heart, then I can’t think of a better name,” I said, and Duke kissed me again.
“Well, then it’s settled,” Duke said with a broad smile. “Welcome to our gang of four young Hayes.”
Fortunately, Duke was very wrong. Although we only had two “natural” children, Double H ranch would come to serve as a home for many young men over the years. Young men that would become like sons to us. Sons that we were proud to seegrow up and start families of their own. In fact, our most beloved adopted son would one day return to the ranch just when we needed him the most, but that’s a story for another time.
