Read Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1) Online

Authors: Faith Loveright

Tags: #rancher, #Romance, #Cowboy

Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1) (6 page)

BOOK: Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1)
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Chapter 9

 

The next morning when Madeline came down the stairs, she stilled at the sight that greeted her. Eric was standing in the middle of the kitchen wearing only a pair of jeans and his boots. Droplets of water ran down his bare chest towards his waistline and she wanted to lick them from his hot skin.

This was far from the first time she’d ever looked at the man and had naughty thoughts. The further along her pregnancy got, the more often the thoughts bombarded her.
Moments like this weren’t exactly making things any easier. A lump of nerves formed in her throat as she stepped into the room.

“I thought you’d be out in the barn by now…” she said, waddling to the fridge to grab something to eat.

“Came back in an hour ago. I didn’t have the heart to wake you. You don’t get nearly enough rest as it is, these days. I’m glad that you aren’t trying to work. As it is, every time you flinch, I wonder if it’s time to worry about getting you to the hospital.”

The surprise on her face was clear and he couldn’t help but grin as he tipped the cup of coffee he was holding to his lips. He knew that she hadn’t come to expect anything but surliness from him. He’d been a grumpy bear ever since he’d moved her in to the house with him and he knew why. What’s more, he was fairly sure she knew the reason for his bad mood too.

“Sorry I was so late coming in last night,” he said, hiding his smile behind his mug. “I decided to go down to the cemetery. Ran into my little brother there…”

“Oh? How is Jeff?”

Eric raised his eyebrows and lowered the cup to his side. “He was surprisingly full of insight for a change. For a guy who wants nothing to do with a personal relationship of any sort, he was shockingly intuitive and observant as to what was going on with me.”

“What is going on with you?” she asked, plopping into a kitchen chair, feeling overwhelmed.

He chuckled and signaled a toast to her in mid-air with his coffee cup. “As if you don’t know. I’m afraid I haven’t been very good at hiding the way I feel around you.”

Madeline gasped and settled her hand on her belly. She wanted to pursue where he was going with that comment more than anything, but in that moment, she knew that she would have to wait.

“As much as I’d like to hear what comes next, I think you’ll need to hold off on telling me,” she interrupted him. A tear rolled down her face and she nodded her head at the panicked look he shot her way. “It’s time…”

Panic filled Eric as he fumbled in the drawer for the keys to his truck. He’d known in his head that this day would eventually come, but the reality that it was actually upon him seemed unreal. This woman had completely turned his life upside down with the drama she
’d brought into his home, but he felt that it was a good thing. He was willing to admit to himself that he’d needed a good shaking up.

As crazy as their nonexistent relationship was, he thought they’d make amazing parents.
This baby was going to be most likely, the most spoiled little girl on the planet, between the two of them. They were each determined to give their daughter the best life possible. There was no doubt that Lillie Rose would be well loved. The only question was whether or not her parents could continue to coexist after she was born.

Eric ran out to the truck with her suitcase in tow. He tossed it carelessly into the back and went back to help her out to the truck since she was in the middle of a rather intense contraction.

“Easy,” he soothed as she doubled over in pain just beside the truck. It was his go to mode around skittish animals and at the moment, that was exactly what Madeline reminded him of.

“Don’t
you tell me to take it easy,” she snapped at him. “You try having something the size of a watermelon threaten to come out a hole the size of a pea that’s never had anything but a spectrum up inside of it, and see how
YOU
feel. Easy, my ass,” she grumbled sourly.

Eric couldn’t help the smile that came over his face at the image that she’d placed in his mind with that little comparison. Then the other part of what she’d accidentally told him really sank in.

“You mean to tell me, you’ve never… Not even once?”

“No,” she grumbled. “How pathetic is that? Me… nearly thirty years old and I’ve never even had a serious boyfriend. There
were always prettier women around… easier women… smarter, more successful women… I came in a sorry last place like the ugly duckling in the midst of a sea of swans. That’s the real reason why I turned to a damn fertility clinic to supply the sperm I needed to make a baby. I’d realized that it was the only way I was ever going to stand a chance of becoming a mother. So sue me.”

Not willing to touch that one with a ten foot pole, Eric opted to keep his mouth shut while he helped her into the cab of the truck and shut her door behind her. On the way to the hospital, she screamed and he knew he had to say or do something to get her mind off the pain, so he swallowed his pride and admitted what he’d been thinking when she’d declared herself an ugly duckling.

“For the record … I think that the blind idiots you were surrounded by who chose other women over you; were stupid… clueless morons who don’t deserve to have a fantastic, smart beautiful woman on their arm anyway. Any man who could look at you and not see just how desirable you are isn’t worth the crap on the bottom of your shoe as you step over him. I’ll tell you this… if there were so called ugly ducklings around that looked like you when I was in school, there would have been a whole Hell of a lot more happy cowboys in the area; and that’s no lie.”

They were flying over the road towards the hospital where she worked and Madeline was relieved that she had Eric with her for support. She couldn’t imagine having gone through this on her own as she had planned. It was nice, having someone to lean on in times of strife.

As he pulled in to the parking lot, Eric released the breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. Nerves had him going in at least ten different directions at once. He hopped out of the truck and ran around to her side, helping her out and gliding her body slowly down his.

Madeline’s eyes grew wide as she saw the look of longing on his face as her heavily rounded belly rubbed against his
body. Then she felt the hard press of his erection poking into her before he groaned and reluctantly turned her around and pointed her towards the double automatic doors and helped her make her way over the length of the parking lot without another word.

She wanted to ask him what was going on, but another strong contraction hit her and it was all she could do to breathe through it.
By the time she was settled in a hospital bed and some of her coworkers were swarming her room, all Madeline wanted was for all them to go away and leave her in her misery … just herself and Eric… and perhaps the doctor who was meant to deliver her daughter. Thankfully, Eric seemed to sense her discomfort and he shooed everyone but the doctor out of the room.

His eyes scraped slowly over her body, so hot, she could feel the heat all the way from the bed. If another powerful contraction hadn’t hit her, she might have been tempted to ask him to come over and show her what he was thinking about.

The next thing she knew, she was pushing and the doctor was telling them that the baby was a girl. If she weren’t in so much pain, she would have been tempted to tell the teary-eyed cowboy at her side that she’d told him so. They would be words she would take great pleasure in saying … But if it meant finding out where he planned on taking the flame of desire she’d seen in his eyes earlier, she’d happily let it slide.

Sweet little cries filled the silence and Madeline felt her heart skip a beat in response. The big man at her side stilled and his eyes were glued to the tiny little girl as the doctor cleaned her up and wrapped her in a soft pink blanket. He seemed so far away. She could only imagine where he’d gone.
She had a feeling that she wouldn’t want to know, since she was fairly certain wherever it was, he’d gone; his dead wife was involved… Most likely, he was picturing her lying in the bed in her stead, having birthed his sweet baby girl.

All the sudden, she didn’t feel so good and she couldn’t handle having him there in the room with her any more. She needed to be alone with her daughter.
“Eric… would you mind?” she asked, nodding towards the door, hoping he got the message.

His eyes shot back to hers and
his brows dipped as he frowned. “There’s no way I’m leaving this room without her,” he said, nodding towards the baby girl who was being placed on her chest.

The nurse cleared her throat and looked up at Eric. “I was just getting ready to take
the baby to the nursery to be weighed and get her first shots… Her daddy is more than welcome to join us, to give the new mommy time to rest.”

Madeline opened her mouth to argue but Eric beat her to the punch. “This Daddy will be more than happy to accompany his precious baby girl just about anywhere. I’m not letting that little angel out of my sight… Ever.”

Sighing in resignation, Madeline nodded her head in agreement. “Her name is Lillie Rose.”

The nurse took note of the name. “And her last name?”

Both Eric and Madeline gave their last names at the same time and they shot a nasty glare in each other’s direction. She could tell by the way he was holding himself stiffly erect, that if she fought him on this, he would argue to the death if need be. He wouldn’t relent until she agreed to give her daughter his last name. It was a small price to pay in order to keep the peace with him. Now that she’d held the sweet baby girl she loved so much in her arms, there was no way she was taking any chances that the stubborn cowboy might find a reason to take their daughter from her.

“Schmidt,” she heard herself agree. “She should have her Daddy’s last name.”

Eric felt as if she’d handed him the most precious gift a man could receive and he felt as if his heart had suddenly taken on the weight of an elephant. “Thank you,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

“Don’t thank me… just… go. See that our daughter is safe and well cared for, while I take a much needed nap. We can talk later.” Her voice was soft and sweet.

He smiled past his tears and nodded in agreement. Turning around, he followed the nurse down the hall. Madeline needed to take time to herself to rest, and he needed to be with that sweet baby girl. The moment he’d seen those steel grey eyes look up at him, his heart had swelled with love for her.

When they got back home, somehow, they would all find a way to be a family together. It had to mean something that when he’d looked at Lillie Rose, he hadn’t seen Victoria in her at all. As a matter of fact, he could have sworn he’d seen a bit of the beautiful woman who’d given birth to his daughter
in her, even though that was impossible. Whatever the reason for that, he knew he needed to embrace the change of heart he was experiencing. Perhaps there was a ring of truth in his younger brother’s words… Maybe it was time to let the past die, and let himself live again.

 

Chapter 10

 

Jeff poked his head into the room and cleared his throat loudly, waking Madeline up. “My brother?” he asked, looking around.

“In the nursery with Lillie Rose. He doesn’t trust anyone with her enough to let her out of his sight,” she answered, yawning widely.

“Hardly surprising, given the way he lost her mother… oh… sorry,” he said, flinching as he realized what he’d said. “When Victoria died in that car accident, while calling him to tell him that she’d just gotten the test results back to say she could have the eggs implanted in a few days; he thought he had lost all chances of being a father to her children. Don’t get me wrong… I realize that you’re the baby’s mother in every way that matters, but that has to be a battle in my brother’s head. I just stopped in to let you know that I dropped the car seat my brother asked me to bring, off. I put it in the truck cab and buckled it in place for you.”

“Thanks, Jeff. I really appreciate that.”

“That’s what Uncles are for,” he said with a grin. “To think… I could have been the one who…” realizing what he’d almost said, he ducked his head in shame and looked away from her. “I should go. Let my brother know I stopped by.”

“Jeff, wait,” she called to him before he could make his
escape. He turned around and looked at her with so much guilt written on his face, she almost couldn’t breathe. “You can’t just leave a statement like that hanging…”

“I’d really rather not …” he said, rubbing his hand anxiously over the back of his neck, wishing he could be just about anywhere else, talking about literally any other subject matter.

“But why?” she asked, sitting upright, staring at him in confusion. She saw the pained look on his face and she swallowed her fear. “Never mind… Your secrets are none of my business… I hope you didn’t ever get the idea that anything could have ever happened between the two of us… I like you Jeff. I really do. But with Eric…”

Jeff
held his hand up in the air and smiled as he thought about the look his big brother always had on his face when he talked about this woman. Even when all he was doing was complaining, Jeff could see just how deep Eric’s feelings where the good doctor was concerned went. “Say no more. I get it. Trust me, there’s a reason why I donate my sperm. I have no interest in settling down and making a family. That’s more Eric’s speed. He fell in love at a really early age. They were practically babies when they got married. I knew then that as happy as it made me to see him like that, I had no longing to go there myself. Losing her the way he did… well, it did something to my brother. It was as if we’d buried both of them instead of just her. I can’t begin to tell you how happy it makes me, to see him acting like he’s coming back to life again, thanks to you.”

“It isn’t because of me,” Madeline argued, shaking her head in denial. “It’s because of Lillie Rose.”

“Lillie Rose?” he asked, cocking his head in confusion.

“Our daughter,” she answered, grinning widely. “As I said before, he’s over at the nursery with her right now, if you’d
like to go see him. He wanted to leave me alone in peace so I could get some much needed sleep.”

The hint was hardly subtle and he nodded his head, turning around and shutting the door behind him as he headed down the hall towards the nursery.
It was time to congratulate his big brother and remind him that he was alive and that his daughter needed him to act the part and not as if he was half dead and buried. He had seen the way Madeline’s eyes had lit up when she’d talked about Eric. Even if there was any doubt about what it had meant, there was no denying or arguing with the fact that she’d referred to the baby as “our daughter”… signifying the fact that she’d accepted Eric as a very important person in the life of the little girl she loved.

“Hey, big bro,” Jeff said as Eric spotted him and stepped out into the hall to see what he wanted. “I guess congrats are in order,” he said, nodding towards the baby girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs as the nurse stuck a needle into the bottom of her tiny foot.

“I never thought I’d see the day,” Eric whispered softly, looking back through the window with so much love in his eyes, it almost broke Jeff’s heart.

“Vic would want you to enjoy the moment… to love your daughter… and to go with your feelings for the woman who gave this precious little girl, life. She would want the three of you to be a real family, bro.”

“I do love that little girl… More than I ever knew it was possible for me to ever love another human,” Eric admitted, turning fully towards the window to watch as the nurse ran a damp cloth over the baby’s head. “She’s so beautiful,” he whispered huskily.

“You are so thick headed!” Jeff grumbled sourly. “Everything I said, and the only thing you heard was my telling you to love your daughter. You’ve got nothing to say about the mention of Victoria… or of Madeline. You didn’t even comment on my suggesting you need to get a life.”

“I’m not ignoring you,” Eric grumbled under his breath, refusing to look at his little brother. “Really, I’m not. As a matter of fact, just before Madeline went into labor, I almost…. That is… we nearly…”

“Why, you old snake in the grass!” Jeff accused, crossing his arms in disbelief. “You were holding out on me. Details… What? Did you send her into labor? Were things that intense in the sack between the two of you?”

Eric laughed and turned away from his brother to look at his daughter. “You are such a perverted little cuss, you know that, right?” he teased, shaking his head in denial. “Things never got that far. Really, we never made it past some heavy flirting before she went into labor.”

“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Jeff chuckled, feeling happy for his big brother. “Just, do yourself a big favor. Don’t blow this. That woman is sweet, beautiful and very much into you. She already loves your daughter… This could be the real deal, bro.”

“I had the real deal once, Jeff,” Eric reminded his brother in a craggy voice. “It didn’t last. I’m not sure that I trust in that sort of relationship with a woman any more. But I won’t deny that I want Madeline physically… I’m not stupid enough to believe I can be involved in a no strings affair. Especially not with her. Believe me; I’m fully aware that I’m going to have to take a risk where she’s concerned.”

The nurse came out with Lillie Rose and handed her over to Eric. “You can take her in to the other room,” she said, pointing at a door on the other side of the busy nursery. “There is a rocking chair where you can sit with your daughter. Normally, we reserve it for the NICU patients, but I know Maddie. If she asked for time alone, she needs it. I know when she went into this whole parenthood
thing; she hadn’t expected to have to share the baby with anyone else. I realize she’s determined to do what she believes to be the right thing by her daughter, which means she is bending over backwards to include you in the baby’s life. Your friend here is welcome to join you,” she said, nodding at Jeff before turning and walking away, leaving them alone.

“Well, that was about as subtle as a
gunshot wound straight to the heart,” Eric grumbled, shaking his head as he carried his daughter back inside and through the door the nurse had pointed out. “Come on, little brother. Let’s make an effort to get to know this precious baby girl.”

“Give her a break,” Jeff scolded as Eric settled into a rocking chair with his daughter snuggled into the crook of his arm. “She cares about Madeline. Clearly, she has her issues with men. If she didn’t, she would have gone about getting pregnant the natural way.”

That statement hung in the air and Eric had to consider what she’d told him earlier. No man had ever touched her. That fact had left him hard for a long time, despite his overwhelming fear. Now, he had to stop and ask himself what reason there could possibly be for that, where the unbelievably beautiful doctor was concerned.

“Yeah… come to think of it, there has to be something in her past somewhere that has made her leery of men. No
worries. I have every intention of changing her mind about that. As soon as humanly possible.”

He watched as Jeff walked out of the room, laughing so hard, his belly shook. Eric’s lips curved into a smile in response. His brother had been just as stone faced around him as he had been distant ever since Victoria had been killed. If it was half as relieving to his little brother to see him living again as it was for him to see the twerp laugh
, Eric was pleased that he’d been able to relieve a little of his little brother’s concern.

One more thing to thank Madeline for bringing back into both of their lives. He looked down at the gorgeous baby girl in his arms and offered her his finger to wrap her pudgy little
hand around. “You and me, kiddo. We’re going to find a way to make your mommy smile again. The sooner the better. We owe her that much after everything she’s given us.”

When the nurse came in and told him that Madeline was awake and asking to see her daughter, Eric stood up, refusing to hand the baby over. He carried her down the hall into the delivery room himself. His heart was light as he pushed the doors open and handed the sweet angel in his arms to the beautiful woman in the bed. He tried hard not to think about how much he wanted to pull
Madeline into his arms when she reached for the baby.

When she smiled and immediately moved her gown out of the way to nurse their daughter, Eric tensed; his gaze glued to the milky white skin she’d bared.
Keeping things light and easy until she healed was going to be next to impossible if she was going to insist on being so open about breast feeding. He shifted uncomfortably, forcing himself to look away.

“So… I’m just going to pull up a chair and try to get some shut eye now. If you need anything… just yell.”

Madeline looked up at the gritty sound of his voice and cocked her head. Then she followed his gaze to her bare breast and blushed deeply. She grabbed a blanket and covered herself and Lillie Rose. “Thank you… I’ll make more of an effort to see that I’m better covered in the future, come feeding time.”

“Don’t do it on my account,” he argued as he settled into a chair and lowered the brim of his hat over his eyes. “I was quite enjoying the view.”

As she began to chuckle, he smiled, closed his eyes and propped his feet up on another chair. He felt light hearted and excited for the future for the first time since that horrible day he’d gotten that unforgettable phone call from Victoria only to hear her scream as death took her from him.

For the sweet angel who would eventually call him Daddy, he knew it was time to put the past behind him. And for the woman he was starting to care for as well. If they had any hope of someday being a real family, which he knew he’d have to do, to keep the baby with him without a fight; he knew that he had to find a way to firmly leave Victoria in his past where she belonged. It was past time.

BOOK: Baby Mine (Stubborn Texas Siblings Book 1)
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