Concealed Attractions (Cedar Island Tales) (43 page)

“Not that I remember.
I just want to be ready
. Hand
me
that little one, please.”

He did, and returned to the kitchen
to check the casserole he’d prepared
.

Minutes later
,
Danni
sat down at the kitchen table. She
picked at
her
dinn
er, eating a few bites of salad
,
then set down her fork
.

“You don’t like what I fixed?”
Ben
asked.

“
I’m
not
very
hungry
.
And m
y back hurts. M
aybe I moved
too much furniture
on Sunday
. 
I’ve been kind of achy all day
, but I didn’t
notice it so much when I was at
work
.
I think I
’ll l
ie
down
for a
while
.”

“Want me to rub your back? You told the class
I’m the best when it comes to getting
your lower back
muscles to relax.”

“Maybe later.”
Danni
ambled
out of the kitchen.

When
Ben
looked
in on her
a few minutes later
,
her eyes were closed
.

An
hour later,
Danni
was
still
sleeping
.
Ben
kne
eled
next to the bed,
placed his
hand on her abdomen
and felt the
muscle
s
tense and rel
ax
.
Braxton Hicks
.
False labor pains.
He brushed a lock of hair off her
cheek
, his fingers lingering on her
skin
.
Will
Danni
still want me
here
after the baby is born?
She’
d
insisted she
was going to
mov
e
in with her mom
, so that she
could go back to school and not
worry about the baby
.
I should
tell
her how I feel, but what if she
isn’t into me the
sam
e
way
?

He
stroked her cheek one more time
.
Julie
’s husband had told him once that
his love for
Julie
hadn’t happened all at once, not like in the movies.
Ben stood up and looked down at Danni, her dark hair covering the pillow and angling over her shoulder, her skin pink in the evening light. She looked so fragile, her pulse at her neck barely discernible. But Ben knew she was strong, stronger than she gave herself credit for.
I love you, Dannilynn Kelly, you and the Bump.
How can you not
know
it
when I give you back
rubs, when I hold you at night?

He backed out of the bedroom and returned to the kitchen
to finish
reviewing
hyperglycemia in felines
.

An hour later, he
checked
on
Danni
again. She
had pushed the
blanket down off her
shoulders
,
but when
he pulled
it
back over her
,
Danni
opened her eyes
and gave him a wan smile
.

“
I’m kind of warm
,
except now I feel kind of cold
.”

A
sheen of
sweat
shone
on her face.

“
Let
me to get you a cool wash cloth.
”

“No
.
I can’t seem to get comfortable. Maybe I’ll take a shower.”

He helped her up
,
and s
he
went into t
he bathroom
and turned on the shower
.

Ben
resumed
studying
and had read a few paragraphs when he stopped and
looked
in the direction of Danni’s bedroom
.
Braxton Hicks, and
then she
complains
of being cold
when she’
s sweating
?
He stood up
, his heart beating faster
, recalling the birth movies they’d seen
.
She’s
gotta
be
in labor!
Holy shit!
But she’s a month away!

He trotted to the bathroom door and knocked.
“
Danni
, a
re you
okay
in there
?”

The sound of water in the shower was all that greeted him.
The
n the
water stopped.

“Ben, could you come
in
here?”
Danni’s
voice was a mixture of fear and surprise.

He
stepped into the steamy bathroom
, his
pulse
pounding
.
Danni was leaning over the bathroom sink, a towel draped over her shoulders.

“
I think my water just
broke
. C
an
you help me? I
need
to lie down
.
”
The towel she’d been grasping
slid
down to the floor
.

She’s
so
beautiful.
“Let me dry you off first.”
He used a towel to
pat
her back dry then wrapped it around her, careful not to touch her distended belly.

She did not reply, but instead closed her eyes and began to pant.

When she stood up straighter and grabbed the towel
he was holding,
Ben
walked her into the bedroom, his hands
on either side of
her nonexistent waist
,
and helped her settle in th
e bed.

“I’m
call
ing
Doctor
Wright—or do you
want me to
help
you into the car?
We’ve got to get you to the hospital.
”

“No. I—”
her breath hitched and she
gave several little
pants
. “I
t’s too soon. She said
to come in
when
the
contractions we
re
ten
minutes apart
.” She shivered. “
Let me
rest
a minute.”

If he was a betting man,
Ben
was sure she’d had a contraction while leaning over the sink. And now another one?
He
strode into the kitchen
and reached for the phone. He
was about
to dial
when he
remembered to check his watch.
Gotta
time those contractions.

He
entered the bedroom
and
listened to
Danni’s
shallow
breathing.

“
I just had another contraction,
and
now
m
y fingers are tingling.
”

“You’re hyperventilating
, hon
.” He
returned to
the kitchen
,
found a smal
l paper bag
and brought it to her
.
“Breathe into this.
”

She followed his instruction.
“
Better. Oh, there’s another one,
”
she gasped.
  He
looked
at his watch.

“That was less than
four
minutes since the last one.” He
placed one hand lightly on her belly and
counted
nearly sixty
seconds before the contraction subsided
.

“Will you let me know when another one starts?”

She nodded, her eyes
now
closed
as she lay back
against the headboard
.
Less than t
wo
minutes later, she let out an involuntary grunt, and opened her eyes. “I
have
to push.”

“What? You can’t! It’s too soon.”
His pulse
shot into the stratosphere
.
“Oh my gosh
. D
on’t push,
Danni
.
I have to call
Angela
.
Don’t push!
”

“I can’t help it.
Don’t le
ave. Help me up
.
”

He helped her sit up.

She
leaned forward,
grasped her knees and began to push as they had been taught in the classes.

He washed his hands and
hear
d her grunt again
before he kne
eled
down
near
the end of the bed.
No time for sterile sheets
. H
e grabbed
the
clean
towels, neatly folded on the chair
and
scooted
two of
them u
nder
Danni’s
bottom.

“I have to push
again.
”
She seemed to be talking to herself, h
er eyes bright with concentration,
seeming
ly
un
aware of him or what he was doing
.

He brushed his hair out of his eyes with a forearm.
I’m
not supposed to be
at the business end.
Why didn’t I call Angela
when I was in the kitchen
?
But things were happen
ing so fast
. He
couldn’t leave
now. For the first time in weeks, he wished his cell phone worked in the woods
.

“Go ahead and
push
.”
He
looked
around
.
Where
were his
sterile g
love
s
?
The kitchen.
Gawd! Why didn’t I bring them in here?
Except
Danni
was supposed to
be
at
the hospital
when this was happening
.
No time to get them
now
.

He
watched as her tissues bulged
and the baby’s head became visible again
. He
supported the area as the
back of the
baby’s head emerged and
turned,
just like they had seen in the movie
s
. Ben slid
one
finger under the first shoulder, eased the arm
out,
and
then caught the baby as the rest of
the
tiny
body slid into his hands.
A grin split
Ben’s
face.
Oh my gosh!
It’s here.
Correction,
h
e’s
here!

“Oh
wow
,
Danni
, l
ook
!
We
have a son!”
He held
the slippery little body
up for her to see.