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  Holy crap, he was going to be a dad.

  Possibly today.

  Chapter Ten

  Twenty minutes later, after breaking every speeding record in the city, he burst into Jenna’s office. She was pacing, staring at the ceiling, with both hands pressed to her lower back. Velma stood nearby, wringing her hands. When Jenna glanced at him, he could see the tear tracks in her makeup.

  He stalked straight to her and pulled her into his arms, holding her from the side, so he could hug her close. She flung her arms around him and started crying in earnest, hiccupping and sobbing, complete with snot bubbles. Velma shoved a tissue in her face, and he grabbed it and swiped her dripping nose.

  “You’re going to be a great father,” the elderly woman said with a pat on his arm and tears shining in her own eyes.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Chad said, ushering Jenna to the door.

  “Purse,” Velma called out, rushing to him, holding out the brown leather bag. “And phone. You should probably call her parents. And your own.”

  Great. “Thanks,” he said, hooking the purse over his shoulder while guiding Jenna from the office.

  “I’m not ready,” Jenna wailed as soon as he buckled her into the passenger seat of his truck.

  He hurried around and hopped into the driver’s seat. “I don’t think the baby’s too concerned about your readiness at this point. Although you know what I just realized? Father’s Day is next weekend. The kid’s got good timing.”

  She burst into a fresh bout of tears.

  “Hey, let’s find a distraction. How about we talk about names?” He shifted the truck into gear and pulled out of the parking lot.

  “No. We’ll fight about it. And I don’t want to fight with you. I hate fighting with you.”

  He smiled. “That’s nice to hear. Maybe we should try not to do it so often anymore.”

  “How? Ow—ow—ow—ow!” She grabbed her stomach and curled forward, her eyes squeezed closed while she made this weird keening noise.

  “Breathe, baby,” he said, grasping her shoulder. He had no earthly idea what else to do.

  After the contraction passed, she leaned back against the headrest and closed her eyes. He gave it a few minutes and then said, “We could try talking without bringing preconceived notions into the conversation. If we believe we don’t really mean to hurt each other, I think that will help.”

  “I know you don’t want to hurt me,” she said without opening her eyes. “And I don’t want to hurt you. I just…I just don’t know how to change. Even though I expected you to.”

  He moved his hand to her thigh and gave it a squeeze. “You don’t have to change. Just stop thinking the worst about me.”

  That earned him a glare. He chuckled.

  They fell silent while he focused on driving and she, he suspected, took a catnap. She woke when he shifted the truck into park in the structure next to the hospital.

  “This is it,” he said, turning to grab her hands in his own. “I don’t think Velma relayed my message earlier. I love you, Jenna.”

  Tears streamed down her face and she let them go, unchecked. “I love you too,” she whispered, staring into his eyes. He kissed her, tasting the saltiness from her tears.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t ask you to go with me to Scotland.”

  She blinked owlishly. “You were going to ask me to go with you?”

  He shook his head. “No. I thought about it and figured you’d say no. Even though I really wanted you there. You’re everything to me, Jenna. I don’t want to be without you. Or our baby.”

  “Oh, Chad.” She hiccupped. “I’m sorry I would have said no. I-I’m going to work harder at not working so hard.”

  He chuckled and lifted one hand to cup her cheek. “I like that idea. I really want this to work, Jenna. You, me, this baby—let’s be a family.”

  She nodded vigorously, her curls bouncing around her head. “Yeah. I like that idea.”

  After one more quick, salty kiss, he leaped from the truck and hurried around to help her out.

  As he guided her into the hospital, she said, “We need to tell my parents. And yours.”

  “Mine are on a plane right now. I’ll leave my dad a voicemail to come to the hospital as soon as they land. And I’ll call yours as soon as we get you checked in.”

  The process was swift, as her doctor was already there, plus she had a contraction as soon as they stepped into the lobby, which was accompanied by her water breaking. Or at least that’s what the nurse insisted that small puddle was. He was kind of glad, frankly, because he was a little worried she’d just peed herself.

  A cheerful nurse helped Jenna into a hospital gown and asked if she had an overnight bag. “We didn’t expect her to go into labor today,” he admitted. “I’ll have to go home and get it.”

  Jenna grabbed his arm as if he were about to bolt. “No. Don’t leave me. Call my mom. Tell her to stop at my apartment on the way up here. It’s in the closet, plus she needs to grab my toiletry bag from the bathroom.” She glanced at him through her lashes. “And you need to tell her what to bring for you.”

  Sounded like he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

  “Well, I need to perform an internal exam and get an IV going, so why don’t you go ahead and step into the hall to make that call?” the nurse suggested.

  Jenna’s hold on his arm didn’t lessen. “I’m not going anywhere,” he promised. “Well, except out there.” He pointed at the door. “But I’ll be no more than fifty feet away, I swear.”

  “Don’t leave me,” she whispered, her eyes pleading.

  He kissed her temple and murmured next to her ear, “Never again.” And then he stepped out of the room to make the dreaded call.

  “Renee? This is Chad,” he said when Jenna’s mother answered the phone.

  “Oh. Well this is a surprise. How are you, Chad? It’s been a little while. My condolences, by the way. I understand your grandfather recently passed.”

  “Yeah, thanks. Um—”

  “Wait. Why are you calling?” Her voice suddenly went sharp, and he imagined she was sitting straighter, anticipating something exciting.

  “Yeah, it’s what you think.”

  “She’s in labor?”

  “Yep. We’re already at the hospital. She was at work. I brought her straight here.”

  “So she doesn’t have her overnight bag.”

  “No. We were hoping you could swing by her apartment and bring it. And her toiletry bag. And maybe my toothbrush and a change of clothes. She, uh, doesn’t want me to leave.”

  “I remember when I had each of my children, poor Terrill couldn’t leave and couldn’t stay. Nothing made me happy until those damn kids came out.”

  He could deal with whatever idiosyncrasies occurred at this point, so long as they were together. They could get through anything together.

  “All right, let me collect my husband and we’ll be on our way. I’ll call her brother and sister and let them know, too.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What about your parents?”

  “They’re on a plane, on their way home from Scotland. Won’t land until this evening.”

  “Maybe you’ll have a surprise to introduce them to by the time they arrive.”

  “Maybe.” Holy hell, this was feeling more real by the minute. He disconnected the call and returned to Jenna’s room.

  Not a lot happened over the next hour, other than her contractions came closer and closer together, each more intense than the next. And with each one, Chad’s nerves frayed a bit more.

  “Give her something for the pain already,” he blurted when she wailed through the last contraction.

  “Only when she tells me to,” the nurse replied, nodding at Jenna, who was panting like a damn dog.

  “Jenna,” he said. Who cared if he sounded like he was begging? “Please tell her you want something for the pain.”

  She collapsed back against the pillows and closed her eyes. Tears s
eeped through the crack in her lids and streaked down her face, and he used a wet washcloth to wipe them away, his heart breaking a little bit more with each one he soaked up.

  “Okay,” she finally said. “He’s right. I can’t take it anymore. I was trying to be brave, but I can’t.”

  “Oh honey,” the nurse said, clucking her tongue. “Enduring the pain of childbirth isn’t being brave. Being brave is asking for help.”

  Jenna opened her eyes, caught Chad’s gaze, and held it. “Okay,” she said. “I want help.”

  “You got it,” the nurse said, all smiles as she patted Jenna’s leg. “Let me go tell the doctor.”

  In no time at all, Jenna began conking out in between each contraction. She’d jerk awake, panting and clutching her stomach for a few moments, and he would watch the monitor that showed him how strong each one was, and then she’d slowly relax, collapsing back against the pillow, closing her eyes, and falling asleep. During the last few she’d gritted her teeth and complained that she wanted to push, and each time the nurse told her not yet. But at least she wasn’t crying anymore.

  As the most recent one subsided, he leaned down so that his lips were next to her ear. She was already falling back asleep. “Hey, I’m going to run down to the cafeteria and grab a sandwich. I’ll be back as quick as I can, okay?”

  “Mmm hmm.” She squeezed his hand, which he took to mean she heard him, so he gently tugged it out of her grip and headed out into the hall.

  Where he damn near barreled into her parents.

  Jenna’s mom had high cheekbones, plump lips, and an hourglass figure. The first time he met her, Chad had teased Jenna about how pretty her mom was, and how she’d passed all her best assets to her daughter.

  Terrill Mackery was a six-and-a-half-foot tall African American man with wide shoulders, military-cut salt-and-pepper hair, and a manicured goatee. He’d been a basketball player back in the day, playing for State on a full-ride scholarship, but not quite good enough to go pro, so he settled for becoming a high school teacher and coach instead.

  And his children were everything to him.

  “Um, hello, sir,” Chad said, not quite making eye contact.

  “Finally decided to come around, I see,” the other man said in his deep, low voice that sounded a little like Barry White. A lot, actually. If—when—he and Jenna got married, they were definitely not choosing one of Barry’s songs for their first dance.

  “You do realize all the stuff you missed is the easy part, right?” Terrill added.

  “Um…”

  His wife smacked his chest with the back of her hand. “Leave him alone, Terrill. I told you what happened.” She smiled at Chad. “Thank you for letting us know she’s gone into labor. How is she?”

  “In pain, no doubt,” Terrill said, a growl in his voice, his eyes glaring at Chad. “And it’s all his fault.”

  Chad shook his head, confused. “No, we’re fine. We’re going to—”

  “Knocking my daughter up like this. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, son.”

  Chad stabbed his fingers through his hair. “I am. I mean, I’m not. I…”

  “Terrill,” Renee snapped. “Leave him alone. Do you want your daughter to ever speak to you again? You know she loves him, right?”

  “They aren’t married,” Terrill complained.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Renee said. “This is the twenty-first century. Just because they aren’t married doesn’t mean they aren’t going to stay together.”

  “I want to marry her,” Chad blurted, lifting his gaze and looking the very intimidating man in the eye. “If she’ll have me. If you’ll allow it.”

  Renee pressed her fingers to her lips and blinked rapidly, while Terrill continued to stare at him for long seconds. Finally, he guffawed and smacked Chad on the back, so hard he staggered forward several steps.

  “Hell yeah, I’ll allow it. Thanks for asking, son. Really means a lot to me.” Then he turned to Renee. “See that? Now you see why I don’t like that boy Tracy is dating? He’d never ask for my daughter’s hand in marriage, that’s for damn sure.”

  Renee rolled her eyes. “Come on, let’s go see our other daughter already. Oh, Chad, I brought a few things for you, too.” She indicated the red-striped bag in her hand.

  “Thanks.” He stabbed his thumb over his shoulder as he started to walk backward. “I’m going to grab a sandwich real quick. Do you guys want anything?”

  “Coffee,” they said in unison. “Lots of cream and sugar,” Renee added.

  Chad turned around and jogged down the hall. He’d been gone too long already. How many contractions had she had since he stepped out of the room? How dilated was she now? He needed to hurry.

  He didn’t want to miss a thing.

  When he stepped back into the room carrying a cardboard tray holding three paper coffee cups, Jenna was sitting up with her mother perched on the edge of the bed, holding one of her hands and dabbing her face with a wet washcloth, while her father stood near the window, looking far more uncomfortable than he had out in the hall.

  “Chad,” Jenna said, sounding relieved to see him. He hurried over, handed Renee one of the coffees, and then dropped a kiss on Jenna’s forehead.

  “Told you I wouldn’t be gone long,” he said, and then he headed over to deliver Terrill’s drink.

  “Thanks,” the older man said. “Are you ready for this?”

  Chad glanced over his shoulder. “Yeah, I think so.”

  “The doctor just left. Said she’s about ready to push.”

  “Oh.” Shit, was he ready? Not that he really had a choice. And besides, Jenna was going to do all the work. All he had to do was support her, encourage her, be here for her.

  “It’s gross,” Terrill said, pulling him away from his slight bout of panic. “Really gross. I suggest staying near her head if at all possible.”

  “Er, okay.”

  “And don’t look. When it comes out. It’s gonna look like an alien, until they clean it up. All that blood and other weird stuff.” Terrill shuddered. “Just don’t look. That’s my advice.”

  Chad was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that tough, strong Terrill Mackery was squeamish about childbirth.

  “Trust me,” Terrill added with a slightly mad look in his eye. “If you can, go wait it out in the waiting room.”

  “Right,” Chad said. Not on your life.

  * * *

  Finally, both the doctor and Jenna’s body were in agreement about the need to push. Jenna’s parents slipped out of the room while she clung to Chad’s hand with a death grip. Even if he wanted to follow them, he couldn’t. She needed him to be there with her, and he wasn’t going to let her down. Not ever again.

  And then the doctor was standing between Jenna’a legs, arms extended, two nurses flanking her, while Chad’s hand went numb as Jenna attempted to break the bones in his fingers while she pushed.

  “Excellent,” the doctor said with an approving nod when the contraction subsided and Jenna fell back against the sweat-soaked sheets, panting like an overheated dog.

  Not a comparison he’d ever, ever say out loud.

  Chad wiped her face with a wet cloth and Jenna whimpered. “I don’t want to do this.”

  “It’s a little late to have second thoughts now, baby,” he teased.

  “It hurts. I’m tired. I’m hungry. Can’t we go back to the way things were?”

  He brushed damp curls away from her face. “No way. I like where we’re heading. Let’s just get this baby out so we can go forward with our lives. Besides, we need to find out the sex. What do you think? Pink or blue?”

  Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. “What do you want it to be?”

  “Healthy. Ours.”

  A choked sob escaped her lips but was cut off by a contraction. She curled up, squeezing his hand again as she bore down.

  “Just a few more,” the doctor said after Jenna fell back against the bed again.
>
  “If it’s a boy, I want to name him after your grandfather,” she whispered.

  He blinked rapidly and she smiled.

  “Are you crying?” she asked.

  “No.” He rubbed his eye with his free hand.

  “Uh-huh.”

  He kissed her. “I love you.”

  She shoved him away so she could push again.

  “Here it comes,” the doctor called out, sounding as excited as if this baby were a relation of hers, and not one of a dozen she would probably deliver this week.

  I’m about to become a dad.

  Jenna pushed. And threw her head back and screamed. His hand would probably never function properly again. And the doctor said, “It’s crowning. Keep pushing, Jenna. Keep going. You got this. We have a shoulder.”

  Holy shit. Chad inched closer to the foot of the bed.

  “Here we go,” the doctor said, and Chad watched, fascinated, as a scrunched, red, wrinkled face came into view. With a mess of black curls glued to its head. And then an arm and a hand, and then another. And then she lifted the baby, still attached to the umbilical cord, and those skinny little legs fell apart, revealing…

  “It’s a girl,” he shouted, turning to Jenna, who lay in the bed staring at the baby the nurse was now vigorously scrubbing with a towel.

  And then their daughter opened her mouth and let out a hearty wail, and Jenna burst into tears.

  He may have shed a few too. Maybe.

  Probably.

  Chapter Eleven

  Charlie Renee Wessex was three hours old when Chad’s parents arrived at the hospital.

  Jenna had just finished showering and she could smell the hamburger she’d ordered, which meant it was waiting next to her hospital bed. Her stomach growled with anticipation. It wouldn’t be half as good as Chad’s cooking, but beggars couldn’t be choosers at this point.

  “A baby?” a man’s voice said, the Scottish accent more pronounced than the last time Jenna had heard it. “Babies don’t grow on trees, you know.”

  “Yeah, I’m fully aware of that,” Chad replied.