| |
Nine Months Later—Invertary Castle
When Josh McInnes realised that his wife had gone into labour, he did what any self-respecting celebrity would do and called his manager.
“Caroline is having the baby. Right now. And we need to get the midwife.” Josh had him on speakerphone while he pulled on his shoes.
“Then why are you calling me?”
“He’s got a point.” Caroline was calmly checking the battery on her e-reader. Josh was pretty sure that there wouldn’t be time during labour to read a book, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Since she’d given up her work at the community centre, she’d filled her time with researching Invertary history and reading dodgy romance novels. Well, that and running the town.
He turned his attention back to Mitch. “Pyro and a bunch of his paparazzi mates are camped at the gate. I’m worried the midwife won’t be able to get into the castle.”
“Then why not call, Lake? What am I supposed to do about it?”
Caroline doubled over the bed as another contraction hit her. How could she be so calm? When the pain passed, she shouted at the speakerphone, “Don’t worry, Mitch—it’s his automatic reaction to call you when anything happens. We’re hanging up now to call the midwife.”
“We are?” Josh wasn’t sure the midwife could deal with Pyro.
“Hang up, Josh. See you later, Mitch.”
Josh pressed the end button before Mitch could reply.
Caroline smiled at him. She was even more beautiful than the day he’d met her. “Call the midwife. And call Betty. She knows what to do about Pyro.”
“Betty?”
“Lake’s on another job. I made arrangements with Betty.”
“But Betty?” Josh stared at her.
His wife was in labour. The baby was coming. And he wanted her to call an eighty-seven-year-old woman with an attitude problem?
“Josh. Dial the phone now or you’ll be delivering this baby.”
He dialled the midwife. “I’ll be right there,” she promised before hanging up on him.
“We should be in a hospital.” Josh knew there was no point bringing it up, but he couldn’t help himself. They’d been arguing about this for nine months.
“The nearest hospital is an hour’s drive from here. Plus I want to have our baby at home.”
“What if something goes wrong?”
“Calm down, Josh. It’s just a baby. Women have been having them for a very long time.”
“They haven’t been having my baby!”
Caroline waddled over to him and pulled him down for a kiss. “You need to call Betty.”
“Damn it.” He dialled the wicked witch of Invertary and put her on speaker. “Betty, it’s Josh. The baby is coming.”
“Say no more. Operation Stork is good to go.”
“Operation Stork?” He could feel his blood pressure rise as he asked the question.
Betty cackled before he heard a dial tone.
“It’ll be okay.” Caroline bent over the bed again. “Rub my back. The midwife will be here soon.”
Josh wanted to run screaming around the building until someone who knew what they were doing turned up. Instead, he rubbed his wife’s back.
“This is the last child we’re having.” He’d get a vasectomy if that was what it took. He wasn’t going through this again.
Caroline laughed. Man, but he loved her laugh. “You used to be so easygoing. I had to fight to make you take anything seriously.”
“You’ve been a bad influence on me.”
She laughed some more.
A horn honked outside. The front door slammed. A few minutes later, the midwife barrelled in. “Has he freaked out completely yet?” She grinned at Josh. He glared at her.
Caroline smiled at him. “Better call for backup. Any minute now he’s going to need medical attention.”
How she could joke at a time like this, he didn’t know.
“Saw Betty and the old folk downstairs. They’re lobbing eggs at the paparazzi.”
“Eggs?” Josh knew he was screeching. He couldn’t seem to stop it. “That’s the big plan.”
Caroline patted his hand. “That’s phase one.” She turned to the midwife. “Maybe you should give him something to calm him down.”
As the two women chuckled, Caroline suddenly stopped still.
“What is it?” He knew they should have gone to the hospital. It was a mistake letting Caroline get her own way on a home birth. He should have laid down the law. He scoffed to himself. Like that ever worked. He glared at his wedding ring. Even though he’d had it engraved with the words from The Lord of the Rings: one ring to rule them all. The damn thing had no power at all.
Caroline pointed downward. “My water broke.”
Josh saw the first signs of an actual birth, and it was too much for him. The room spun and the last thing he felt was his head hitting the floor.
––––––––
“Wake up, Daddy.”
Josh could have sworn that was Mitch.
His eyes flickered open to see Mitch grinning down at him. He had his iPhone in his hand. “This is definitely going on YouTube.”
“Leave him alone.” Caroline sounded amused.
Caroline! The baby!
Josh struggled to his feet to find his wife propped up in bed, a little bundle of pink wrapped in her arms. “Is that the baby?”
“Come meet your daughter.” Caroline smiled at him. Her face was flushed and her hair was dishevelled, but she had never been more magnificent.
Stunned, he walked over to her. “How long was I out?”
She laughed. “A while. But you fainted several times. You kept coming to and then you’d see something you didn’t like and you’d drop again. Don’t worry, Mitch filmed it. Your passing out, I mean, not the birth.”
He glared at his friend, who shrugged. Josh took a deep breath and pulled back the pink blanket. The most beautiful little face appeared. It was a tiny Caroline. He stopped breathing.
“Our daughter,” he said with awe.
He dragged his attention away from his perfect little person to kiss his wife. “Man, I love you.”
She gave him the same smile that got them in this position in the first place. “I know.” Her voice was smug.
Josh brushed her hair back from her face. “Are you okay? Was it tough?”
She laughed. “It was fast and painful. But I still think I had an easier time than you did.”
“Let’s not do it again.” Josh reached for his daughter, and Caroline handed her over. As soon as he held her in his arms, his heart melted. He didn’t think it was possible to love someone as much as he loved Caroline. Now there were two women who owned him. “Well, maybe not for a couple of years, anyway.”
Caroline reached for his hand as she grinned at him. “You promised me three babies.”
He sighed. It was no use arguing. Caroline always got her way. “Fine. But the next time we go to the hospital.”
“Yeah,” Mitch said. “Let them deal with Josh when he passes out.”
Caroline shut her eyes and snuggled back against the pillows. She had a very self-satisfied smile on her face. Josh watched his new-born sleep. He had it all. Wife. Daughter. Home. Life was pretty damn good.
“See?” He confronted his best friend. “And you thought that whole arranged marriage idea was dumb. Bet you regret that now.”
“Yes. I am in awe of your genius.”
“Damn right. The plan was brilliant.”
Mitch rolled his eyes, and Josh thought he heard Caroline giggle. Let them think what they liked. No one could convince him that his wedding plan didn’t turn out perfectly.