EPILOGUE

SOMEBODY PUNCHED DYLAN in the shoulder and a voice whispered urgently in the darkness. “Wake up! I think it’s almost time.”

“Uhhh?” He rolled over in bed and automatically tried to take his wife into his arms. There wasn’t much in this world better than having the woman you loved within easy reach every single night. “Time for what?” he mumbled thickly, nuzzling her hair.

“Time to go to the hospital.”

For a few seconds, he just lay there; then he went stiff.

“Katy! You’re sure?” He sat bolt upright in bed, then leaned over to switch on a light. He looked down at her, feeling wild-eyed and unprepared. “But it’s the middle of the night.”

She gave him a brave smile. “Babies don’t care what time it is. They come when they want to come.”

“Then don’t just lie there! We’ve got to get moving.”

“This baby won’t be here in the next five minutes so don’t panic,” she reassured him. “I’m sorry I woke you but I just need company. I don’t really want to go to the hospital until I have to.”

“Why not?” He frowned and rubbed at his eyes, fighting his way through layers of sleepy confusion. “I’ll just call the doctor and tell him we’re on our way.”

“Not yet, Dylan.”

“Why not? This is our first baby, Katy. The sooner I get you under a doctor’s care, the better I’ll feel.”

Her pale lips trembled. “I know, you’re just going to drop me off at the hospital and come back when it’s all o-over.”

He stared at her. “What gave you that idea?”

“We always joked that I couldn’t melt you and pour you into a delivery room. It was funny then but now…” She choked back tears.

He couldn’t believe his ears. “Mary Katherine Cole,” he said sternly, “stop your snuffling.” Jumping out of bed, he raced to the closet. “I was sure as hell there when we made this baby and I’m going to be there when he or she is born.”

She stared at him with damp eyes. “You are? Even in the labor room and the delivery room? Oh, Dylan! You really do love me!”

Like she had to make a big deal about something so obvious. “You know damned well I love you,” he said gruffly. “After all this time, you had doubts?”

“It was a test,” she said happily, “and you passed. Now if you’ll help me out of this bed, I’ll get ready to g-go.”

He could see the contraction bring stress to her face. Sitting beside her, he put an arm around her shoulders and held her until it passed. Then he kissed her cheek and helped her to her feet. She waddled into the bathroom.

Only then did he pluck her magic wand from its place of honor on the wall above the headboard of their marriage bed. This was going to the hospital with them.

No use taking any chances.

“Get a move on, Katy!” He began throwing on his clothes. “No time to waste. I’m about to become a daddy!”

And from the bathroom, her response: “No, I’m about to become a mother! Honestly, Dylan!”

They argued about it all the way to Rawhide Memorial Hospital, where young Dylan Andrew Cole made his appearance only a couple of hours later at a healthy eight pounds and nine ounces.

And the baby was twenty-one inches long, exactly the same length as a certain magic wand which may or may not have had something to do with bringing the whole affair to a happy and satisfying conclusion….