Epilogue

 

“I’m back. Sorry I’m late.” Eric stepped into my house and came to the back deck. “Have I got some news for you. I just brought over a trip from Seattle…” He bent down in front of me. “What’s up?”

I relaxed my grip on the chair and opened my eyes. “Contraction.”

“Okay.” If he was panicking, he gave no indication. “Have you been having them long?”

I tossed him my phone and he opened the app, bobbing his head from side to side.

“That’s not bad, a few hours, and they’re still less than a minute long.” Someone had paid attention at our last prenatal appointment. “Shall I call Willow?”

“Maybe just to update her, but she doesn’t need to come right away.”

A few weeks back, I’d agreed to meet with her after I’d cleaned out my apartment. By time I flew home, I was hurting and having minor contractions, likely from stress and overexertion. Willow put me at ease instantly, and I couldn’t get over how my body responded in her warmth and soothing presence. Arlo had been right, it was more than the physical aspect of pregnancy, she really cared about the person carrying the baby. After that, I signed up to be her patient, which made bonfire night a little tricky, but we’d both become good at not discussing the pregnancy then.

“What were you saying about your flight?”

I gestured for his help to stand, and immediately bent over as another contraction rippled through my body. Squeezing his hand, I counted to ten and inhaled, counted to five and exhaled. It worked to take the edge off, but since I needed to breathe through them, my body was telling me I was in labour.

“Well, Mitch is going to have a hard night.”

“Why’s that?” I leaned against his muscled chest.

“The two passengers from Seattle were a mother and a child.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and escorted me into the kitchen. “Are we setting up in here or upstairs?”

With Willow as my midwife, I was going to give birth in my home, I just hadn’t yet decided if I wanted the bedroom or the living room.

It was still early enough in the day, even though I knew labour could last well into the night. “The beach?”

“Really?”

“Just to labour, not give birth. For that we can come back inside. Somewhere.” I squeezed his hand. “What about the mother and child?”

“Well, I didn’t get all the details, but she’s from Mitch’s past and the guy was stone cold shocked.”

I breathed hard and rested on the edge of the counter while Eric ran his hands over my back, up and across my shoulders. It was heavenly. Realization dawned on me about what he’d said about his passengers.

“No…” I inhaled sharply as another contraction made an appearance. “And that’s… Is it Mitch’s child?”

“Appears so.”

“Poor Cedar.”

Eric laughed. “Poor Mitch.”

I grunted. “Bobby from that construction place called…” Inhaling and exhaling, trying to get a grip on the surges. “The initial drawings… for Jordan… will be ready… on Monday.”

A couple weeks back, I went to the mayor’s office and practically begged to have something dedicated to Jordan. After some deliberation, and a quick vote to the council who eagerly welcomed the infusion of cash, there will now be a viewpoint named in his honour. The dedication ceremony won’t happen until the spring, but the ball was rolling on selecting the appropriate monument or plaque.

“You know what,” I panted, unable to focus on Eric as much as I wanted. “Call Willow, please, and give her an update. I need to go outside.”

I slowly waddled my way back out onto the deck, into the mild September air as the giant bowling ball nestled between my legs threatened to push out at any moment. The towel hanging over the railing now became a squeeze toy as I tightened my grip around the edges while taking a stair at a time. I wanted my feet in the ocean.

Eric jumped off the deck and caught up. “She said she’ll pop by in a spell to check on you.”

“Great, thank you.”

I made my way to the edge of the beach where the ocean kissed the sand. I threw the towel on the ground, a few feet from the shoreline in a crumpled mess which Eric quickly straightened out. Slowly, I lowered myself to the ground, not wanting to sit on my butt at all. Another grunt and I managed to roll over onto my forearms with my ass in the air.

“This will look awkward to the others down the beach.”

“It’ll give them something new to talk about.”

Plus, I really didn’t care. The position worked wonders on my aching back, until another contraction hit. I rocked back and forth on my hands and knees, moaning, and shaking. When it passed, I put my head back on the towel.

While the sun made its decent toward the edge of the ocean, a couple dozen more contractions controlled my body and something deep inside changed on the last one.

“Eric?”

“Right here.” But he sounded so far away, as if he were back at the house and I was all alone.

“It’s happening.”

“Here?” His voice cracked. “Okay, no worries. Just breathe. Let’s get back to the house and up to the bed. Willow should be here by now.”

A surge swelled within me, and I rocked back on my hands and knees, but it wasn’t helping. I dropped my butt onto my heels and grunted. “Eric! Eric! Oh no!”

“Oh no, what?”

“He’s… coming.” I gripped Eric’s shirt at the shoulders and pulled him close, digging my forehead into his pecs. “Eric…” And a strange, involuntary grunt tore out of my throat.

“Oh, it’s baby time I see.” A friendly voice spoke through my haze and dropped down beside me. “Honey, I’m going to need to remove…”

Eric moved quickly and stood behind me, holding me under my arms.

An involuntary urge forced my body to push as Willow lowered my shorts. “Okay, Lily, the baby’s head is right here. A gentle pant and it’ll all be over. Good work.”

“It’s right there?” Eric asked, repositioning himself to hold me up.

“Lily, go ahead.” Willow folded herself onto her knees and grabbed something from her bag.

“Oh! Oh!” A scream threatened to tear me apart, but I remembered from a prenatal meeting to channel that energy and push it down. A giant grunt consumed me, and a moment later, my baby was born.

“Congratulations.”

Eric kissed my cheek. “Look at your baby.”

I opened my eyes and searched between the baby’s legs before I pulled him up into my arms and snuggled him against my chest, while tears of joy streamed down my cheeks as I took in my son.

Deep in my heart, I knew instantly what his name was going to be. Gazing down upon my father’s namesake, I whispered his name. “Hi, Henry.”

Willow gathered the towel under me. “Do you feel you can move back up to the deck?”

I inhaled sharply and nodded, guessing the distance to be less than twenty feet. Slowly, the four of us shuffled our way to the deck, where I tenderly sat down on a thick towel. Kissing my son’s sweet head, and with tears still lingering in my eyes, I looked over at Eric, who knelt beside me. “Thank you.”

“You did all the work.”

“Thank you for welcoming me home when I first arrived, and for loving me the way you do.” I reached to kiss him. “Thank you for accepting us.”

“I couldn’t dream of loving anyone more.” He kissed me back and tenderly placed a sweet peck on my baby’s head.

Moving to Cheshire Bay had been the best decision I’d ever made. The second best was giving my heart to Eric.

 

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Did you love Return to Cheshire Bay, book one in the Cheshire Bay series? If you have a moment to spare, I’d be forever grateful for a rating/review on your favourite retail site or on Goodreads. Every rating/review helps me again visibility. Thank you.

Continue the series and read all about Cedar’s reaction to Mitch’s surprise guest in Adrift in Cheshire Bay, book 2. For a sneak peek, keep reading.