Kitabı oku: «Make Way For Babies!»

Chapter One

Spencer McBride parked in the lot at the Buttonwood Baby Clinic with a feeling of unease. He’d found an odd message from his mom on his voice mail when he returned to the office shortly before five that afternoon.

Spence, honey, this is Mom. Come to the clinic ASAP. Something important has come up. Hurry!

As executive administrator of the clinic, Rose McBride was in charge of the business affairs there. Maybe some nutcase was threatening to sue the clinic. Or bomb it. Who knew what people would do nowadays?

However, her tone had indicated the matter was exciting rather than threatening. So maybe it wasn’t bad news.

Stretching his shoulders and covering a yawn, he headed toward the attractive building. It had been a hard day. He’d spent most of it in court, arguing a case in which the judge had decided against his client in a mineral-lease claim.

The client wanted to appeal. Spence had advised the rancher that his chances of overturning the lease agreement signed by the previous owner were slim. The mining company wasn’t going to give up a lucrative deal without a fight.

He smiled absently at the receptionist when he entered the clinic, skirted the information area and strode into his mother’s office. The secretary, Marci Bonn, was locking up.

“Oh, hi. You’re just in time,” she said, adding to the sense of mystery surrounding the message.

Her bright smile indicated male-female interest. He ignored it as he had each time he’d been in the office during the few months since he’d moved back to Buttonwood and gone into law practice with Johnny Winterhawk, a friend from high-school days.

“Your mom said I was to bring you right down,” Marci continued.

“She isn’t in her office?”

“No. She’s, uh, waiting somewhere else.”

The smile grew more mysterious as she checked the lock on the file cabinet, grabbed her purse and dashed for the door. Spence gave an exasperated snort as he followed the young woman out of the office.

He hoped his mom wasn’t on one of her match-making kicks. She’d been trying to tie him up with various women for years. At thirty-two, he was a confirmed bachelor.

Or maybe he just hadn’t met the one, as his mom insisted.

The secretary led the way down one of the clinic’s four main corridors, which smelled of cinnamon and…pizza, he decided. It was dinnertime. His stomach was reminding him he’d missed lunch.

“In there.” She pointed toward a patient room, all the while beaming at him as if something momentous was happening, or was going to happen now that he was here. A chill of foreboding slid down his neck.

“My mom’s in there?” he questioned, just to make sure they were on the same track. A new worry attacked him. “Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Go on in.” Walking a couple of steps backward, Marci waved and smiled some more, then turned and retreated toward the reception area.

Totally mystified, Spence called “Thanks” and went into the room a bit cautiously, not sure what he would find. It wasn’t his birthday or anything like that—

“Spence, you’re just in time,” his mom said, appearing at the door. She grabbed his arm and tugged him inside.

His first impression was one of lots of people. Four women, plus the usual hospital paraphernalia, were jammed into the small room. One female was a patient, in bed and quite obviously pregnant. And totally unknown to him.

He fell back a step, confused by the situation. The room felt crowded and filled with a complexity he couldn’t describe. Perhaps this was a paternity case, and the young woman needed help. “Mom, maybe we’d better step outside—”

“Spence!” another female exclaimed, turning from the woman lying on the bed and leaning past his mother’s shoulder to smile at him in delight.

A funny feeling raced over his skin, an electric tingle that started a thrum of response someplace deep inside him. He’d recognize that sexy bow-drawn-over-a-rusty-saw voice anywhere, anytime.

Ally Henderson McBride. His brother’s widow.

Once she’d been his best friend. Years ago. Like his law partner, Ally belonged to high-school days and sweet memories of the past….

“What’s happening?” he asked in a professional manner. Lawyers, like cops, ran into all kinds of situations. A person learned to take them in stride.

“This is a birthing room,” a voice snapped with military precision as if his question had been the utmost in stupidity.

He recognized Maryanne Winters, who had graduated high school three years ahead of him. She’d gone into the army, then returned to Buttonwood as a nurse. He thought she should have been a drill sergeant.

“Your niece and nephew are about to be born,” his mom told him, still holding his arm. “I’m glad you got here. I was afraid you were going to miss the big event.”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Ally added, throwing her own hundred-watt smile his way. “Here, let me introduce you to the birth mother, Taylor Fletcher. Taylor, this is Spence McBride, Rose’s younger son. Jack’s brother.”

For a second, Spence saw a shadow flash through Ally’s eyes as she mentioned her deceased husband. Jack had been killed in a construction accident just before Christmas. It had been a hard time for all of them.

That was when he’d decided to move back to Buttonwood and take up Johnny’s offer of a partnership. His mom had been so distraught after Jack’s death, especially since it followed his dad’s by less than a year.

“I’m glad…to meet you,” the young woman on the bed welcomed him with a hitch in her voice.

“Glad to meet you, too.” He didn’t offer to shake hands. He wasn’t sure of the protocol in this situation.

He had, of course, known about the twins and Ally’s plans to adopt them, but never in his wildest dreams had he thought of being present when they were born. Whether Ally was the one having them or not, that honor belonged to her husband.

The birth mother couldn’t have been more than eighteen or nineteen, twenty at the most. Her long blond hair was gathered at the back of her neck. Her face, pretty, young and very serious, was scrubbed clean of makeup. Something about her earnestness reminded him of Ally when she’d been eighteen and filled with plans for the future.

“We’ve decided to name the twins Hannah and Nicholas,” Ally continued. “What do you think?”

Spence thought he should get the hell out of there. “Uh, that sounds fine. I’ll, uh, wait in the hall or…or somewhere.”

Anywhere but here!

Sweat broke out on his forehead. He couldn’t believe his mom had meant him to come in here. The young woman was about to have a baby—no, two of them!

“Oh, don’t you want to stay and welcome the babies?” Ally asked, her eyes wide as if shocked and hurt that he didn’t want to participate.

During all the years he’d stayed away from his brother and his pretty sister-in-law, Spence had never forgotten those eyes. They were the brightest, clearest blue, with a darker blue encircling the lighter shade around the pupil. Her eyes and that rusty voice—they were the things he most remembered about her. And that she had been his best friend throughout their growing years, up until they graduated and went off to college…and their separate ways.

When he’d returned, Ally had been engaged to his brother. She and Jack were married that summer.

He’d gone off to law school in the autumn and never returned, except on short visits. He’d established a practice in Durango—close, but not too close, to his family.

“Well,” he hedged, “I don’t want to be in the way or make…” He tried to think of the young mother’s name.

“Taylor,” Ally supplied.

“Yeah. I don’t want to make Taylor nervous.”

“It’s okay,” the young woman said. “Jack was supposed to be here. It’s okay if you stay.”

Hell, he could hardly leave now. It would seem rude. Which was maybe the weirdest thought he’d ever had.

“If you’re sure,” he murmured, unable to think of a graceful exit line.

“It’s time,” Maryanne snapped. “Let’s get the bed fixed and you in position.”

Spence swallowed hard when he realized the crabby nurse was removing a panel from the bed, then helping Taylor into the birthing position. The fierce July heat seemed to penetrate the room and gather in his neck, ears and face.

He peered through the mini-blinds at the scene in the nearby park, trying to focus anywhere but the room where the sheets were being lifted and folded back and Taylor’s knees were being exposed, rising above her mounded tummy.

Spence loosened his tie and opened a couple of buttons at his throat. He was having trouble breathing. He watched the kids playing in the park.

“Deep breaths,” Maryanne ordered. “Slow and easy.”

He forced himself to breathe deeply.

“The mother, not you,” Maryanne said with scornful amusement.

“Right,” he responded, as if this was old stuff to him. He risked a glance at the nurse. She folded a towel over the young mother’s knees. His face felt like a furnace.

“Where’s Dr. Parker?” Ally said, glancing past Spence toward the door.

“It’s Friday night. He’s probably on his way to his mountain cabin with some bimbo,” Maryanne said, clearly indicating her opinion of the doctor’s private life.

“Ohh,” Taylor said and reached for Ally’s hand.

“Is it time to pant?” Ally asked.

“I hope not,” Maryanne said grimly. “I’ll be back in a minute.” She sailed out of the room, giving Spence a glare as she swept past.

Spence suppressed a need to tell her he was innocent. He wasn’t the cause of the pregnancy, nor had he barged in uninvited. In fact, he’d rather not be there at all.

“There, darling,” Ally crooned.

Spence’s eyes were drawn to her. If a woman ever spoke to him in that tone he’d melt at her feet. It was caring and tender and filled with sweet encouragement. A chill ran down his spine, totally at odds with the furnace that glowed on his face.

He unbuttoned the cuffs of his white business shirt and rolled the sleeves up, glad that he’d tossed his jacket into the back seat of the car when he’d left the office.

The nurse returned in a minute. Claire Winterhawk, his partner’s wife and a pediatrician, entered with her. As the sole male, he definitely felt out of place in the roomful of women. He tried to think of a reason to leave…immediately!

“Hi, Taylor, I’m Dr. Davis,” Claire said. “I’m on call this evening, so I’ll assist you in the birth. I’ll be the twins’ pediatrician, so this is exciting, getting to meet them first thing, huh?”

Spence breathed a silent sigh of relief. He felt better having a doctor on hand. Claire and Johnny had only been married a couple of months and had adopted a baby themselves. He’d taken over the final paperwork for them.

Johnny was handling the adoption of the twins for Ally. Which Spence thought was good. He didn’t want to get too involved with his former best friend.

“Let’s see how you’re doing,” Claire said jovially. She sat down on a stool between the young mother’s legs.

Spence felt the heat rise in his face once more. He quickly glanced away. His gaze met Ally’s. The world shifted; for a moment, he felt as if she saw into his soul and beyond, way back to the years when he’d been angry with her for marrying Jack, for not waiting for him.

Regret and surprise slammed through him. Where had that thought come from? He’d never asked her to wait.

“Get on the other side and take Taylor’s hand,” Ally ordered in gentle tones. “We’ll help her breathe. She took Lamaze classes with Dr. Davis.”

Help her breathe? Classes?

Spence felt he’d landed in another world where they spoke the same language he did, but the words meant entirely different things. He went to where Ally had told him to stand, studiously keeping his eyes averted from what was happening at the other end of the raised hospital bed.

“Are you going to go by Davis or change to Winterhawk now that you’ve married Johnny?” his mother asked, peering over Ally’s shoulder.

“I’ve decided to stay with Davis in my professional life. It’s easier, since everyone in town knows me by that.” Claire leaned forward. “Okay, get ready.”

“Easy, easy,” Ally murmured to Taylor.

“Let’s hit it,” Claire said as if encouraging a football team to play its best.

“Push,” Maryanne said, doing things with spray bottles and towels.

Taylor groaned and pulled against his hand. Alarm spread through him at her expression. He couldn’t tell if it was one of intense pain or intense concentration. Sweat trickled down his spine. He stared at a kid running across the park lawn, his mother hot on his trail. The mother captured the spunky toddler and led him back to the bench where she’d been sitting.

“Pant,” Ally said and proceeded to do so.

She and Taylor panted in unison. Spence did, too, then realized what he was doing and tried to stop. He noted his mom also breathed with Taylor.

“Push!” Maryanne barked again as if the young mother had disobeyed a direct order.

Taylor pushed. Ally pushed. Rose pushed. And Spence pushed. They panted. Sweat collected on their foreheads.

“Okay, relax,” Claire said.

“Deep breaths,” Maryanne commanded. They breathed.

Ally was aware of Spence across the narrow bed from her, his head inches away as they leaned over Taylor and helped her with the birthing. As everyone in the room relaxed, she spared him a sympathetic glance. She didn’t recall ever seeing him blush, but now his face looked as if he had a good case of the measles. Her smile widened.

While they rested for the next big push, her thoughts turned introspective. She regretted that she would never be able to share this moment with her husband. She was barren. That was why she and Jack had been delighted when the chance came to adopt Taylor’s children.

Tears burned her eyes as she recalled that Jack hadn’t known they were having twins. He’d died shortly before Taylor had the checkup that revealed the two heartbeats. She took a careful breath and controlled her sorrow. This wasn’t the place for it.

Now was the time for joy. She and Taylor had discussed the situation. She still wanted the babies, even though there were two and she was alone now. Taylor still wanted her to have them. The nineteen-year-old college student felt the children needed the secure home that Ally could afford and she couldn’t. Both agreed Rose McBride would make a wonderful, doting grandmother, and Taylor could see the twins as often as her studies and workload would allow.

So it would all work out fine. She mentally crossed her fingers. She knew what happened to best-laid plans.

“Okay, here comes another one,” Dr. Davis said.

Ally concentrated on Taylor and her breathing. At her left shoulder, Rose breathed with them, and across the bed, Spence unconsciously did, too.

Maryanne directed them. “Keep pushing. Okay, it’s crowning.”

Ally looked to see what this meant. She gulped and swallowed hard as she saw the very top of a head appear, a ridge running down the middle where the skull plates slid past each other so the baby could squeeze out. Her heart contracted in a mixture of excitement and deep emotion.

She glanced at Spence. He looked uneasy but stoic. For a moment, she was flooded with tenderness toward him. That was odd, but she was glad Rose had, for whatever strange reason, insisted he join them. Welcoming a new generation into the world was a momentous event for a family.

“Okay, once more,” Claire said cheerfully. “You’re doing wonderfully, Taylor.”

“Thank you,” Taylor said politely.

Ally met Spence’s eyes and grinned. He gave her a searching glance. She sensed questions in him, but there wasn’t time to ask what they were. “The baby,” she said. “Here it comes.”

The entire head appeared. Claire efficiently cleared its nose and mouth. “One last big one, I think,” she murmured after they’d rested a bit.

“Ohh,” Ally and Rose and Taylor all chorused together when the baby was born, sliding smoothly into the doctor’s waiting hands with one more push.

“Is the little darling here already?” another nurse crooned, bustling into the room, a baby blanket in hand. “Ah, a sweetheart of a girl,” she said.

Ally recognized the woman as one of the pediatric nurses, Nell Hastings. A calm, gray-haired woman in her fifties, she took care of newborns with an ease that was guaranteed to soothe young parents. She dried the baby and wrapped her in another blanket, then proceeded to weigh and measure the child.

“Five pounds, seven ounces,” she announced. “A very nice size for twins.”

“No rest for the weary,” Claire said to Taylor with an encouraging smile. “Ready for number two?”

Taylor barely had time to say yes before the contraction started and didn’t let up. The team panted and pushed along with the mother. Nicholas came into the world as smoothly as his sister. He took one glance around the crowded room and howled. Startled, Hannah joined in.

“They’re here,” Ally said, tears starting in her eyes. “Taylor, they’re here.”

She and Taylor hugged and cried and kissed each other’s cheeks while the nurse put wristbands on the infants, then weighed and measured the second one. “This big fellow is six pounds. I’m impressed,” she told them.

Feeling a hand caressing her hair, Ally raised her head. Spence gave her an encouraging smile. His eyes looked a little misty, too.

“Oh, Spence, aren’t they the most beautiful babies you ever saw?” she said.

He nodded and continued to stroke her hair in the gentlest manner.

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, all cautious thoughts fleeing in this moment of jubilation. She loved him. She loved Taylor. And Rose and Claire. Even the crabby nurse. And especially the twins, Hannah and Nicholas.

Sniffing, she drew back and pulled her emotions into order. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to drown you two.” She wiped tears off Spence’s shirt and Taylor’s forehead, then blotted Taylor’s face with a washcloth. “You did just great,” she assured the young woman.

“Did I?” Taylor said shakily. She looked from Ally to Spence to Rose. “Thanks for being here. It was just like having a real family—” She stopped as her lips trembled.

Rose patted her arm. “We are a real family, and you’re a special part of it. Thank you for this wonderful gift.”

“You’ll want pictures before I take them to the warmers,” the baby nurse said. She handed one infant to Ally. The other she plopped in Spence’s arms. “Here, Daddy.”

Ally couldn’t help but laugh as Spence reacted in typical surprised-bachelor horror. The child could have been a bomb ready to detonate instead of his nephew.

“I’m not the father,” he hastily corrected. He carefully held the baby out in both hands. The nurse ignored his desperate expression.

“He’s the uncle,” Ally explained.

Rose grabbed a camera from her purse. “Hold Nicholas in the crook of your arm, Spence, the way Ally has Hannah.”

Ally grinned when he looked worried and gingerly held the baby as directed. Rose snapped pictures like mad.

“Now Taylor with the babies,” Ally requested. “Spence, put your hand over Taylor’s on that side.” She did the same and leaned close. “Lean down, Spence. And smile. This is a happy event.”

After they had taken every possible combination of photo for the babies’ album, the kind nurse whisked the little ones off to the warmer. Taylor yawned.

Ally was aware that Spence had played his part gallantly…after he got over the shock of being in on the birthing. She felt an enormous sense of pride about the whole event and everyone’s part in it.

However, she was a tad embarrassed about the emotional kiss she’d plastered on him when he had caressed her in that gentle way. Poor bachelor uncle. This would be a day he wouldn’t soon forget. Rose had some explaining to do to her handsome, and single, son.

Spence remained in the waiting room while the babies were bathed and put in a warmer—he imagined something like a chicken incubator with dozens of babies tucked into their little individual pockets. Ally had gone with the baby nurse to help with the twins while his mom stayed with Taylor.

In the nearby nurses’ station, he heard two student nurses discussing someone. Rachel—another nurse, he surmised—was pregnant and due to deliver soon. They speculated on possible candidates for the father and mentioned Dr. Reid.

Spence was surprised. Dennis Reid was chief of staff at the clinic and sometimes a pain in the neck for Rose in her role as administrator. The man was nearly fifty, a tad old to be getting a woman pregnant out of wedlock.

He wondered if there was a paternity case in the offing, and knew he wasn’t going to handle it if there was. His specialty was ranching cases, not personal problems. He and Johnny were contract attorneys.

He sipped the bitter coffee from the machine. Ugh. It was hard to take on an empty stomach. As if by way of a gentle reminder, his stomach growled.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said.

Ally bustled into the room. “Hi. Talking to yourself? Better watch it. That’s the second sign of senility.”

“What’s the first?” he asked, falling into her teasing mood, even as it made him remember days gone by.

“I forget,” she said, then burst into laughter.

Listening to her husky voice with its intriguing little breaks, he laughed, too. She had always had the ability to make him feel better. When she was in an exuberant mood, as she was now, she was prone to laugh and tease unmercifully.

But she had also listened to his problems and shared her feelings with him…in those long ago days when they were friends.

“Coffee?” he asked, tearing himself away from the memories with an effort.

“Not on an empty stomach. Rose and I did a study, and that stuff can eat through stainless steel in three days, gospel truth.” She held up a hand in a pledge of honor.

He tossed the cup into the trash bin. “How about dinner? I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

“That would be great. Taylor and the babies are all asleep, so it would be a good time to go. I’ll get Rose.”

He nodded, but she was already gone, a whirlwind of energy, shedding radiance on all who came into her orbit.

His heart pounded suddenly. The birthing had caused some strange twists in him that afternoon. He hadn’t realized it would be so emotional and affecting.

Right now, after the excitement of all that…okay, after the kiss that had seared him right down to the soles of his feet…well, he kept thinking of other things, things he hadn’t let himself think of in years.

Ally stuck her head in the door. The hall light turned her blond hair into a golden halo around her slender, oval face. She had “big” hair. Shoulder-length, it always looked tousled. Her cheeks were always pink. As if she’d just come in from some fun exercise in the outdoors. Or climbed out of bed. His body stirred hungrily.

For a second, he considered what it would be like to share the excitement of bringing a new life into the world with a beloved mate. And the excitement of creating that new life. Heat pounded through him. There in the birthing room, as he held the two babies, an image had flashed through his mind—of him and a woman and their children….

“Ready?” she asked.

“Yes.” His voice was husky, sexy. He cleared his throat. “Yes,” he said again, more firmly this time.

Yeah, it was good that his mom would be with them.

He followed Ally along the corridor. He heard groans and pants emanating from a couple of rooms as they passed. The sounds took on a whole new meaning for him now that he knew exactly what they were. He still couldn’t believe his mother had deliberately set him up for the birthing scene. He intended to ask her about that.

“Rose? We’re ready,” Ally called softly to his mom, who was still in the room with Taylor. When Rose joined them, Ally whispered, “Let’s go by the nursery.”

Spence patiently accepted the women’s eagerness to peek at the twins once more before they left. At the nursery window, he saw the babies tucked into little plastic buckets on wheels, a bright light shining down on each one. Both kids wore a tiny stocking cap on their heads and slept peacefully in spite of the lamp.

“Ohhh,” Ally croaked, her voice breaking. “They are so beautiful.”

A hand closed around his arm. Ally leaned against him and looked up, her eyes glowing like a laser beamed through sapphires.

“Aren’t they just darling?” she crooned.

Spence squinted and tried to see what made them more beautiful than the other two babies, also under lights, in the nursery. “Well, uh, they are pretty cute.”