gonna—”
“Don’t you dare threaten my baby again,” Tamsin clipped, appearing behind me. “I’ve got to go into work for an hour to talk to one of the seniors. Get some sleep and apologize to him when you get up.” Then, flashing me a sweet smile, she gave me a quick kiss, not minding my morning breath at all. “Love you!”
And then she was gone. That was life with Tamsin Evans, though. It was an adventure with highs and lows, but the lows were absorbed into the highs, and you never doubted how much she loved you.
It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to do as I was told, though…
Two hours later…
I hadn’t set the alarm, but the fucking thing kept going off. I was just leaning up to throw my phone across the room when I saw Tamsin’s name on the screen.
“’Lo?”
I could hear her panting slightly, and it woke me up immediately. Even though Gjorka wasn’t a part of this world anymore—thanks to someone who had an issue with him in the prison he’d eventually been sent to after a lengthy trial—going through that had stuck with me, so it was instinct to panic whenever there was something wrong.
“Honey, I’ve got a problem.”
The sleep fog dropped instantly, and I was on my feet the second she stopped talking. “What is it, baby?”
Putting the phone on speaker, I grabbed a pair of dark grey sweats out of my drawer and a t-shirt and yanked them on, thanking all that was holy that I’d had a shower when I got in this morning. I never went to bed with the dirt from work on me.
“Um, you see, I stopped in to congratulate one of the classes on getting good grades in their exams—they went from all getting C’s to B’s, Garrett. Isn’t that great?”
“Yeah, baby, that’s great,” I murmured, quickly brushing my teeth and then grabbing my keys on the way to the door. “Now, what’s the problem?”
“Well, I walked into the room and jumped when they started calling my name and clapping…” she trailed off, leaving me staring at the wheel of my new Expedition.
“And then?”
“I just wasn’t expecting it. I’ve spent a lot of time with them, I know, but they were so excited.”
Fuck it. I’d start driving to the school while she got to the point.
“And then?”
“I jumped, and it felt like the baby bounced inside me, but I know they’re okay.”
“Uh-huh, so you bounced, and the baby did it as well. And then?” Christ, I felt like the woman out of Dude, Where’s My Car?
Huffing out a breath, she sniffed, “Well, either I peed my pants in front of the class, or my water broke.”
Ah, shit.
Seeing as how she needed me to stay calm according to the classes we’d gone to, I cracked my neck and kept my voice as level as I could. “I’ll be with you in ten minutes. Do you think you can hold on that long?”
“Tabby’s with me, and I’m not feeling any pain, so I think I’ll be okay.” I could hear whispering from Tabby, and then Tamsin came back on the line. “So, how was your day? Did you manage to watch Downton Abbey like I told you to? It suits my ring, doesn’t it?”
I was spared from answering the question by her breath hitching and Tabby yelling, “Okay, that’s the first one. Tell me when it ends so I can set the timer on my phone.”
Seventeen Hours Later…
Cole Townsend had told me that he’d informed his wife that he wanted another baby the second his son was born. Witnessing what I was, I was even more convinced that the man was out of his fucking mind. My penis had crawled inside me and was never coming out again.
“Okay, Tamsin, you’re almost there,” the doctor reassured her as she did that panting shit.
Then the next contraction hit, and it was like she started speaking Swahili with the noises that came out of her. For half of it, I was convinced she was possessed.
“And there we go, baby’s here, Momma,” the doctor called, holding up what looked like something out of a horror movie.
“What the hell’s that all over it?” I cried, taking a step away as they brought it closer to me.
I was never eating jelly, miracle whip, or cream cheese again. That shit was out.
“It’s just what nature does to protect the baby,” the nurse chuckled, wiping it with a towel. “See, it comes off.”
“It’s… I-Is that even sanitary?”
Grabbing the leg