Resonance of Stars (Greenstone Security #5) - Anne Malcom Page 0,120
at me with understanding.
“But come back,” Mia demanded. “I’ve got so many questions about what movie stars are real assholes behind the scenes.”
I grinned at her. “Honey, I’m the real asshole.”
Then I ran.
To him.
He had plenty of things to say about me running. But I shut him up with a kiss.
The next day, underneath a wedding arch that Tanner had made for us, we kissed again. This one was supposed to be more official, but who was I kidding? I was his from the moment I got in that car.
Arms went around my ever-growing midsection. Duke’s palms settled right below my belly button, where they mostly landed since I told him about the baby.
“It’s too cold for you to be standin’ out here, babe,” he murmured against my neck.
I rolled my eyes. “Are you ever going to stop being over-the-top protective?”
His hands tightened ever so slightly on my stomach. “No, baby. I’m not. Got the whole world in my hands right now. No such thing as overprotecting that.”
Well. I couldn’t argue with the man.
“What are you doin’ out here, anyway?” Duke asked after a beat.
“Listening to the stars,” I replied.
He kissed my neck again.
“I’m just taking one last moment to get used to the silence,” I said, stepping out of his embrace and turning around. The movement hurt—a lot. But I managed to hide my wince. “I think we’ve only got about thirty minutes, if that, before my screaming starts.”
Duke went still. “You better not be saying what I think you’re saying.”
I smiled. “Oh, relax. My water only broke like ten minutes ago. I knew you were on your way back since you texted me, and I also knew that telling you wouldn’t make you go any faster since you already break land speed records making it home to me. I’m not about to make this dramatic. We’ve had enough drama, don’t you think?”
It turned out we had not had enough drama.
“Pull over,” I gritted out. My hair was sticking to the thick sheen of sweat covering my forehead.
I was wrong. The screaming started much earlier than I thought, like as soon as we all got into the car.
Harriet had just happened to stop by.
I was certain that woman was psychic. She never “popped by” in the evenings without giving us a “thirty-minute warning to finish up and get your clothes on.” But this particular night, she’d apparently been walking under the light of the full moon and thought it was time for a visit.
“I can’t pull over,” Duke said calmly. “We’re in the middle of nowhere and we’ve still got ten minutes until we’re in town.”
Right then, I hated Duke. I hated his calm fucking tone. I hated him for being a man and not ever having to feel this. I hated him for breathing easily. I especially hated him for putting this demon inside me.
“This isn’t like a full fucking bladder, I can’t just hold it,” I said, just as calmly. Well, I thought my tone had a slight hint of mania to it, but that was understandable since a tiny human was currently trying to claw its way out of my uterus. “Pull. Over.”
There was a second when I thought he wasn’t going to listen to me, when I thought I might very well have to reach forward and strangle my husband while simultaneously delivering his child.
But he pulled over. Lucky for us all.
“I’ll call for a medivac, a helicopter, something so you’re not delivering a baby on the side of a fucking road,” he hissed as the car came to a stop.
“Oh stop with the hysteria,” Harriet chastised, glaring at her grandchild before looking to me. For once, there was no chaos in the woman’s eyes, only calm. She grabbed my hand. “You got this, girl. Womankind have been delivering babies in all sorts of situations all over the world for thousands of years. I’m not gonna lie to you, the fact you don’t get the drugs is a big old bugger because it hurts like hell. But I also have faith in you. You’re strong enough.” She squeezed my hand.
“Now, Duke, deliver my great-grandchild,” she requested.
Sariah Harriet Hammond was born on the side of the road under the Montana stars. She screamed loud and true, drowning out even the loudest of those stars.
She came into this world in a hurry, for she had things to do. She had a family to meet.