Gerty pressed her eyes closed, that awful scenario entering her mind. “And I was worried about getting snowed in with West,” she said, her breath coming quickly. “I thought a summer baby would be easier.”
Mike chuckled, because yes, all of Denver was celebrating the Fourth of July two days early—tonight, a Friday, when they could stay up late and sleep in tomorrow. Otherwise, they would’ve had their town celebration on the Fourth, and everyone would’ve had to go to work the next morning.
Mike had given the entire company at HMC the next two weeks off. No emails. No online meetings. No texts. “Plastic will still be here in two weeks,” he’d said, and this was an initiative he’d started implementing every summer for the past few years.
All employees had paid time off for two weeks in July. The building turned into a ghost town. No one was even allowed in—not even security guards.
“Daddy, why you drivin’ like that?”
Gerty grinned, because West was the ultimate backseat driver. He had to know everything too.Who was that man, Daddy? Where are we goin’, Momma? How much is a dollar? Can I get a puppy for myself like Max and Boots? I’m so good with dogs, Momma.
“Because, buddy,” Mike said. “Momma’s gonna have the baby tonight.”
“Finally,” West said, and that got Gerty to giggle a little bit, despite the situation. “What are we gonna name this baby?”
He sounded so much like his father that Gerty opened her eyes and looked over to her husband. “What a great question.”
“No, the great question is whether or not I can deliver this baby in the backseat of this truck.” Mike slowed at the sametime he spoke, and the next thing Gerty knew, they’d come to a complete stop behind a line of cars.
“What is this?” she asked.
“The fireworks are over,” Mike said. “And this is the other side of the arena. They’re out already.”
Gerty blinked at the red, red, red tail lights in front of her, her panic rising like the ocean at high tide. “Mikey,” she whimpered. The word turned into a moan as her belly tightened again—and her water broke.
She sucked in a breath and swung her attention to Mike. “My water just broke.”
Mike gripped the steering wheel with both hands, kneading the solid surface as he stared at her. Then he looked out the windshield and said, “Call Opal Hammond.”
He really needed to update his contacts to include Opal’s new last name. She and Tag had been married for almost two years now, after all.
“Calling Opal Hammond,” his truck said back to him.
“What are—?” Gerty yelped as Mike swung the wheel violently to the left.
“Hang on,” he said. “West, buddy, hang on, okay?”
Gerty pressed one hand to the top of her baby bump—really a mountain—and reached for the handle above the door with the other. “Mike,” she gasped.
“We can’t wait,” he said, and he laid on the horn as he went up and over the curb, the height of the truck and the width of the tires making it easily.
Other people honked back at him, but Mike obviously didn’t care. Behind her, West started to cry, and Gerty twisted to reach one hand toward him. “Baby,” she said, wiggling her fingers. “Westy, honey, look at Momma.”
His dark, sad-scared eyes would’ve inspired tears in anyone, and Gerty’s hormones had been all over lately. Her eyes filledwith tears too, but she said, “Hold my hand. Daddy’s in control, and he’s going to take good care of us.”
Gerty trusted her husband explicitly, and she kept her eyes on West’s as Opal finally answered the phone. “What’s goin’ on?” she asked. “There’s one more song at this concert.”
“Gerty’s gone into labor,” Mike said as the wheels bumped over something. Gerty hoped it was something like shrubs, because any other alternative wasn’t pleasant. “We’re trapped in some traffic I’m trying to get us out of, and I might need that crash course in emergency delivery now.”
Opal said nothing, which really spoke volumes.
“Hold on, guys,” Mike said. “I have to go over another curb.” He gunned the accelerator first, and the bumps this time were definitely bigger than before. It felt and sounded like the truck had just lost a bumper or a hubcap, and Gerty couldn’t hold back the cry that flew from her mouth.
“Okay,” Mike said. “We’re fine now.”
West wailed out another cry, and Gerty squeezed his hand.
“Westy, we’re fine,” Mike said firmly. “Hush up, now, okay? We’re okay.”
