Both Jo and Katie rushed in at once to greet the newest addition, leaving Shiftless to whine and scratch at the door. They cooed over Cain as Cutter took him from his mother to bathe him, and then compared his hands to Katie’s while Elizabeth held him.
“Oooh! They’re so little!” Katie marveled. “Do you think he’ll like Shifless, Aunt Lizbeth?”
Elizabeth nodded dreamily, her eyes drifting shut as she watched the doting scene before her. Glancing up, Jo must have caught her weary expression and rose from the bed. She ushered Katie out, explaining as she closed the door that Elizabeth and Cain were getting too sleepy.
When they were gone, Elizabeth gazed down at her son, her weary eyes reflecting her pride. The pain had been more than she could ever have imagined, but worth it, she thought as she glanced up adoringly at her husband. She just couldn’t believe it. And Cutter had done so well, giving her strength when it seemed she had none of her own. “You saved my life,” she whispered worshipfully.
“No,” he murmured, lifting her hand and kissing it with so much emotion that Elizabeth thought she would burst into tears. She blinked as moisture pooled in her eyes.
“Much as I’d like to take the credit,” Cutter told her, his voice hoarse, “I just followed directions. You did all the work.” He gazed at her, then at his son. Black hair, and blue eyes that appeared more black than blue. “Besides,” he whispered as he caressed his son’s downy head. He reveled in the feel of the silky hair against his scarred fingers... so much softness in his life. “Even if it were true... you save my life every day. Before you, Liz, I was dead inside and didn’t even know it.”
Elizabeth swallowed, fighting the wave of exhaustion that waited to claim her. “You were?” Tears shimmered on her lashes.
Cutter’s eyes lifted, moisture glistened in his black eyes, making them sparkle like ink-colored glass.
“I was,” he assured her with a wink. His gaze lowered briefly to the child who lay between them, and then back to his wife’s face, still disbelieving that she was really his.His.She’d given him so much. Everything he’d ever searched for was right there in her golden eyes. “I’m richer ‘n Midas,” he told her with a gleam in his eyes, “and aim to be just as greedy. Can’t get enough of you... never want to.”
“I... I love you, Cutter.”
Cutter smoothed the hair away from Elizabeth’s forehead and bent to kiss her eyes closed. “And I love you, Doc,” he whispered back.
Elizabeth smiled, and let her cheek fall against the pillow. As she drifted, she listened to the sounds Cain made as he suckled.
“More than you’ll ever know,” Cutter whispered. But Elizabeth didn’t hear. She’d fallen asleep. It didn’t matter. “‘Cause I’m going to prove it to you every day of the rest of our lives,” he swore.
He lifted his son up into his arms, his eyes full of warmth and a touch of arrogant pride as he secured the blanket around his baby boy.
“You’re gonna hafta take real good care of those little jewels, son. Give me lots of fine grandchildren.” He grinned as he looked down into Elizabeth’s sleeping face, chuckling richly as he then advised in a husky whisper, “Only ride double with the woman you intend to make your wife.” He sank back into the nearest chair, propping his boots upon the edge of the bed to settle down for a long man-to-man chat with his firstborn son. Cain gurgled happily and curled his tiny fingers around Cutter’s scarred thumb. “Yeah,” Cutter agreed, his voice soft as he stared at that flawed thumb with those tiny wriggling fingers holding it in unconditional acceptance. His heart surged. “That’s right...” He nodded as a lump of pride thickened his throat. “Like your pa, you see...”
Unbeknownst to Cutter, Elizabeth’s smile deepened.
