“It’s a boy!” he announced, holding up the reddish-blond puppy. “Perfectly healthy.” He placed him back with his mother before he took the gloves off. “She’s already cut the umbilical cord and is licking the puppy. That’s a good sign.”
“Why are you taking your gloves off?” Jamie thought he should stay ready for the next one. She could imagine an obstetrician removing their protective clothing between births.
“It’s usually a while before the next one.” He went to the sink and ran the water. “Poppy will likely rest between puppies.”
“Do the twins want a boy or a girl?” Jamie asked Clayton.
“They don’t care,” he said. “A boy would probably be best for Duke.”
“Why?” Jamie didn’t know there was a difference, other than the obvious.
“Females mature faster than males,” Nolan told her.
“Just like people.” Jamie looked at the vet. “What about you, Nolan? Do you want a boy or a girl?”
“It doesn’t matter to me.” He shrugged. “I’ll take whatever.”
“I’m so glad our dogs are siblings,” Ruth announced.
“One big family,” Nolan added.
Jamie lifted her brow at Clayton, silently asking if he caught the insinuation. His slow nod and knowing smile said that he had.
Another sound came from the pen. Jamie stood from the couch, eyes narrowing at Poppy. Her little jaws worked furiously but there was no food in sight. A pit formed in Jamie’s stomach. “What’s she eating?”
Nolan walked up to the box. “She’s eating the placenta.”
Jamie slapped her hands against her cheeks, fingers digging into her skin as if she could scrub the image from her brain.Nope. Still there. And still disgusting.She wrinkled her nose, lips curling in a grimace, but it did nothing to erase the horror now permanently burned into her mind. A shudder rolled down her spine, making her shoulders twitch.
“Gross,” Clayton said, turning his head. “I can’t look.”
Ruth joined the vet at the box and said, “It’s perfectly natural.”
“I think I’m going to be sick.” Jamie clutched her stomach, willing herself not to hurl. She wasn’t sure if she could ever look at Poppy the same way again, let alone kiss her.
“I’ll join you,” Clayton said. “Might want to keep a trash can handy.”
“It’s good for them,” Nolan said. “Placentophagy provides nourishment to the mother.”
“Didn’t you grow up on a farm?” Jamie sat back down, eyeing the country singer. Surely this wasn’t a big deal for him. As for her? She’d never even made it through a documentary of an animal giving birth—she always changed the channel before it happened.
“That’s why he played ball instead of becoming a vet.” Nolan laughed. “He never had the stomach for it. Three generations of livestock vets and this guy faints at the sight of blood.” He looked at his brother. “Daddy wasnotimpressed.”
“Were you in the delivery room when the twins were born?” Jamie asked Clayton, who swayed back and forth as if he were in a rocking chair. The color drained from his face, slipping past his beard and stopping at his neck.
“This is a good story,” Nolan said. “Want me to tell it?”
Clayton said nothing and shook his head.
Nolan went on, “Tammy decided to have a C-section, so it was already scheduled. The whole family was in the waiting room. Daddywas beside himself, never having been in that position. He was always the one delivering. Momma, though, was cool as a cucumber, sitting in a chair and knitting. A few minutes after Clayton went in the doctor came out and told us my brother had passed out after the bikini cut and was now in a hospital room himself. He had a concussion from when his head hit the ground. The doctor said that Tammy screamed at him until they rolled the gurney out, so I volunteered to stay with her so she wouldn’t be alone. I got into a gown and hat and put on gloves. Emily was the first, and a few moments later, along came Charlotte.”
“He missed the whole thing?” Jamie asked as if Clayton wasn’t sitting directly across from her.
“The whole dang thing,” Clayton admitted.
A whimper came from the whelping box.
“Maybe this is Reba!” Ruth said, her voice even more hopeful than the last time.
