“If you say that one more time, so help me…”
“Here, squeeze my hand,” Cara offered, and the panting continued. Grace started doing it with them, all the way to the hospital, to appease them and stall the next contraction.
“We’re here.” Grace skidded to a halt outside the hospital’s ER.
She ran inside and yelled for help before returning to help both sisters out of the car. When they were settled in wheelchairs and being hauled away, Grace moved her car into a parking spot before sending another text that Cara was also in labor and that they were all at the hospital. God help the hospital staff when all the Thatcher’s and their spouses converged. Aunt Betty alone was enough to scare off doctors, but throw in a hit man, an ex-FBI agent, and a high-strung Highlander, and the nurses would either be drooling at how good looking the guys were, or would be ready to throw them out when they realized that the Thatcher husbands, combined, had the patience of a toddler being told no while dangling candy in front of him.
Shit was about to get real. Their temperaments were already combustible and explosive. Hide the oxygen tanks and sharp objects. This was going down like the Hindenburg.
Grace stood outside the hospital and debated running away instead of going inside. They knew she was here. There was no escape, no way to play ignorant. Grace walked inside and followed the signs to the maternity ward.
“Cockanoodlemonkeylovingsonofamother.”
Grace smiled, hearing Quinn’s cussing from down the hall. The new obscenities she was screaming would never be added to dictionaries. She was going to have to record this for future blackmail. Grace stopped at the nurses’ desk.
“Which rooms are the Thatcher sisters in?”
“202 and 203.”
Great. Right next to each other. “Thanks.”
Grace went back and forth from Quinn’s room to Cara’s, trying her best to give her sisters moral support until Collin and Coop arrived to take over. When she pulled out her phone, to record the moment with her video, she had to dodge water bottles and sharp objects that were being thrown at her head.
Within thirty minutes, Grace was drained of energy, minus feeling in some of her fingers, and had a possible busted eardrum, thanks to a contraction hitting Quinn while Grace was near the bed.
Collin and Coop showed up, passing Grace in the hall. “They’re both at six centimeters. Keep the sharp objects out of reach and take some earplugs. You’re going to need them,” she said, wiping the sweat from her brow. “You two owe me…big….huge.”
Collin lifted Grace into a hug and swung her around. “That I do, lass.”
“Put me down and go deal with Quinn. God knows the nurses need you in there as a new target.”
“Coop, Cara’s in the room next door. I’m going to get a coffee and collapse.”
“Thanks, Grace.” Coop kissed her cheek in passing.
Sam leanedagainst the limo door outside the hospital and debated going inside after just missing Grace as she was leaving her office building with her two very pregnant sisters holding their bellies and doing that crazy Lamaze breathing. He knew exactly where Grace was headed, and the joy and panic that would consume her.
“Are you just going to stand there all day, Sam, or are you going to go upstairs to get a glimpse at how your life is about to change?” a woman said from behind him.
Sam turned to find an older woman with orange spiked hair grinning at him. The shirt she wore read, “Great Aunts are Hot.”
“Excuse me? I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“You can call me Aunt Betty. That’s what Grace calls me.”
“Oh.” He nodded slowly in understanding. She was the woman who had foretold their danger at the wedding. “Right. You’re the Aunt Betty with the visions.”
“One and the same. There’s no need to thank me. Maybe just make an altar with my picture as the centerpiece.” She entwined their arms together before glancing at the limo driver. “He’ll be down in ten with company, so park it, good looking.”
“I should probably just leave,” he said as she started dragging him inside.
“Nonsense. She’s waited long enough to hear from you. You’re about to lose your window of opportunity, and we both know you don’t want that.”
“I’m sure she’s busy,” Sam said, digging in his heels to make Betty stop.
“Listen, sonny. You have free will, but she does too, and herwillis almost ready to knock yours on its ass. So, suck it up and be the man she thinks you are. You promised her a date, and you’re the dating king, so give her one that she’ll compare all others against.”
“See, now that I can do,” Sam said, straightening his shirt. “Thanks.” He’d turned to walk away when Betty grabbed his arm, stopping his retreat.
