Deacon brought his mouth to Alexandra’s and kissed her passionately. “God, do I love you.”
“I love you, too. But I need to push now.”
He immediately stood upright. “Okay. What do I need to do?”
She laughed at his bewildered expression. “Just hold my hand and talk to me when the pain gets bad.”
“I can do that.”
Now that Deacon was taking care of Alexandra, I went over to Rev who stood in the doorway. I wasn’t sure if we should stayin or go, but when Alexandra met my gaze, she shook her head. “Stay.”
“If you’re sure.”
“You’ve already seen the worst part. Might as well see the best. Besides, it makes sense his godparents are in the room.”
Together,Rev and I smiled at her. It was an honor to be a part of seeing life come into the world. It was a double honor to be named the baby’s godparents. So Rev closed the door behind him.
When things got dicey for Alexandra with the pain, Rev would squeeze my hand. I knew in some ways he could imagine me being in that much pain, which would kill him. Deacon certainly wasn’t faring well at seeing Alexandra hurting.
The mood in the air shifted, and with a hearty cry, Deacon and Alexandra’s son came into the world. After cleaning his lungs and cutting him free from Alexandra, Breakneck held out the wailing baby to me. I momentarily froze.
“Annabel, aftercare for infants isn’t terribly different from animals. Prepare the baby for Alexandra to hold.” At his encouraging look, I grabbed a waiting blanket and took the baby into my arms.
“Shh, it’s okay, sweetheart,” I murmured to him, as I wrapped him up.
As Breakneck dealt with the afterbirth and making sure Alexandra was okay, I took the baby over to the tub of warm water and began to gently clean him. At the contact with the water, his cries grew louder, and Deacon came to my side. With a smile, I glanced at him over my shoulder. “I promise I’m not hurting him.”
“That’s not what I thought at all,” Deacon replied, but I could tell his fatherly instincts to protect his son were kicking into overdrive.
Once the baby had been washed and dried, I took a fresh blanket and wrapped him snugly in it. When I turned around, Deacon was staring expectantly at me. “Ready to meet your son?”
“Hell yeah,” he replied with a smile.
I passed the baby over to his waiting arms. Then Deacon did something I would never have imagined. Cradling his son to his chest, he broke down into quiet sobs. When I glanced from Deacon to Rev, I saw the same expression of disbelief on Rev’s face as I was sure I had on my own.
Deacon quickly recovered and dragged his free arm across his wet eyes. “Look at you, little man,” he murmured.
“Does he have a name?” I asked.
After glancing at Alexandra, who nodded, Deacon smiled. “It’s Wyatt David Malloy.”
“Nice choice,” Rev replied.
Deacon went over to Rev. “He’s handsome, isn’t he?”
Rev grinned. “Very handsome. Although I think he’s going to favor his mother.”
With a slight frown, Deacon eyeballed his son. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”
“Don’t sound so sad about it,” Alexandra joked.
“He should be honored to take after his mother as good looking as she is,” Deacon said and then he winked at Alexandra.
“Well, everything looks good. I think it’s time this mother got to hold her baby,” Breakneck said.
As Deacon started to take Wyatt over to Alexandra, Rev leaned down to place a tiny kiss on the top of Wyatt’s head. The simple gesture was my undoing. All the emotions of the day converged on me in that moment. I knew I had to get out of that room.
Without a word to Rev or the others, I hurried for the door. I don’t know how he made it so fast, but he was at my sidebefore I got it open. Taking me by the hand, Rev led me into our bedroom. Thankfully, it was empty. He went over to the bed and laid down, pulling me down beside him. “I know that had to be hell on you, so cry all you want to.”
