What the fuck ever.
He looked around the room, and Laird had to admit it was clean and cozy. There was a bed that was done up to hide that it was a hospital bed. A weird-looking sofa with wedges and cutouts. A huge ball, a chair that was just a C. Even a pink rope hanging from the ceiling. The wallpaperhad roses, there wasn’t a ton of medical equipment, and in the back of the room was a huge whirlpool bathtub.
In baby pink.
“You have a pink bathtub.”
Devon nodded. “I do.”
“Why do you have a pink bathtub?”
“Why the fuck do you care?” Mhairi snarled. “Can you make him go away? I just want to sit here for a minute and breathe.”
“I tell you what. Why don’t you sit here for a minute and breathe?” Devon helped her sit on the weird sofa. “Your brother and I can go out and talk for a second, and when we get back, I’ll check you out. We’ll take all the baby’s vitals and everything, and then we’ll talk about getting in the tub. Do you want me to start warming the water? Your brother and I won’t be long.”
“Please, I would love to have a bath—not hot, warm. Can I have some orange juice or pineapple juice or something?”
Devon’s eyes lit up. “I have pineapple orange. Would you like that?”
Mhairi began to cry. “You’re a miracle worker.”
Laird couldn’t believe this. She wasn’t serious. He’d come as soon as Mhairi had called. He’d dealt with tears and a hysterical sister, and he’d been on a three-day shift. He was exhausted.
Somehow, the weird midwife guy was the miracle worker.
It wasn’t fair, and it pissed him right the hell off.
“I’ll be right back, sweetie.” Devon gave him a look, the first one that he’d seen since he’d been there that wasn’t completely serene and annoying. He led him out of the birthing room, closing the doorgently behind them.
Then the guy gave him a hard stare. “Look, I can understand that you’ve never been here before, you don’t really understand our methods, and you’re very suspicious. It seems that you’re probably that way by nature. But Mhairi needs to know that she’s in good hands, which she is. And that whatever she wants is what goes. So I’m going to need you to step back and let me do my job.”
“She needs to be at a hospital. You have a pink bathtub.” Laird growled the words because he was absolutely going to lose his shit any minute. His eyes felt gritty, his whole body ached, and he was so tired that even his hair hurt. He didn’t have time for this bullshit.
“I also have a green one and a blue one.” Devon took a deep breath as if he was calming himself, even though his voice never went up. “I am a registered nurse. I am a certified midwife, and I have a graduate-level degree in midwife services. I believe Mhairi said you were a fireman and an EMT?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, wanting to growl some more, but instead he just took a deep breath himself and answered, “Yes, that is exactly what I am, and I can tell you that I don’t feel like this is a good situation for her to have her baby.”
“And what would be a good situation for you? An overcrowded hospital ward in Montrose? They do their best there, but they’re not exactly spacious.”
“I just don’t want her sitting around bleeding to death or something while some quack?—”
Fire lit up Devon’s hazel eyes, the gold taking over from the green, and the man poked him right in the middle of his chest with a very sharp, pointy finger. “I am not a quack. I have delivered hundreds of babies. People comefrom all over the state to give birth in my birthing center. How many babies have you delivered?”
“Three. I’ve delivered three, one of them in the back of a bus.”
“I’ve delivered three this week so far, so don’t mess with me. If you cannot be decent, I’m not going to let you back in there with her, because she’s already upset, mostly at you. But a lot of it is that her husband is not here yet. You’re here to support her, not to make her feel worse.” That finger hit his chest over and over again, boink boink boink.
Laird stared down at the guy who was damn near a head shorter than him and thought about just picking him up and shaking him.
But at the same time, Devon had a point. He was supposed to be here for Mhairi, not to be a grumpy bastard and make her experience giving birth to her first child a shitty one.
“Fine.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “But I’ll have my eye on you. You step out of line in any way that I feel is dangerous to her or the baby, and I’m whisking her ass out of here so fast that you won’t even be able to blink.”
“Perfect!” Serene man was back, and the finger was withdrawn from his chest. “Now, I’m going to go help her get undressed, and I’m going to check all of her vitals and the baby’s. Then we’re going to get her in the tub, and you’re going to smile at her and say, ‘Yes, sister dear,’ to anything she asks of you. Do you understand?”
He let himself arch an eyebrow but he didn’t respond, and he didn’t shake the little bastard, either.
He was here for Mhairi, that was it.
