Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97275 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Seeing as I slept days and went to work during the night, it wasn’t so easy to get to the doctors unless I wanted to lose a couple hours of sleep. To a pregnant girl, that’s worse than anything you could imagine. My doctor is one of my favorites in the maternity ward, and since he’s in the next hall over from where I work ninety nine percent of the time, he said he would work me in since he had two inducements that night.
“You won’t have a man on you today. A tree limb fell through the roof of the garage early this morning and we need to get it patched since it has yet to stop snowing in a day and a half.” Max explained.
In Texas, snow of any kind was rare. For it to snow for that long was unheard of. The trees couldn’t keep up with the weight of the snow and ice, and they were just collapsing, breaking, and uprooting all over the place. We’re lucky that worse hasn’t happened. Hell, at least we had power.
The lights flickered twice before going out completely. The last thing I witnessed was Max lifting the jug of orange juice to his lips. Straight out of the jug he drank. I glared at him, but since it was dark, he couldn’t get the full impact of the glare. Pig.
“Yeah, but what about the rest of us? We’ll all probably die of exposure, and there you’ll be all nice and cozy. Think of the children!” Max teased.
I walked slowly with my hands out until I found the counter. I filled up a glass of water, downed my prenatal vitamin, and placed the cup in the sink. Displaced air informed me of Max’s arrival at my side as he leaned down and threw the empty orange juice pitcher into the sink. The man couldn’t find the trash when the lights were on, what made me think he could when the lights were off?
“I am thinking about them, or at least ours!” I laughed.
Max came up to me and wrapped me up in his big strong arms. My face was buried in the soft flannel of his shirt. His chin rested on the top of my head and my tiny bump nestled up to his crotch. “You were glaring at me weren’t you?”
Tiny flutters in my belly made my heart happy, but they weren’t noticeable to Max yet. I couldn’t wait for him to feel the baby kick.
I didn’t follow seeing as it was dark and I’d probably find every damn chair in the kitchen with my shins, and still never catch him. “Alpha!” I yelled.
Alpha was at my side instantly, and I gave him a body rub before standing and saying, “Truck.”
He led me through the house, and never once did I hit a chair or ottoman. I don’t know what I ever did without this dog; he was such a large part of our lives now that I don’t even know what I used to do before him. Max and he had a competition going on for my love and affection. Max teased that I loved the dog more than I loved him at time, which might have some truth to it because Alpha doesn’t leave a complete mess everywhere he goes.
“Ready?” Max asked from directly behind me.
I jumped three feet in the air (well okay, maybe like six inches) and turned with a flare. “Jesus Max. Can’t you freaking stomp or something and let me know you’re coming?”
“Sorry, sweet cheeks. Let’s get going.” He said as he lifted me up in his arms and cradling me against his chest.
I rolled my eyes, but was secretly happy that he was so thoughtful. The man was a pain the ass, but he was my pain in the ass.
The drive to the hospital was a slow one. It was good that I wasn’t driving because people were being complete dumbasses. Some drove excessively slow, while others went too fast. There were wrecked cars abandoned on the side of the road. A few power lines down here and there, as well as downed trees. The snow was making a kaleidoscope effect as we drove, and soon I found myself dizzy and nauseous.
I’ve never been so happy as when we pulled up to the front entrance to the hospital. “Hold on and I’ll walk you up. Hopefully they don’t care if I park here.” Max said as he rounded the corner of the blazer.
He opened the door and grabbed me around the waist with both hands, letting my body rub against his until my feet met the asphalt. My nausea disappeared, and was instantly replaced by need. I inhaled deeply, taking the scent of him into my lungs. This would be a long twelve hours.
His hearty laugh filled the night, and I beamed at him. “Alright, let’s get this shit over with.”
“Remember to call me. Don’t you dare start without me!” He said as he led me to the nurse’s station.
The lights flickered but stayed on. We all groaned. If the lights went out, this would be one hell of a shift. Babies continued to be born whether there were lights or not. It was a scary thing to be in the middle of a delivery and lose power.
“Call me if you need anything, Payton. Love you.” Max said as he kissed me and then took off for the stairs.
“Why did we not just ride in the same vehicle?” Cheyenne asked from behind me.
I turned and smiled at her. She was wearing her hair down tonight, and I envied the long curly mass. “Probably because I’m twenty minutes late again, and you’re always on time.”
“That’s right. Sam drove me; he wanted to spend a little more time with me.” Cheyenne said and then amended, “Well, if you wanted to be technical, he said, ‘you’d probably end up in a ditch, and then I’d have to come get you anyway. Get over it.’ I chose to think he did it with love, though.”