Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“I’m having the baby. Like right now.” Her belly seized, and she realized she was a dumbass because she’d been in labor all morning long.
* * * *
“Butter is not going to help, and now I’m a little worried I should call the fire department because I have no idea how you got stuck in there.” Panic was starting to well inside Ian, and he was not the guy who panicked. He was the dude who kept his cool even while taking enemy fire. When the bombs started dropping, Ian Taggart chilled and dealt with the situation.
“I think the butter might work.” Twenty minutes later Kala was still holding that stick of butter and he was still alone, despite the fact that he’d called all three of his brothers and Alex.
He’d gotten voice mails from everyone. Every single one of the fuckers was apparently doing something so fucking important he couldn’t answer the phone.
“Didn’t it work on Winnie the Pooh?” Kenzie was the calm one. She just sat there while her dad thought about how Charlie would divorce him if she lost an arm in a vending machine on his watch.
She never paid attention. “No, sweetie. They had to starve Pooh Bear to get him out of the hole.”
Now Kenzie’s eyes went wide and tears formed. “I don’t want to starve. I’m already hungry. I really want some chips.”
Okay. He had to go about this logically. He’d unplugged the machine. He’d tried to gently ease her arm out. He’d even maneuvered her bodily, but that sucker was stuck.
Seth was still wailing.
“So it’s okay for me to eat the candy bar?” Kala asked. “I mean, I don’t need to starve, right?”
“Go and comfort your brother.” He wasn’t going to yell. No. He was keeping his cool. He’d taken out an entire unit of enemy soldiers on his own with too little ordnance and very little cover. He could handle one vending machine without losing his shit.
Seth had been wailing for a while now and it was starting to grate, but he wasn’t sure what the best dad in the world should do in this particular situation. Should he leave his trapped daughter to change his son’s pants or fill his never-ending gut?
If he smashed the vending machine open, could he take it apart without slicing his baby’s arm off? Maybe she wanted a bionic arm.
Alex was better with tools than he was. Theo was good with his hands, too. Maybe he could figure out a way to take the machine apart. Or he could call the vending machine company. Did they have a help desk? Frequently answered questions?
Charlie was going to have his head.
His cell buzzed in his pocket. He slipped it out, praying it was Alex.
It was Charlie. How long could he duck this call?
He looked down at his daughter. “Do not move.”
Kala had obviously gotten to Seth because he quieted down.
Kenzie was crying. “I don’t want to starve.”
“I’m not going to let you starve.” But she might grow up here. He would make it comfortable for her. He could put in a cot, and she would have lots of company because Hutch used this sucker three times a day.
Fuck. He took a deep breath and slid his finger across the screen. “Hey, baby. How’s the relaxation going?”
He would tell her. One day. But she was resting today. She didn’t need to worry about their daughter being attached to a vending machine for the rest of her life.
“Ian, I need you to come home. I’m in labor. I think I’ve got enough time for you to get back here and take me to the hospital,” she said.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Baby. Coming. Soon.”
His heart was going to stop. The baby wasn’t supposed to be here for another week. How could this be happening? He had to deal with it. “I want you to call 911.”
“I don’t think I need to,” she replied. “I think I’m okay. I would rather wait for you.”
“Don’t tell Mom,” Kenzie whispered.
He sent his daughter a stern look and stepped away. “How far apart are the contractions?”
He would call until he got someone on the phone. He would send someone over to hold her hand, and he would get the fire department out here to smash the fucking vending machine. That was a plan.
“I don’t know. My water broke,” she admitted.
It was time to take control. “Charlie, I’m calling 911 if you don’t. The traffic shouldn’t be too bad on a Saturday. I’m twenty minutes away if I leave right now, and I can’t.”
“Don’t call 911. I was on the phone with my sister when it happened. Chelsea’s already on her way. Why can’t you leave?”
There were times when he couldn’t hide shit from his wife. “Kenzie’s arm is caught in the vending machine.”
“What?” The question came out on a screech.