“Maybe a little in my underwear this morning.”
“Oh shit, you had your bloody show,” Kim replied.
“My what?” Alexandra questioned.
“It means you’re in labor. Hell, you’ve been in labor. God only knows how far you’re dilated.” Kim grabbed hold of Rev’s shoulder. “Go call Breakneck. Tell him to get his ass here ASAP.” She then turned to me. “Go find Deacon.”
When Alexandra cried out in pain again, I knew we were in trouble. Her contractions were coming pretty quickly. Although my scientific knowledge of birth was limited to animals, I knew from a few early anatomy courses that labor could take days or mere hours.
“Come on. Let’s get you to bed,” Kim instructed.
Once she recovered from the pain, Alexandra shook her head. “I need to get to the hospital.”
“Besides the fact you’re progressing way too fast, we’re on lockdown, sweetheart. You’re having this baby here.”
Alexandra’s dark eyes widened. “I want Deacon. Now.”
With a nod, I turned and fled the kitchen to find him. I had no idea where on the compound he might be. After glancing around the main room, I didn’t see him. At the back door, Archer was standing guard with Crazy Ace. “You guys seen Deacon?”
“Down at the warehouse.”
When I started past them out the door, Crazy Ace grabbed my arm. “Where the hell do you think you’re going? No women are allowed outside, least of all you.”
“I have to get Deacon,” I protested.
“We’ll get him. You wait here,” Crazy Ace replied.
“You better run like hell for him. Alexandra is in labor.”
Archer’s mouth gaped open. “Holy shit.” He glanced at Crazy Ace. “I’m faster. I’ll go get him.”
Crazy Ace nodded, and then Archer tore out the back door. The entire main room went silent as a tomb when Kim led a hysterical Alexandra out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bedrooms. Just when the conversation started up again, Deacon blew through the door.
He and I then raced across the main room and down the hall to his and Alexandra’s roadhouse bedroom. When he threw open the door, we found Alexandra stretched out on the bed, weeping uncontrollably, while Kim stood by, helplessly wringing her hands.
Deacon went to Alexandra’s side. “Babe, I’m here. It’s all right.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it.
Alexandra stared up at him. “I don’t want to do this here. We need to go to the hospital.”
Deacon’s expression grew grim. “We can’t. It’s not safe.”
“But it’s not safe to have this baby here. I need my doctor and nurses.”
“Breakneck will be here. He’s delivered lots of babies.”
“Please, Deacon. Don’t make me do this here.”
“Babe, I’m sorry, but we just can’t risk it. We’re already taking a huge risk getting Breakneck here,” Deacon argued.
Another contraction had Alexandra contorting her body in agony. When she recovered, tears streamed down her face, but she managed to shout, “I hate you!”
“Alex, please.”
She shook her head wildly back and forth. “You promised me that the club was going to go legit. You promised me that Willow and I and the baby would be safe. If anything happens to my son, I’ll never forgive you!”
Tears welled in Deacon’s eyes. “I’m sorry. Jesus, I’m so sorry.”
“Get out! Get out of my sight, you lying bastard!” When Deacon reached for her hand to try to calm her, she slung him away. “I said get out!” she screamed, then broke down into hysterical sobs, which were so hard they shook the bed.
With an expression of defeated agony, Deacon fled from the room, the door slamming behind him. Kim and I exchanged a look of horror, at a loss as to what we should do next. Although my experience was completely limited to animals, I knew it wasn’t good for Alexandra to be so emotional.
I went to her side and took her hand. “Alex, look at me.”
It took her a few moments to calm down enough to stare into my eyes. I held her gaze, stroking her forehead with my other hand. “It’s going to be all right. You’re going to be all right, and the baby is going to be all right.”
At my words and touch, her entire body seemed to relax. She sighed deeply and squeezed my hand. “Thank you, Annabel.”
Breakneck burst into the room, followed by Rev. The good doctor had his standard black medical bag, along with a rolling suitcase. I guessed he had raided the maternity ward at the hospital for all the necessary supplies.
He then went to work, assessing Alexandra and barking orders to Kim and me.
Breakneck handed me a basin. “Go fill this with boiling water. Tell the women to keep a pot constantly boiling.”
With a nod of my head, I hurried out of the room. When I got outside, I almost tripped over Deacon, who was sitting with his back against the wall.
He raised his haunted eyes to mine. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine. Breakneck is with her, and things are progressing as they should.”
Deacon nodded and then hung his head. I knelt down beside him and took his hand. “She isn’t going to stay mad at you, Deacon. Pain does things to you, makes you say and do things you don’t mean.”
“If something happens to her or the baby because of me, I’ll never be able to forgive myself.”
“Listen to me. Alexandra is young and strong. She’s had a perfectly healthy pregnancy. She will be fine.” I rose to my feet. “I have to go get the water.”
Without another word to him, I sprinted to the kitchen. Thankfully, Boone’s wife, Mary, had had the presence of mind to have a pot of water already heated up.
When I returned with the boiling water, Rev was seated beside Deacon, his arm slung over his brother’s shoulder. I gave him a fleeting smile and then hurried back into the room. Mama Beth had replaced Kim at the bedside. She sat on the edge of the bed, holding Alexandra’s hand and keeping her as calm as she could.
Everything seemed to start happening at a whirlwind pace. I tried to help Breakneck when he asked me, but I felt completely and totally clueless. Some moments felt like the hands on the clock were spinning out of control and others seemed to drag by.
“And there’s the head. You need to keep pushing now.” A beaming smile lit up Breakneck’s face. “He’s got a head full of gorgeous hair.”
“He does?” Alexandra asked.
“Yes, dark hair just like you and Deacon.”
At the mention of Deacon’s name, Alexandra’s eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Deacon,” she murmured, then turned to me. “Please get him for me! He didn’t get to be there when Willow was born, and I don’t want him to miss seeing his son come into the world.”
I spun on my feet and dashed to the door. As I flung it open, I prayed that Deacon was still just outside and hadn’t gone to do something stupid like get drunk. My heart leapt at the sight of him still sitting beside Rev with his head buried in his hands. “Deacon, come quick. Alexandra is asking for you.”
I had never seen anyone move so fast. He was on his feet in a flash and by my side. He didn’t wait for me. Instead, he barreled on inside and went to Alexandra’s side. “I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” he murmured over and over again as he bestowed tender kisses all over her face.
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I’ll give Rev my cut right now if you want me to leave the club.”
My head spun over to the doorway where Rev stood in open-mouthed disbelief at his brother’s suggestion. We then both looked back to the bed to await Alexandra’s response.
She gazed up at Deacon. “How could I ask you to do that? This club is your life.”
“You and our children mean more to me than anything in the world,” he replied.
“Let’s just leave things as they are for right now. How’s that?”
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?”