“FROST!HONEY!SOMEONE GET THE DAMN TRUCK.SHE’S HAVIN’ THE BABY!”
The clubhouse erupts on the other side.Boots pounding.Voices shouting.Someone screams, “I TOLD Y’ALL SHE’D GO ON CHRISTMAS!”
Humbug cups my face again, forehead pressed to mine, both of us shaking.
“You ready?”he asks, breathless.
“No,” I laugh-cry.“Are you?”
“Not even close,” he says.“But we’re doin’ it anyway.”
He grabs my hand, strong and sure.
And just like that, Evervale’s Christmas miracle begins.
Chapter 24
Carol
When my water breaks, I don’t believe it at first.One second, I’m about to climb Humbug like a Christmas tree.The next, warmth spills down my legs and pools on the clubhouse floor.
I freeze.
Humbug does not.
I’ve seen him walk into bar fights cool as ice.I’ve seen him drag a bleeding man across asphalt without breaking a sweat.
But right now?
He’s absolutely losing his mind.
Honey shoves him aside.“Move, you giant panicked toddler.Carol, baby, how far apart are the contractions?”
“Two minutes,” I pant, holding my belly.
“GET THE TRUCK!”Humbug roars.
“We don’t need the truck yet,” Honey says.
But he’s already gone.
By the time Lil’ Nick skids his pickup to the door, Humbug’s scooping me up like I haven’t gained a million pounds, carrying me through the falling snow.Evervale blurs past us as Nick floors it toward the hospital.Honey sits in the back with me, one hand on my knee, the other gripping the handle above her head like the truck might lift off the ground.
“Just breathe, sweetheart,” she says.
“I AM breathing,” I snap.“You breathe with your entire pelvis splitting in half!”
When we burst through the hospital doors, a nurse jumps at the sight of me, panting, gripping the wheelchair handles, red dress soaked through.
“Labor,” Humbug barks.“Fast.She needs a doctor.A team.Hell, call NASA if you need to.”
“Sir,” the nurse says.“Please don’t tackle anyone.Walk beside us.”
“I’m not leavin’ her,” he mutters, glued to my side as they roll me down the hall.
The paper snowflakes taped to the walls flutter as we pass.The whole place is twinkling like Evervale threw up in here, stockings, garland, lights everywhere.It should feel comforting.It doesn’t.
When they get me into the delivery room, the bright lights and beeping machines make everything suddenly too real.Humbug paces the width of the room, running both hands through his hair, then back down again, like if he stops moving, he’ll combust.
