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“I don’t know how Linkin was able to sit there and watch her be in pain,” Ryan adds, rubbing Jaime’s shoulders affectionately. The look on his face speaks volumes that it won’t sit well with him when he’s in Linkin’s shoes.
“That man was amazing. Besides the hand incident and the fact the anesthesiologist cleared the room for her epidural, he never left her side. He’s feeding her ice chips and rubbing her back and shoulders. I teared up a little,” Abby says.
“I hope she’s finally able to rest now. That’s why we left,” Emma adds.
“We left because they asked us to go,” Abby clarifies.
“Who asked you to leave?” Meghan asks.
“No one,” Grandma says at the same time Abby responds, “The doctor and nurses.”
“Wait, why did they ask you to leave?” Payton asks her grandma.
“I offered one tiny little suggestion and he got all bent out of shape,” Emma declares.
“One tiny suggestion? You insinuated that he go clean his pipes so he had a clear head,” Abby huffed.
“It’s a proven medical fact, Abs. Men think clearer when they’ve unloaded the gun. Ask Sawyer! He used to perform professionally. Did you have to flog the log before your games so you could achieve peak performance?” This ornery ol’ woman has a wicked gleam in her eyes as she waits to see how I reply.
And cue the very manly blush. I can feel it creep up my neck and tinge my cheeks, especially since all eyes in the waiting room are trained directly on me. Most of the faces have smiles on them as they anxiously await my response. I feel like this is a test, so I make a quick decision in hopes that Emma would appreciate a little humor. “Every game. The more hand to gland combat you engage in, the better you…play.” I throw the old lady a wink just to seal the deal.
“Keeps you from going blind! That’s what my dad used to say,” Orval confirms. “Why do you think I still have twenty-twenty eyesight?”
The guys bust up laughing, while the girls try to decide if we’re kidding or not.
“Hand to gland combat?” AJ asks, fighting her own laughter.
“It was all I could come up with on the fly.”
“I think you did pretty well. They’ll probably adopt you as their long lost grandson at this point. Did you really do that before every game?” she asks, her eyes darkening with desire.
“What if I did?” I whisper against her ear.
“I’d probably want to watch.” Her words shock me, yet don’t, since my little kitten seems to like to walk on the wild side. I feel the warmth of her fingers through the material as she grips my shirt, sending my blood just below my belt. If I’m not careful, Orval won’t be the only one sporting a trouser bat in the waiting room.
But then she drives the nail in my coffin when she leans up on her tiptoes and licks the shell of my ear. “Or maybe even help.”
Fuck. Me.
Oh, she could help all right. I think I wouldn’t mind having both her hands on my–
“Settle down there, boy, or your officer’s gonna be at attention like mine,” Orval says, stepping up behind me.
Well, there goes any boner I’m probably going to have from now until eternity.
We all settle into the room in what is probably going to be a long wait. Over the next hour, everyone speaks casually, but it’s more of an idle chitchat than real conversation. Somewhere around midnight, Linkin came out to call his mom with an update, as well as keep us all posted. Brian never returned to the waiting room, however. He stayed where he was needed most.
At three a.m., with AJ curled up on my chest and softly dozing, Linkin comes in with another update. We wake up the sisters, who are all catching a few winks too, and give him our full attention.
“Everything looks good. She’s almost to eight centimeters and nearly effaced. The doc says it’s almost time,” he looks exhausted, there are bags forming under the big guy’s eyes, but just saying the words seems to give him a second wind.
“How is she?” Meghan asks.
“She’s a fucking rock star,” he replies with a chuckle. “My little Firecracker is…well, she’s simply amazing. Now that they got some drugs in her, she’s powering through like a fucking champ, and she says she’s ready to push.”
“I can’t believe it’s almost time,” Jaime says.
“I promised her I wouldn’t be gone too long,” he says with a smile. “Better get back,” he adds, pointing to her room and heading back down the hallway. “Oh, uh, they do have a helicopter and neonatal team at the children’s hospital in Richmond on standby, just in case. They don’t anticipate anything major, but they’re still being born early. They want to be prepared.” It’s the first time I really see a chink in his armor. The big guy is afraid, yet keeps his own fears hidden from the rest.
