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“You said you wanted to be in the delivery room, didn’t you?”
Very slowly, he nodded.
“Well, then you should come with me today.”
* * *
He didn’t realize what he was agreeing to. And he didn’t regret it, exactly, he just hadn’t been prepared. He drove. And he pretended not to notice the number of vehicles that fell in behind the rather weather-beaten van as he left the Brand family home behind.
“We’re going to have to get a new van,” he commented.
She swung her head toward him. “What’s wrong with this one?”
“Nothing!” he answered quickly, because she sounded slightly defensive. “I mean, it’s just odd, the wife-to-be of a multimillionaire, driving around in…uh…an older… vehicle.”
She pursed her lips, crossed her arms over her belly. “I worked hard for this van. It’s a nice van.”
“I know you did, and I agree. It’s a very nice van.”
She pouted a little, then sighed. “I suppose a newer one would be safer. For the babies, I mean.”
“Oh, yeah. Lots safer. Side impact protection, built-in baby seats—you know, they say a lot of kids get hurt because their car seats aren’t fitted correctly for the kind of vehicle they’re in.”
She frowned at him. “Where did you hear that?”
“Read it. One of those parenting magazines I got from the clinic. See, the seats of various vehicles are shaped differently, so the baby seat that’s perfect for one car might be totally unsafe in another.”
“You actually read all those magazines you took home?” she asked him, her eyes curious.
“Sure I did. Research. I bought about a dozen books in town, too.”
He glanced at her as he pulled to a stop at a red light, the only red light in town. She was smiling. “I’m really glad you believe in doing your homework, Caleb.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s what we’re doing now. Turn right here. It’s at the house around the corner.”
“We’re going to someone’s house?”
“Uh-huh. Nancy Kelly. She’s the nurse who gave the natural childbirth classes I attended. I called her, and she agreed to give us a quick refresher course, since you missed the first round.”
He felt his eyes widen. “Childbirth…classes?”
“You want to be in the delivery room, don’t you?”
He nodded mutely.
“You want to know what to do while you’re in there, don’t you?”
“I kind of thought being there would be the extent of my…duties.”
“You thought wrong, then.”
She said it with such a sweet smile that he almost stopped being nervous.
Fifteen minutes later, though, the nervousness was back and then some. He was sitting on some woman’s living room floor, legs stretched out in front of him, with Maya reclining in between them.
“Come on, Maya,” Nurse Nancy said with a scowl. “Lean back and relax. You know how this is done.”
