Silent Night, Star-Lit Night (Second Chance at Star Inn)(27)

“It appears we have little choice,” she scolded lightly as another pain began. “You don’t mind being with me?”

“Oh, honey.” He kept his eyes on the road, but his hand patted hers gently. “We started this trip a few days back, thinking it would be a straight road, and we met plenty of curves and roadblocks along the way. We did all right.

“This?” He chanced a quick glance at her middle as he drove. “This is the reward we’ve been waiting for.”

It was.

Her daughter.

Her very own little girl to love and cherish.

Her throat choked up, but since that had been a regular occurrence, she forced herself beyond the emotion as she rode out the pain. When the lights of the hospital appeared twenty minutes later, Mia was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be a long night of waiting.

And it wasn’t.





Chapter Twelve

Jed had never properly sympathized with the cows before, but after watching Mia in labor he vowed to never be cavalier about giving birth again.

“Hey.” He tiptoed into the room once things had settled. “You did it.”

“I did.” Mia looked up at him.

Gone was the sadness.

The fear was erased.

Joy had won out, and as she unwrapped a portion of the hospital blanket for him to see the baby’s face, her smile brightened the room. “She’s perfect, Jed.”

“That’s not exactly a surprise, Mia.” He smiled down at her, then crouched alongside the bed. “She’s got a great mama setting the example for her.”

“Oh, Jed.” She smiled up at him, and he couldn’t help himself.

He kissed her.

He kissed her gently but lovingly, a kiss meant to let her know she meant something special to him. He dropped his forehead to hers. “So. Mia.”

“Mm-hmm?”

“Does she have a name? Because I know she doesn’t have a stitch to wear.”

Mia flushed. “You’ll think I’m crazy.”

“Not necessarily. But you are a woman, so it could apply.”

That made her smile. “I was scared.”

Tell him something he didn’t know. “I got that part.”

“I felt like my world was falling apart, and I didn’t dare think of names or clothes or anything because what if something horrible happened? I didn’t think I could face dismantling everything, putting her things away or giving them away. So I just waited.”

Scared and alone, great with child. A Christmas story, for certain. “My mom says they’re throwing you a shower the first of the year, that there’s nothing more special to welcome a new year than a new baby. She’s got a bedroom ready for you, a bassinet my sister used, plenty of sheets, burp cloths, and diapers. We’ve also got several pink John Deere onesies, and a stack of freshly washed newborn stuff from my sister.”

“I did pack one thing for her.”

“In your bag?”

She nodded. “Just in case she decided to spend Christmas with me.” He crossed to the single bag in the closet, opened it, and lifted the tiniest Christmas sleeper he’d ever seen. “So you were prepared, after all. How silly of me to doubt.”

She laughed.

It felt good to see her laugh, to see her relax with this baby, to see her joyful face.

Now if he could just convince her to stay.

“You need to go home and rest,” she told him.

He pointed to the clever chair that transformed into a cot. “Staying right here.”

“You can’t miss work, Jed, and the store opens in five hours.”

“I’ve worked on short sleep before. It’ll happen again. And I’m still waiting for a name, Mia.” He leaned over and stroked the baby’s cheek with one finger. She squirmed and made tiny sucking noises, then a few odd squeaks for good measure.

“Josie. Josie Mae.”

A perfect name shared by two beings who passed in the night. “For Grandpa.”

“Do you like it, Jed?”

“I love it.” He yawned. So did Mia, and when the nurse came in to bundle Josie off to the nursery for routine testing he stretched out on the cot. “If you need anything, just say so, okay?”

She reached out and touched his hand. “I can’t convince you to go?”

“Nope.”

“I’m glad, Jed.” She smiled at him from her higher vantage point, a flicker of a smile. She dozed off, exhausted.

So did he.

*

There was no resting in a hospital.

Babies and nurses and lab techs and doctors and noises made anything more than a catnap rather impossible, and Mia vowed to take patients’ sleep time more seriously from this point forward when she returned to work.

“We’re letting you go in the morning so you can have Christmas Eve at home!” a bright-eyed young nurse exclaimed late afternoon. “You’re both doing fine and Dr. Oswald has set up an appointment to see Josie in four days. His staff will walk you through everything, okay?”

Home?

So soon?

There was no home.

Momentary panic set in; then she remembered Jed’s promise. His mother bustled in right then, as if it was meant to be. “Home in the morning? How wonderful, Mia! We’ll have an old-fashioned Christmas, complete with a baby. I don’t think things could possibly get better than this, do you? How are you, darling?” She crossed the room, gave Mia a hug, and beamed. “Jed said you did absolutely marvelous and he’s caught up at the store, but he wanted a progress report. He’ll be thrilled to know you’re coming home.”