Gabe (Men of Clifton Montana Book 2) (23 page)

Emma
glared at his back. She grabbed an apple out of the fridge, and decided
to visit Beauty if she couldn’t have sex with her husband.
When she entered the barn and saw Wyatt leaning against a stall door. He
grinned at her and tipped his hat.

“Don’t
you dare say anything about how fat I am,” she said with a scowl.

Wyatt
threw his
hands up in mock surrender. “Wouldn’t dream
of it, Emma, I think you look beautiful.”

She
blinked back tears. “You’re so sweet, Wyatt.” She pressed a quick kiss to his
cheek and waddled on past him toward Beauty’s stall.

The
horse stuck her nose over the
gate and nuzzled Emma’s
shoulder, making her laugh. She fed the apple to the horse, rubbed her velvety
nose, and talked to her in a soft voice. She turned to leave when a sudden
sharp cramp hit her stopping her in her tracks. Taking a few more steps, anoth
er cramp hit her, doubling her over. She took deep breaths
until it subsided. She needed to find Gabe. As she headed toward the office,
another pain hit her making her scream and grab for the wall. Gabe and Wyatt
came running from the direction of the offi
ce.

“Emma!”
Gabe dropped to his knees in front of her. “Are you all right?”

She
waited for the pain to pass then glared at her husband. “Do I look all right,
Gabe?” She saw him glance at Wyatt, who ran his hand down his face trying to
hide a grin. She wasn
’t appreciating either of them
right now.

“I hope
when you go through this someday, it’s ten times worse,” Gabe yelled at his
brother.

Wyatt
shook his head then turned his attention to her. “Do you need to go to the
hospital, Emma?”

She
tried straightening
up. “I don’t know if…” She ended
on a gasp then doubled over again. Wyatt and Gabe went into action. Wyatt
walked her to the truck while Gabe ran inside to get her suitcase. She couldn’t
get up into the truck so Wyatt picked her up and put her on the seat
. She placed her hand against his cheek and smiled at him.
“Someday, believe it or not, Wyatt, you’ll make someone a wonderful husband.”

“What
about me? Don’t I make a wonderful husband?” Gabe asked when he returned to the
truck.

Emma
glared at him. “Not a
t this minute, you don’t. This
is your fault. You wore a condom that broke. What is wrong with you, Gabe?”

He
looked so confused that Wyatt burst out laughing, making Gabe swing around to
face him. “I swear you will get yours,” he growled before jumping in
the truck and throwing gravel everywhere as he steered the
large vehicle out of the drive. Emma cringed and held on for dear life while
doing her breathing exercises. As soon as they got to the hospital, the staff
took her to a room, and away from Gabe.

* * * *

Gabe
waited impatiently while the medical staff got Emma settled. Someone told him a
nurse would come for him, but he was worried about his wife. He paced back and
forth wringing his hands and only relaxing a little when he saw his brothers,
Becca
and Olivia running toward him.

“What’s
going on?” Jake asked through heavy breaths.

“They’re
making her comfortable. They’ll come get me when they have her settled,” Gabe
told them all. “It better be soon.” He got his wish a few minutes later when a
nurse
called his name and escorted him back to Emma’s
room. When he entered the room, he immediately noticed the monitor hooked up to
her to track the baby’s heartbeat. It was so fast. It made him very nervous. He
pulled up a chair and sat down near the bed. Wi
th
Emma lying so quiet with her eyes closed, it reminded him of when she lay in a
hospital bed after being shot. He didn’t like it. She suddenly opened her eyes
and looked at him. Emma smiled at him and his heart skipped a beat.

“Looks
like little Sophie A
nn’s about to make her
appearance,” Emma said with tears sparkling in her eyes.

“Or little Joshua Gabriel.”
Gabe grinned. They had decided
early on they didn’t want to know the sex of the baby. They wanted it to be a
surprise. He held her hand when a contr
action hit
her. Emma panted until it passed, but he wished he could take on this burden
for her.

Hours
seemed to pass. Gabe didn’t know what more to do for her. At one point, he was
rubbing his hand across her wrist and she jerked it from him, and smacked
him on the head. Thank God, no one else had been in the
room. It was embarrassing. He kept his eyes on her and helped her when a
contraction hit her, but he had no idea what he could do to help her. All of a
sudden, Emma grabbed his arm and gritted her tee
th.
Suddenly, the bed linens were soaked. In a bit of a panic, he ran from the room
to get a nurse.

When the
nurse checked on Emma, she nodded and smiled. “You’re ready, honey.” She called
for an attendant and together they wheeled the bed out, and down to
the delivery room. It was all happening so fast. Gabe
stood behind Emma, helping her sit up when she had to push.

Emma’s
doctor sat on a stool between his wife’s legs barking orders at her. “Come on,
Emma.
Push.”

She sat
up and pushed then lay back down.
Then Emma suddenly
glared at Gabe over her shoulder. “Don’t you ever do this to me again,” she
yelled at him.

Gabe
felt his ears turning red as everyone laughed. The doctor looked up at him,
winked, and grinned at him. “Some women even ask for divorces in
here.” She turned her attention back to Emma. “Okay, honey.
One more big push and your baby will be here.”

A moment
later, he heard their baby crying and blinked back tears.

“It’s a
girl,” Doctor Anderson announced, holding up the baby for them to see.

Emma
gazed up at him with a frown. “You’re not disappointed, are you?”

He
kissed her, and then laughed feeling his heart swelling with love.
“Hell no!
Now I have two beautiful females
to spoil.”

The
doctor laid the baby across Emma’s chest. “Emma and Gabe,
meet your daughter.”

Gabe
kissed his daughter on her tiny forehead, and then pressed a kiss to Emma’s
forehead. “She’s beautiful, just like her mama.”

He
watched Emma’s tears roll down her cheeks as she kissed her daughter’s tiny
face. “I love you, Sophie
Ann Stone.”

Gabe
strode into the waiting room like the proud father he was. His family, Emma’s
parents, and Olivia all stood up with anxious looks on their faces. He grinned.
“We have a daughter.” He laughed when everyone cheered. “Sophie Ann Stone
weighe
d in at eight pounds, fifteen and a half ounces
and she’s twenty three inches long. She’s beautiful.” His brothers slapped him
on the back and shook his hand while
Becca
and Olivia hugged him. Emma’s parents hugged him too. “I
have to get back to her now.”
He left them to go back
to his wife and daughter, the two most important women in his life. The two
females he loved more than anything in this world.

* * * *

Two days
later, Emma sat in the living room holding Sophie when Gabe entered the room
wearing
a grin and with Madilyn Young following him.
Emma smiled up at her friend. “Madilyn, I’m so happy to see you.” She started
to get up but Madilyn motioned her to stay put.

“No, no.
Stay there,
Em
. I’ll sit with you. I just had
to see this gorgeous baby.” Sh
e sat down and peered
into the pink blanket. She lifted her gaze to Emma and smiled. “My God, she is
the most beautiful baby.” She glanced to Gabe and gave him a nod.

“Of
course she is. Look at her mama.” Gabe winked at Emma.

“He’s
biased.” She laughed.

“S
he gets her good looks from both of you.” Madilyn touched
Sophie’s tiny hand.

“Do you
want to hold her?” Emma asked.

Madilyn
gasped. “Could I?”

She
nodded and handed Sophie to her. “Of course you can.”

Madilyn
sat back, cradling the baby, and talked to
Sophie in
a soft voice. Emma’s eyes filled with tears watching her friend. She barely
noticed Gabe leaving the room. When Madilyn raised tear-filled eyes to look at
her, she thought her heart would break.

“I
wanted a baby so badly with Brody,” Madilyn said
in a
hushed voice.

“I know
you did. I remember you talking about it all the time.” She gently touched her
friend’s hand.

Madilyn
shook her head slightly. “He did too. We used to talk about having a family all
the time.” She smiled sadly. “A boy and a girl
perhaps, and of course, we’d have a dog or two…” Her voice faded off.

Emma
didn’t know what to say. This was the most Madilyn had said about Brody in
years. She knew Madilyn needed to talk about him. Brody was the love of her
life.

“I still
miss him. I mi
ss him every day,
Em
.” Madilyn glanced down at
Sophie. “You’re right. I should have gone with him.”

“I think
so too. It’s been years and he’s still alive. You could’ve had those years with
him. Instead, here you are all alone. Madilyn, I believe we get one
shot at real love in our lifetime, and yours is Brody.”

“I find
it hard to forgive him though. He did it all behind my back. He didn’t ask me
what my thoughts were at all. Brody just did what he wanted without any thought
to my feelings.” She shook her he
ad. “He should have
talked it over with me before he even applied for a job with the Marshals
Service.”

“What’s
going on with you and Zach Johnson?” Emma asked and noticed how Madilyn tensed
at the mention of the man’s name.

“We’re
dating.”

“Seriously
Madilyn?
The one guy that Brody hates and
you’re dating him?”

Madilyn
shrugged. “He asked me out. He’s been asking me out for years ever since Brody
left.”

“He’s
only doing it because he hates Brody,” Emma told her.

“That
doesn’t make sense,
Em
. Brody isn’
t even here to see me with Zach.”

Emma
shrugged. “I don’t care for Zach and I’d bet my last dollar he’s dating you to
spite Brody even though he isn’t here to see it. It makes Zach feel like he has
something Brody doesn’t.”

“That’s
crazy, Emma,” Madilyn sn
apped back in defense of
Zach.

“It’s
not. Zach wanted you the entire time you dated Brody and you know it. That’s
one reason Brody kicked his ass.”

Madilyn
gasped. “What? What do you mean Brody kicked his ass?”

Emma
mentally groaned. That was something she
wished she
could take back. She sighed. “They got into a fight one night. Brody was at
Dewey’s with Sam, and Zach said something to the effect that if Brody was out
without you, maybe he should go see you and let you have a real man.” She
shrugged. “Brody
hit him. It only took one time and
Zach hit the floor like a ton of bricks. Brody stood over him yelling for him
to get up, but Zach was out cold. Sam had to physically remove Brody from the
bar.”

“Why
didn’t I ever hear about it?”

“Who
would tell you? Ev
ery guy around here was afraid of
Brody’s temper and having the friends he did, didn’t help. Hell, the Stone
brothers, Riley Madison, Trick Dillon, Ryder Wolfe, and Sam were all his
friends. Who would tangle with them? And Zach sure as hell wasn’t going to
tell you.”

Madilyn
stared at her as if trying to absorb it all then handed Sophie back to her. “I
need to go.” She stood and faced Emma. “It really doesn’t matter anymore does
it? It’s all in the past and no matter how much I love Brody, it’s over. I’ll n
ever see him again.” She kissed Emma’s cheek and left. Emma
stared after her. Gabe walked in and sat down beside her. He ran his hand over
Sophie’s head.