Offside (21 page)

Anne seemed about to follow, but Becky smoothly cut her off, hissing something under her breath that had the woman skittering away as fast as her stick legs would carry her. Bower limped fast toward the car, cursing as his crutch snagged in a wide crack in the pavement. He gave Zach a grateful smile when Zach took one of the crutches and flung Bower’s arm over his shoulders, bearing most of his weight.

“Fuck, I’m glad you came, Pearce.” Bower let out a strained laugh as he watched Richter ease Silver into the backseat of his SUV. His whole body shook with nervous energy. “You just might be good enough for my sister. Stand by her tonight, let her know she doesn’t have to worry about me, and I’ll give you my blessing.”

“I’ll stand by her either way.” Zach opened the front passenger side door for Bower, then helped him up. “But it’s good to know you approve.”

“Shit. This is it.” Bower took a few deep breaths, sounding a bit like he was doing Lamaze in preparation to push out the baby himself. “You’re okay, Silver. The doctor said you passed the dangerous time.”

“Don’t tell me I’m okay! Damn it, that woman ruined everything!” Silver panted, then thunked her head against the headrest. “It wasn’t supposed to happen yet!”

“Shh. You’re ready, dragonfly.” Richter smoothed hair sticky with sweat away from Silver’s face. “You’re going to be just fine.”

“No, I won’t!” Silver pressed her eyes shut, sobbing breathlessly. “Oriana said she would be here. She’s not here.”

Zach winced as he took the keys from Richter, who’d taken the seat at Silver’s other side.
Poor, kid.

Ford patted the back of Silver’s hand, his voice calm even though he was shaking just as hard as Bower. “I’m here, sis.”

Silver cried harder, but laughter broke through her sobs. “But I hate you!”

“Hate me later. Right now, just hold my hand and tell me you’re going to be okay, because you’re fucking scaring me.”

“Don’t fucking swear around my baby! What kind of uncle are you?”

A glimmer of hope stole some of the shadows from Ford’s eyes, but he simply chuckled. “Shut up and breathe, or push, or whatever you need to—”

“Don’t push!” Becky gave Zach a shove toward the driver’s side, suddenly all business. “Just breathe, Silver. Kinda like Landon’s doing, only slower so you don’t hyperventilate.” She climbed into the farthest seats in the back, then snapped on her seat belt, glaring at Zach through the rearview mirror. “Go, Zach! She’s not having my niece or nephew in this car!”

He grinned at her as he started the car, loving the way she inhaled sharply, her cheeks glowing red with excitement. His beautiful sub was fierce, and he had a feeling even the baby would wait until she gave it permission to come out before moving another inch. The best subs always seemed like Dommes out in the world, but with Becky, he couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to let her take charge in the bedroom.

“I’ll have her there in five minutes, Ma’am.” He winked at Becky when she gaped at him. That look was priceless. Even the title coming from him seemed to disturb her. She wouldn’t be playing his Mistress any time soon.

“Shit.” Silver went still, blushing as she buried her face under Richter’s arm, while still clinging to Ford’s hand.

Richter stroked her hair, murmuring. “What is it,dragonfly?”

“I think my water broke.”

Zach’s pulse raced. He didn’t know much about babies, but the water breaking was universal for “Hospital. Now.” “I can cut that time in half if I—”

“Five is fine, Zach.” Becky looked like she wanted to laugh. “Don’t worry, the baby is not just going to slide out. Drive safe.”

“Safe. Got it.” Zach felt his cheeks heat as he caught himself breathing along with Bower in short puffs, then long exhales. He supposed it was better than Ford, who seemed to have stopped breathing altogether. Only Richter and Becky still had some semblance of control.

“All right boys, with me. In.” Becky inhaled a long, slow, steady breath. “And out.”

“Becky.” Bower growled. “Focus on Silver.”

“Silver is fine. Let’s try that again.”

“Shut up.”

“Watch it, little brother. You’re not too old to spank.”

Richter snorted. Bower clamped his lips together. Silver stopped panting long enough to giggle.

Zach just did his best to focus on the road as the tension eased out of the car. He’d never met a woman like Becky. Her strength, the way she put others before herself, no matter how she was feeling, her dedication to her family . . . if he looked at her again before he got ahold of himself, she would see something in his eyes that it was too soon to share.

She would see that he was falling in love.

* * * *

Hours passed, time measured by the short spans between contractions, then suffering that seemed endless. Suffering Landon wished he could take away. He limped across the delivery room as Silver bent forward, her face red and beaded with sweat. She bit back a scream as he took her hand, fighting so hard to be brave for him.

He braced his free hand on the bed by her side, leaning over to kiss her forehead. “Let it out,
mon amour
.”

“I can’t.” Silver hissed in a breath through her teeth. “Are you all right? You shouldn’t be standing so much. Where’s Dean?”

Landon did his best not to react to her asking for the other man. Dean was just as involved in this as he was. The only problem was, Silver didn’t seem to think Landon was strong enough to stand by her. His behavior over the past few months probably hadn’t helped.

“I’m here, dragonfly.” Dean spoke up from where he sat across the room, reading the sports section from that morning’s newspaper, tipping down his new reading glasses to smile at her. His calm was driving Landon a little insane, but his level tone had Silver relaxing back on to the pillows and smiling back. “Becky’s gone to get some more ice. Did you need something else?”

“Yes. I need you to . . .” She gave Landon an apologetic look before meeting Dean’s eyes. “Make sure he doesn’t make his leg worse. I know how bad he wants to get back between the pipes and—”

“The pipes?
Mon dieu
, Silver, do you think I care about the damn game right now?” Landon raked his fingers through his close-shaved hair. “All I can think about is you and our baby.”

“Right.” Silver panted. “But you were in the hospital not that long ago. You need to take care of yourself. The team’s got a lot of money invested in you, and you’ll be a free agent in—”

“
You’re
in the hospital
now
.” He shook his head, eyes narrowing as Dean chuckled. “You seriously want to talk about my contract?”

“Absolutely. I want to extend it—ah!” Silver’s grip on his hand tightened. She rasped out the words even as she bent over in pain. “Twenty years. Dean can . . . work out the details. I don’t . . . don’t want any other team stealing you from us.”

“No one’s taking me away from you.” Landon winced as Silver tossed her head from side to side, gasping, then finally letting out a sharp scream. There was an IV taped to the back of her hand, but the damn thing was useless.
Where’s the fucking doctor?
“Let me see if Dr. Singh can come and give you something else—”

“Don’t want anything else.” Silver huffed out a breath, whispering thanks as Becky returned with a pitcher full of ice and a plastic cup. Her eyes fluttered shut as Becky gently stroked her wet fingers across her cheeks and down over her throat. She let Becky feed her a sliver of ice, then relaxed as she crunched on it, looking close to sleep for the first time in over an hour. With her face nuzzled against Landon’s forearm, she mumbled. “Talk to him, Becky. Has to be careful.”

“
Tabernac
.” Landon gave Dean a grim smile as the man pulled a chair up for him. His leg hurt like a motherfucker, but it was nothing compared to what Silver was going through. “I really messed up. She shouldn’t be worrying about me.”

“Why not?” Dean laid a hand on Landon’s shoulder, his thumb moving soothingly up and down the back of Landon’s neck. “There’s nothing wrong with her focusing on you rather than her pain. And you’re doing very well. I thought you’d be panicking by this point.”

Becky laughed as she fussed with the thin blue sheet covering Silver. “The doctor threatened to kick him out if he didn’t calm down. Don’t give him too much credit.”

Landon scowled. “Thanks a lot, sis.”

Eyes wide, Becky covered her mouth, then shook her head. “Damn it, I’m sorry, Landon. That wasn’t fair, it’s just . . . Patrick made it all about him when I had Casey. I know you’re not like that. I know why this is so hard for you.”

Sighing, Landon straightened and held out his arms as his sister moved in for a hug. That fucktard had put her through a lot. “It’s okay. Actually, I’m glad you’re here to make sure the focus is on Silver. Where it
belongs.
”

“Yes, but Dean’s right. Any distraction is good for her.” Becky smoothed her hand over Silver’s hair, the fondness in her eyes making him smile. After the rough start between the two, he’d wondered if his sister would ever accept the woman he loved. But they’d bonded during the pregnancy, and Becky obviously considered Silver part of the family. “Poor thing must be exhausted. It’s been a long night.”

“But it will be over soon, right?” Landon groaned as Becky exchanged a
look
with Dean that couldn’t mean anything good. “The doctor said it shouldn’t be more than twenty-four hours since her water already broke. It’s been—” He glanced at the clock on the wall and groaned again. “Only six? Fuck!”

The door swung open and the short, bald doctor strode in, a broad smile on his face. The nurse behind him fiddled with Silver’s chart, her cheeks red as her eyes darted from Dean to Landon.

“Ah good, she’s resting. I was a little worried that having so many people around would wear her out.” Dr. Singh ambled around the bed, checking the heart monitor and the IV. Silver’s original doctor had been a woman, but Silver refused to see her after the woman had made a snide remark about the baby’s paternity. Dr. Singh was easygoing and took the relationship in stride. He’d extended Silver’s bed rest after both Landon and Dean expressed their concern. Silver had been comfortable enough with him to confess to her past drug use. Luckily, it hadn’t affected the baby, but the doctor had warned Silver that the damage to her heart could be an issue. Which was probably the only reason Silver hadn’t argued
too
much about being stuck in bed.

“The stress didn’t create any problems?” Landon let Becky help him stand, his breath catching as Silver’s eyes shot open and her lips parted in a silent scream. He automatically gave her his hand, which had gone numb at some point from being squeezed so often. “Hey,
mignonne
. Look who’s here.”

“Dr. Singh!” Silver whimpered, pressing her other hand to her stomach. “I need—I need to push. I know you said I shouldn’t—”

“Let’s see how far along you are, honey.” Dr. Singh quickly positioned Silver for the examination. After a few moments, he moved away from her, glancing over at the machine monitoring the contractions. “Very good. You’re fully dilated. I’ll give you something for the pain and we can get started. Remember what I told you about your breathing?”

Silver nodded, audibly grinding her teeth as the bed was repositioned behind her by the nurse. “I’m ready.” Her eyes widened as she looked around her. “Landon? Dean?”

Landon kissed her hand. His eyes teared as he grinned at Dean who’d moved to Silver’s other side. “We’re both here,
ma cherie
.”

Nodding again, Silver pushed her head back into the pillow. “He’s coming!”

“Or she.” Dr. Singh stepped between Silver’s parted thighs. “All right, sweetheart. Push!”

The piercing screams tore right through Landon, and he was grateful for his sister, standing by his side, whispering encouragement to Silver as his voice left him. The crimson towels the nurse held made his pulse stutter. He glanced over, spotting a tiny head, and his vision flashed white. His blood turned to ice as, with one last push, Silver’s head dropped back and her whole body went still. The heart monitor showed an erratic pulse.

Then steadied. He let out a rough sound of relief as Silver stirred.

She blinked at him. “The baby?”

He sobbed as he watched Dr. Singh lift the tiny, red-slicked baby up above Silver’s thighs. The nurse quickly put a clamp on the umbilical cord, then cut it. Something he’d wanted to do—it was okay though, let them handle it if that’s what was best. But as he caught the tight expression on Dean’s face, and felt Becky’s grip on his arm tighten, he knew something was wrong. He choked in air, blocking out everything else so he could hear his baby cry.

Silence wrenched all the strength from his body. He shook his head. “Dr. Singh?”

The doctor turned away from them. The nurse stood beside him, speaking low. Landon’s legs almost gave out, but he forced himself away from the calling darkness. Silver needed him to hold it together if the baby—

“There’s we go!” Dr. Singh turned as the baby let out raspy cry. “That was a lot of work, wasn’t it, little one?” He grinned at Landon, seeming to move toward him in slow motion. “Silver, gentlemen, you have a beautiful baby girl.”

“A girl.” Landon’s bottom lip quivered as Dr. Singh lowered his daughter into Silver’s arms. Tears were flowing freely now, but he didn’t bother wiping them away. He sobbed again as Silver stared up at him, her own eyes brimming with tears. “Silver . . .” Dean was right behind him, his grip on Landon’s arm helping to take some weight of his leg. He leaned back, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Dean had heard. “Dean, we have a little girl!”

“She’s beautiful,” Dean whispered, smiling at him. “Strong.”

“I know!” Silver kissed their daughter’s head, laughing and sobbing at the same time. “She scared me, but . . .oh God, she’d perfect, isn’t she?”

“She is.” Landon’s whole body shook as he stared at them both. Both breathing. Both so alive. He was afraid to blink. Afraid this couldn’t possibly be real. “She’s so little.”

“Her color is good even though her score is a little low.” Dr. Singh slapped Landon’s shoulder. “We’ll check her again in a few minutes. She may need some help breathing, but I’m not overly concerned. She’s small, but Dean is right. She’s strong. Her heart rate is excellent.”