Page 163 of Fury In Death
“I got Avenue A and the rest for that.”
“Everything’s ready! I did everything.”
He held up a pink-and-blue nightshirt that read: WELCOME HOME, NUMBER TWO!
Louise glanced toward the doorway. “Dr. Mira, good. Let’s get Mavis out of her party dress, into her birthing gown.”
“I’ll just step out.”
Eve gripped Roarke’s hand like a vise. “Try for the door, pal, I will take you down.”
“You saw me naked last time,” Mavis reminded him. “It’s all about the baby.”
“You may avert your eyes,” Eve muttered to him. “That’s as far as you go.”
“How long have you been in labor?” Mira asked as they stripped Mavis down.
“Oh, about six hours. I thought for the first couple it was the fake stuff, since I’m supposed to go another ten days. Bella was early, too. Whee, here comes another one!”
“Leonardo, come, breathe with her. Dallas, breathe with her.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Mira and I are going in to scrub up.”
“Don’t even think about running for it,” Eve warned Roarke. “You’ll pay a terrible price.”
“I’m paying one now.”
“Get your balls up.” She got her own up and moved to Mavis. Breathed.
Peabody rushed in. “Baby time? You didn’t tell me you’d planned a home birth.”
“You’d’ve told Dallas, then freak-out.”
“Yeah, I’d’ve tried not to, but probably.”
“This is a fine home for a birth, and you’ve prepared very well.” Phoebe glanced around. “Should I light the fire?”
“I was supposed to!” Leonardo’s eyes went wild again. “I forgot.”
“I’ve got it. And you did very well, Daddy.”
“Can I get a picture? We can do a before and after.”
Peabody pulled out her ’link; Eve started to step away.
“Stay with me.” Mavis’s hand clamped down on Eve’s. “You look excellanté.”
The photo would show Eve’s eyes as wild as Leonardo’s while Mavis sat in bed, serene.
“My water just broke,” she told her new doctors as they came out of the en suite.
“Let’s have a look.”
When Louise drew back the sheet, Roarke slapped a hand over his eyes.
“Sweet Jesus. For the love of God. How is such a thing possible? Why is it possible?”
