“I have a hemorrhage kit. I have a whole kit for the baby. I used to be an RN,” she said. “So I’ve dealt with emergencies in hospital situations, and I’ve been a midwife for twenty years. I’ve seen almost every scenario, and I’m fairly prepared for it. I also won’t hesitate to send mother and baby to the hospital if it comes to that. So don’t think that I’m going to try to make it all happen at home on principle. First and foremost the important thing is that Sammy and baby come through it all healthy. When and where that happens is secondary. It’s wonderful when everything goes according to plan, but often babies have their own whims and schedules. You can’t get too married to a plan anyway.”

That was like his nightmare. But then, everything about the past few months hadn’t gone according to his plan, and if he was honest with himself in general he was much happier than he would have ever thought something like this could make him.

Because it wasn’t just a random woman and a random baby. It was Sammy. And it was their baby.

“All right, I take your point there.”

“Well, no decisions have to be made yet. My schedule does fill up, so give me a call in about four weeks and let me know if you’d like to have me. I can help with prenatal exams. And I can come to the house. I have a Doppler to check the heartbeat and all of that.”

“Right,” he said.

After the meeting with the midwife, they drove back into town.

It was teeming with people, which was pretty typical in summer. The influx of tourists who enjoyed getting out and seeing a historic town was necessary for the businesses that were in Gold Valley, but he always found them slightly annoying. It was his town, and he liked that it was small. Liked that he didn’t typically have to fight to get a table at the Mustard Seed. Though he did have to do a little bit of fighting today. It was a small building, and it took time for a patio table to open up for him and Sammy. It was later in the day, so she could eat more than fruit, and he was relieved when she ordered a hamburger, french fries and a milkshake. It was a lot more typical of her, and that made him feel better about things in general.

Her eyes lit up as soon as the french fry basket hit the table, and she dove right into them, chewing happily.

And it was like the world turned on its head and suddenly from that angle he could see.

He could really see.

That it didn’t matter how his parents had loved each other. It had nothing to do with him. He’d lived through loss. And he’d carried a weight for so many years that everything he felt had teeth and claws.