Her next pain came only a minute later. He could feel the tightening she spoke of. His palm hid the babe from his view, but he felt his tiny head between his fingers, his soft skull covered with slick hair. He pulled with the greatest of care as Gwen bore down, then moved his hand from her stomach to catch the baby’s head.

Bless her heart, ’twas all the help she needed. His son’s head lay in the palm of his hand. “Oh God, Gwen.” ’Twasn’t even a whisper, and for all he knew the words never came from his lips. But when he looked to her again, awe turned to terror. Her skin was so pale and she was—“Gwendolyn, noooo!” Her eyes rolled back and her body went slack. “GWENDOLYN!”

His mother held her hands on Gwen’s stomach, as Anna brushed a cloth over her face. Isabelle was crying now, watching helplessly as another cry ripped from his heart. “Gwendolyn!”

Gwen’s eyes fluttered open as his mother instructed him. “Greylen, you need to guide his shoulders.”

Still holding the babe’s head in the palm of his hand, he helped free one shoulder and then the other. He placed his hand beneath the baby’s back and continued to pull with the greatest of care. His shoulders racked as he gently squeezed his fingers around his son. Then his head fell back when his son began to wail. “Gwen, we have a son!” He looked to her, tears running down his face as he stared in wonder between the babe in his hands and his crying wife.

“Put the babe on her chest while we see to the afterbirth,” his mother instructed.

He shot her a look, holding the baby closer. “Why didn’t you help her?”

“Greylen, we were just about to, I swear to you. We only wished to avoid causing her more pain.”

Greylen said nothing, still angered that Gwen might have suffered more than necessary, or worse, that she could have died had he not gotten there in time. He carefully moved his son, noticing now that Gwen was reaching out to hold him. He placed him in her hands and covered them with his own. He didn’t let go until their babe rested on Gwen’s chest.

He sat beside her and pushed the hair off her face, then bent to kiss her. They both cried again, tears of joy and relief.

“Thank you, Greylen,” she whispered as he rested his forehead against hers.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.” His voice shook, belying the angry undertone of his words.

“I love you too,” she said. “I’m so glad you came, Greylen. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

Tears still ran down her face and he brushed them away. “I’ll always be there, Gwen, always. I thought I’d lost you.”