“I mean they’re coming fast. Let me check you.”

Sheila’s eyes nearly popped out of her head as she bolted upright. “Let you what?”

“Isn’t that why I’m here? Besides, I’m a professional. Not to mention we were married once.”

“We’ll make it to the hospital. Right, Jim?” Sheila sounded desperate.

Jim’s answer was drowned out by another scream as another contraction hit.

“Sheila. Let me check.” Daniel was insistent. The baby could be on the way.

“Damn it, Sheila, let him check—what if the baby is coming?” Jim called out.

Sheila sighed and lay back in the minivan. Daniel checked and grinned at her. “I can feel the head. This is happening. Now. Like, right now.”

Alarm filled her eyes.

“It’s going to be fine.” He glanced out the window. “We’re almost there, but we’re getting started here.”

“I need to push, Daniel. Jim! I need to push.”

Daniel was in work mode. His voice was calm and his movements were swift and efficient. Everything was clear to him. He hadn’t lied: he had delivered many babies before. Just none in a moving car.

“You’re fine, Sheila. Let Jim drive. We’ll be there soon.”

Sheila inhaled and did her breathing, Jim counting from the front.

“Okay,” Daniel said, “when I say, go ahead and push.”

Sheila groaned out the next contraction and pushed. Daniel got the head. He swept the baby’s mouth. “Okay, Sheila. One more good push.”

The next contraction came before he finished. Daniel held on while Sheila pushed out her baby. He wrapped the baby in Sheila’s sweater just as they approached the ER bay. Jim slammed on the brakes and turned back to Daniel.

“What do you want me to do?”

Daniel grinned. “Come back here and meet your son.” He couldn’t remember the last time he was this happy. A baby had done that. “I’ll get help.”

“Son? It’s a boy?” Jim ran around the car to the back seat and got in next to Sheila. Daniel walked into his ER and called for a gurney, ignoring the fact that he was covered in blood.

In no time, Sheila was in a bed, her little son cleaned up, with Jim beaming beside her. Daniel washed up and went to check on her.

“Want to hold your godson, Daniel?” Jim held the baby out to him.

Daniel wanted nothing more, and no one was more surprised than he was. “I haven’t agreed—”

Jim smiled. “It’s all over your face. It’s okay to hold him.”

Daniel reached out with trembling hands and took the bundle from Jim. His hands had been steady when he delivered the child, but now his nervousness took over. Daniel gingerly cradled the infant in his arms and looked down at his face.

He gasped. “Sheila, he has her eyes.”