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“Watch the damned road, Saentle hands stroking her distended abdomen as it contracted harshly

“I’ the road” He turned back quickly as Heather’s softly whispered re curves of the road added to Cade’s order

“I love you, Marly,” Cade whispered at her ear as another contraction gripped her stomach

“Fifteen minutes apart, Marly” Heather timed her “Sam, honey, you’d better pick up some speed”

He picked up speed Marly closed her eyes instead of watching the night pass by at a rate that ca

The contractions were less than five minutes apart by the time they reached the hospital Thanks to Heather’s call, nurses, orderlies, and Marly’s no-nonsense obstetrician aiting at the ambulance entrance when they pulled in

For Marly, life had turned into a minute-by-ainst the overwhel pain of the labor It had also turned into a kaleidoscope of memories

As though her life were flashing before her eyes, Marly saw the i moments of her years with Cade, from the day she had arrived on his doorstep until now

How he had taken her, a gawky, aard child, and dressed her in the finest clothes, given her everything a child could have wished for He had showered her with all the love, security and praise that he himself had lacked in his life Brock and Sae years they had raised and protected her, sheltered her, and by turns had overseen each adventure in her life Had overseen them, and had eventually becoain The three of them, faces pale, voices hoarse, as the nurses worked around her

Between contractions, preparation and the smooth transition from pain to woozy comfort, she watched the three azes shadowed and worried, flickering with fear But Cade looked tortured

“I’ for hi to be fine”

He moved to her, careful to stay out of the way of the nurses until he could stand beside the hospital bed Then he laid his head beside hers, his hands tangling in her long hair as he held her to hi with a hard shudder

“I know,” he whispered bleakly, his voice so haunted with pain it broke her heart “Everything’s fine I know that”

But she could hear his fears Fears that had only grown as the pregnancy progressed

“He’ll be as gorgeous as his daddy And just as strong,” she whispered, well aware of the fact that the child could be no one’s but Cade’s She had made certain of it

She had given each of them the illusion that they would be as much a part of the baby as Cade was, to keep that bond alive for them But privately, she had ensured no other fathered the baby but Cade He was her soul Everything that mattered in this world to her

As his hands tightened in her hair, his body trees that would soon co into his life She wanted her husband happy Whole The nightered The fear of losing her Of being alone, deep inside, once again And she swore to herself in that moment, for Cade, for their baby, she had to make him face the final demon that haunted him Him, Brock, and Sam

Brock sat nervously on the unco room He held his wife close to him and watched the clock on the wall across from them It amazed hied to fill his life so completely t

hat he knew he could never ask for more Yet he had so much more

Beside him, Sam held Heather as they talked softly As they both worried about the woman and child Cade ith now Alone His brothers weren’t with hiht

Until this nancy with Cade Had worried with him Listened to his fears, saw his concerns And as much as Brock was nervous now hi taken as it should