LITMIR.BIZ

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“...for the babies.” She straightened and pointed to the main house. “Mama and Pop just left for the hospital with Dom and Cissy. Mama said to come get you so you could drive the rest of us.”

      Traci darted back up the path, flapping her hands and sputtering over her shoulder, “Well, come on.”

      Logan made short order of loading Traci and the boys into the truck and took off for the hospital as fast as safety allowed. The drive seemed to take longer than usual and Logan’s hands shook harder against the steering wheel with every giddy exclamation from Traci.

      “I can’t wait to see Grace and Gwen,” she gushed, biting her lip and bouncing in the passenger seat. “Bet they’ll be beautiful.”

      “Yeah,” Kayden drawled, kicking the back of her seat, “’til they start cryin’ and poopin’. Mr. Jed said that’s all babies do.”

      “Hush up, squirt.” Traci glanced in the rearview mirror and narrowed her eyes. “Mr. Jed’s full of hot air. You oughta be glad you’re getting cousins.”

      Kayden wasn’t impressed. He curled his lip and turned to stare out of the window, remaining quiet for the rest of the journey.

      The waiting room was crowded, and they filled up the last row of empty chairs by the window. Pop and Betty walked around the corner, a smile wreathing both their faces.

      “Everything’s well underway,” Pop said. “The doc told us things are moving fast. So it shouldn’t be long now.”

      “Dominic’s a nervous wreck.” Betty laughed. “Good thing it’ll be over with soon.”

      Logan shifted in his seat and hoped that was the case. He ran his eyes over the others in the waiting room. Fathers, siblings and grandparents all moved with excited energy around the chairs. They tapped their toes, flashed nervous grins and sprang up for hugs at the delivery of good news.

      This continued throughout the course of the morning, carrying over into late afternoon. For the other families. There was, however, no happy word on Dominic and Cissy, and the silence stretched into late evening.

      Logan shoved to his feet and paced the waiting room. His legs tingled, blood rushing back in and tight muscles stretching.

      Traci’s knees bounced with jerky movements and Betty wrung her hands in her lap. The twins hunched in their chairs, hats shielding their expressions. Pop left for the third time in the past hour to check for more news.

      “You boys want to run down to the cafeteria and grab something to eat?” Betty smiled and crouched in front of the boys.

      They shook their heads.

      “Are you sure?” Betty asked. “It’s been a long time since y’all had breakfast and you didn’t have any lunch or supper.”

      “I’m not hungry,” Jayden mumbled.

      “I wanna wait for Aunt Cissy.” Kayden’s hat tipped up as he looked around the room. “Lots of other people got their babies already.” His voice shook. “Why ain’t ours here yet?”

      “I don’t know,” Betty said gently. “But they’ll get here eventually. Sometimes, it takes a while.” She glanced up and stood. “Here comes your uncle Dominic now. Maybe he’ll have some good news for us.”

      Or maybe not. Logan’s stomach dropped as he watched his brother stride swiftly across the room. His hair stood up at odd angles and his face was shadowed. Pop followed a step behind with the same grim expression.

      The boys ran to Dominic and he squatted, drawing them both between his knees, squeezing their arms and kissing the tops of their heads.

      “Are the babies here yet?” Kayden asked.

      Dominic’s throat moved on a hard swallow. “Gwen is.” A smile flitted across his lips. “She’s got dark hair—” he tapped their noses “—but her eyes are as blue as yours.”

      “What about the other one?” Jayden asked.

      Dominic stood and nudged the boys toward Betty. “Grace will be here soon, too. Now, go sit with Traci and I’ll come get you when it’s time.”

      “Come on, boys,” Pop said. He took their hands and led them over to join Traci.

      Logan stepped close, eyeing the worried glint in Dominic’s eyes. “What’s going on?”

      “Grace—” Dominic’s voice cracked. He bit his lip and looked away. “Grace is showing signs of distress. They said the cord prolapsed and she’s not getting enough oxygen so they took Cissy for an emergency C-section. If they don’t make it to Grace in time...”

      “Oh, Dom.” Betty patted Dominic’s arm. “You hang in there. There are good doctors taking care of your girls.”

      Dominic nodded, his gaze moving over her shoulder. Kayden scrambled into Traci’s lap. She hugged him close and surveyed Dominic with a worried expression.

      “Cissy asked me to check on the boys,” Dominic said. “She wanted me to let them know everything was gonna be okay.”

      “We’ll take care of them,” Betty said, moving away to drop a kiss to the twins’ foreheads. “You tell her not to worry.”

      Dominic stood, watching the boys, shoulders sagging and mouth twisting. Logan’s throat closed.

      “I’ve got to get back.” Dominic pressed his thumb and forefinger to his closed eyelids and dropped his head. “Cissy’s exhausted and worried sick about Grace. I’ve never seen her this terrified.” He looked up, eyes hovering on Logan’s, and whispered, “And there’s not a thing I can do to help either one of them.”

      Logan froze. Sara was on Dominic’s mind. It was right there in every defeated line of his brother’s body. And seeing that kind of pain hanging on Dominic burned in his chest.

      He gripped Dominic’s shoulder and squeezed, forcing sound out of his constricted throat. “Cissy’s strong. She’s gonna pull through this. And if Grace inherited even half of the grit you and Cissy have, she’ll come out either smiling or swinging a fist.”

      There was no way to tell how much truth was in the words. The outcome would remain uncertain to the last second, no matter what anyone said. But it comforted Dominic and that was all that mattered.

      Dominic nodded. “Cissy is strong. The strongest woman I’ve ever met.” He managed a small smile. “Aside from Amy.”

      Dominic strode across the room toward the hall but stopped, turned back and said, “I’m glad I came home. Glad Cissy and I settled at Raintree. Don’t think we could make it through this without all of you.” He smiled, the fear in his eyes still present but determination overcoming it. “Having people you love around makes you stronger. No matter how tough it gets.”

      Logan watched him leave. He’d never seen Dominic stand so tall or move with such strength. In that one moment, Logan was the proudest he’d ever been of his little brother.

      Logan returned to his chair. Jayden leaned onto the arm of it, staring down at his boots and frowning.

      “Hey,” Logan said, “wanna sit with me for a while?”

      Jayden nodded, his blond curls slipping onto his forehead. Logan sat down and settled him in his lap. He caught sight of Jayden’s hat lying upside down on the floor.

      “Did you lose your hat?” Logan reached for it.

      “No.” Jayden stilled him with a hand on his forearm. “I just ain’t no bone-a-fine cowboy no more.”

      “Why not?”

      Jayden glanced up, blue eyes blurred with tears. “’Cuz I’m scared.”

      “For your aunt Cissy and Grace?”

      Jayden nodded. “Mr. Jed said bone-a-fine cowboys are always brave. That they don’t

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