Sea of Dreams (The American Heroes Series Book 2) (48 page)

At exactly three hours and twenty three minutes since her water broke, the baby was beginning to crown.  Blakesley was in a seated position, bent nearly in half as she pushed in response to the doctor’s direction.  The doctor was calm, working quickly to aspirate the baby’s nose and mouth as his head came through the birth canal.  Beck, holding on to Blakesley’s right knee, could just see the red little head.  He was filled with excitement and fear.

Blakesley was controlled as she gripped her thighs and pushed. Beck gently teased her, telling her that she looked like someone who had done this kind of thing before, which drew a weak smile. She was exhausted and rightfully so.  She’d done the entire labor and delivery without any medication even though they had offered it to her. She was too concerned that it might somehow affect the baby so she declined.  She was coming to regret that decision but she wasn’t going to let anyone know.  Besides, it was too late for all of that.

A particularly strong pain gripped her and Blakesley grunted as she pushed hard.  The baby abruptly slipped out into the doctor’s hands and she fell back against Beck, exhausted, feeling the ultimate relief that the baby was finally out.  The nurse clamped the umbilical cord as the doctor suctioned out the nose and mouth. A weak cry filled the air.

“Uh…,” the doctor held the red, squirming baby up to the eager parents. “Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?”

Blakesley was too wiped out to guess what he was talking about.  She counted ten fingers and toes, and a big screaming mouth.  It was Beck who finally spoke up. He just started laughing.

“I’m firing you,” he told the doctor. “Don’t you know the difference between a boy and a girl?”

Blakesley blinked, focusing on what he was saying.  It took her a moment to realize that there was a vagina where there was supposed to be a penis.  She started laughing.

“A girl,” she crowed. “It’s a girl!”

Beck was giggling like a fool. He wrapped his arms around Blakesley, hugging her tightly, laughing with her. He realized that he wasn’t disappointed.  Now he had a little girl that would look just like his wife. No, he wasn’t disappointed at all.

“Thank you, baby,” he kissed her repeatedly. “She’s beautiful. Thank you so much.”

Blakesley kissed him, tears in her eyes, before taking the baby from the nurse and laying her on her chest.  Blakesley and Beck inspected her, counting little fingers and toes, commenting on the fact that she had Blakesley’s nose.  The doctor asked Beck if he wanted to cut the cord, which he carefully did, returning his attention to his wife and new daughter,  aware that he was feeling more love and contentment than he had ever known in his life. He never knew it was possible to love something as much as he loved Blakesley and little girl squirming on his wife’s chest. 

The nurse eventually took the baby away and weighed and measured her,  and the neonatologist declared her perfectly healthy. Little Emmalynn Rose Seavington weighed five and a half pounds and was eighteen inches long, not bad for a preemie.  As her hair dried in the warm air, it was a shiny brilliant blond and she had a lot of it. As the doctor threw a few stitches into Blakesley where she tore a little during the birth, Beck hovered over his new daughter in the incubator, marveling at her perfect beauty. He was a man in love.

Cleaned up and stitched up, Blakesley was moved into a private room with the baby, who she put on the breast right away. Baby Emma suckled ravenously while Beck watched with awe.  

“Really?” he breathed.”Is this really happening?”

Blakesley looked up from her new daughter. “Really,” she whispered. “I love you so much.”

He looked up from the baby, tears in his eyes. “I love you, too,” he murmured. “I feel like my life has come full circle somehow.  I never truly thought I would have everything I ever wanted in life, but I do. I really do.”

Blakesley smiled at him, touching his face as he kissed her fingers.  When Emma was finished nursing, she handed her over to Beck, who showed surprising confidence with the newborn as he burped her for the first time.   After that, he wrapped the baby up and just held her.  Blakesley’s last vision before she fell asleep was of Beck gazing adoringly at their newborn.

When she woke up some time later, it was to Beck’s soft snores.  In the darkness, she could see that he had fallen asleep on the chair, the baby curled up on his chest sleeping like an angel.  His big arms were around the baby, holding her strongly and protectively. Daddy had his little girl, and he was bonding with her.  It was the sweetest thing Blakesley had ever seen.

She watched both of them sleep long into the night.

Chapter Twenty Five

It was seven o’clock in the morning and Nikki heard her cell phone go off.  That wasn’t unusual since her mother, a lonely woman still living in Los Angeles, would often call Nikki early in the morning before the Masterson girls got up.  On this foggy morning after the birth of Emma Seavington, Nikki rolled over and picked up the phone before she even looked at the caller I.D.

“Hello?” she said sleepily.

A familiar voice from the past was on the other end. “Hey, Nikki,” the man said cheerfully. “It’s Ed. Ed Masterson.”

Nikki rolled over and nearly fell off the futon. She grabbed the edge of the night stand to keep from falling.“Mr. Masterson?” she repeated, startled and frightened. “Uh… hi…?”

On the other end of the phone, Ed laughed softly. “Sorry to call you so early,” he said.  “I called your mother last night and she gave me your cell phone number. I hope it’s okay. She says you’re with Blakesley and the girls.”

Nikki was terrified. She sat up in bed, not sure what to say or do. “I… yes, sir, I am,” she said, her voice trembling. “The girls are sleeping right now. I….”

Ed cut her off. “That’s okay,” he said. “I don’t want to talk to them right now but I would like to know where they are. They’re my girls, Nikki. I have a right to know.”

Nikki was near tears. She didn’t know what to do, very fearful of the man she had worked for. “I…,” she stammered. “Mr. Masterson, I think you should talk to Blakesley. She should tell you.”

“Well, I would talk to her if I knew where she was or knew her phone number.  No one seems to know anything and I can’t get a hold of Marshall.”

Nikki was shaking as she sat at the end of the bed, trying to think fast but she wasn’t very good at it.  She wasn’t very bright, either. “She moved, Mr. Masterson.”

“I know, Nikki. Where did she move to?”

“Uh… you know, down to San Diego because of the family….”

“The old house?” Ed interrupted. “Did she really buy that old thing? She’d been talking about that for years. I can’t believe she finally pulled the trigger.”

“Yes, she bought the old house, but….”

“Thank you, Nikki. I really appreciate your help. But do me a favor and don’t tell Blakesley I called, okay? She doesn’t need to know.  In fact, to show my appreciation, your mom is finally getting that new car she needs.  It’s a gift. So please don’t tell Blakesley that I called.  She doesn’t need to know right now.  I just wanted to know where my girls are.”

Nikki was in tears. “What are you going to do?”

“Do? Nothing.  Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it.”

The line went dead.  Nikki, knowing she had done something very bad, sat on the bed and sobbed.

***

“Mommy!” Crosby was jumping up and down. “Can I hold Emma, please? Please, please?”

Blakesley was in the kitchen, putting dinner on in the crockpot, as Crosby and Charlotte clamored at her feet. Six days after Emma’s birth, she was feeling great, although Beck often followed her around the house and scolded her if he thought she was doing too much.  He was at the base now, which was why she had made lunch, cleaned up the kitchen and put dinner on.  She felt active and alive. Throwing away the paper towel in her hand, she took Crosby’s hand and went out into the living room.

Betty and Beck Sr. were sitting on the leather couch, Betty cradling her new granddaughter.  They had come down the day after the birth to see the baby and, so far, had been fixtures on the couch since their arrival.  Baby Emma had hardly spent any time in her bassinet with a father and grandparents and siblings always wanting to hold her.  Blakesley was afraid she was already raising a very spoiled child.

“How’s she doing?” Blakesley asked, leaning over Betty to take a look at her sleeping daughter.

Betty was deeply in love with the little blond bundle. “She’s fine,” she said rather dreamily. “She likes to snuggle.”

Blakesley grinned at Beck Sr. when the man looked up and winked at her. “I wouldn’t know,” he said. “I haven’t been allowed to hold her yet.”

Betty shushed her husband as Blakesley laughed softly, quieting the jumping girls at her side. “Let Grandma Betty hold her for awhile, okay?” she told Crosby. “You can hold her tonight, I promise.  Right now, I want you to make sure the playroom is picked up, please?  Help me out a little.”

Crosby was unhappy and did as she was told, but not before stopping by Betty and kissing Emma on the head.  As Charlotte and Crosby skipped off to the playroom, Blakesley stood in front of Betty with her hands on her hips.

“I’m sorry to break this up, but I need to feed her,” she said.

Betty looked rather sad that she had to give up her prize, but she carefully handed the baby over to Blakesley.  Blakesley turned for the bedroom.

“Do you want to come and watch?” she asked Betty.

Betty got up off the couch right away to follow.  Beck Sr. passed on the offer before it was fully delivered, laughing as he turned on the big television.   Blakesley and Betty went into the master bedroom and Blakesley climbed onto the bed, positioning pillows and getting comfortable as she settled in.  Unbuttoning her shirt, she put Emma on the nipple and the baby began to feed eagerly.

Betty sat on the bed beside the pair, watching with a smile on her face.  She reached out to hold a tiny little hand.

“She looks so much like Beck did as a baby,” she said softly. “He was a good eater, too.”

Blakesley stroked the blond head. “Was Beck a big baby?”

Betty nodded. “He was almost ten pounds,” she replied.  “After a child that size, I didn’t want anymore.  He nearly tore me to shreds.”

Blakesley understood. “I wondered why he didn’t have any siblings,” she said. “A ten pound baby might do me in, too.  I’ve been lucky – all of my girls have been seven pounds or less.”

Betty stroked the velvety skin, her gaze on the baby. “Beck had a sister born a year before he was,” she said softly. “She was a still birth.”

Blakesley looked at her, shocked, and tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t know.”

Betty smiled bravely. “He doesn’t, either,” she said softly. “There was no reason to tell him.  We were just so grateful when Beck was born healthy that we really didn’t think about having any more children.”

Blakesley grinned, blinking away the tears. “And how you have five granddaughters,” she giggled. “That’s kind of an overload.”

Betty laughed. “I love every one of them,” she said. “Cadee, Crosby and Charlotte are such a blessing. I can’t remember when I haven’t loved them.”

Blakesley clasped the woman’s fingers with her free hand. “Thank you,” she whispered sincerely. “My mother would have liked to have heard that.  You’re the only grandmother they have, you know.”

“What about their father’s mother?”

Blakesley shrugged, looking back at the baby. “She died before I met their father,” she said. “I never knew her.”

The conversation fell silent after that as Emma suckled furiously.  As Blakesley was switching her to the other breast, Beck ‘s truck pulled up in the backyard and they could hear the truck door slam.  Betty stood up from the bed and pulled back the curtains from the French door, opening it for her son.

“We’re in here, Beck,” she called.

A few seconds later, Beck took the steps two at a time up the porch and appeared in the doorway.  He was smiling the minute he came through, kissing his mother and heading straight for the bed where Blakesley was nursing.   He sat down beside her and wrapped both her and the baby up in his arms, kissing Blakesley’s cheek and nuzzling her sweetly.

“Hi, baby,” he murmured, looking down at Emma and kissing her blond head. “How are my girls?”

Blakesley watched him as he kissed and stroked the infant. “We’re fine,” she said. “How are things at the base?”

“Busy.”

“Saving the world?”

“Pretty much.”

“Are you home for the night?”

He nodded and released them from his embrace. “As far as I know,” he said. “Some of the guys want to come over and see Emma. I hope you don’t mind that I invited them over tonight.”

Blakesley shook her head. “I just started dinner,” she said. “But it’s only enough for us. I suppose we can order out with more coming.”

Beck waved her off. “You let me worry about that,” he said, bending down to unlace his big black boots. “Where is everybody?”

Blakesley returned her focus to the baby. “Your dad is in the living room watching television, Crosby and Charlotte are supposed to be cleaning up the playroom, Lizzie and Cadee are upstairs, and my dad and Gabrielle are coming over for dinner. Sounds like we’re going to have a full house tonight.”

Beck nodded, pulling his boots off.  “I want you to take it easy, okay?” he said. “I’ll take care of everyone.  You just relax.”

Blakesley shrugged in agreement, watching the baby as she alternately dozed and nursed.  Beck went to go wash his hands and change his shirt, preparing for the opportunity to claim his child, which wasn’t long in coming.  When Emma was finished nursing, Blakesley handed her over to her father, who took her tenderly.

It was a little chaotic at the Seavington home that night .  Along with the family of seven, there was Beck Sr., Betty, Marshall, Gabrielle, Gina and Spike, two of Lizzie’s friends from school, and seven officers from Beck’s team.   Beck was rather regimented about who he let get near his daughter much less touch her; no one could be sick or recently ill. Everyone had to wash their hands.  Beck’s men just wanted to see her and no one really made an attempt to hold her; mostly, they just brought beer for Beck to celebrate him becoming a father again.  It turned into a big celebration that went on into the night.