Kat Brookes - The Rancher's Baby Surprise

“She’s in good hands,” Tucker said soberly.

“Best thing you can do for her right now is pray,” Jackson suggested.

“And what if those prayers go unanswered?” he asked, as they hadn’t been with Grace. “Hannah’s too young to die.”

“Hannah isn’t going to die,” Jackson said firmly. “She’s young and healthy.”

“She’s been in labor for nearly three hours.”

“Babies come out when they’re good and ready,” Tucker replied, “If God planned to call Hannah home, He wouldn’t have seen to it that you were there to save her and the child she’s carrying from those flood waters.”

He prayed his brother was right. Yet, despite his brother’s reassuring words, Garrett couldn’t quell the restless energy that filled him. So, he continued pacing the length of the porch which ran all the way across the front of the cedar-sided ranch house.

The front screen door creaked open, bringing Garrett’s steps to a halt and drawing all three men’s gazes that direction. Autumn stepped out onto the porch and Garrett swallowed hard. It had only been forty-five minutes since he’d left Hannah in his mother’s and Autumn’s safekeeping, minutes filled with searching glances toward the distant road for an ambulance that had yet to arrive, minutes filled with anxious pacing and fervent prayers. Why wasn’t his sister-in-law still inside helping his mother? Unless...

Garrett’s heart thudded as he zeroed in on Autumn’s face. Hannah had said herself that it was too soon for her baby to be born. Not that babies didn’t arrive early all the time, but usually they were delivered in a hospital with medical equipment readily available to care for a premature baby. His fears were laid to rest the moment he realized that his sister-in-law was smiling.

“Hannah?” Garrett asked, the word coming out of a raspy croak.

“Tired, but doing well.”

Jackson sat upright and pushed to his feet. “And the baby?”

“He’s tiny,” she said, and then seeing Garrett’s worried frown, added, “but that’s to be expected seeing as how he came early. And he’s breathing on his own.”

“Thank the Lord,” all three men muttered in unison.

“No sign of the ambulance?” she asked.

“Not yet,” Tucker answered with a shake of his head.

A slight frown pulled at her lips at hearing that.

“I’ll call and see if I can find anything out,” Jackson offered.

“That would be good,” she said with a nod. Then she looked to Garrett. “Hannah’s asking for you.”

“She is?” he said, feeling a surge of something he couldn’t explain move through him. And then, without waiting for a reply, he hurried into the house. Long strides carried him down the hallway to his brother’s guest room. He needed to see for himself that Hannah was all right. That her baby was all right.

His mother looked up from where she sat watching over Hannah when he stepped into the room. “Perfect timing,” she said with a smile as she rose from the chair. “I’m parched. While you sit with Hannah and her little one, I’m going to go fix Autumn and myself a cup of tea and call your father.”

Garrett looked to the bed where Hannah lay, her face blessedly pain-free. She looked tired—understandably, after all she had been through—but there was a glow about her that hadn’t been there before. Her long hair, now dry with the exception of a few sweat-dampened spirals, fell about her face and down over her shoulders. It was the most vibrant shade of copper-red he’d ever seen, reminding Garrett of a fall sunset. Something he hadn’t picked up on in the dark of the storm.

His gaze fell to the towel-wrapped bundle Hannah held in her arms as she lay there and the tiny face peeking out of it. So very tiny.

“He doesn’t bite,” Hannah said with a sleepy smile as she looked down at the babe in her arms. “You can come closer.”

“He’s perfect,” Garrett said in awe as he moved to settle into the straight-backed chair his mother had just vacated. Despite his slightly wrinkled, blotchy red skin and scrawny little limbs, her son was perfect. The baby had a dusting of strawberry blonde hair on his head and big, slate blue eyes.

“He’s so small,” Hannah said with a worried frown as she looked down at her son. Then her gaze lifted to meet Garrett’s. “But he’s here. Without you, he might have...” Tears filled her eyes. “We might have...”

“But you didn’t,” he said, not wanting her to dwell on what could have happened. It hadn’t. “And I think the Lord played more a part in it than I did,” he added with a warm smile.

“That might be the case,” she agreed. “But you were the one He sent to save us. The man who risked his own life to save ours. The man who helped to calm me, finding us shelter during the storm. I can never thank you enough for what you did for us.”

“Seeing that you’re both all right is enough for me,” he said, noting that she could barely keep her eyes open.

“I should leave you to rest,” he said.

“I’m so tired,” she admitted with a soft sigh.

“Then close your eyes and get some sleep,” he told her.

Worry creased her brows. “I don’t dare. Not while I’m holding him. He could fall from my arms if I relaxed in sleep.”

“I could hold him for you,” he heard himself offering before he thought things out thoroughly.

“If you don’t mind,” she agreed with a sleepy yawn. “I know he’ll be safe with you, and I’ll only close my eyes for a short while.”

She was trusting the most precious thing in the world to her into his safekeeping. Garrett’s gaze came to rest on the sweet face of her newborn son. He was so small. Hardly bigger than his own outstretched hand, he thought with a surge of panic. Not that he hadn’t handled other small newborns before, but those had been in the form of bunnies and puppies and kittens. This was a baby, and he would never have one of his own.

“Garrett?”

He looked up at Hannah. “I’ve never held a baby before. I’m not sure I would even know how to go about it.”

“That’s how I felt when your mother laid him in my arms. But it’s much easier than you think,” she said with a reassuring smile. “But you’ll need to wash your hands first.”

Of course. He knew that. He should have done so before ever coming into the room, but he’d been so eager to see for himself that Hannah and the baby were all right. “Be right back,” he said, hurrying off to the washroom.

When he returned, Hannah smiled up at him. “Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Okay, now hold out your arms and I’ll hand him over to you.”

He did as she said, feeling an overwhelming sense of awe as she settled the babe into his outstretched arms. So, this is what becoming someone’s father would have felt like.

“Now bring him to your chest,” Hannah coached softly. “It will help to keep him warm. Just make sure his face isn’t covered. He doesn’t have as much body fat on him as a full-term baby would have had.”

As he settled the towel-swaddled infant against his chest, Garrett felt his heart swell.

“I’d like to name him after you,” Hannah said, her eyes drifting shut.

Garrett’s gaze snapped up, her words taking him by surprise.

“That is, if it’s all right with you,” she mumbled sleepily.

“I’d be honored,” he said. Truth was he couldn’t have been more honored. This child she’d given birth to was all she had left of her sister and he was going to carry Garrett’s first name. And it wasn’t as if he’d ever have children of his own to pass his name down to. His heart had died with Grace that day, along with his dreams of having a family of his own.