"No time like the present. I've been thinking and--Ah!" Tears fell down her cheeks as the nurse and Suzette cheered her on, encouraging her. He added his voice to the mix as her back bowed again.
"Go, baby, go. You’re doing so good!”
"I lied!" she screamed, and the nurse and Suzette watched on in sudden silence.
Luke, though? He focused in, needing to hear what she said next.
"I lied." Her words came out in a jumbled rush as her contraction ended, just as they had that morning. "I wanted to push you away because I didn't know about the bike shop and how you hated town and everything and I wanted you to be able to live your dream and not get stuck with me. And, okay, I was a little selfish because I didn't want to live my life wondering if you loved me but--"
“I don’t want to interrupt but I need to get the doctor, honey. I think it’s time to start pushing,” the nurse murmured.
Luke’s mind was reeling as Tawny’s words hit home.
She lied. His mom was right. Tawny hadn’t wanted him to feel like he had no choice in his future. God, if she only knew she would be his first choice every time.
The ice-cold pressure in his chest seemed to ease and warmth spread through him. It was all going to be okay. He couldn’t wait to prove to her how wrong she was. How much he loved her. But right now, they had work to do.
“It’s all okay, baby. We don't need to worry about any of that right now. You don't need to stress. Everything is going to be all right.”
“He’s right, mommy. You need to relax and get your strength between contractions while I get the doctor. You need all your energy for pushing.”
The nurse slipped from the room, but Tawny, stubborn as she was, ignored her and launched into another rush of words.
"I'm not stressed. I just need you to know the truth, Luke.” Her lean throat worked and she stared up at him, looking more beautiful than he’d ever seen her. “I love you. I love you, but I need you to follow your dreams and I can't be the one to keep you from--" She tried to keep talking but her words became whimpers as another contraction rocked through her.
"I see the head!" Suzette squealed, and Luke's heart flipped.
“Jesus, Suze, get the doctor,” he managed, his heart pounding a hundred miles an hour. He could hear the patter of her feet and her calling frantically down the hall. “Baby, I love you, too. And I’ll be wherever our family is. We'll find a compromise. I want you to be able to teach or do whatever it is you want to do, too. But right now we need to focus on this baby. Try not to push until the doctor—”
“I hear we’ve got a very impatient little boy in this room,” a low, calm female voice declared.
Luke shot a look to the doctor and barely managed to hold back a panicked laugh.
This was it. He was about to become a father. One magical night at the lake and his whole world was about to change.
He couldn’t wait.
“Let’s get ready to push, mom!” the nurse cried and Suzette appeared on Tawny's other side while the doctor positioned herself by Tawny’s feet. "You can do it. Ready? Push.”
Tawny grimaced and rolled forward, groaning as she bore down.
“Come on, love," Luke joined the chant. "You can do anything. You can do anything."
Tawny pinched her eyes closed as she gripped their hands and shook, pushing with all her might.
The next thirty minutes went by in a terror-filled blur, and just when Luke thought Tawny couldn’t push even once more, the doctor beamed up at him.
“Ready, dad?”
He nodded.
“Two more big ones, and you’ll be able to hold your son, mom.”
Tawny was a warrior and used every last bit of strength, pushing out the baby’s head and then his shoulders. Luke watched in awe as his son slipped out the rest of the way into the doctor’s waiting hands.
For a second, the room was silent save for their collective, harsh breathing, and then…
A wail.
The most beautiful wail ever filled the air--not Tawny's, but her son’s.
Their son's.
In that moment, nothing else mattered. Not the pain of rejection or the fear of losing her. Not money or a bike shop or what town they lived in.
This moment stood alone in time as the moment they went from two separate people to one family of three.
His family.
Joy flooded him and he kissed Tawny's head as she cried along with their baby.
"Our son," he whispered past the tightness of his throat. "You gave us a son. He’s so perfect.”
"We had a son," she murmured.
"I love you," he said.
“I love you, too. And Michael."
"Michael?" he asked.
"Michael."