The Vow by Dallas Schulze

Author:Dallas Schulze [Schulze, Dallas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crossed Paws
Published: 2017-11-02T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

M ichael came awake suddenly, startled from sleep by some sound he couldn’t quite remember. He sat up, swinging his legs out of bed, his first thought—as it so often was—of Brittany. She’d been so uncomfortable this past couple of weeks.

And she’d been particularly uncomfortable tonight. Not that she’d said anything, but he’d seen it in the way she’d shifted restlessly in her seat, trying to find some position that relieved the ache in her back.

The baby was due in two weeks, but he sometimes wondered how she could bear the discomfort for much longer. The bloom that had marked the earlier months of her pregnancy had faded. She looked pale and worn. When he’d pressed, she’d admitted that she wasn’t sleeping well, but she’d insisted that this was a normal phase of pregnancy. She just had a hard time getting comfortable.

He was halfway into the hallway when he heard the sound again. This time he knew what it was, and his heart started to beat faster. He covered the distance to Brittany’s door in three quick strides, pushing it open without bothering to knock. She was half in and half out of bed, her head bent forward, her hands pressed to her stomach as she took quick, shallow breaths. Despite her efforts, a tiny whimper of pain escaped—the sound that had awakened him.

The pain eased as he knelt beside her and she lifted her head to look at him, her eyes wide in her pale face. She’d turned on the lamp next to the bed, making it easy to read the fear in her eyes.

“Michael?” His name was all she could manage.

“I’m here.” Was that his voice? He sounded so calm. “How far apart are the pains?”

“I’m not sure,” She looked at the clock as if she could read the answer there. “Ten minutes, maybe.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” He reached around her, plumping up the pillows before taking her hands and easing her back against them.

“I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Don’t be silly. Isn’t this what I spent all those weeks in training for?” He didn’t wait for an answer, disappearing into the bathroom and coming back out with a damp washcloth. Brittany sighed with pleasure as the cool cloth stroked her forehead.

“That feels nice.”

“Of course it does.” He pushed her hair back from her face. “This is what I learned in boot camp.”

“Boot camp?”

“All those classes we took. Did you think I spent all that time practicing with pillows and breathing like a fish just to be robbed of the chance to use it when the time came? Ms. Olafson would be sorely disappointed in me if I failed after all the hours she spent barking orders at us.”

“She didn’t bark,” Brittany protested drowsily. “She was very nice.”

“To those among us with large stomachs, maybe.” Michael put down the washcloth and stretched out an arm to grab the hairbrush that lay on the dresser: “You don’t know how brutal she was on the husbands.”

He began to

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