Betty rested her head against the pillow for a moment, admiring how handsome he was, even in the middle of the night. How he was there for her, even in the middle of the night.
“To hell with it.” He tossed aside the dress. “I’ll just carry you in your nightgown.”
She laughed and patted his worried face. “I can get dressed. And I can walk. The pain is gone now—I just needed a moment to catch my breath.”
“All right, but I’ll help you out of bed.”
He did, and helped her get dressed, even put on her shoes because her stomach was so large that bending over was nearly impossible. He then helped her down the steps and out to the car.
John and Esther had arrived last week, and were staying for a month or more, to help her once the baby arrived. They both gave her a hug before Henry helped her climb in the passenger seat.
That was when the next pain hit, as he was walking around the car. It again stole her breath away and made her whimper.
“Don’t hold your breath, honey,” he said, grasping her hand. “You have to breathe.”
His reminder helped, and before long, she leaned back against the seat as the pain subsided.
He lifted her hand, kissed the back of it. “I’m sorry, Betty. Sorry that you are in such pain.”
She smiled and shook her head. “It hurts, but it’s fine. Our baby will be here soon, and I’m so excited to meet him or her.”
“I am, too.”
She closed her eyes as he drove them toward the hospital. “I hope our baby has your eyes,” she said.
“And I hope they have yours.”
“I’ve loved your eyes since the moment I saw them,” she said.
“I’ve loved you, since the moment I saw you.”
She laughed. “Isn’t it amazing how things work out?”
“Yes, it is,” he agreed.
The pain that hit then, the bearing-down pressure, had her screaming rather than holding her breath. It wasn’t subsiding, and through the pain, she yelled, “Faster, Henry! Faster!”
He drove fast, and her babies came fast. They didn’t even have time to wheel her into the maternity ward or administer ether. One baby was born in the hallway, the other in the elevator.
Later, once she was settled in a room, holding a baby in each arm, one wrapped in pink and the other blue, Henry kissed her forehead.
“When were you going to tell me there were two babies inside you?” he asked, touching their daughter’s adorable little button nose.
Betty laughed. “I didn’t know there were two of them.”
Their son wrapped his tiny fingers around Henry’s much larger one. “Well, I have to say, when we do something, we do it right.”
“Yes, we do.” She laughed as he kissed her, because she was so full of joy.
“Two,” Henry said, as if he still couldn’t believe it. “I’ll buy another crib on my way home today. And another high chair. And another rocking chair. And another—”
“Knock, knock. Hello, darling, Hello, Henry.”
“Hello, Mother,” Betty greeted. “Is Father with you?”
“Yes, but they won’t let him back here.” She glanced at Henry. “How did you manage that, Henry?”
He winked at her. “My uncle’s the attorney general.”
Mother laughed. “Twins! This is so exciting. And look at them, they are so perfect, even being a wee bit early.”
“Early?” Betty asked.
“Yes, it’s only May, dear.” Mother removed her gloves. “Ask any doctor—they’ll tell you twins are always a month early.”
Between her mother’s wink and the grin on Henry’s face, Betty had to laugh out loud. Mother’s month-early explanation eliminated any baby scandal considering she and Henry had only been married eight months.
“Knock, knock. It’s me, Auntie Patsy.” Patting her growing stomach, Patsy added, “And baby.”
“And Auntie Jane!”
Tears formed in Betty’s eyes at the sight of her sisters. Especially Jane. She hadn’t expected to see her. “You made it.”
“I told you I’d be here.” Jane, looking like she’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine, entered the room. “I flew in last night. I called and told Reuben. But told him I wanted to surprise you today.”
Betty looked at the sly grin on Henry’s face. “Surprise!” he said.
She laughed, then told her sisters, “Come look at my month-early twins. They are perfect!”
If you enjoyed this story, be sure to read the first book in the Sisters of the Roaring Twenties miniseries
The Flapper’s Fake Fiancé
and look out for the next one in the series,
coming soon!
And whilst you’re waiting for the
next book, why not check out her
Brides of the Roaring Twenties miniseries
Baby on His Hollywood Doorstep
Stolen Kiss with the Hollywood Starlet
Keep reading for an excerpt from Claimed for the Highlander’s Revenge by Millie Adams.
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Claimed for the Highlander’s Revenge
by Millie Adams
Chapter One
England—1818
Lady Penelope Hastings was sitting in the drawing room, eating buttered toast, when she discovered she had been sold to a barbarian.
‘I’m afraid there’s nothing to be done.’
That was all the explanation offered by her father, Lord Avondale.
If there was one thing Penny knew from experience, it was that the situation was never ideal when her father began by stating how limited the options were. When her mother had died there had been nothing to be done. When he had dismissed her favourite governess—the only person in the household with whom she shared a connection—there had been nothing to be done.
When she had been young and full of dreams, and she had brought him a small, wounded bird in the hope that she might save it, he had barely given her a glance.
There is nothing to be done.
She felt a bit like that wounded bird now.
‘I’m not quite
