One Night Stand Ch. 03

The moment that the sac gave way, a fully formed and perfect little head slipped into his fingers. The face was bluish-grey and scrunched, lined like an old man's. "The head is out. What now?" he pleaded with the voice on the other end of the phone.

"Use your fingers to clear her mouth and from around her nose, Senor Ryan."

He frowned at the women's use of his name. What lies had she told these people? Hell, had she lied to him? She had assured him that she was on the pill. Had it failed? Or had she used him to have this baby?

His baby. He had a lot more questions for the woman than the ones he had been sent to ask. But all of them would have to wait. Delivering this baby took precedent.

"Her?" he asked. Though he was not sure at whom he directed the question.

"You did not tell your espouso that he was having a little girl. Muy travieso, Senora Lara. Si, Senor Ryan, a little girl."

A little girl. He had a daughter. Or he would. Right about now as he saw Laura's face scrunch with pain once more. She bore down without being told. He was shocked at how quickly and with what force the baby shot from her mother's body. Only quick reflexes kept him from dropping the tiny bundle of slime. Though it was less than two feet drop to the rug on the floor, that was not how he wanted his baby girl's life to begin.

Then again, none of this was how he wanted his daughter to enter this world - from her conception and all that had come after to this moment. As he lifted the tiny creature towards his chest, he swore that things were going to be different. He could barely breathe past the lump in his throat as he watched her try to take her first breath.

"Put her head in your palm, senor. Si, si, very good," the voice on the phone encouraged him as followed her directions.

"Now, lower your hand. Keep her little bottom higher than her head. Turn her face to the side more. Si, si. Now, rub her back. Don't be afraid to use some force. Babies are not as delicate as we think. La bebita will not break."

Her words were coming so fast that they barely registered in Ryan's addled brain. Somehow his body followed her instructions exactly. His reward was an ear-splitting scream that was sweeter than any country ballad ever.

He had a baby — a daughter.

He looked up at the woman he had not seen in nine months. The woman with whom he had spent one perfect night. His only one night stand. All the questions, personal and professional, floated away. Only one thing mattered now. Keeping his family safe.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Senor, get a towel or blanket. Wrap the baby in it. And give her to her mama. I will leave in dos minutos. Let me tell you what to do until I get there."

***

Laura took the squirming bundle from his large hands. She nestled her daughter close to her chest. She stared into the little face. It was hard to see the details of her baby's features through the tears. The baby squirmed and cried as she turned towards Laura's chest.

She was a mother. She had a baby girl - a daughter. She leaned forward and kissed the smattering of almost white-blond hair that covered the baby's head.

An inheritance from her father - this man who knelt before her. The man who had ignited her passions as no one else ever had. Then destroyed all she had worked to build. The man who had suddenly reappeared when she - no, they - needed him most. But what now? How could she explain? Did she owe him one after all he had done?

The baby squirmed harder, rooting was the term she had read in all the books. Even then, she was shocked at the strength of her daughter's natural instincts. As she almost crawled the inches across her chest towards her breasts.

"Welcome to the world, Chloe Reynolds," she said as her finger brushed the side of the baby's cheek, causing her to turn her face and root even more.

"Chloe Ranger," his blue-eyes met hers.

She might have dared to argue the point with him, had not the baby grown tired of her futile efforts, emitting a lusty and angry cry.

His finger brushed their baby's cheek as hers had done. Chloe turned her head the other direction and met the gaze of her father. "You get that appetite from your Daddy, Chloe." He reluctantly dragged his eyes from his daughter's and up to hers, "Are you planning to breastfeed her?"

She nodded and blushed as she fumbled to push the neckline of her dress back with her other hand. This would have been so much easier in the cotton nursing gown packed with all the other birthing supplies in her bedroom.

She swallowed back the trepidation as she addressed him again, "Bring me the blue bag from beside my bed, please. The door on your left down the hall," she pointed.

He nodded. Though she could see the questions in his face, he obeyed, disappearing down the hall.

Laura took a deep breath as she lifted the tiny bundle towards her, placing another kiss on the top of her daughter's head. "Oh, the tangled web we weave," she smiled at one of her favorite Shakespearean lines.

She knew that Miss Esther would appreciate the irony, and it seemed only right somehow that she honor her mentor, who had so graciously rented her this house all those months ago. She added the woman to her long list of entreaties to whatever was out there. She hoped that things were going smoother for her friend than they were for her at the moment.

What the hell was he doing here? At her home? At the very moment, she went into labor with her baby? His baby. And what the hell did she say now?

'Oh, sorry, I was not really on birth control. I just wanted a baby. And you seemed like superior genetic material.' Or at least he had. Until the next morning. When he fired her and took the job that she had spent fifteen years working for.

Not that things had worked out that badly. Honestly, he probably did her a favor. All of the other executives had either been arrested or were under investigation.

She frowned, so why not him? How had he escaped the wide net that the government had cast in its attempts to stamp out corporate corruption and money laundering? Hell, she had half expected someone to show up at her door.

Not that she knew much. But they did not know that. Still, they might find something she had not thought of in the backups on her laptop.

She had been so busy these past few months, between her pregnancy and trying to come up with a plan for their future, that she had not thought about those files. Not until her former boss's son and the company's Chief Financial Officer had committed suicide a few weeks ago.

As the former general counsel, she would have been the one spearheading their defense, but she supposed that all had fallen on his shoulders. She could almost pity the man.

As if she had conjured him up, Ryan came back down the hall, holding her birthing bag. Though it might seem a bit late, several supplies in the kit would still be useful. "Put it on the floor by the table and open it, please."

He nodded as he stared at the baby whose screams seemed to be quieting a bit. "Is she okay?"

Laura smiled as she looked at her daughter, "She seems perfect. But I suppose we won't know for sure until Lupe gets here."

"Should I call an ambulance to take ya'll to the hospital or something?" he seemed to be considering a bit too late.

Laura chuckled at the confused look on his face. She had forgotten how handsome he was. She looked back down at her daughter, noting the resemblance to the man.

"No, I had planned a home birth. Lupe is my partera, midwife. That is my birth supplies." She said, pointing at the bag he had opened on the floor next to her.

"Can you reach into the pocket on the left? There should be a plastic bag with two clamps for Chloe's cord in there. Can you get that out?" She pondered and added, "And a few packs of gloves as well. I suppose you should wash your hands and put on those before we open the clamps."

"Should we wait until the midwife gets here?" He knelt and brushed a finger across the baby's cheek. She turned her head, and their gazes locked again.

Laura's throat tightened at the look which passed between father and daughter. The baby was only moments old, and already, she could feel the bond between them. What had she been thinking? She, who had grown up without a father? How had she ever thought she could do this on her own?

"I'm sorry."

"We'll talk later. Once things settle down, just tell me what needs to be done now. Lupe said something about the cord pulsing and afterbirth. I'm hoping you know more than I do."