Thank you to everyone who's read this story. I started it without much of a plan after the initial chapter. Thanks to MusesOwnMyMind and her help, I have a direction, but still not completely sure who will end up falling for Ava, and who she will fall for (hopefully whoever has feelings for her is the same person she develops feelings for. :) ) I am open to hearing any requests or who you think she should be with.

Thanks so much for reading!

Chapter 4

Ava sat back on her heels, awkward with her balance thrown off with her advanced pregnancy, but giving her knees a break. She pressed one hand to her lower back and massaged lightly at the kink there.

She surveyed the amount of church floor she had managed to scrub and heaved a sigh.

"You should take a rest."

Ava startled at the voice. She whirled around and lost her balance, landing unceremoniously on her backside.

The man who had spoken moved quickly toward her, his face tightening with concern and Ava waved him away as she struggled toward her feet.

He ultimately stepped forward and Ava had no choice but to let him help her stand.

"Thank you," she said primly, stepping back and putting some distance between them, her cheeks flaming with heat at her own clumsiness. She wasn't used to being ungainly. She had always used her lithe figure and charm to her advantage. Now she was scrubbing floors, she thought with a frown.

"Name's Vin," the man said. His blue eyes were gentle and Ava decided she might like the man in black better. She was much more comfortable with the suspicious distance he seemed determined to maintain.

"Ava," she responded, falling back on her carefully practiced southern belle accent. "Ava LaCroix." She extended her hand and tried not to appreciate how the man didn't bring it to his mouth for a kiss. He gave it a light squeeze and Ava easily withdrew it.

"Josiah's got you scrubbin' floors?" Vin asked.

Ava felt her lips purse defensively. "He hired me and it's a job that needed doing." She didn't mention that Josiah had seemed determined to pay her whether she worked or not. As much as she didn't enjoy the labor, she had insisted on doing the most difficult task she was equipped for, hating the thought of charity. Of being paid for doing nothing. If she had managed to swindle Josiah out while working her con, she would have at least felt like she had done something to gain the money. Or he had deserved to be separated from his money for being so gullible.

She heaved a sigh. She needed to get away from these men as soon as possible.

"I brought you some lunch," Vin said. "Josiah's held up at the hardware store."

Ava didn't have much appetite, a change from the previous days. She told herself it was just because she wasn't used to the physicality of the tasks she had been performing.

"I can purchase my own lunch," she said. And, just like that argument hadn't worked on the man in black when he brought her breakfast earlier that day, it didn't work on Vin.

"Josiah said it's part of your wages," Vin countered easily.

Ava rubbed at the ache in her back again as she followed Vin toward the table set up in the corner of the church. She quickly dropped her hand when he looked back at her.

Vin got out the plates Josiah stored in a small cupboard and set them out. He took fried chicken and biscuits from the basket, a jar of green beans, and laid them out on the table.

Ava sat, trying to find a comfortable position. Vin was watching her and she forced herself to still, then cocked an impatient eyebrow at him.

He didn't say anything, turning his attention to the food.

Ava shoved the food around her plate, managing a few nibbles. She finally shoved her plate aside.

"Thank you," she managed. Gratitude didn't come easily. Not with the way it automatically implied one was in a debt.

"You didn't eat much," Vin said, eyes flicking towards her nearly untouched plate.

Ava stood, intending to reply with a flippant retort, but a sudden gush of fluid had her reaching for the chair back, gripping it. Her mind stumbled to make sense of what was happening, even as she knew full well what was happening.

"Ava?" Vin asked, standing, and starting around the table. When she didn't answer immediately, he reached out for her arm.

Ava closed her eyes. This was not how she had planned for anything. Not that she had really had a plan. But certainly not giving birth in a dusty, decrepit church with some cowboy by her side.

"Ava? Miss?" Vin asked again.

This time Ava couldn't answer because of the pressure that moved from her back, circling around to her abdomen. This was different than the pains she had felt in the jail yesterday.

Fear had her finally meeting Vin's eyes.

"I'll get Nathan," he said, apparently reading the situation correctly.

It hadn't sounded like any of the men were too sure of Nathan's delivery skills yesterday, but it wasn't as if she had much choice.

But Vin didn't move and Ava looked at him, the pain and fear coming out as impatience. "What?"

"I ain't leavin' you," Vin said decisively.

"Great," Ava muttered. She had no idea what was supposed to happen. No idea what this man was supposed to do for her. She bent over slightly, keeping her grip on the chair, trying to breathe as the pain swelled.

She heard his boots thud against the floor towards the door. Looked like his promise not to leave her was a short-lived one. Ava held back a snort of derision. In her experience, that was what men did best. Leave.

She jolted as a gunshot sounded outside, close enough to send the shock of the sound through her body. Then two more, each one tensing her body more, worsening the pain.

She looked toward the door, not sure what she expected, but it was Vin, calmly coming back inside, barrel of his hefty revolver smoking as he holstered it again.

"That'll get the others here," he said.

"Great," Ava muttered through gritted teeth. "They were so helpful when they thought my time had come yesterday."

"I've helped a mare or two foal," Vin said seriously.

Ava fixed him with a look that had him finally losing some of his composure.

"That ain't—sorry," he said.

Ava closed her eyes as the wave of pain finished and then straightened, drawing in a full breath finally.

Boots clattered up the steps outside and she recognized Chris, Ezra, and Josiah, all with guns drawn coming through the doors, scanning the room for whatever threat had Vin summoning them.

Chris eyed her suspiciously.

"I'm unarmed," she said sarcastically to him.

Vin moved closer to the men and spoke in a low voice. "Think it's her time."

Chris snorted. "We heard that one before."

"You won't need your sidearms for the arrival of my baby," Ava snapped at him.

He and Josiah holstered their weapons. Ezra continued to eye her.

"For an offspring of yours—" he started before Vin cut him off.

"Put the gun away, Ezra." It was the first time she had heard some temper in Vin's voice.

"Let's get her to the clinic," Chris said. "Nathan's out doctorin' a busted leg. We can see if Mary—"

Ava couldn't hold back the moan that burst through her lips as another contraction built. She bent double again, getting her grip on the chair again, forgetting about all the eyes on her.

And then she felt the new pressure. The overwhelming urge to push. It was happening too fast. She wasn't ready. She had no idea what she was doing. What she was going to do. She couldn't be a mother. She couldn't—

"Easy there," Vin was saying. He avoided laying a hand on her. Through the pain Ava was aware of how much he sounded like he was soothing a horse. She glared at him.

Josiah stepped forward. "Let's get you on the cot. Lying down might be a bit more comfortable."

Ava shook her head. How was she supposed to tell them the baby was coming. A baby she was nowhere ready for.

She let out a little whimper, fighting against the pressure, sure she could stop things before they got out of control any more than they already were.

That was when Chris came to her side. She avoided looking at him, not wanting to see the censure in his eyes.

"What do you need?" he asked quietly.

"To not do this," she ground out.

"Yeah," he said, sounding like he would also rather be anywhere else, doing anything else.

"Oh no," she whispered, pain making her voice shaky.

There was no holding this off. Her baby was going to be born. Now.

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