DAYS
Chapter 6
As Walker neared his house, he noticed Angel lying on the ground next to something, tossing her head and whinnying. Ranger stopped, and he slid off the horse's back, patting him on the neck before crossing the yard to where Angel lay. As he came closer, he realized there was a person lying beside the horse—a blonde woman.
"Oh, God, Alex!" he cried, rushing to her side. Her eyes were tightly shut, and her hands were gripping her stomach. The moment he touched her, he knew what was wrong, Her entire body was rigid, obviously with pain. Alex, sensing her husband's presence, forced her eyes open for a moment, and the pain Walker saw there broke his heart. He yelled for Sydney, then called 911. He explained the situation, and hung up just as the raven-haired woman came out of the house. "Syd, I need some blankets, now!" She nodded and hurried back inside. She came back out, followed closely by Erica, as he was dialing Gage's cell phone number. When he answered, Walker briefed him on what was happening, and said for him, Trivette, and CD to meet them at the hospital. The ambulance arrived then, and Alex was carefully loaded onto a stretcher. One of the paramedics turned to Sydney uncertainly, eyeing her swollen belly.
"You okay, ma'am?" he asked. She assured him that she was fine, and he helped her climb into the front seat of the vehicle beside Erica while Walker seated himself beside his wife in the back. When they got to the hospital, their friends were waiting for them. Gage and Trivette helped Sydney and Erica down from the vehicle, and the group followed the Walker's inside. Five minutes later, Alex was settled in a bed and the doctor was examining her. The pain medication had just set in when she turned to them, surprise etched on her face.
"Alex, you're fully dilated. You've most likely been having small contractions all day." That explained the backache. "You're going to need to push in a minute." Alex nodded as another contraction ripped through her body. Walker took one of her small hands into both of his much larger ones. The doctor told her to push on the next one, and she put all of her effort into it, gripping her husband's hand tightly. She rested only briefly before pushing again, and suddenly, they heard the sound of a baby's cry, and they both looked in amazement towards the tiny creature the doctor held. The smiling woman set the wailing infant on Alex's chest, and the proud parents saw they had a daughter. After a moment, a nurse took her to examine her. Once Alex and the baby were cleaned up, they returned her to them. She was wrapped in a soft pink blanket, her tiny face peeking out from the folds. Walker smiled down at his wife and daughter, pressed a loving kiss to Alex's temple, then went to get their anxious friends. They crowded into the room, cooing over the newest addition to their family. The infant suddenly screwed up her face as if she were going to cry, and everyone held their breath, but she only yawned widely, her rosebud mouth stretching open and her tiny, pert nose and smooth forehead wrinkling. Everyone smiled, and when she opened her eyes fully for the first time, they were amazed to see exact replicas of her mother's sky-blue eyes gazing up at them. Walker ran a gentle finger down her soft, round cheek, taking in the silky reddish-blonde hair covering the top of her head.
"My little angel," he whispered.
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