Page 70 of Rescuing Mary

Mary rocked back on a foot, but immediately clamped her arms around the little girl’s shoulders. “Hey, Annie.”

She mumbled something in her belly, but didn’t raise her head.

Looking around, Mary saw Rayne, Beatle, Wendy, and Harley.

“You call Truck?” Beatle asked.

Mary nodded. “He was going to jump in the shower then come over. He said about thirty minutes about fifteen minutes ago.”

Beatle nodded.

“Truck’s comin’?” Annie asked.

Mary ran her hand over the little girl’s mussed hair and nodded. “Yeah, he’s on his way.”

“Good.”

Mary shuffled over to one of the chairs with Annie still holding on to her. She sat on a chair that didn’t have any arms and lifted Annie so she was sitting sideways on her lap. It was a little awkward, as Annie wasn’t exactly a tiny thing anymore. “Any word?” Mary asked Rayne as everyone sat back down.

She shook her head. “They took her back to do a C-section a bit ago. Fletch is in there with her.”

Mary wanted to ask more. Wanted all the details. But wouldn’t while Annie was there. The last thing she wanted was for the little girl to hear something scary about her mom.

As the minutes went by, the room filled up. Ghost and the other guys got there, obviously having finished with their meeting on post. Hollywood was there, even though Kassie was still at home. When Truck entered the room, he made a beeline for Mary and Annie.

Crouching down in front of them, he put one hand behind Annie’s back and he palmed the side of Mary’s neck with the other.

Mary felt surrounded by him. His fresh, clean scent wafted up to her nostrils and she inhaled deeply.

“How’re my girls?” he asked softly.

He’d come straight to them. Hadn’t said hello to his teammates first. Hadn’t stopped to greet anyone else. His gaze had swept the room looking for her and he had come straight over when he’d found her.

“Hangin’ in there,” Mary said in a shaky voice.

“Why’s it takin’ so long?” Annie asked, her lower lip trembling.

Truck stood then reached down and took Mary’s hand in his. He helped her stand, and sat down on the seat where she’d been. Then he tugged Mary down onto his lap. She was still holding Annie, and she wobbled a bit trying to get situated. But she wasn’t going to fall, no way. Not while Truck was near.

He held her steady and Mary leaned back against him, trusting him to keep both her and Annie safe. Annie curled into a little ball in Mary’s lap.

“Having babies is a long process,” Truck said softly. “And the doctors are taking the best care they can with your mom and your new baby sibling.”

“Brother,” Annie said defiantly. “Baby brother.”

Truck chuckled and Mary felt it rumble through her.

“Sorry. Brother.”

Annie fell silent, and Mary couldn’t think of anything to say to Truck that wouldn’t upset the girl. So the three of them sat curled up together in silence. Ten minutes later, Annie was snoring slightly in Mary’s lap.

“Is she heavy? Do you need me to take her?” Truck asked quietly in her ear.

Mary shook her head. “She’s okay.”

“What’s going on? Any new news?”

“No.”