Page 90 of A Necessary Wife

Between breaths, she turned to Lucy, who was watching on in shock. “Lucy, darling, run for the housekeeper. Tell her the baby is coming this minute.”

The girl sprinted off, something she’d never have done before Amelia came into her life.

“What can I do?”

“Your coat, put it under me—and remember your promise,” Amelia ground out around another cry of pain. “You’ll have to catch him.”

Milo gulped, but he’d been present for Amelia’s last delivery, so he knew what was expected of a midwife’s replacement. “When have I ever broken my promises to you?”

“Just once.” Amelia panted, then grinned. “But this one is still important. You must not mourn for long if the worst⁠—”

“Nothing will ever happen to you,” he said firmly, cutting her off. Amelia always worried that she might die in childbirth, as many women her age did. She wasn’t worried about her own death, but what the loss would do to him and the children. “Help is on the way.”

“Yes, but not soon enough, I suspect.”

He removed his coat as Amelia labored, raised her skirts above her knees, and saw the crown of the baby’s head between her legs.

He gulped again as he realized how far along she was with this delivery. “When did you feel the first contraction?”

“Only now.”

“She is too close for that to be true.” He steadied his own breathing, but inside, he was trying not to panic.

“The baby is a he,” Amelia insisted, fighting to steady her breathing, but she was loud and obviously in great pain as another contraction tore through her. “And Westfalls do things in their own time.”

He chose not to respond to that. “That’s it. That’s it. As easy as last time.”

“Easy?” she gasped. “You think this is easy?”

He’d been told any distraction could help a mother during labor. Although last time the distraction had been a roomful of his sisters clucking their tongues about him being in the room.

He heard shouts and the stampede of dozens of feet running toward them. He was rudely swept aside by the housekeeper, with no thought to his dignity or title. He scrambled to Amelia’s side and caught hold of her hand, then he heard Lucy’s loud sob.

“Take Lucy back to the house,” Milo ordered.

However, Amelia gestured for Lucy to come closer, then turned the child’s back on what was going on under her skirts. “Stay here by me, darling, and don’t peek. You can be the first to hold the baby when he arrives.”

“Yes, Mama.” But the girl’s bottom lip quavered with panic. “I love you, and I promise to love my brother, no matter that I asked for a sister.”

“That’s my girl,” Amelia whispered. “Now, put your fingers in your ears and don’t listen to another sound until we tap your shoulder. Sing if you must.”

If Lucy answered, he never heard it, as Amelia let out the loudest roar he’d ever heard from her. But there were excited rumblings from the servants, then she cried out again but it seemed softer. He clutched Amelia’s hand tightly, waiting to be told good news, watching only Amelia’s sweat-covered face as she labored to deliver their child.

“You’ve done it, my lady!” the housekeeper crowed finally. “It’s another precious bundle of joy, but one more push. That’s it. Good!”

Milo kept his eyes on Amelia, and his daughter facing the other way with her fingers in her ears. Amelia’s smile grew radiant as the babe cried, and the housekeeper declared the birthing complete and without any complications. Amelia nodded to the housekeeper and then smiled at him.

He risked a peek behind him and saw their new child for the first time, already swaddled in cloth that hid their sex. The babe appeared healthy and had a good set of lungs and he smiled in relief.

He turned back to Amelia, pleased it was over so quickly this time. He wiped the sweat from her brow. “How do you feel?”

“Wonderful,” she promised. “I always do afterward.”

He loosened his grip on her hand when the housekeeper attempted to hand him the baby. “Lucy was given the honor by her mother.”

Amelia tapped Lucy’s shoulder, and the girl spun around so fast, she wobbled. “Is it over? Is he here?”

The housekeeper handed Lucy the baby, and she beamed with sisterly pride. She had such a look of adoration on her face that Milo was forced to wipe away a tear. “Is it the boy you wanted, Mama?”