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Welcome to my life, Adam.

Chapter Two

Fuck!

This is not how I wanted to explain the birds and the bees to James.

Shut it down Beckett, keep it serious.

I looked at the woman. Zoe. And noted that she was wearing a parka, which was good, but it wasn’t zipped up, which was bad. I saw a scarf and gloves on the floor of the passenger seat. She was going to need these. I had no idea how long her labor would last, and I wouldn’t be able to keep the heat in my truck running indefinitely.

“Dad! What’s going on?”

I didn’t hear any fear in my son’s voice. Of course not. He might be only four, but the kid didn’t even know the meaning of the word fear. If I wasn’t careful he’d be out here with a flashlight and first-aid kit in the next three minutes.

“Zoe, hold on just a second more, I have to make sure my kid stays in the truck.”

“How old is he?” She gritted out the question.

“Four.”

“Of course he is.” Her head fell back against the seat. She’d cottoned onto the fact that it would be hard to keep James out of the delivery process. At least my truck had an expanded crew cab.

I backed out of the Jeep, closed the door, and climbed out of the ditch to get to James.

“Hey, kiddo, you shouldn’t have the window rolled down.”

He gave me a serious once over, like a mother inspecting her child. I hated that for him. “I was worried about you.”

“I know you were, but I’m fine. There’s a lady in the Jeep who needs our help. She’s going to have a baby.”

James frowned. “Are we taking her to the hospital?”

“There’s no time. We’re going to have to help her have the baby here in the truck.”

James’ blue eyes went wide. “A real live baby? How?”

“It’s going to come out of her tummy,” I explained. “Look, James. I’ve got to go get her, and bring her up here, and I need you to stay inside. Okay?”

He nodded slowly, his eyes still wide.

“Dad, this is going to be so cool.”

I gave him the best smile I could, which wasn’t much, and nodded. “Yeah. Cool.” I ducked out of the truck and headed back to Zoe as fast and carefully as I could. When I got back and opened the door, I found that she was out of her seatbelt, her scarf was on, her gloves were on, but she looked wedged between the console and dashboard.

“Uhm.”

“Don’t uhm me,” she snarled. “Help me out of here.” I watched as her ass wiggled toward me. Under normal circumstances, I would take a moment to admire the view, but now was not the time.

“How stuck are you?”

“I’m not sure. I think it’s just gravity and an inability to get this body to do anything I ask, rather than being actually stuck. If you could find a crane somewhere, we’d be in business.”

I laughed.

“No laughing!” She groaned, long and loud. Her pain was evident.

“Jesus,” I mumbled. “Take a deep breath, Zoe, then let it out slowly. I’ll lift you out of here, and then we’ll get you up to my truck.”