Emma awakened Steven rudely by arching her back and letting out a howl of startled discomfort. He sat bolt upright in bed, shoved one hand through his hair in agitation, and babbled that he was willing to pay five thousand dollars for the piece of land he wanted, and not a cent more. In spite of her pain, Emma laughed at his incoherency. "I'm in labor, Mr. Fairfax," she told him, as her stomach contorted visibly beneath her nightgown and her face twisted in a grimace. "You'd better get the doctor, fast." Fully awake now, Steven clambered out of bed, shouting for Cyrus and Nathaniel. They both appeared posthaste, clad in flannel nightshirts that would have started Emma into laughing again if she hadn't been in so much pain. Steven didn't recall that he was naked until after he'd dispatched Nathaniel to fetch Dr. Mayfield and Cyrus to bring Jubal from the servants' quarters. And when he did, he didn't give a damn. He struggled into his clothes, swearing under his breath the whole time. Emma let out a peal of amusement that somehow transformed itself into a loud moan. Her belly rose up as though it were being pinched between two giant, invisible fingers, and she felt a rush of water between her legs. "Is it supposed to happen this fast?" she asked Steven, panting out the words in the wake of another hard contraction. "How the hell should I know?" Steven barked, stumbling around in the darkness until he managed to strike his shin against the chest at the foot of the bed. When that happened he bellowed another curse and demanded, "Where the devil is the doctor?" "He lives five miles away," Emma reasoned. "Calm down, Mr. Fairfax. Having a baby is a perfectly normal-" At that moment another pain seized her, wringing out a squeaky scream. Jubal
( Linda Lael Miller )
[ Emma And The Outlaw ]
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