Special Delivery (A Valentine's Short Story) Read Online Free Page B

other.
“Oh, I… It looks like I’m no longer needed here.” But even as she
said it, she looked down about it, like she’d really been looking
forward to her role in supporting Amanda. “I’ll just head back home
and wait for your call.”
    “Nonsense,” Luke said kindly. “I can always use a wingman, or woman, as the case may be.”
    Katie viewed them both with expectation. “Are
you sure?”
    Amanda lovingly studied her husband, then set
her gaze back on Katie. “He’s right. You know the drill. Luke may
even wind up being your wingman!”
    The three of them laughed until Amanda winced
once more with discomfort.
    “We can take my car,” Katie said. “It’s
already warmed up.”
    “Just let me grab one thing.” Luke strode
briskly to the living room and lifted the baby book off the coffee
table. Amanda raised her brow, questioning.
    “I saw it over there,” he explained, “and it
reminded me.”
    “Of what?” Amanda asked him.
    “Don’t they stamp the baby’s footprints in
here or something?”
    “Who told you that?” Katie asked with
amazement.
    “Logan,” Luke said with a grin.
    Amanda tucked the baby book in her bag.
“Well, God bless Logan.”
    “You got that part right.”
    Luke wrapped his arm around Amanda’s shoulder
as Katie held back the door.
    “So,” he asked Amanda as they headed through
the snow, “ready to do this thing?”
    Amanda smiled at her husband, believing the
world was a glorious place. And it was about to get even better.
“Aye, aye, Captain.”
    He leaned toward her and whispered, “Not a
captain yet.”
    “No, but you will be,” she said playfully.
“I’ve got faith in you.”
    “Yeah? Well, I’ve got faith in you too.”
    Then he planted a kiss on her forehead and
helped her in the car.
     
     

Chapter Ten
     
    Ten minutes before midnight, Luke proudly
held his baby daughter in his arms. Lena was absolutely perfect.
She weighed eight pounds, two ounces exactly, and had all her
fingers and toes.
    Luke gently jostled Lena and beamed at his
wife. “Not bad for a Little Bean.”
    “Is he really going to call her that?” Katie
asked Amanda from nearby.
    Amanda laughed weakly, but her heart was
light. The past six hours had been the most exhausting—yet
exhilarating—ones of her life. Looking at her husband and daughter
now, she knew that every second of her labor had been worth it.
“Only until Lena is old enough to tell him to cut it out.”
    Luke captured Amanda in his gaze, his
adoration for her obvious. “You read my note.”
    “Read it and recorded it, yeah. Believe it or
not, it was very similar to mine.”
    “I believe it,” he told her. He gazed down at
the baby in his arms, then back at Amanda. There was love in his
eyes. The kind there was no mistaking. “You and I have a lot in
common, it seems. More now than ever.”
    “On that note,” Katie added cheerily, “I
think I’ll leave the three of you alone to enjoy the last few
minutes of this holiday.”
    “Thanks, Katie.” Amanda stretched her arms
wide and pressed her friend to her in a hug. “Thanks so much for
everything.”
    “We definitely couldn’t have done it without
you,” Luke added.
    “You go home and get some rest,” Amanda
urged.
    “Will do.” Katie slipped on her overcoat. The
birthing room had a pullout sofa chair, so Luke could stay over,
and Logan and Tammy were stopping by in the morning. Logan would
give Luke a ride home then so he could pick up his own SUV. Before
Katie left, she turned to the three of them. “You all make a very
nice family. A very happy family, for sure.”
    She quietly closed the door behind her, and
Luke handed Lena back to his wife. The baby was swaddled in
hospital blankets and in a peaceful, deep slumber. She’d worked
hard today too. Amanda studied the child’s tiny face, thinking
she’d never seen such beauty. Everything about her, from her
charcoal-colored hair to her cherubic pink cheeks, was perfect.
    When she glanced