“Okay. As soon as you feel the next contraction start, I want you to give me four bigpushes.Okay?”
Madison nodded. The stark fear in her eyes tore at Cindy’s heart. Many women were afraid of giving birth for the first time, and to have to do it on the kitchen floor had to be a nightmarecometrue.
“Ahhh,” Madisonscreeched.
“Push. Give me four big pushes,” Cindycommanded.
Sweat rolled down Madison’s face. Her muscles contorted as she strained. With her fists and forearms, she pushed herself up from theground.
The baby’s head pushed out. One shoulder quickly followed, then the other. The rest of its body slid out quickly. Cindy caught the baby in her arms—he wasn’tbreathing.
She quickly carried him to the island and laid him on a towel. After clearing his mouth and nose, she gently rubbed his back. His mouth opened and a small cry escaped. He clenched his fists and began to wail inearnest.
Cindy quickly cleaned him and wrapped a blanket around his back. She turned to the floor and laid him on Madison’schest.
Madison cried as she held her baby for thefirsttime.
Minutes later, Mack burst into thekitchen.
“An ambulance is here. Theysaidyou—”
His eyes went wide and the blood rushed out ofhisface.
“Sit down, Mack,” Cindycommanded.
She’d seen that look before in plenty of father’s faces. It didn’t matter how big and strong a man was, the second he ended up in his wife’s delivery room, he could fall apart in aninstant.
Mack staggered over to his fiancée and plunked down on the floor nexttoher.
“Are you okay, honey?” heasked.
“Yes. Thank God Cindy found me,” she said. “I tried to get to the phone, butIfell.”
Cody and Brady ran into the room. Two paramedics followed closelybehind.
“Everyone step back,” the first paramediccommanded.
Cindy backed up until her lower back hit the edge of the counter. She held her blood-covered hands at chest height. The shock of the situation finally washed over her. She’d just delivered her first baby outside of ahospital.
Logan and Hank stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the dining room. Their faces were almost as pale as Mack’s. Kate, Carol, and Abby filtered in behind them. Rachel wasn’t there, which was good because this wasn’t something Jimmy neededtosee.
The paramedics placed Madison on a stretcher. They let her hold the baby as they wheeled her out. Madison smiled weakly and mouthed, “Thankyou.”
Cindy smiled inresponse.
Drew stumbled past the stretcher and into thekitchen.
“What the hell happened?” heasked.
“Cindy just delivered Madison’s baby,”Bradysaid.
“She did?” Drewasked.
“Yep,” Cody said. “She’s abadass.”
“I’m a bloody badass,”shesaid.
Drew frowned at her crimson hands. “Let’s get you upstairs forabath.”
