But now that the moment was upon her, all the books in the world couldn’t have prepared her for the awesome responsibility of taking four babies home to their remote island in the sea.
What had they been thinking, choosing to raise their family in such a place? Before the hysteria could set in once again, Abby reminded herself that she’d been raised on that island, along with her sisters, Adam and his siblings. They were all fine, and these babies would be, too.
Outside, the babies were loaded into Big Mac’s truck and Adam’s SUV, each with a parent or grandparent assigned to them for the forty-minute ride to the ferry landing.
Adam kissed Abby. “Call if you need to stop.”
“You’ll be the first to know.”
He flashed that irrepressible McCarthy grin. “Let’s go home, shall we?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’m looking forward to sleeping with you tonight.”
“Me, too.”
“Let’s do this!”
Liam was riding with Abby, Big Mac, Linda, Kane and Rory. No matter how this went, in two hours, they’d be home with their five sons to begin the rest of their lives together.
She was so ready to get this next chapter started.
Chapter 28
Adam was worried about rough seas, knowing how much Abby hated being on the ferry when it was rocking and rolling. After pulling away from the hospital, he called Seamus on the Bluetooth to get a weather update.
Seamus picked up on the third ring. “Hey, Big Daddy. How’s it going?”
“We’re on the way.”
“We’re ready for you with two spots on the noon boat.”
“How bad is it out there?”
“It’s sporty but shouldn’t be too ugly. I’ve seen worse.”
“That’s hardly comforting coming from someone who rode out a hurricane on a ferry.”
“That was truly sporty. This is only kinda.”
“How reassuring. My wife hates it when it’s rough.”
“Most people do, but we’ll get you there safely. Don’t worry. Looking forward to meeting those wee lads of yours.”
“We’ll see you in thirty minutes.”
“See you then.”
“Abby won’t be happy out there in this,” her dad said.
“I know,” Adam said, “especially since she decided not to take the Dramamine because she’s pumping.”
One of the babies woke up with an outraged squeak a few minutes later, which gave Adam something to think about other than how rough the seas would be. Thankfully, the baby was quickly pacified by his grandmother and settled down before he woke his brother.
As he drove south, with an eye in the mirror to keep Big Mac’s truck in sight, Adam was comforted to think that at least their babies hadn’t been born on the ferry or in a helicopter, not during a tropical storm with no doctor on the island or any of the other crazy things he’d worried about before Abby was moved to Providence—on a helicopter.
Babies tended to join their family with a bit of drama. In their case, the fact that there were four of them was all the drama they needed.
