Mara smiled. Obviously Hope was in labor, and it might be a very long wait at the hospital since it was her first child, but Mara wouldn’t miss being there for any reason. She knew Hope was excited and nervous. If Hope had to wait around for her labor to start in earnest, Mara wanted to be there for her.
Jared hung up the phone. “Hope’s in labor. Jason said it could be a while, since the contractions are pretty far apart. I should be able to grab a shower.”
“I’ll make us all something to eat while you clean up,” Mara agreed as she moved to put her jacket back on. “I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see my new niece.”
“Nephew,” Jared rumbled. “It’s the first Sinclair of the next generation. It will be a boy. In case you haven’t noticed, boys seem to run in the Sinclair family.”
Mara laughed. “You know Jason and Hope didn’t want to know the sex of the baby beforehand. You’re basing your information on the fact that there are historically more boys than girls in your family?” Nobody would know the new infant’s sex until he or she was actually born.
His shirt and jacket now on, Jared grinned. “Not really just that.”
“You just hope it’s a boy,” Mara accused him with a laugh as he pulled her toward the door, her heart light at the thought of welcoming a new baby into the family. “It could just as well turn out to be a niece. Would you really care?”
“Nope. I don’t really care whether it’s a niece or nephew. I’d be just as excited to have either one.”
Mara stopped at the door to stare at her husband. “Then why do you keep saying it’s going to be your nephew?”
“Because Beatrice told me. She said her spirit guides are speaking very loudly to her.”
Mara burst out laughing. “Yeah. And she told me Evan would be married within the next six months to a woman who would be his perfect match, just a few days ago. She met Evan at the wedding.”
“She predicted Sarah and Dante. And she predicted us.” Jared pulled out his keys as he opened the door, dangling his key chain that still sported the Apache tear stone that Beatrice had given him. “Call me crazy, but I’m starting to wonder if there isn’t something kind of interesting about her predictions.”
Mara did have to admit he was right. Beatrice did seem to have a few rather eerie and unlikely predictions that had come true lately.
“We’ll see if I end up with a nephew or a niece,” Jared teased as he pulled her out the door and locked it behind him.
They sprinted to their vehicles because of the frigid temperatures, Mara following Jared back to the Peninsula so he could shower and she could put food together before they went to the hospital to await the arrival of Jared’s first nephew . . . or niece.
It was a very long night, but they had plenty of company with all of the Sinclair family gathered there in the waiting room. In fact, Hope didn’t deliver her healthy baby boy until the next morning.
Mara walked out of the hospital the next day yawning, her head resting on Jared’s strong biceps after they’d finally had a chance to welcome the new baby to the family.
“It was a boy,” Jared said smugly.
“Coincidence?” Mara asked sleepily.
Jared shrugged and pulled her closer to him to shield her body from the cold wind as they walked toward their vehicle. “I guess we’ll see if Evan ends up married soon. That would definitely make me a believer in Beatrice’s predictions.” Jared’s voice sounded slightly amused.
Mara nodded and huddled closer to Jared’s warmth. That particular prediction of Beatrice’s was a long shot. But she silently hoped that it did come true, no matter how unlikely it might be.
Somehow, she’d ended up married to Jared, and to her that occurrence had been nothing short of a miracle. She yawned as Jared unlocked the door of the vehicle and opened the passenger-side door for her.
“Tired?” he asked in a concerned voice.
“Definitely.” Now that the excitement of the new arrival was over and both Hope and the baby were healthy, her exhaustion had hit her like a rock.
“Let’s go home so you can get some sleep.” Jared settled her into her seat and belted her in before he jogged around to the driver’s side.
She smiled as her husband got into the car, shooting him an adoring look before she closed her eyes peacefully and started drifting off to sleep. Home wasn’t a place or a building for her anymore; it was a state of mind. As long as Jared was with her, she’d always be home.
~The End~