Free The Montana Doctor's Love (New Montana Brides Book 8) by Susan Leigh Carlton

want a sister,” Emily said emphatically. “Boys are dumb.”
    “Hey, I’m a boy,” Patrick said.
    “I was too, a long time ago, Carter said.
    “I still want a sister,” Emily repeated.
    “Do you want to call your folks tonight or wait and go out?” Patrick asked.
    “Let’s call them tonight,” she said. “Maybe it will give them pleasant dreams.”
    Mary Louise cranked the phone, and said, “Virginia, would you connect me with the Circle P please. Thank you.
    “Mama. Where are you?”
    “I’m in the living room, why?” Charlotte said.
    “Where’s Papa?”
    “He’s here too. Before you ask, Hiram is in the barn,” her mother said.
    “Mama, you’re going to be a grandma again!”
    “Are you serious?”
    “I’m pretty sure. My husband is a doctor, and doctor’s know about these things. I have to admit, Patrick was pretty surprised. But happy.”
    “Hold on, honey.”. To her husband, “Zebulon, Mary Louise and Patrick are going to have a baby.”
    Mary Louise heard her father say, “Let me talk to her.”
    She could hear the noises of the phone changing hands. Then, “Mary, you’ve made your Papa happy. I think Patrick will make a wonderful Papa. Tell him congratulations for me. You keep us up-to-date, you hear? And you take care of yourself. I’m giving the phone back your mother.”
    “I will Papa.” She said.
    “Mama, I guess Papa is pleased with the news.”
    Charlotte said, “I’d say. He has a smile a mile wide. I can’t tell you how happy we are for you. Give Patrick a hug for us, and tell Elizabeth and Carter hello for us.”
    The next day in the office…
    “Papa what do you think about midwives?” Patrick asked.
    “I think they do a real service,” Carter said. “They deliver at least three-fourths of the babies around here. Some of them have delivered more than I have. The only thing they can’t do is surgery, and it wouldn’t surprise me if one or two of them haven’t done a C-section. Why do you ask?”
    “I think I would be more comfortable with Mary Louise having the baby in the hospital. She didn’t have any problems with Emily, but if there was an emergency, I think they could handle it better. I’m going to talk to her about it,” Patrick said.
    “I’ll give you the names of a couple of the better midwives, in case you decide to go that way. If you do, then I would suggest she talk to them personally. It’s important she have confidence in whoever she picks.
    “Either of these will have a lot more experience than the young doctors at the hospital.”
     

Chapter Sixteen
    The New Addition
    “A midwife?” Mary Louise said, when asked about it by Patrick. “I haven’t given it any thought. Your father delivered Hiram but Mama had a midwife for me.”
    “I talked to Dad about his feelings for midwives,” Patrick said. “He said a couple of the older ones have delivered more babies than he has. He also suggested you talk to any you consider. Most of the babies on the ranches are delivered by midwives. They have one come in and stay until the mother is ambulatory.
    “As for me, I’ve only delivered three since Wash General. It’s a decision I think you should make.”
    “The hospital is fine with me. I really hope your mother is there,” she said.
    “You couldn’t keep her away with the Cavalry,” Patrick laughed. “Her first grandbaby… She’ll be there.”
    Morning sickness came almost daily to Mary Louise for three weeks.
    Since she was in school, Emily had not witnessed the sickness until Saturday. Alarmed when she saw her mother retching into the chamber pot, she asked, “Mama, are you all right?”
    “I’m fine, honey, I just have an upset stomach. I’ll be okay in a few minutes,” her mother answered.
    “Why are you throwing up?”
    “A lot of women have this when they’re going to have a baby. I had it with you,” her mother replied.
    “You did?”
    “I really did. It’s called morning sickness, and it usually happens