Free Fireworks: Riley by Liliana Hart

room and shoving him in the back. “It’s not like babies send out an invitation when they’re ready to come. And she’s two weeks early.”
    “She’s progressing fast,” Charlotte said from the side of the bed. She held Maggie’s hand as another contraction seized her whole body. “She’s barely been in labor an hour and already the contractions are one on top of the other. I was in labor for thirty-six hours with Jayden.”
    “I feel like I have to push,” Maggie said, panting.
    “I imagine so,” Cooper said. “It looks like you swallowed a semi. I’ve never seen anyone so big in my life.”
    “Shut up, Cooper, or you’ll be sleeping in the barn with the horses,” Claire said, giving him a dirty look.
    He laughed and pulled her in for a quick kiss and then smacked her on the bottom. The entire MacKenzie family was practically crammed into the room with her. All except for the one person she needed to be there.
    “I don’t know if I can wait,” she said, groaning through another contraction. “Where the hell is he?”
    “They’re on their way,” Charlotte said, wiping her brow with a cool cloth.
    “I just got off the phone with Thomas,” Cat said, sticking her head in the room to give an update. “The way he tells it, Riley scared the hell out of the horses they were trying to get in from the fields when the blizzard hit. He drove right through the fence in the south pasture.”
    “Son of a bitch,” Cooper said, shaking his head.
    “Thomas said Riley jumped out of the truck, jerked the reins on his horse, and knocked him straight to the ground. They tussled around a little because Thomas clearly thought Riley’d lost his mind and was itching for a fight,” Cat said, chuckling to herself, “so don’t be surprised if they come in with a busted lip or two. Riley tossed Thomas over his shoulder and threw him in the bed of the pickup. They should be here any second.”
    “Lovely,” Charlotte said. “I do love this family.”
    “Oh, God,” Maggie panted. “I’ve got to push.” She screamed and started to push just as Riley and Thomas burst into the room.
    “I washed up in the kitchen, “ Thomas said. His eye was already starting to turn black and blood dotted at the corner of his lip.
    Maggie breathed through the pain and didn’t look up as Riley took her hand and supported her back as she pushed.
    “That’s it, Maggie,” Thomas said. “You’re doing good. This is going to be a fast one.”
    Maggie collapsed against her husband and then got a good look at him. “I can’t believe you were fighting at a time like this,” she said, appalled at his appearance. “Is your nose broken?”
    “Only a little. Thomas snapped it back into place. It’s been broken before so it’s no worse for the wear.”
    “You’re all idiots. I can’t believe I’m bringing children into the world and their father is rolling around in a blizzard getting his face bashed in.”
    “I take exception to that,” Riley said, wincing as she squeezed the bones in his hand to dust as another contraction came over her. “We bashed each other’s faces in pretty equally.”
    “Shut—up,” she said, gritting her teeth through the pain as the urge to push came again.
    “She always seemed so sweet,” Cooper said from the corner. “I’ve never heard those curse words come out of her mouth before.”
    It was then with a final push and an exhausted cry of triumph that Maggie and Riley’s first child was born. A lusty cry filled the air and Thomas worked quickly to suction out the nasal passages and get the baby wrapped up and passed off to Claire’s waiting arms so they could get the baby cleaned.
    “You have a daughter,” Thomas said, pressing his hand on top of her belly to make sure the positioning of the second baby was as it should be.
    “I can’t do it again,” she panted, feeling the tightening of her belly as the contractions started again.
    “You can do it,” Riley said, smoothing her