Read Cowboy Christmas (A Henley Christmas Novella) (Down Under Cowboy series) for Free Online Page B

got.  I push so hard, I’m sure I burst the blood vessels in my face.  Then I push again and again…and again.
    “I can’t do it anymore,” I cry, slumping back on the bed.
    “Yes, you can, darlin’.  You can do it.  Bring our baby into this world,” Jackson encourages me.
    “A couple more big pushes, Edie, and your baby will be here,” the nurse tells me.  “Come on, push.  Now!  Push.  Harder.  That’s it, that’s it.  Okay, okay, pant now, Edie.  Don’t push, just breathe through it.”
    “I’m trying,” I say between gritted teeth. 
    I want to rip this nurse’s head off.  I want to cut off Jackson’s dick.  I’m never doing this again!
    “Oh, god, it hurts,” I half screech, half moan as the burning pain of the baby’s head crowning hits me.
    “Another little push, Edie.  That’s it, good girl.”
    Then, I hear the most beautiful sound in the world.
    My baby crying.
    “Would you like to tell M um what the baby is, Dad?”  I vaguely hear the nurse ask Jackson.
    “It’s a boy!” Jack son shouts.  “You little beauty,” he whoops with joy.  “I’ve got a son!”
    I think I smile, but I can’t be sure.  I’m buggered.
    The nurse sits my son on my chest and I look down at him.  He is the spitting image of his sister and father.   He’s got a thick head of black hair and dark blue, newborn baby eyes. 
    “He’s perfect,” I whisper.
    “You did good, darlin’.  So proud of you.”  Jackson kisses my lips and then kisses the forehead of our baby boy.
    “What should we name him?” I ask.
    “I like Max,” Jackson says, with hope in his voice.
    “Max?  I like that as well.  How about Max Barry Henley?”
    “Barry?” His brow furrows.
    “After Skip,” I say simply.
    “Max Barry Henley,” he says, testing out how the name sounds on his tongue.  “Sounds perfect to me.  Skip will be over the moon, Ace.”
    “He will, won’t he?” I smile.
    I look down at my son and then up to my husband, and not for the first time in my life, I thank the winds of destiny that blew me into the arms of the man of my dreams.
     
    ~*~
    Thank you so much for reading the Cowboy Christmas Novella.  I hope you enjoyed this small g limpse into an Australian Christmas, celebrated Henley-style.
    Keep an eye out for Jules and Clay’s story – Cowboy Dreams – coming in late March.
    Cowboy Endings will be released in late June, and there you’ll get to see more of Jackson and Edie, Ava and Jeremy, and Jules and Clay, ten years down the track.  I know a lot of you were hoping Ava would be pregnant in this novella, but Ava and Jeremy have got a long road ahead of them before they’re blessed with children.  All will be revealed in Cowboy Endings though, so stay tuned by liking my Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/authorkaseymillstead ) and adding me as a friend ( www.facebook.com/authorkasey )
     
    Finally, I’d like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year.  I hope you get all you wish for.
    Love , Kasey Millstead xxx