djinn wars 04 - broken Read Free

pregnant.
    But Shawn nodded. “It is pretty fast. This baby wants to be out in the world, looks like.”
    “I guess that’s a good thing?”
    Sue moaned loudly from inside the hospital room, and Julia tried not to wince.
    Shawn’s mouth twitched, as if he was trying not to smile at her reaction. “Yeah, it’s good. Ellen’s not an anesthesiologist, so even though we have the meds here, she doesn’t dare perform an epidural or anything. We have to do this the old-fashioned way.”
    Which, judging by the sounds Sue was currently making, felt about as good as having a backhoe repeatedly run over your foot. “And that’s okay?”
    “Women had children for thousands of years without epidurals. And she’s doing great.”
    Easy for you to say, Julia thought. You’ll never have to worry about going through childbirth.
    Then again, neither would she, at the rate she was going. She’d never been one of those women with an overwhelming desire for children, although she had to admit part of that attitude might have stemmed from her less-than-ideal relationship with Ian. If she really wanted to help repopulate the earth, she should probably get her ass in gear.
    She looked up at Shawn, taking in his warm brown eyes and friendly mouth. That mouth looked like it would know what it was doing. Maybe it really was time —
    Ellen’s voice carried out into the corridor. “Shawn, in here. Now. ”
    He flashed a grin at Julia. “Duty calls.”
    And he hurried back into the hospital room. What precisely Ellen needed him for, Julia couldn’t quite tell, because they had a quick murmured exchange that was all but drowned out by Sue’s continued groans. Julia waited outside, knowing it would be rude to try to peek inside. She wasn’t a family member, or even a close friend of the about-to-be parents, only the person who was trying desperately to make sure this little outpost clung to some semblance of normality. Anyway, she was pretty sure she didn’t even want to see what was going on in there….
    After what seemed like an interminable period of moaning and groaning, broken by bouts of heavy breathing and Brian’s low, encouraging voice, there came a brief silence, followed by the shrill, thin cries of a baby. Julia exhaled slowly, although she couldn’t quite allow herself to relax. There were still so many things that could go wrong.
    But then Shawn poked his head out through the doorway. His grin flashed white in the fluorescent light of the overhead fixtures. “I’d like to announce Los Alamos’ newest resident. Addison Grace Nichols-Johanson.”
    Julia let out a shaky laugh. “That’s a mouthful.”
    His smile didn’t flicker. “Maybe. But I suppose that’ll be her problem.”
    “And — ” She hated to ask the question when Shawn was looking so cheerful, but it couldn’t be avoided. “And she’s okay?”
    “As far as Ellen can tell. Seven pounds, twelve ounces. Sounds like she’s got a good set of lungs on her, too.”
    “I hadn’t noticed.”
    Shawn’s grin broadened. “Uh-huh. Anyway, I think everything is under control here. Ellen said she’ll stay for a few more hours, make sure everything’s okay. But she told me I didn’t need to hang around.” He paused then, expression sobering slightly. His manner seemed almost diffident. “So…how about I buy you a drink to celebrate?”
    At once Julia felt herself stiffen. That was just stupid, because she liked Shawn, dammit. And it was time she got herself together. Six months had passed since she’d come back here to Los Alamos. Plenty of time for Zahrias to appear in a puff of smoke or come riding up on a white horse, or whatever it was that djinn did. Okay, not exactly. Miles’s devices would have kept the djinn from showing up within the borders of Los Alamos, but if Zahrias had really wanted to talk to her, they could have arranged something. Most likely he’d probably forgotten all about her, content to oversee his own little realm. Jessica