Epilogue

Savie

The pain overtakes my body in a sweep of cramping agony that I can’t even describe. They told me it would hurt. Shit, every woman since the dawn of time has a horror story about childbirth involving epidurals, pooping on themselves, and screaming at their doctor to fuck off.

I try in vain to focus on the love I’m going to feel once my baby greets this earth, but I fail as a moan of torment overtakes my body. I squeeze the strong fingers that hold my hand. He whispers encouragement into my ear, but I’m not hearing the words. The only communication piercing my consciousness is my body’s, and it’s clearly saying ‘kiss my ass’ as it contracts into a squirming tornado of pain.

“Yer doin’ great, Savie,” the midwife says, poking and prodding at me. I never thought I’d be okay with a posse of strangers staring at my hooha but Ronan insisted that if we had a birth ceremony, our baby would be blessed beyond measure. Right now, all I want to do is smack him in his handsome face. His gigantic cock is never coming near me again. As I resign myself to a life of only giving him blow jobs, another scream rips through me.

I’m worried about the state of my vocal chords after this. They’re my bread and butter and they might be wrecked beyond measure. What if I pop a blood vessel?

“Yer never looked more beautiful,” he says, his lips pressed against my temple.

Really?

My sweat-soaked hair twines around my neck and face. This might be the first time in my adult life I’ve ever been in public without mascara. Looking like a hot mess is new to me, and I don’t like it. I growl and dig my fingernails into the tender flesh of his palm. He doesn’t waver.

“Are you kidding me right now?”

“I would never joke durin’ somethin’ as serious as the birth of our first son.”

First?

That he’s remaining rational makes me hate him even more. Even though I know as soon as it’s over, I’ll love him again, right now I want to let the negative emotion course through my body right along with the pain, bringing him right down into the physical torture with me.

“Yer an inspiration, love,” Caris says from my other side. Truth be told, she’s been more of a comfort to me than my own husband. There’s something about the softness of another woman and a friend during a shit storm of uncomfortable new sensations that I can’t even begin to describe.

“Tell me again why I married him!” Another sound tears from deep within my core. I don’t even recognize my own voice.

Caris places a cold cloth on my forehead and clucks her tongue. “Now, now. He’s not so bad once yer get past his ugly mug. And he loves yer. More than anythin’. And he’s goin’ to love this wee one just as much. Right, lunkhead?”

Ronan gives my hand a tiny squeeze for confirmation. I stare deep into Caris’ eyes and see nothing but love and support shining back at me. I don’t know what I ever did to deserve being welcomed into the fold as if I’ve always belonged, but I’ll take it. The only thing missing from this picture is my mom. No matter how much I begged and pleaded, she wouldn’t brave the almost eleven-hour flight across the ocean. Like me, she’s a poor flyer.

I promised I’d bring baby O’Farrell home for a visit as soon as the doctor clears us to fly. I may have agreed to this midwife crap to please Ronan, but my baby will be a patient of the top pediatrician in the United States. Besides, our home base is our house in L.A., and we’re only going to keep Ronan’s place for vacations and important religious holidays. He’ll never give it up as long as it’s near and dear to his heart. He built it with his own two hands, and is home to so many important rituals and ceremonies, it’s got sentimental value.

He’ll have to compromise on the modern amenities, though. Even if he chooses never to embrace technology, that doesn’t mean I have to blindly follow along. I’m going to have Wi-Fi in his cottage if it’s the last thing I do. I can live without a TV, but I’m not giving up my cell phone or internet. Even for him.

It was a hard sell, talking Ronan into living part-time in the US. But in the end his love for me swayed him. As much as I do, he longs to create a true family from our love for one another. That dream’s about to come to fruition. If the agony burning my loins is any indication, it can’t come soon enough.

“Ahhhhh!”

The midwife glances up at me. “Just one more push, Savie. Yer can do it!”

I bear down, putting every single cell in my body behind my efforts. It burns, the blazing agony of a million fires, and Ronan says words I’ve been desperate to hear. “I can see his head.”

Ignoring his wishful thinking about the sex of our unborn child, I focus on the serious face between my legs. Sobbing now, I look down and watch the midwife turn our baby before she says, “Now ‘tis time to push out the shoulders. Yer almost there, yer are.”

Inhaling deeply, I bear down, and the baby slides out in a rush of amniotic fluid and wonder. As if a flip has switched, the intense pain abates, and I leave the memory of it behind as if it’s been nothing but a bad dream.

My heart thunders in my chest until I hear a wail. Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I open my arms and the midwife puts the bright red baby on my naked chest.

“’Tis a girl.”

Ronan laughs and cries, so many emotions on his face. “Seems our daughter has yer lungs. She’s caterwaulin’ just like yer did when first we met.”

I no longer want to strike him, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him yet for getting me in this predicament. “And she has your inability to remain still,” I say, watching the squirming infant try to settle herself into a comfortable position.

“’Tis the most beautiful baby I’ve ever seen,” Caris says, running a fingertip across the baby’s thick shock of dark hair. Blue eyes peer up at me. Her father’s eyes. “What are yer going to call her?”

“Her name’s Delaney. Delaney Helen,” I add, allowing my daughter to grip my finger. A burst of love so deep and strong overtakes my body, and I feel I’m going to explode if I don’t express it. I lean down and kiss her forehead, overcome with emotion. My tears fall until she finally stops crying and settles.

“Ach, that’s a pretty name. It fits her, it does,” Caris says. “I think ‘tis time we give yer both some time alone. As a family.”

A family. My family.

I never thought it would happen, but I’m so glad it did. When my bus broke down on the side of a gravel, Irish roadside, fate stepped in and took over, sending the love of my life to rescue me. It’s like a song.

A solstice song.

And it’s the most beautiful song I’ve ever written.

. Receive email notices about new book releases, sales, and special promotions.

New subscribers receive an EXCLUSIVE FREE NOVEL as a special gift.

Meet more of my characters and prepare to be swept away!

Connect with me on and see special announcements.

Solstice Song by Colleen Charles ©2017 All Rights Reserved

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events, locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Colleen Charles loves reading and writing stories that entertain and sweep the reader away from their everyday life.